Nez Perce National Historical Park

For at least 11,000 years, the valleys, prairies, mountains and plateaus of the Inland Northwest have been home to the Nimiipuu, meaning “the people”. Their lives were shaped by the region’s rivers, abundant salmon, mountain forests and open grasslands. They traveled widely along the Clearwater, Snake and Columbia rivers to hunt, fish, gather roots and berries, trade with neighboring peoples and maintain relationships across an immense homeland.

Nez Perce National Historical Park is unusual because it is not one continuous property. Its 38 sites are scattered across Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Montana. Together, they preserve places associated with Nimiipuu villages, traditional gathering grounds, encounters with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Christian missions, treaties and the Nez Perce War of 1877. The park’s expansive landscapes help explain why the land was never merely territory. It was the foundation of the people’s culture, identity and way of life.

Congress established the park on May 15, 1965, through legislation signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It originally included 24 sites in Idaho. In 1992, President George H. W. Bush signed legislation adding 14 more sites and expanding the park into Oregon, Washington and Montana.

Although many visitors associate the Nez Perce story primarily with Chief Joseph and the war of 1877, the park presents a much longer history. The Nimiipuu endured the loss of much of their homeland, forced relocation and repeated attempts to suppress their culture, yet they remain a living people with a continuing connection to these lands. Visiting the park offered an opportunity to experience the beauty of that homeland while recognizing the generations of Nimiipuu who have cared for it and continue to call it home.