Nez Perce Agency-Agency Log Building, South bank of Clearwater River, Spalding, Nez Perce County, ID

Significance: In 1861, the Nez Perce Indian Agency was formally established in Lapwai (renamed Spalding), Idaho, as one of the provisions of the 1855 treaty between the U.S. government and the Nez Perce tribe. The agency was created to administer the reparations of the treaty. The Nez Perce were promised money, teachers and schools, houses and jobs in exchange for the traditional lands they agreed to cede so white settlement and development could proceed. The agency was a complex comprised of residences, offices, barns, grist and sawmills, other service-related structures, and fenced agricultural fields and irrigation ditches. This ca. 1862 structure is the oldest building in the Spalding area. Though its original use is not known for certain, it probably served as an office or a residence for agency employees. In 1936 the building was moved to the east of its original location, and incorporated into a private museum complex owned and operated by Mr. and Mrs. Joe Evans. It served in this capacity until 1959. The Nez Perce tribe acquired the building and sold it later, in the 1970s, to the National Park Service. In 1974 this structure was documented and restored and relocated back to its approximate original location. The board and batten siding, wood roof, and windows were replaced, and the building was placed on a concrete pad.
Survey number: HABS ID-76