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Contact: Kelly Kincaid, 208-843-7014
LAPWAI, Idaho – Nez Perce National Historical Park recently restored the Old Chief Joseph’s Gravesite and Cemetery rock wall, located outside Joseph, Oregon. The month long masonry project, led by members of the National Park Service Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC), was finished Sept 20, 2019.
National Park Service employees and Idaho Conservation Corps interns replaced and repointed stones in the wall. “The project was unique because we had to match three different colors of historic mortar in the wall,” said Trent Martinez Acting Chief of Facilities for the park. The work on the wall will stabilize the historic structure and preserve it for future generations.
Funding for the project was provided by the Federal Highway Administration and Oregon Department of Transportation in partnership with the National Park Service, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, and the Nez Perce Tribe.
The wall was originally constructed by a Civilian Conservation Corps crew comprised of Umatilla Tribal members in 1939. The Old Chief Joseph’s Gravesite and Cemetery was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1985.
The Spalding Visitor Center is 12 miles east of Lewiston at 39063 U.S. Highway 95. For more information, please contact Nez Perce National Historical Park at 208-843-7009, or visit www.nps.gov/nepe or www.facebook.com/
Last updated: October 1, 2019