Native Americans were using the roots of this plant for food long before the explorers Lewis and Clark wrote about the purplish-pink flower of the bitterroot. The root was too bitter to eat unless is was cooked, and it was usually mixed with some sort of berries or meat. An Indian legend tells us how the bitterroot came to be. It says the sun heard a young mother crying because she couldn't find food for her family. The sun changed her tears into the bitterroot so she would always have food for her children. In the spring and summer, you can find the bitterroot flower growing near the mountains and boulders of Western Montana.