Introduction to the Trail - Auto Tour 4
The War Nobody Wanted and Everybody Lost
“My son, my body is returning to my mother earth and my spirit is going very soon to see the Great Spirit chief. When I am gone think of your country … A few more years and the white men will be all around you. They have their eyes on this land. My son, never forget my dying words. This country holds your father’s body. Never sell the bones of your father and mother.”
– Old Chief Joseph to his son, Young Joseph, 1871
In the mid-1800s settlers began encroaching upon Nez Perce (or, in their language, Niimíipuu, meaning “the real people” or “we the people”) homelands protected under the treaty of 1855. As a result, tension and anger between the Nez Perce and the settlers grew. In 1863 the United States government forced a new treaty that reduced Nez Perce lands to a reservation one-tenth the size of the 1855 boundary and ordered all Nez Perce to live there.
Some of the bands refused to sign the 1863 treaty. In May of 1877 these five bands known as the “non-treaty” Nez Perce were ordered to report to the reservation at Lapwai, Idaho, within 30 days. Some of these bands reluctantly agreed.
During their journey to Lapwai, fighting broke out when several young warriors, avenging past wrongs, attacked and killed white settlers along the Salmon River. When word of the attacks reached Lapwai, the military responded.
On June 17, 1877, the first major battle of the Nez Perce campaign took place at White Bird Canyon, Idaho.
Other skirmishes followed as U.S. Army units and citizen volunteers commanded by General Howard tried to rein in
the Nez Perce. The Nez Perce fled to Montana, hoping to leave the conflict behind them. Escaping a barricade near Lolo, Montana, they traveled peacefully up the Bitterroot Valley toward a favorite camping spot in the Big Hole Valley. There, in a meadow near the North Fork of the Big Hole River, they rested, gathering camas bulbs and cutting tipi poles in preparation for their journey to the plains farther east.
In the early morning hours of August 9th, 1877, the tranquility of the Big Hole Valley was shattered by the sound of gunfire as a battle erupted between five bands of Nez Perce Indians and U.S. military forces along the banks of the North Fork of the Big Hole River.
Two days later, nearly 800 Nez Perce men, women and children gathered their wounded and fled southward toward Skinner Meadows and the country beyond. Today you can retrace the route used by the Nez Perce and their military pursuers.
As you follow this historic trail, you can either stay on the designated Mainstream Auto Tour route along paved roads or explore the Adventurous Route that more closely follows the historic trail, on mostly gravel or dirt roads. On either route, you’ll find a story of courage and great sadness. You will see where history happened and realize that this story is more than dates and events. It is about real people caught up in turmoil beyond their control.
“If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian he can live in peace. There need be no trouble. Treat all men alike. Give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow ... Whenever the white man treats the Indian as they treat each other, then we shall have no more wars. We shall be ... brothers of one father and one mother, with one sky above us and one country around us ... Then the Great Spirit ... will smile upon this land, and send rain to wash out the bloody spots made by brothers’ hands upon the face of the earth. For this time the Indian race are waiting and praying.”
– Chief Joseph Hinmatóowyalahtq’it (Thunder Traveling to Higher Areas)
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 7 – After a difficult climb over the Continental Divide, Nez Perce camp along the Big Hole River. Colonel Gibbon is now at the Continental Divide. Lieutenant Bradley is sent ahead with volunteers to scout. General Howard is 22 miles east of Lolo Hot Springs.
August 8 – Nez Perce camp at the Big Hole. Colonel Gibbon crosses crest of the Continental Divide, parks wagons and deploys his command just a few miles from the Nez Perce camp. General Howard enters the Bitterroot Valley, camps north of Pine Hollow.
August 9 – Just before dawn, Colonel Gibbon and his troops charge the sleeping Nez Perce village at the Big Hole. Some 90 Nez Perce are killed, many of them women and children. General Howard is near the mouth of Rye Creek.
August 10 – Howard goes with his fastest cavalry to Trail Creek, a 53-mile trek. The Infantry are now north of Stevensville. The Nez Perce camp near Skinner Meadows
August 11 – General Howard reaches the Big Hole. The Army is attending to 40 wounded and burying 29 dead. The Nez Perce camp on Horse Prairie. Montague, Flynn, Smith, Farnsworth and Cooper are killed.
August 12 – Remaining cavalry reach the Big Hole.
August 13 – Nez Perce cross the Continental Divide at Bannock Pass and set up camp just outside Junction. General Howard departs the Big Hole Battlefield leaving most of his infantry behind and camps 23 miles south of the battlefield. The remainder of his troops leave on August 15 and catch up with General Howard a few days later.
August 15 – Howard passes Bannack and camps on Horse Prairie.
August 17 – Howard camps at Snowline. He sends a detachment under the command of Lt. Bacon to Henry’s Lake.
AS YOU TRAVEL THE TRAIL
The trail memorializes not only those who died during the light, 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 between Northeastern Oregon and Kooskia, Idaho, whether you drive, ride or walk, you will gain an understanding of and appreciation for the difficulty of their journey and the tremendous odds the Nez Perce had to face and overcome.
