The Nez Perce Indian Nation was interested in the "White Man's Book of Heaven" (the Bible). Four men were selected in 1831, for a journey to St. Louis to visit Captain Wm Clark. If anyone could help, their folk hero Clark could. He put them in touch with local Catholic Priests. Bishop Joseph Rosati was greatly impressed with their plea for help, but missionaries were not available to accompany the party back to their home in the mountains. The hot, humid climate of St. Louis did not agree with the party and two died. The other two members reluctantly decided to return home without the "Black Robes." Another died on the return trek and the last one was killed by hostiles upstream on the Missouri River.
The "Christian Advocate" published a letter in 1833 describing the disappointing ordeal of the Indians. The article appealed for missionaries to go west to the Indian nations. The Methodist Church responded by sending the Rev. Jason Lee. The Presbyterian and Congregational Churches, through the American Board of Foreign Missions, sent Rev. Samuel Parker. He teamed up with Dr. Marcus Whitman at St. Louis and they joined a westward bound wagon train of fur trappers in 1835. After months of travel they joined the annual rendezvous at Pierre's Hole in Idaho Territory. Parker and Whitman parted company. Dr. Whitman decided to return east and bring back missionaries before venturing further west. The Rev. Parker continued on through Indian Territory to the ocean, where he boarded a ship for the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii).
Meanwhile, the Rev. Jason Lee reached Fort Hall and preach the first sermon in Idaho, July 27, 1834. Sixty whites and Indians listened to a hymn and a short sermon. Afterwards, the regular Sunday horse race was held, resulting in the tragic death of one rider - a French Canadian. The next day Rev. Lee conducted Idaho's first funeral service. Not to be outdone, the Catholic French-Canadians conducted an improvised Catholic service followed by Indian rituals, with chanting and dancing. The deceased had an Indian wife. Fort Hall Commander, Nathaniel J. Wyeth wrote in his journal that "the victim was well buried."
Upon his arrival in New York, Dr. Marcus Whitman married a beautiful girl, Narcissa who also was enthusiastic about a westward journey. They joined the Rev. H. H. Spalding and wife Eliza. Soon all were westward bound in a big wagon train. Upon reaching Fort Boise, in 1836, Rev. Spalding preached the second sermon in the Territory of Idaho.
Waiilatpu Mission, on the Walla Walla River, was established by the Whitmans in 1836. Narcissa started a missions school for Indians which later included refugee children from the Oregon Trail. Lapwai Mission was established on Lapwai Creek in Idaho Territory by the Spaldings. Their 18 x 42' cabin included living quarters and mission school. It opened with about 100 Indians present on January 27, 1837 and was Idaho's first school.
The summer of 1840 saw the arrival, of the annual trapper’s rendezvous at Pierre's Hole, Jesuit missionary Pierre Jean De Smet. To the 1,600 assembled Nez Perce and Flathead Indians, De Smet said the first mass in Idaho. It was such a success that he returned to St. Louis to raise additional funds for Indian missionary work. The next year, he and two other Jesuit missionaries established a mission called "St. Mary's" in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana near what is now Stevensville. In 1842 Idaho's first Catholic mission, Sacred Heart Mission, was established on the St. Joe River, near present-day St. Maries. By October 1944, the area contained one hundred Christian families. Because of annual flooding, the site had to be abandoned in 1846. On the Coeur d'Alene River between present Coeur d'Alene and Kellogg, a new mission church was completed in 1853. It was a unique structure that contained no nails, as none were available, and was held together with wooden pegs. Construction tools used were a broad axe, auger, pulleys, and a whipsaw fashioned from a wagon wheel rim. For years the mission served as a house of worship and a stopping point for travelers. It was commonly known as "The Cataldo Mission," named for Father Joseph Cataldo. It is one of the most remarkable historical buildings in Idaho. This same priests, in 1887, founded Gonzaga University at Spokane.
Cayuse Indians, disillusioned with Dr. Whitman's medical practice and missionary work, attacked Waiilatpu Mission in November 1847, killing all the men and Narcissa Whitman. Protestant missions were closed and missionaries recalled. The Rev. H. H. Spalding and family escaped to the Willamette Valley in Oregon where they remained until 1871 when the Lapwai Mission was reopened.
In 1855, Brigham Young sent 28 Mormon missionaries from Salt Lake to the Lemhi River Valley in Idaho to teach the Indians "the principles of civilization" and to establish a mission. They built a fort with seven foot high walls to hold horses and cattle and to provide protection against marauders. Local Indians were Bannocks and Shoshoni. Nez Perce Indians would come annually to fish for salmon in the river. None of the tribes got along.
A grist mill was constructed to grind grain. The large sandstone millstone was found to have flakes of gold in it. This caused much excitement among local miners.
Crops were planted and an irrigation system was put in place to water gardens and fields. After several years of crop failures, food had to be imported from Utah to feed everyone.
There was much rivalry between the Bannocks and Nez Perce. A big fight erupted and several missionaries were killed, trying to prevent the Bannocks from stealing all the mission livestock. In 1858, Brigham Young recalled the missionaries to Utah and the Lemhi Mission closed.