Introduction to the Trail - Auto Tour 6
The Flight of the Nez Perce
The Summer of 1877 brought tragedy to the Nez Perce (or, in their language, Niimíipuu, meaning “the real people” or “we the people”). Many of their tribe had been removed from homelands to a reservation. Now the U.S. Army was ordered to put the remaining Nez Perce there. These bands objected because they had not sold their land to the U.S. government nor signed a treaty. Incited by the death of several Idaho settlers killed by young warriors as revenge for earlier murders, the army sought to force the Nez Perce onto the reservation. The eruption of violence and pressure caused those Nez Perce leaders to lead their people away from the conflict and in search of a new home. The trek of more than 800 people and 2,000 horses was to be peaceful.
Fearing that the mobilized Nez Perce would inflame other tribes to leave their reservations, the U.S. Army began to pursue the Nez Perce to force them back upon the reservation in Idaho. The trek became a flight marked by skirmishes and battles, the last of which occurred more than 1,100 miles away from their homeland and less than 40 miles from safety in Canada.
The Nez Perce journey took them northeast from the Wallowa mountains of Oregon, across a raging Snake River, and then into north-central Idaho. After battles at White Bird and Clearwater, Idaho, they followed well-worn trails across the rugged Bitterroot mountains, entering Montana near Lolo Pass. They moved south to the Big Hole Valley, where the army caught them by surprise and killed Nez Perce of all ages. After that, the Nez Perce moved as quickly as they could through more mountains, across the Yellowstone Plateau, and then north toward Canada.
The Yellowstone Plateau
The Nez Perce entered the recently designated Yellowstone National Park on August 23, 1877. They knew the Park well, as tribal members traditionally visited the area often to hunt and gather food or while traveling east to the buffalo hunting grounds of the Great Plains.
During the next two weeks, the Nez Perce encountered all 25 people known to be visiting the Park at the time. To obtain supplies and fresh horses, they attacked or took hostage several tourists. Although they initially had no intention of harming the visitors, as events unfolded, the situation became dire. Ultimately, as revenge for the deaths at Big Hole two weeks earlier, warriors killed two visitors, and left a third for dead.
In addition to General Oliver Otis Howard, who had been pursuing the Nez Perce since they left Oregon, General William Tecumseh Sherman called in additional troops which closed in from the east. Against all odds the Nez Perce were able to evade all efforts to stop them and escaped the Park without incident.
The events of the summer of 1877 in Yellowstone Park were complex. Unlike other segments of the Nez Perce National Historic Trail Auto Tour, this part of the story unfolds on several fronts simultaneously making it difficult to identify a single route that follows a cohesive story line. The recommended route follows the most reasonable way to drive through the Park. The following synopsis of several of the individual storylines may help explain how events unfolded.
Tourists and others in Yellowstone Park:
Radersberg Party
George F. Cowan, his wife Emma, her brother Frank D. Carpenter, and sister Ida Carpenter, Charles Mann and a young teamster and cook, Henry (“Harry”) Meyers – all from Radersburg, Montana - plus three friends of Frank Carpenter’s from Helena, Andrew J. Arnold, William Dingee, and Albert Oldham were visiting the Park to celebrate George and Emma’s 2nd wedding anniversary.
On the morning of August 24, Nez Perce entered their camp and took the party hostage. Later that day the encounter turned violent. As a result George Cowan was seriously wounded and left for dead, the others escaped except for Emma, Ida and Frank who were taken by the Nez Perce but were released the next day. George was picked up by General Howard on August 30, Emma, Ida and Frank encountered Lieutenant Charles Brewster Schofield, Henry Meyers, Charles Mann and Albert Oldham were picked up by General Howard’s command on August 28, Arnold and Dingee also eventually reached safety.
Helena Party
Andrew Weikert, Richard Dietrich, Frederic J. Pfister, Charles Kenck, John (Jack) Stewart, Leander Duncan, Leslie N. Wilkie, Benjamin Stone, and two youths, Joseph Roberts and August Foller, aged twenty and seventeen, respectively.
On the morning of August 25, they observed the Nez Perce passing several miles to the south. The next morning a group of warriors dashed into their camp firing their weapons. The tourists scattered and all escaped except Charles Kenck who was killed. Weikert, Wilkie, Steward and Stone found each other and made their way back to Mammoth Hot Springs finding Pfister along the way with Lieutenant Schofield’s command near Tower Junction. On August 27 Duncan and Dietrich arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs just as the rest of the party plus Emma Cowan and Frank and Ida Carpenter were about to leave for Fort Ellis. While Weikert and hotel proprietor James McCartney went to look for the lost men Dietrich stayed behind. Several isolated skirmishes occurred over the next couple of days in the vicinity of Mammoth Hot Springs and the Henderson Ranch to the north. Dietrich was killed but the rest of the party made it out of the park.
