At the age of nine, he so impressed the missionary Henry H. Spalding that he was invited to be educated at the Presbyterian Mission of Lapwai, Idaho, where for three years he learned the ways of whites and also made extensive contacts with Nez Perce, in whose territory the Mission was located. He became fluent in several languages, including English, Nez Perce, Spokane, Colville and Yakima, a skill that served him later in life. It was at the mission where he was given the Christian name "Moses" by Spalding, which he would go by for the rest of his life despite never officially becoming a Christian.