Mormons at Fort Lemhi
A group of Mormons sent north by their leader, Brigham Young, established the Salmon River Mission in 1855 near Tendoy. After making an agreement to settle in Shoshone territory at a traditional summer rendezvous site, the fort was built in June. The site had a stockade, corrals, and living quarters. The twenty-seven original missionaries were joined by settlers and their number grew to over two hundred. As the population grew the small settlement included a blacksmith shop and sawmill. They established farms and even built a small irrigation system of canals before closing the fort after being called back to Utah in 1858 due to tensions with the local tribes.