Craigmont

History

The city is named for Colonel William Craig (1809–69), a mountain man who had a Nez Perce wife. He settled at Lapwai near his father-in-law Hin-mah-tute-ke-kaikt or James in 1840 when he gave up being a fur trapper due to the collapse of the market for beaver. The Nez Perce Reservation was opened to white settlement in 1895, and a town named "Chicago," a mile west of the current Craigmont, was founded in 1898. In response to not getting their mail from the post office, it was renamed "Ilo" four years later, after Ilo Leggett, daughter of town founder and merchant W.O. Leggett. A fire burnt the town in 1904 and shortly thereafter the Camas Prairie Railroad bypassed the town and started a settlement, platted by Lewiston financier John P. Vollmer, on the northeast side of the railroad tracks, and he named it "Vollmer." Ilo responded and moved its community to the southwest side of the tracks, adjacent to Vollmer. After a decade-long feud and the consolidation of the school districts, the communities merged in 1920 to become Craigmont.

Geography

Craigmont is located on the Camas Prairie, and entirely within the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. The climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Craigmont has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  337
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  296
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  253
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  236
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  224
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  210
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  201
• Brewer's Blackbird

  Euphagus cyanocephalus (Wagler, 1829) · Aves
  138

Largest nearby schools

• HIGHLAND SCHOOL
  Other · CRAIGMONT · 169 students · 10.6:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.7 — 2021-12-15
  1 km NW of Lewiston Orchards, Idaho
• M 2.9 — 2021-10-16
  8 km SSW of Culdesac, Idaho
• M 4.1 — 2018-11-20
  21 km SE of Stites, Idaho
• M 2.7 — 2018-07-29
  49 km NNE of Enterprise, Oregon
• M 2.51 — 2017-06-21
  29 km WNW of White Bird, Idaho
• M 2.65 — 2017-04-17
  5 km ENE of Lewiston Orchards, Idaho