My name is Natalie, and I am the volunteer coordinator for Nez Perce County.

Nez Perce County was established February 4, 1864 by the Idaho Territorial Legislature with its county seat at Lewiston. Named for the Nez Perce Indians who already occupied the area when the white settlers arrived. Nez Perce County was previously established by the Washington Territorial Legislature in 1861. This was one of the four original Idaho counties in 1863. The present boundaries of Nez Perce County were set in 1911.

The county is rich in the history of the Nez Perce Indians and the arrival of the first white men with Lewis and Clark in 1805. The first missionaries to settle in Idaho, The Rev. Henry H. Spaulding and his wife Eliza Hart Spalding, established a mission in 1863 near the confluence of Lapawai Creek and the Clearwater River. The mission was closed in 1947. The Nez Perce Indian Agency was established at Lapawai in 1860, and Lewiston was founded in 1861 as a trading center for the north Idaho mines. The Lewiston Station Normal School, now Lewis-Clark State College, was founded in 1893. --- "Idaho Almanac, 1977 Edition."

The county seat is Lewiston, which is located on the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers. The Port of Lewiston was formed in 1958 by the voters of Nez Perce County. The county is comprised of 855 square miles.

Towns are Culdesac, Lapwai, Lewiston, Peck and Spalding, and the communities are Lenore, Leland, Gifford, Myrtle, Waha, Cameron, Southwick and Sweetwater. The Nez Perce Offices are at Lapwai.

If you send something that you want me to add to this site, please include your first and last name. Unsigned e-mails & submissions will be ignored.