Told in the Hills was the first Hollywood feature film made in Idaho and one of the few films to realistically depict the Nez Perce Indians. The film was based on a novel published in 1891 by Marah Ellis Ryan which is about settlers in the mountains of Idaho and Montana and their encounters with the Nez Perce Indians. The Famous Players-Lasky Corporation purchased the rights in March 1919 and began filming in Idaho during the summer of 1919 in the Lapwai area (mostly south of Lapwai in Lawyers Canyon) and in Kooskia area along the Selway and Clearwater Rivers. The film was released in September 1919.

The filmmakers wanted to use Native Americans rather than Hollywood extras which was unusual for the time. They hired hundreds of Nez Perce Indians who wore their traditional clothing. The filmmakers were sympathetic to the Indians and tried to accurately depict the Nez Perce way of life. The gathering of Nez Perce for the making of the film was the first time they were allowed to publicly gather together since the Nez Perce War in 1877. Among the participants were survivors of the 1877 war and flight. The movie was a success when it opened in 1919 and it was also shown in Europe. It was chosen for a special screening for an event for General John Pershing to welcome him home from leading the Allied troops in World War I.

In 1986 a film historian and professor at Boise State University, Tom Trusky, was researching lost Idaho films. An archivist suggested to him to check the Soviet film archives because the Russians had become very interested in the new art form after the Russian Revolution. The Soviet film archive didn't have the films he was looking for but they did have two reels of the six reel Told in the Hills film. He was able to purchase a copy of it to bring back to Idaho.