Though it covers a small portion of northern Idaho’s land, the Coeur d’Alene River Wildlife Management Area has its roots in a cultural history that once spread across the Columbia Plateau. Situated just north of Idaho’s camas prairielands, the Coeur d’Alene River is part of a complex that ranges from lake to canyon to prairie. The river and its basin lake were named for the Coeur d’Alene people, originally known as the Schitsu’umsh, who made their homes in the area. They were not alone, however: the Nez Perce, among other tribes, would collect the bulbs of the local camas flower for their own food and later brought horse herds to the prairie to graze. When French, British, and Dutch traders came to the Americas, the Coeur d’Alene made various treaties with them to preserve access to their native lands. However, once the United States became a full-fledged entity, they continually encroached on Coeur d’Alene and Nez Perce territory. During the 1855 treaty negotiations in Walla Walla, Washington, newly appointed Washington governor Isaac Stevens pressed the Nez Perce into moving to a miniscule reservation in exchange for access to their ancient hunting and fishing lands. In subsequent decades, homesteaders discovered the large quantities of gold, silver, and lead on the already diminished reservations, and instead of enforcing tribal sovereignty, the federal government turned a blind eye. Despite resistance from bands of Nez Perce, the government seized both Coeur d’Alene and Nez Perce reservation lands and opened them up for non-native colonization. This decision had long-lasting impacts on the landscape, especially the Coeur d’Alene River. Runoff from nearby mines polluted the surrounding waters, and within a few decades, the river became toxic. In the 1920s and 1930s, environmental surveys found that most aquatic life could no longer survive in the Coeur d’Alene’s waters, and migrating waterfowl frequently died as well. To address this crisis, in conjunction with other widespread environmental efforts in the 1960s, the American Game Association donated a large parcel of land in the Coeur d’Alene River’s vicinity to Idaho Fish and Game, creating what eventually became Coeur d’Alene River Wildlife Management Area. More aggressive cleanup began in the 1980s when the EPA designated Bunker Hill Mine, located along the river, a national cleanup priority. In recent years, the Coeur d’Alene’s waters have become significantly clearer, owing to the vigilance of state and federal organizations and proactive restoration projects in the area. Though the river basin is full of wildlife once again, mining pollutants still rest on Lake Coeur d’Alene’s bottom, overlooked by river cleanup efforts. Pollution in Coeur d’Alene River WMA remains a present threat and is just one example of how historical mistreatment of the land has lasting consequences.

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More than two hundred years ago, Weippe Prairie was a major transportation and trade junction for the Nez Perce Nation. The prairie was simply called Weippe by those living in the area (Weippe being derived from the Nez Perce term Oyáyp). Weippe Prairie was also one of the main root-gathering grounds, with American Indians from different bands making the journey to Weippe to harvest the root qém’es, later called the “camas” root by explorers. On September 20, 1805, Lewis and Clark exited the Lolo Trail over the Bitterroot Mountains and entered Weippe Prairie. Clark took a scouting party and went ahead where they were met by Al-We-Yas, a Nez Perce village leader and the brother of Chief Twisted Hair. Al-We-Yas approached Clark’s group with caution. Unbeknownst to Clark, Chief Peo-Peo-Tah-Likt had strategically sent Nez Perce warriors to surround Clark’s group, waiting for any hostile movements. This is the first recorded historical meeting between Nez Perce leaders and US representatives. Al-We-Yas sent messengers to neighboring tribes announcing the coming of the Americans. This also represented a moment prophesied by American Indian spiritual leaders, which caused many chiefs and village leaders to make decisions concerning their relationship with the Americans. They debated whether to kill them or establish a peaceful and friendly relationship with them. Because Clark had made a favorable impression on Chief Twisted Hair and his son, the village leaders decided not to kill Lewis and Clark’s exploration group. This interaction was a pivotal moment in the life of Chief Twisted Hair’s son, Aleiya, who would later be known as Chief Lawyer. Chief Lawyer would go on to become one of the most influential advocates for an alliance between the US government and the Nez Perce Indians. Nez Perce were greatly generous toward Lewis and Clark’s exploration group. In addition to feeding the famished explorers, Nez Perce also provided geographical knowledge so they could navigate the Clearwater River. They also tended the expedition's horses throughout the winter while the group travelled to the coast and back. On September 24, the Lewis and Clark exploration departed the Nez Perce village and continued via dugout canoes on to the Pacific. The following year on their return journey in 1806, Lewis and Clark reunited with the Nez Perce on their return journey and stayed with them for up to seven weeks while waiting for the snow to melt in the Bitterroot Mountains.

