Asa Smith Mission

Smith was born in Williamstown, Vermont, not Massachusetts, and he did not come alone: Sarah Gilbert White Smith, a former teacher, shared the hovel and the mission. Their teacher was Lawyer, Hallalhotsoot, and from his lessons Smith wrote the first grammar and dictionary of the Nez Perce language, dated September 28, 1840, and took the first census of the people. He also wrote scathing letters about Henry Spalding at Lapwai. The stay ended when Nimiipuu leaders ordered the Smiths out after a quarrel at Fort Walla Walla, with Sarah ill and Asa despondent.

What the plaque says

Asa Smith Mission A Massachusetts Congregationalist, Smith spent two years here learning the Nez Perce language and starting a mission. Coming here May 10, 1839 to study with Lawyer, an important Nez Perce leader, he stayed to work on an Indian dictionary and to hold daily religious classes each spring and winter. After spending six months in a "mere hovel," he finished a comfortable home and started a garden of several acres. But he never got used to pioneer life here. Leaving Kamiah April 19, 1841, he moved to a mission in Hawaii. 309 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Heart of the Monster — 0.7 mi
  Where the Nimiipuu say their story begins: Coyote, a monster, and the heart he tore loose, still on the Clearwater's bank.
• Weippe Prairie — 9.7 mi
  Where the Nimiipuu decided what to do with Clark's starving men, and fed them camas until they were sick.

More markers nearby

• Long Camp — steps away
• Looking Glass — 6.6 mi
• Camas Prairie — 9.7 mi
• Nez Perce War — 10 mi