William H. Harmon
On August 23, William Harmon, a prospector from Colorado, was camped not far from the Radersberg party of tourists and left with them the next morning after they had an initial encounter with three Nez Perce from Looking Glass’s Band. When the next encounter escalated to violence, Harmon and Henry Meyers escaped into a marsh. Harmon was picked up the next day by Stanton Gilbert Fisher, a civilian scout, and his company of Bannock scouts on the Madison River.
John Shively
A prospector and ex-soldier, crossing the park from the Black Hills gold country in Dakota Territory, captured by Nez Perce on August 23 e and forced to travel through the park with them until he escaped on September 2 east of Yellowstone Lake.
James C. Irwin
A recently discharged soldier, captured by Nez Perce on August 25 and held until he escaped September 1. He encountered Howard’s scout Fisher near Pelican Creek on September 2, and later Howard at his camp six miles northof Yellowstone Lake near Mud Volcano. He shared valuable observations from his time with the Nez Perce.
The Flight of the Nez Perce of 1877 symbolizes the dramatic collision of cultures which continues to shape the West and its people. A native people were forced to flee their homelands in a futile attempt to avoid war and save their traditional ways. Immigrated European people found themselves fighting neighbors who had been their friends for many years. Traditional trails, which had long been a source of joy and sustenance, became a trail of flight and conflict, a trail of sorrow.
Chronology of Events
The events in this timeline coincide with the sites seen on this auto tour:
August – September, 1877
As the Nez Perce entered the Park from the west and General Howard’s forces approached from the north, a group of nine tourists from Radersburg, Montana were camped in the Lower Geyser Basin. Another group of ten men from Helena camped near the Yellowstone Falls. Prospector John Shively was looking in the park for lost horses. Also in the park was James Irwin, recently discharged from the army in Bozeman. Soon their lives would all be woven into the same story.
August 14 – A party of tourists from Radersberg Montana enters the park
August 23 – Nez Perce enter the Yellowstone National Park; Nez Perce scouts capture prospector John Shively and camp near the tourists from Radersburg
August 24 – Nez Perce scouts capture the Radersburg tourists. By the end of the day, seven had escaped or been shot.
August 25 – The Nez Perce release Radersburg tourists Emma Cowan, Ida Carpenter, and Frank Carpenter u. J.C. Irwin, a recently discharged soldier, is captured by the Nez Perce.The Nez Perce camp at Mud Volcano
August 26 – Nez Perce scouts raid the camp of the ten Helena tourists, killing Charles Kenck and wounding Jack Stewart. Emma Cowan, Ida and Frank Carpenter find Lieutenant Schofield and are escorted out of the Park, along with Frederic Pfister of the Helena party. Nez Perce Camp at Indian Pond.
August 28 – General Howard’s command picks up tourists Henry Meyers and Albert Oldham, of the Radersberg party, along the Madison River
August 30 – George Cowan is picked up by General Howard’s entourage
August 31 – General Howard goes over Mary Mountain Trail and camps near Mary Lake t. A Nez Perce reconnaissance party encounters Lieutenant Gustavus C. Doane’s detachment at Henderson’s ranch north of Mammoth Hot Springs. While retreating to the main Nez Perce camp, the scouts kill Helena tourist Richard Dietrich at Mammoth Hot Springs
September 1 – General Howard camps on the Yellowstone River. Scout S.G. Fisher meets James C. Irwin, who has escaped from the Nez Perce camp.
September 3 – General Howard camps near Yellowstone Falls. Captain William F. Spurgin gets wagons through the Beaver Slide
September 4 – General Howard travels over Mount Washburn.
September 5 – General Howard crosses Baronett’s Bridge
September 6 – Soldiers begin moving up Soda Butte Canyon
September 7 – General Howard passes Cooke City
— AS YOU TRAVEL THE TRAIL—
The trail memorializes not only
those who died during the flight,
but those who survived.
Their tragic journey marked the end
of freedom for the Nez Perce
and opened their lands to settlement.
As you travel this historic trail
through Yellowstone National Park,
whether you drive, ride or walk,
you will gain an
understanding and appreciation
for the difficulty of their journey
and the tremendous odds
the Nez Perce had to face and overcome.
