New steps for an ancient trail: Lolo Trail National Historic Landmark nomination

Packer Meadow. Clearwater National Forest, ID.

NPS/ R. Kephart

About this article: This article was originally published in the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Annual Report 2022.

Article by: Brye Lefler. Tribal Partnerships Specialist, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail


The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail in collaboration with the National Park Service National Historic Landmark (NPS-NHL) program initiated a project to update the National Register Nomination for the Lolo Trail NHL to include the millennia of Indigenous history and use.

National Historic Landmarks include historic buildings, sites, districts, structures, and objects that the Secretary of the Interior has determined to be nationally significant and outstanding aspects of United States history and culture.

The Lolo Trail NHL comprises approximately 86,000 acres of land over an approximately 150-mile route across the Bitterroot Mountains between Lolo, Montana, and Weippe, Idaho. The majority of the NHL is owned and managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

When the first nomination for National Historic Landmark status was approved in 1966, the Lolo Trail was recognized for national significance because of its association with the Lewis and Clark Expedition’s crossings in 1805-06 and its role in the Nez Perce Conflict of 1877. Subsequent revisions to the nomination have not further considered an expanded period of significance beyond its role in primarily Euro-American history. Multiple Tribal Nations have long-standing historical associations with the NHL and have been participating in the project, including the Nez Perce Tribe, the Chief Joseph Band, the Confederated Tribes of Colville Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation, and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation.

The NPS has partnered with the Library of Congress, Federal Research Division through an Inter-agency Agreement to conduct research and to produce a draft Letter of Inquiry (LOI) to the Keeper of the National Register of Historic places. This LOI will be a synthesis of existing knowledge of the area combined with new research into sites of national importance and is the first step in the nomination update.