Encounter at Camas Meadows
*Adventurous Travel: roads not recommended for motor homes or vehicles towing trailers; usually passable from July to October*
Camas Meadows encompasses an area about five miles east to west at its widest point and ten miles from north to south. Today it is bordered east, north and west by the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. Camas and Spring Creeks ow through the meadows. The meadows have lush grassy areas punctuated by basalt fields. Basalt fields are lava flow outcroppings left from volcanic upheavals that occurred more than a half million years ago.
”Each knoll so much like another, that you cannot x your whereabouts by the distinct and diverse features around you. Should you drive to pasture ve horses over these wave- like knolls for a mile, and then leave them for an hour to graze, it would be next to impossible to find them.”
– General Oliver Otis Howard
General Howard camped near where the Nez Perce had been observed the day before in Camas Meadows. It was Sunday, August 19. All day the soldiers followed a broad trail left by the Nez Perce. After an 18-mile march across the sagebrush prairie, General Howard arrived at Camas Meadows. He camped along the high ground fringing the bottom of Spring Creek and named the camp in honor of Captain Calloway.
Eighteen miles away, the Nez Perce scouts had returned to camp, bringing word of the soldiers’ location. Cimúuxcimux húukux (Black Hair) had a strong vision in which he saw himself and others escaping with the U.S. Army’s horses. He told the chiefs of his vision, and 28 men were organized under the leadership of ’álok’at (Chief Ollikut), Elelímyete’qenin’ (Chief Looking Glass) and Chief Tuxúulxulc’ut to carry out a raid.
Near midnight, they approached the Army camp. Several warriors crept quietly among the herd of animals, cutting them loose and removing warning bells. The main group of warriors rode four to a column, as would a cavalry unit. The sentry mistook them for Lieutenant Bacon’s returning men. He called out a challenge that resulted in a shot being red that awakened the troops and spurredthe Nez Perce to action.
General Howard ordered Companies B, I and L, consisting of about 150 men to recapture the mules and horses that were by this time far down the trail. Captain Norwood’s Company L was ordered to follow the Nez Perce.
He caught up with them after about ve miles. They dismounted to exchange shots. The skirmish lasted morethan four hours. Just as the men began to realize theywere being circled by the sound of ring from a anking maneuver of the Nez Perce, “recall” was sounded.
“The race to the thicket was something never to be forgotten, for a cavalryman is not trained for a ve hundred yard sprint ... I had a horse’s nose-bag slung over my shoulder containing extra cartridges, and a bullet cut the strap and it fell to the ground. A hero would have stopped, gone back and recovered that bag, but not I.”
– Sergeant Harry J. Davis
As Companies B and I retreated, Captain Norwood’stroopshastily built rifle pits as a defense and remaineduntil reinforcements came. The Nez Perce left asreinforcements arrived.
Meanwhile, the Nez Perce warriors assessed the success of their raid. As the sun arose, the warriors realized they had captured most of the mule herd and a few horses. Their raid proved a tactical success by leaving General Howard with too few pack animals forcing him to go to Virginia City, Montana, to get more mules to continue his pursuit. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Nez Perce gathered their stock, broke camp and left Camas Meadows. For their part the military paid a high price for the few mules they recovered: Bugler Bernard Arthur Brooks lay dead, two soldiers died later and ve men were wounded, which Captain Calloway’s volunteers escorted to Virginia City, Montana.
“...Those soldiers... we must have hit one or two... they became scared... A bugle sounded down among the timber, and those soldiers skipped for their lives for that shelter. We sent bullets ying after them but they all reached the brush and disappeared.”
– Piyóop’yoot’alikt (Bird Alighting)
”The soldiers did not hurry to follow us. They slowed after losing their pack mules.”
– Hímiin maqsmáqs (Yellow Wolf)
