St. Joseph's Mission

The Nimiipuu asked for a priest of their own, and getting one took decades. Because the Presbyterians had founded the first mission in 1836, they held exclusive rights to religious instruction, and Protestant opposition kept Cataldo out of the government school; he built St. Stanislaus in Lewiston for white residents while he waited. After two floods drove the first mission off its site, a Nimiipuu leader, Weeptes Sumpq'in, Eagle Shirt, invited him to rebuild on his land at present Slickpoo. The church was consecrated on September 8, 1874.

What the plaque says

St. Joseph's Mission When he came to Lewiston in 1867, Father J.M. Cataldo developed a Jesuit Nez Perce mission that continued long after he founded Gonzaga University in Spokane. A chapel was built a mile up Mission Creek in 1868, but a permanent location was not established until construction of Saint Joseph's Mission was completed at a more secluded site in 1874. It now is open to visitors as a part of Nez Perce National Historical Park. 349 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Spalding — 7.1 mi
  The Nimiipuu went to St. Louis asking about a book. What came back was a mission, a printing press and a museum.

More markers nearby

• William Craig — 2.3 mi
• Lapwai Mission — 4.9 mi
• Railroad Tunnels — 6.6 mi
• Spalding's Mission — 7.2 mi