Mud Volcano, Wyoming
August 25, 1877 - Nez Perce camp
Sept. 1, 1877 - General Howard camps on the Yellowstone River
After fording the Yellowstone River, the main band of Nez Perce camped near the river. It is known through several oral histories and historical documentation that an elderly woman chose to stay behind here at Mud Volcano as the main band of Nez Perce continued to move eastward through the Park. The elderly woman was last seen by the Nez Perce near one of the geysers, sitting on a buffalo robe with water nearby, singing a song. Bannock scouts enlisted by the U.S. Army eventually came upon the woman, shot and scalped her. The elderly woman made a decision to stay behind so that she would not drain the resources or hinder the movement of the group. She did not want to burden anyone else. She sacrificed her life to ensure the survival of the others.
Although the Nez Perce camped here August 25, the cavalry and infantry did not arrive until September 1, 1877.
“Right in the center of an IndiancampI rode up to a poor helpless old squaw. ….She laid on a few ragged robes, and suddenly closed her eyes as if expecting a bullet but not wanting to see it come. She seemed rather disappointed when instead of shooting her I refilled her water-bottle. She made signs that she had been forsaken by her people, and wanted to die, and from a couple of shots I heard ten minutes later as I followed the trail down the creek, one of our wild Bannack scouts acceded to her wishes and put her out of her misery.”
- John W. Redington, scout
