NPS Form 10400 OM8 Mo. 1024-0018 (R«v. W6) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations of eligibility for individual properties or districts. See instructions in Guidelines lor Completing National Register Forms (National Register Bulletin 16). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering the requested information. If an item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, styles, materials, and areas of significance, enter only the categories and subcategories listed in the instructions. For additional space use continuation sheets (Form 10-900a). Type all entries. 1 . Name of Property historic name Camas Meadows camp and battle sites other names/site number 2. Location street & number Section 20, T12N. R39E and 31 . T13N f RAOF. I _| not for publication city, town Kileore P^f) vicinity state Idaho code ID county citric code 033 zip code o,^20 — 3. Classification Ownership of Property Category of Property Number of Resources within Property [x] private I I building(s) Contributing Noncontributing I I public-local I I district ____ buildings I I public-State I I site 2 ____ sites fxl public-Federal I I structure ____ _____ structures I I object ____ ____objects 2 ____Total Name of related multiple property listing: Number of contributing resources previously Nez Perr.p, 1877 0 4. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this EH nomination EH request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property EH meets EH does not meet the National Register criteria. EH See continuation sheet. Signature of certifying official Date State or Federal agency and bureau In my opinion, the property EH meets EH does not meet the National Register criteria. EH See continuation sheet. Signature of commenting or other official Date State or Federal agency and bureau 5. National Park Service Certification I, hereby, certify that this property is: EH entered in the National Register. EH See continuation sheet. EH determined eligible for the National Register. I I See continuation sheet. EH determined not eligible for the National Register. EH removed from the National Register. EH other, (explain:) ___________ Signature of the Keeper Date of Action 6. Function or Use Historic Functions (enter categories from instructions) Current Functions (enter categories from instructions) DEFENSE - Battle site_____________ AGRICULTURAL - Rangeland 7. Description Architectural Classification Materials (enter categories from instructions) (enter categories from instructions) foundation __________________ _______________________________ walls ____________________ roof _ other Describe present and historic physical appearance. Two 40-acre sites about five miles apart make up this landmark. General Howard's camp, in Section 20, occupied a desert location adjacent to Spring Creek in Camas Meadows. Here a Nez Perce detachment rounded up 200 of his mules and some horses belonging to a force of Virginia City volunteers before dawn, August 20, and left for their own camp. They were pursued by Maj. George B. Sanford's battalion, spearheaded by Capt. Randolph Norwood's Company L, 2d U.S. Cavalry, out of Fort Ell is. The Nez Perces surrounded and besieged Norwood in a natural lava defensive position where Norwood's men occupied rifle-pits for four hours before Howard relieved them. Howard's campsite remains unchanged aside from farms that have replaced camas fields on its western edge. Norwood's site in section 31 is unchanged, aside from an inconspicuous unimproved automobile track that runs through it. A few trees, some sagebush, and some defensive lava formations—unaltered since 1877— remain as interesting reminders of that clash. Norwood's rifle-pits are intact well over a century after they were thrown up. Bugler Bernard Brooks' grave still is marked at Howard's camp site. Both of these segments retain high integrity, and very few people know where to find them. Site Description: Col. Mark H. Brown, a former Army Air Force intelligence officer who investigated the Camas Meadows operations nine decades later, described General Howard's camp and Captain Norwood's siege from a military point of view: A. Howard's Camp site: This campsite was about seven miles south of the foot of the mountains, and beside Spring and Camas creeks. These two streams enter the northern edge of the Snake River Plain about five miles apart and flow southward in a shallow, fan-shaped depression, gradually converging toward each other. At the campsite, they occupy channels which are almost parallel and only about 500 yards apart. They are clear mountain streams, about eighteen feet wide, and twist along between banks fringed with thick clumps of willow. The shallow valley, now narrowed to approximately a mile width, was carpeted here with luxuriant grass— thus giving the locality the name of Camas Meadows. continuation sheet 8. Statement of Significance Certifying official has considered the significance of this property in relation to other properties: fy~l nationally I I statewide I I locally Applicable National Register Criteria I IA I IB I Ic I ID NHL Criteria #1 Criteria Considerations (Exceptions) DA CUB d|C do C]E dp QG N/A Areas of Significance (enter categories from instructions) Period of Significance Significant Dates Native American___________________ ______1877__________ 19-20 August Military________________________ ___________________ _________ NHL: X-C-5 Westward Expansion of the Cultural Affiliation British Colonies and the U.S.