The area is within the home territory of the Nez Perce people or Nimi’ipuu ( Nee-me-poo ) , but eleven miles east of the current reservation boundary . The Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery National Historical Trail , also known as the Northern Nez Perce Trail , is ten air miles directly north . In 1877 , during the Nez Perce War , the Nez Perce crossed the trail followed by General Oliver Otis Howard fleeing the reservation . Settlers moved into the area by the 1880s and Homesteads were established in the early 1900s . Lumber mills were once the main industry , now replaced by recreation and governmental land management . The Middle Fork Ranger station ( No . One ) sat 1 mile to the west until 1939 . The Great Fire of 1910 , also known as the Great Burn effected the area as did the Pete King Fire of 1934 . The Woodrat Fire threatened the town in 2015
The Great Fire of 1910
Great Fire of 1910
Syringa, Idaho