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By the late 1870s, the United States government was fully engaged in the process of forcing American Indians in the West onto reservations. In 1855, Nez Perce in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington signed a treaty in which they accepted a 5,000-square-mile reservation. Later, in 1869, their reservation was reduced in size following the discovery of gold on their land. A division grew between some converted Christian Nez Perce who supported treaties and traditional Nez Perce who refused to live on the reservation. One traditional Nez Perce leader argued, “I belong to the land out of which I came.” Groups led by White Bird, Looking Glass, and Chief Joseph separated from the treaty group. In June of 1877, a violent outburst from White Bird’s group left four white settlers dead. The anti-treaty Nez Perce feared retaliation and fled in an effort to join Sitting Bull in Canada.

The Nez Perce headed through Yellowstone National Park in late August. Yellow Wolf recalled that Nez Perce scouts “knew that country well before passing through there in 1877. The hot springs and high-shooting water were nothing new to us.” On their second day in the park, scouts found a group of tourists and held the party captive for two days. Following a skirmish that left one of the tourists severely wounded, they were released. Some anxious scouts would attack other groups and kill two tourists. The Nez Perce were able to outmaneuver the army as they exited the park, and almost reached Canada before being forced to surrender in October at the Battle of Bear Paw. Around sixty Nez Perce were able to escape during the battle, including White Bird and Chief Joseph’s daughter, who successfully joined the Lakota in Canada. Between 1878 and 1880, many of them returned to Idaho.

Similarly, in 1878, Bannocks faced starvation at Fort Hall. Ranchers had destroyed important camas bulb pastures, their main source of food, and the government neglected to supplement with sufficient rations. Many Bannocks left the reservation and clashed with white farmers and federal troops. A small band headed north, following the Nez Perce route through Yellowstone National Park, hoping to reach Canada. They were ambushed east of the park in September, and the uprising was eventually quelled by federal troops. Restrictions were placed on the Fort Hall Reservation and most of the insurgents were split up between allotments and other forts.

These conflicts damaged Yellowstone’s public relations image and park officials would work hard to assuage tourist fears of an Indian threat. Some tourists found the battles exciting, and in efforts to live out fantasies about the ‘wild west’ joined expeditions following the path used by the Nez Perce and Bannock. Others feared continued Indian contact and avoided the area altogether. The wars also caused a shift in military management of the park; officials would use the conflict to justify military necessity to the park’s success and took a firm stance against Indian presence in the park.

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During the mid-nineteenth century, missionaries set out to spread Christianity and educate Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest. Henry and Eliza Spalding set out with Narcissa and Marcus Whitman in February 1836 from New York to preach to Native American tribes. Twelve or fifteen members of the Nez Perce Tribe greeted them in July and “received them gladly,” according to a letter published by Henry Spalding. The Nez Perce tribe gifted them horses and cared for the missionaries until the Spaldings and Whitmans parted ways in October 1836. The Spaldings stayed with the Nez Perce tribe to settle in the Lapwai Valley, becoming the first Christian missionaries among the Nez Perce.

The Spaldings began educating the Nez Perce in the English language and Christianity in January 1837. The next year they moved their mission to the current site near Lapwai Creek to take advantage of cooler weather. When they moved locations, the Spaldings taught the Nez Perce agricultural practices, requiring the Nez Perce to stay in one place year-round rather than migrating with the changing seasons. They planted potatoes, vegetables, grains, and fruit trees to support humans as well as livestock and fowl. To make life convenient, a sawmill and gristmill was built in 1838 and was in operation for ten years, bringing irrigation to the area and Idaho for the first time with a mill race and canals tied to the mill complex. Unfortunately, this was destroyed in 1879 when Lapwai Creek flooded and washed away the sawmill and gristmill, as well as damaged the mill race, roads, bridges, and farms. The flood also caused Lapwai Creek to be permanently rerouted to its current location.

While the Spaldings resided in the mission, they expanded the original site from a modest home to include a church, school, printing house, and living space for the Nez Perce. An 1843 letter written by Henry Spalding to Levi Chamberlain in Honolulu described the success of the school and church, stating the missionaries had over 200 people in attendance daily, with half of the school consisting of adults.

The Spaldings moved from the Lapwai mission in the fall of 1848 to Oregon, but Henry Spalding returned to Lapwai in 1871. During his time in Lapwai, he received 931 Nez Perce and Spokane members into the church, as reported by Spalding in the record book of the church in November 1873. He remained there until his death from sickness in 1874.

The Spalding house stood until around 1900. Only the fireplaces and irrigation ditches of the original Spalding home remain today. The Spalding site was commemorated in 1923 by the Daughters of the American Revolution with an iron fence erected around the foundation of the Spalding home site in 1935. Today the area is home to Nez Perce Historical Park where visitors may view the Spalding Presbyterian Church, the Northern Idaho Indian Agency’s cabin and agent’s residence, remnants of the Spalding Mission, and Lapwai Mission cemetery where Henry and Eliza Spalding are buried.

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