Reservation Hat (reproduction)
c 1980
When Lewis Watson came into the Lewiston area, he took advantage of the opportunities available in the small town of Spalding, five miles south of Lapwai, Idaho and opened a store with his wife Margaret. Beginning in 1908, they offered fair prices for their goods and carried specific items for their Nez Perce customers. These included hats, beads, rubber galoshes, shawls, blankets and other goods typical to a small country store. Over the years business diminished, but they were devoted to their Nez Perce customers.With their declining health and the accidental death of their daughter, they sold the store and went to Salt Lake City. Lewis Watson died in1966 and Margaret in 1965.

This hat is a reproduction made in 1980 and was similar to the hats sold at Watson’s Store in Spalding, Idaho on the Nez Perce Reservation.
Felt wool, cotton. H 23, W 13.3 cm
Nez Perce National Historical Park, NEPE 8983