The Lapwai Valley is historically connected to the Nez Perce people, who have utilized the area for as long as can be remembered. The name Lapwai actually comes from the Nez Perce word “lap lap,” which refers to a butterfly and the sound that its wings make. As a result of the abundance of butterflies in times past, the area has been referred to as the “Valley of Butterflies” and “Land or Place of the Butterfly.”
The rich history continued in 1805, when Captain Meriwether Lewis and William Clark passed through the area on their way to the Pacific with the Corps of Discovery.
In 1836, Presbyterian minister, Reverend Henry Harmon Spalding founded the Nez Perce Indian Mission at Lapwai Valley. It was the state’s first white settlement and where he established Idaho’s first school, developed its first irrigation system, and grew the state’s first potatoes.
In 1839, Rev. Spalding printed the Northwest’s first book, the Bible, on the earliest printing press in the Pacific Northwest.
The area became apart of the Oregon Territory in 1848 and a part of the Nez Perce Indian Reservation in 1855. Less than ten years later, the area became part of the Idaho Territory in 1863. This was also at the time when troops were assigned to the Lapwai Valley and Fort Lapwai was established as a response to the 1860 gold rush happening on Nez Perce lands.
Fort Lapwai was in use from 1862 to 1885. It was here that General Oliver O. Howard met with the leaders of Nez Perce non-treaty bands on May 3, 1877, as they made one last attempt to remain on their land. After 1885, when old Fort Lapwai ceased to function as a military fort, it was converted into a government Indian school, then a tuberculosis sanatorium with a hospital, then a boys and girls dormitory, and finally into a school under the direction of the Lapwai School District. It was called the Fort Lapwai Training School from 1891-1899.
Fort Lapwai became part of the State of Idaho when Idaho was admitted to the Union as the 43rd state in 1890.
The Northern Idaho Indian Agency, originally located at Spalding, was relocated to Fort Lapwai in 1904.
On January 11, 1911, the Nez Perce County Commissioners ratified the petition of Roy C. Lane for the Incorporation of the Village of Lapwai. There were over two hundred (200) residents residing within the boundaries of the proposed village at that time. William Siegrist, William J. Fenderson, A.J. Lucas, John C. Carlson and Roy C. Lane were appointed to act as Trustees for the Village of Lapwai until their successors were elected.
Lapwai remains as the seat of government for the Nez Perce Indian Nation. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Northern Idaho Indian Agency is also still located in Lapwai.
LAPWAI VALLEY TIMELINE
1805 – Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery pass through the area
1836 – State’s first settlement, Nez Perce Indian Mission, founded by Presbyterian minister Reverend Henry Harmon Spalding
1839 – Reverend Spalding published the Bible on the first printing press in the Pacific Northwest
1848 – Lapwai Valley became apart of the Oregon Territory
1855 – Lapwai Valley became a part of the Nez Perce Indian Reservation
1860 – Gold rush in Nez Perce lands
1862 – Camp Lapwai established in response to gold rush
1863 – Fort Lapwai established and becomes part of the new Idaho Territory
1877 – General Oliver O. Howard meets with Nez Perce leaders
1885 – Fort Lapwai converted into a government Indian school
1890 – Fort Lapwai became part of the State of Idaho, the Union’s 43rd state
1891 – Fort Lapwai renamed Fort Lapwai Training School
1899 – Lillian Marie Bounds, wife of Walt Disney, is born in Lapwai Valley
1904 – Northern Idaho Indian Agency relocated to Fort Lapwai from Spalding
1911 – Incorporation of the Village of Lapwai
1933 – Administration of the school transferred to Coeur d’Alene Agency
1987 – Beginning of Idaho’s longest basketball winning streak at 81 games and three consecutive A-3 state championships under Coach Bruce Crossfield
When: May 25 – June 1, 2012
