Of all the Indian wars, the Nez Perce war of 1877 may truly be the most fascinating.  The Nez Perce's first contact with whites was in 1805.  Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were on their expedition when they found the Nez Perce. The explorers found the Indian tribe ahead of their time. They were highly skilled in selected horse breeding.  Lewis said they were "among the most amiable men we have seen.  Their character is placid and gentle, rarely moved into passion."

Meriwether Lewis 
     In 1836, the Reverend Henry Spalding built a mission along the Lapwai Creek, which was in Nez Perce territory.  There were several bands of Nez Perce, all with different leaders and chiefs.  One particular band's leader was one of the Indians to be baptized at the mission in 1838.  He was given the Christian name Joseph.  His son, Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, or Thunder Rolling Down the Mountain, was also baptized and given the name Joseph.  His father was often called Old Joseph.  The Nez Perce were a peaceful tribe of 3600 who lived scattered between Oregon, Idaho, and Washington.  They had been given their name by French trappers for their pierced noses. "Pierced nose" in French was "nez perce".  They had become good cattle raisers and farmers under the instruction of Reverend Spalding.  Old Joseph's band was feeling crowded by the white men, so Old Joseph moved his people to the Southern Nez Perce domain, near the Wallowa Valley.  This is why Old Joseph's band was known as the Lower Nez Perce.

     In 1855 almost all the Nez Perce chiefs signed a treaty which stated that all Nez Perces would move onto a 10,000 square mile reservation.  The government would give them $200,000 worth of goods in compensation for the lands they lost.  The new reservation would be near the Lapwai Creek.  It was called the Lapwai Reservation.  Old Joseph's band had occupied the Imnaha or Grande Ronde Valley in Oregon.  It was the best land in that part of the country.  In 1860, there was a gold rush in the Nez Perce country.  The Nez Perce sold the prospectors horses and cattle in hopes that they would go away.  In 1863, the government changed the size reservation from 10,000 to 1,000 square miles.  Old Joseph refused to move in anger.  He tore up his bible, which he had called the "Book of Heaven," and then he destroyed his American flag.  Old Joseph's health was failing, so he begged his son not to sign any more treaties.  He died in 1871 and Joseph the Younger became chief.
     In 1873 Chief Joseph got a federal order which stated that white settlers would be removed from the Wallowa Valley and  his people would remain.  The Nez Perce agent was having difficulty moving them.  The government saw what was happening, so they sent a threat from General O.O. Howard in 1877 which said that a cavalry attack would force them off their land, onto the reservation.  Joseph said that he had made no treaty to move.  Since there was no treaty, Howard finally allowed Joseph thirty days to gather his livestock.  While Joseph was on a hunting trip, some twenty warriors attacked a nearby settlement in retaliation.  One Indian had been killed.  The leaders, even Joseph's brother Ollikut, were determined to fight until the end.  Joseph said, "I have tried to save you from suffering and sorrow.  Resistance means all of that.  We are few.  They are many.  You can see all that we have in a glance.  They have food and ammunition in abundance.  We must suffer great hardship and loss."  Then Joseph began his plans for one of the greatest military retreats in history.  He planned to travel to Montana to join the Sioux under their leader Sitting Bull.  Joseph's first plan was to ambush the army in White Bird Canyon.  The army thought the Nez Perce would be crossing the Salmon River, which they had no intention of doing.  On June17, 1877, they attacked the army, wounding and killing many.  They completely dominated.  When losses were counted, the army found that thirty-four soldiers had been killed, and only two Nez Perce had been wounded.

    

                               General Howard

   So the Indians began their retreat, crossing the river, and then some way ahead crossing again heading East.  General Howard waited six days for soldiers from other forts before pursuing the Nez Perce with 600 soldiers.  By this time, the Nez Perce had a good head start.  Colonel Gibbons had orders from General Howard to cut them off at the end of the Lolo Trail.  They met, and Joseph sent a small party to distract Gibbons' rear.  Gibbons sent for help, and Joseph continued his retreat.  Some warriors fired at the camp at night and then stole some mules.  They then preceded onto Tash Pass, where they were supposed to be stopped by Lieutenant Bacon, who let them go because he saw their large number and didn't want to fight them.
     On July 6, Joseph's band was joined by the bands of Looking Glass (who was called this because he wore a small mirror around his neck) and Red Echo.  They joined Joseph because they had heard of the victorious battle at White Bird Canyon.  On July 11, the Nez Perce were surprised by the fire of a cannon and then a Gatling gun from General Howard's forces.  Tool-hool-hool-zote stopped the charge with twenty-four warriors just long enough for Ollikut, Five Wounds, and Rainbow to join them with more warriors.  General Howard's troops were kept trapped until morning, and then they charged into camp, taking little.  This was known as the Clearwater Battle.  After it, Looking Glass was named war chief.  Since the Indians had been victorious up until this time, Joseph wanted to return home and fight for their lands.  But the other chiefs wanted to travel Westward to form a military alliance with the Nez Perce's long time allies, the Crows.  Looking Glass was unanimously voted the person to lead them there. 
     Looking Glass took his time traveling, and all was going well until August 8, when a Medicine Man named Pile of Clouds said, "Death is on our trail."  At dawn on August 9, 1877, General Gibbons' men attacked.  The Indians who came out of their tipis were shot where they stood.  Baby's heads were crushed with rifles or soldier's boots.  Looking Glass and White Bird ordered the Nez Perce to fight.  The soldiers began falling.  At 8:00 a.m., General Gibbons called off the battle, and his troops retreated to the woods.  Twenty-nine soldiers were dead.  The Nez Perce had a tragic loss of eighty-nine, including chiefs Red Echo, Five Wounds, and Rainbow.  Mostly women and children had been killed.  Looking Glass was blamed for his slow marching and for resting in the Big Hole Valley.  On August 13, Howard  began pursuing again.  By August 18, he was only a day behind.  Ollikut and twenty-eight warriors raided his camp, giving the Nez Perce three more days of non-pursuit.  The Nez Perce came in contact with the Crows, but they denied helping because they had scouted for the U.S. Army and were frightened of its power.  The Nez Perce were stunned by the Crows, and had traveled over 1,000 miles.  Their only hope now was to reach the Canadian border.  At Camus Creek, on August 20, the Indians stole 150 mules from Howard.  

