Monastery of St. Gertrude & the Historical Museum

Benedictine sisters from Switzerland and the Rhineland founded the monastery in 1907 on prairie benchland above Cottonwood, building the stone chapel and the school that educated the region through the 20th century; the sisters’ Historical Museum, opened in the 1950s, grew into one of Idaho’s best regional museums with a collection spanning Nez Perce artefacts, the prairie’s homestead era and the monastery’s own archives. The monastery remains an active Benedictine community — retreats, the famous pray-and-work programme, and the museum’s yearly exhibits — and its hilltop stands over the prairie’s camas country and the Seven Devils’ horizon. The sisters came from Switzerland and the Rhineland in the early 1900s, building the stone chapel, the school and the museum that educated the region through the 20th century; the monastery remains an active Benedictine community with retreats, and the museum’s collection — Nez Perce artefacts, homestead-era materials and the community’s own archives — is among Idaho’s best regional collections.