 The Nez Perce trail existed in the area before history was recorded, and the first written record of caucasians passing through the area were Lewis and Clark in 1805.Captain Benjamin Bonneville also passed through the future site of the town while he was surveying for the US government in 1834.In 1860, an Irish settler named Parson Quinn settled just east of present-day Pomeroy, and lived there for the next 40 years.