Nez Perce National Historical Park (Spalding)

Spalding was the site of the first mission in Idaho: Henry and Eliza Spalding established their Presbyterian mission among the Nez Perce in 1836, printing the region’s first books, planting the first orchards and milling the first lumber. The mission era ended violently in the 1847–50 Cayuse War aftermath, and the site became a farm; the National Park Service and the Nez Perce Tribe made it the visitor centre anchor of the 38-site Nez Perce National Historical Park in 1965. The reconstructed mission building, the museum’s Nimiipuu-curated halls, the mission orchard and the burial ground of the Spaldings make it the standard first stop on the Nez Perce trail. The mission’s printing press, the first in the region, and the orchard plantings of the 1830s–40s made Spalding a focal point of early Idaho history; the site’s museum halls, curated with the Nez Perce Tribe, now balance the mission story with the Nimiipuu perspective on the same decades. The park’s 38 sites spread across four states interpret the homeland from the 1805 contact through the 1877 war and flight.