____ ____________N/A ____Military-Aboriginal Contact and ______________ Conflict - The Western Mountains Significant Person Architect/Builder N/A State significance of property, and justify criteria, criteria considerations, and areas and periods of significance noted above. II. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Nez Perce success at Camas Meadows is nationally significant for extending Maj. Gen. Oliver 0. Howard's Nez Perce campaign for an additional six weeks. His column had caught up in pursuit of his Nez Perce adversaries when he camped there, August 19, 1877. Indian capture of most of his pack mules before dawn on August 20 forced a delay of several days while a new packtrain was brought in from Virginia City. An effort to recover their mules on August 20 failed when Capt. Randolph Norwood's cavalry was besieged by Nez Perce warriors. The Indians then continued into Yellowstone National Park and Mantana unobstructed by military efforts to halt their expedition toward Canada. Capt. James Jackson received a medal of honor for action in Norwood's engagement, but some 150 cavalry were unable to recover most of their horses and mules being rebuffed by the Nez Perce. II. NARRATIVE — Camas Meadows Fight, August 20, 1877 A. With Ihe Nez Perces From the Battle of the Big Hole to Beaver Creek The battle of the Big Hole, fought on August 9, 1877, cost both the Nez Perces and the Army dearly. Col. John Gibbon, compelled to abandon his attack on the Indian village, withdrew his soldiers and retreated into the timber on the slope from which the attackers had first charged. For the rest of the day and until dusk on the 10th, Indian sharpshooters kept the troops pinned down while their families packed and moved on. By nightfall the Nez Perces had vanished. On the morning of August 11, as foot soldiers of the 7th U.S. Infantry buried their dead and succored their wounded, Maj. Gen. Oliver 0. Howard and the vanguard of the mounted column that has been pursuing the Indians since their departure from the Clearwater rode into Gibbon's camp. The rest of Howard's column came up the next day. On the 13th Gibbon's badly mauled battalion started for Deer Lodge, and Howard again took up the pursuit. The Indian— although encumbered with their wounded, their families and baggage—had taken advantage of their 72-hour respite to travel almost 1 B6j g^g&flrluation sheet 9. Major Bibliographical References Bibliography Beal, Merrill D. "I Will Fight No More Forever": Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce War. New York, 1967. Brown, Mark H. The Flight of the Nez Perce: A History of the Nez Perce War. New York, 1967. Chandler, Melbourne C. Of Garryowen in Glory: The History of the 7th U.S. Cavalry. pp. 160. Gulick, Bill. Chief Joseph Country; Land of the Nez Perce. Caldwell, Ida., 1981. Josephy, Alvin M., Jr. The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest. New Haven, 1965. Dsee contlnuatjon sheet Previous documentation on file (NPS): I I preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) Primary location of additional data: has been requested HH State historic preservation office I previously listed in the National Register _ Other State agency I previously determined eligible by the National Register I Federal agency H] designated a National Historic Landmark Local government I recorded by Historic American Buildings I I University Survey # _________________________ I I Other I I recorded by Historic American Engineering Specify repository: Record #__________________________ Idaho State Historical Society 10. Geographical Data Acreage of property 8Q acres_____________________________________________ UTM References Norwood's Site A Ili2l l4l3.6lQ.4iOl UiQlliSll iftiOl B M i?l l4l3i6lQiS.nl \L iQ h .7 17 18 iQ I Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing C II.2| 1413.615,4.01 14,911.717.9.01 D 11.21 1413.615.4.01 14.911.811.9.01 [Xl See continuation sheet Verbal Boundary Description SE 1/4 NW 1/4 T12N R39E (campsite) and W 1/4 NE 1/4 NW 1/4 and E 3/4 NW 1/4 NW 1/4 Section 31, T13N, R40E.