Lawyer's Canyon was named for the Nez Perce leader known as The Lawyer, who served as Head Chief from 1848 to 1871 and lived near the lower end of the canyon. Early fur traders called him The Lawyer for his exceptional talents in languages and oratory, and he was a friend of the whites. He had learned English before the missionaries came in 1836, and he helped them prepare dictionaries and translate the Bible into Nez Perce. Before his death in 1876, a year before the Nez Perce War, he played an important part in all the treaties negotiated with his people.