Looking Glass

      On September 13, Colonel Sturgis caught up to the Nez Perce and there was a small battle at Canyon Creek.  On September 29, the Nez Perce stopped in Bittersweet Valley near the Bear Paw Mountains to rest and hunt for game.  On September 30, the two Nez Perce divisions held a council in one tipi since the two bands had camped a little apart.  They were to discuss sending riders ahead to find exactly where Sitting Bull was.  At 8:00 a.m., during the council, General Miles attacked the camp.  For the first time, Chief Joseph was surprised.  No soldiers had been spotted.  In the first charge, fifty-three of the 115 U.S. soldiers were killed.  Joseph ordered some young warriors to jump on the backs of some horses to save them.  So they rode across the Canadian border.  At 1 p.m. there was a second charge, and they fought until nightfall.  One band had fled, and Joseph's band had entrenched themselves from harm.  Among the dead were Tool-hool-hool-zote, and Joseph's brother Ollikut.  On October 1, there was a cold storm.  An Indian woman described it, "Children cried with hunger and cold.  Old people suffering in silence.  Misery everywhere."  Joseph and Looking Glass still clung to the hope that the six trusted warriors that had ridden off had ridden off on the horses had would reach Sitting Bull and the Sioux.  They didn't know that the warriors had been killed by hostile Assinboin Indians.

      In the four months that the Nez Perce ran from the army, never had a wounded warrior been left behind.  Whenever the Indians had come across whites trying to go past them, Joseph had always graciously allowed them.  The orders he gave the tribe about not harming women or children were never  disobeyed.  In one instance, he had even given some traveling white women horses.  Now, after traveling 1600  miles and within 40 miles of the border, Joseph realized there was nothing to do but surrender.  On October 4, Howard's men got to the battle sight.  Looking Glass, who thought it was Sitting Bull coming to their aid, went outside the council tipi to see.  He was shot in the forehead instantly.  On October 5, White Bird escaped to Canada with 14 warriors with some women.  Joseph surrendered out of pity for his people, giving his rifle to Howard.  The speech  he made will be remembered forever.  Sadly, Joseph said these words:

Chief Joseph

        "I am tired of fighting . . . . . It is cold and we have no blankets.  The little children are freezing to death.  My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food.  No one knows where they are- perhaps freezing to death.  I want to have time to look for my children and see how many of them I can find.  Maybe I shall find them among the dead.  Hear me, my chiefs.  I am tired; my heart is sick and sad.  From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."
      Only 431 Nez Perce remained from the original 700 who had escaped with Joseph.  Only 79 of these were men.  They were to be sent to  Fort Keogh, Montana, for the winter.  Then they were to be sent back to their reservation.  Instead, they were shipped to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, place between a lagoon and the Missouri River.  Many died due to the health conditions.  In 1879, Joseph went to Washington D.C. to plead his case to U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes.  But help was denied.  In 1885, with the help of Bishops Whipple and Hare, 150 of the Nez Perce, who chose to be Christians, were sent back to the Lapwai Reservation.  The rest, including Chief Joseph, were moved to the Colville Reservation in Washington state.
      In 1904, Joseph died, according to his doctor, "of a broken heart."  Joseph did not hate the whites, and he never boasted of his accomplishments over them.  He was an excellent chief chief who had out-strategized some of the best military minds the U. S. Army had to offer.  Even General William Tecumseh Sherman said of the Nez Perce, "the Indians throughout displayed a courage that elicited universal praise . . . .  [they] fought with almost a scientific skill, using advance and rear guards, and field fortifications."  The Nez Perce retreat is known nation-wide for its tragedy and its bravery.  It will be remembered for generations to come.

"The Great Spirit puts it in the heart and head of a man to know how to defend himself."

-Chief Joseph

Chief Joseph

 Ashley Heptig

 8th American History

 Rossville Junior High

 Plains History Project

2004

                                         Bibliography
Revised: December 23, 2004 .