Reverend Samuel Parker

Parker's was not the first Protestant sermon in the mountains. Jason Lee, a Methodist traveling with Nathaniel Wyeth, preached at Wyeth's half-built Fort Hall on Sunday, July 27, 1834, to Indians, mixed-blood trappers and French Canadians, few of whom understood the service. Parker's own sermon here is remembered for how it ended: by the story, buffalo came into view and the trappers left to run them. He went on west with a Nez Perce band to the Clearwater, chose mission sites, and sailed home around Cape Horn.

What the plaque says

In tribute to Reverend Samuel Parker who delivered the first Protestant sermon to trappers, hunters and Indians on Sunday, August 23, 1835, at this point. Dedicated by the Historical Landmarks Commission August 23, 1935

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• National Elk Refuge — 22 mi
  Stephen Leek's photographs of starving elk built this winter refuge in 1912; a century of hay feeding is now its hardest question.

More markers nearby

• John Colter — 22 mi
• Fort Bonneville — 30 mi