William Craig joined the Rocky Mountain fur trade in 1829, married a Nez Perce in 1838, and settled with the Lapwai Band in 1840. In 1850 the Oregon Donation Land Act gave free farms to pioneers who had come to Oregon Territory. Craig had about the only eligible farm in Idaho, then part of Oregon, and filed a 640 acre claim here. When the Nez Perce Reservation was established, the Nez Perce trusted Craig and allowed him to keep his farm.