Craigmont, ID

Craigmont sits on the Camas Prairie in north-central Idaho, entirely within the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. The 2020 census counted 458 residents. The city's name honors Colonel William Craig, a mountain man who settled at Lapwai in 1840 after marrying into a Nez Perce family. The prairie's open agricultural landscape meets the town at Highway 95, while Lawyers Creek Canyon and its old railroad bridges lie a few miles south.

Craigmont itself grew from a rivalry. Before Camas Prairie Railroad service arrived in 1908, the communities of Ilo and Vollmer developed on opposite sides of the future track, each with its own stores, schools, churches, and businesses. They merged in 1920, and the city park's historical marker remembers that union. City Hall began life as Craigmont's post office and later served as a jail and library before becoming a historical museum. Highland Joint School District keeps K-12 education in town, while the June Picnic, park, railroad, and prairie keep the town's shared history visible.