Portland State University PDXScholar History Faculty Publications and Presentations History 1-1-1990 Where did the Nez Perces go in Yellowstone in 1877? William L. Lang Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/hist_fac Part of the United States History Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Citation Details Lang, W. L. (1990). Where did the Nez Perces go in Yellowstone in 1877?. Montana: The Magazine Of Western History, 40(1), 14-29. This Article is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. Where Did the Nez Perces by William L. Lang On October 5, 1877, at the end of one of the trulyheroic episodes in the Indian Wars in the Northwest, Chief Joseph of the Nez Percessurrendered to General Nelson A. Miles on a snow-dustedbattlefield along Snake Creek near present- day Havre, Montana. The Indians gave up just forty-some miles short of their destination-the international border with Canada,where they hoped to find a sanctuary.They had been pursued for nearly three months and over thirteen hundredmiles fromtheir reservationin central Idaho,testing the military'sskill and their own stamina. In his surrender message,Joseph describedhis people's condition as destitute and his warriorsas tired of the struggle."I will fight no more forever"-purportedly Joseph's words-became an anthem and was symbolic of the Nez Perces' struggleand failure to . : escape the military's inevitable maw. A few more daysof either better weatheror more strength might have changed the tragicoutcome of this nearly legen- dary tale of heroics on the Montana plains. What had pre- vented the Nez Perces from outdistancing their pursuers? How had they been able to succeed for hundredsof miles and months of deprivationonly to fall short duringthe firstweeks of autumn? Partof the explanation is in YellowstoneNational Park.It was in Yellowstone that the Nez Perces took their only rest duringthe long march. Having consistently outmaneuvered the military since their flight in central Idaho in July, the eight hundredor moreNez Perceshad pushedthemselves and their nearlytwo thousandhead of stock as hardas they could. But in Yellowstone, with the military several days behind them, they pausedfor nearlytwo weeks, time enough to have outracedthe harsh autumnweather and the military'spincer to gain sanctuaryin Canada. Why did the Indiansstay so long in the Park?And exactly where did they go?These two questionshave puzzledjournal- ists and historiansever since the surrender,and the answers that have been proposedhave never been satisfactory.Too manycontradictions remain unresolved and too many impor- tant issues have been ignored by historians, whose inatten- tion to details of the geography and ignorance of the landformshave sent them literallyon the wrong trails.Their misreadingof the documentsand their mistakenassumptions about Indian leadershiphave led them even furtherastray. Most importantly, they have misunderstood the Indians' purpose. The clues have been there all along, both in the documentsand on the groundin YellowstoneNational Park.z 14 MONTANATHE MAGAZINEOF WESTERNHISTORY This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Fri, 7 Dec 2012 11:48:26 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 0 cJ) 0 OC) 0 UM 03 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Fri, 7 Dec 2012 11:48:26 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions R etracing the physicalroute of the Nez Reservation directly to Canada and safety. But Perces and the documentarytrail left by LookingGlass urged going south and east to the military,civilian, and Indian sources is part Yellowstone country and the Crows because, as detectivework and partprimer on the importance LookingGlass reportedlyargued, "theCrows had of details in reconstructinghistoric events. The promisedthem that whenever the Nez Percesfought sourcesare meager: military reports and official his- the whites they wouldjoin them."3 tories; contemporarynews stories and articles; This was one of several times duringthe flight popularaccounts; a few diaries,letters, and mem- when Nez Perce leadershotly debatedwhat tactics oirs of participants;and Indianoral histories. But to employ and which route to take. Whites have the informationis there, if only the right questions consistently misinterpretedthe content and pur- are asked. pose of these councils.To observersfamiliar with The rightquestions begin withthe historyof the militarydecision making,the Indians'discussions events during the summer of 1877. Because of have suggested confusion and disorganizationof political, economic, and especially religious and the worst kind, dominatedby indecisionand ineffi- culturalconflicts, bands of Nez Perces on their res- ciency. Although we do not know many of the ervationin centralIdaho (led principallyby Joseph, details,it is clear that the Nez Perce leaders chose LookingGlass, and White Bird) chose to flee for theirroute as theywent by solvingproblems through sanctuaryrather than engage frontier military forces council discussions. In this case, Looking Glass thathad been sent to chastise them.Akey figurein evidentlyconvinced his fellow chiefs that going to the conflict,Chief Joseph, had unwillinglyled his Crowcountry by way of the Bitterrootand Big Hole bandfrom its homelandin northeasternOregon to valleys was the safest route.4 the reservationin Idaho just before the military Their decision to campin the Big Hole Valleyin began its disciplinaryaction. Heading east fromthe earlyAugust, however, turned out to be tragic.John ClearwaterRiver in July, with General O. O.Howard Gibbon'stroops from Fort Shaw and an undisci- and the 7th Infantryin pursuit, the Nez Perces plined company of volunteers surprised the Nez engaged in a flee-hide-and-retreatstrategy to suc- Percesin a pre-dawnraid. The whitesinflicted heavy cessfully outmaneuverthe often slow movingmili- losses anddestroyed most of the Nez Perces'house- tary, followinga difficulttrail over Lolo Pass and hold goods. "Itwas a dreadfulsight," Major Edwin down into Montana'sBitterroot Valley. Mason of the 7th Infantrywrote his wife afterthe In Montana,the Nez Perces made their second battle, "dead men, women and children. More majordecision, which committedthem to travers- squaws were killed than men."5The Nez Perces ing some of the roughestterrain in NorthAmerica. ralliedto fight off the raidersand then reeled from After the Indianshad skirted the barricadesthat the battlein angerand facing a diresituation. In pain CaptainC. C. Rawnfrom Fort Missoula had thrown and sorrow,they carriedwith them the remnantsof up at the bottomof LoloCanyon-afterward known theirhouseholds and racedheadlong east fromthe as "FortFizzle"-the chiefs argued about where battlefield,trying to shake Howardand Gibbon.By they shouldgo. Mostwanted to avoida fight,with at 2. The best historicalaccounts of the Nez Perceflight are Merrill D. least one leader warningthat it could only end in Beal, "IWill Fight No MoreForever," ChiefJoseph and theNez Perce War (Seattle:University of WashingtonPress, 1963);Mark H. Brown,The complete destruction.White Bird and Red Owl Flightof the Nez Perce(New York:Putnam, 1967); Francis Haines, Red wantedto head norththrough the FlatheadIndian Eaglesof the Northwest: The Story of ChiefJosephand His People (Portland: ScholasticPress, 1939);Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., The Nez Perce Indians and 1. Withintwo years,articles were publishedin nationalperiodicals the Openingof the Northwest(New Haven,Connecticut: Yale University aboutthe Nez Perceflight and ChiefJoseph. The firstby a participantwas Press, 1965).The best histories from Indiansources are LucullusV. The Wondersof GeyserLand: A Tripto the YellowstoneNational Park of McWhorter,Hear Me MyChiefs! Nez Perce History and Legend (Caldwell, Wyoming(Black Earth, Wisconsin: Burnett & Son, 1878), written by Frank Idaho:Caxton Printers, 1942); McWhorter, Yellow Wolf: His OwnStory Carpenter,a tourist captured by the Nez Perces in Yellowstone. Carpenter's (Caldwell,Idaho: Caxton Printers, 1940); Allen P. Slickpoo,Nonn Nee-Me- accountcreated several myths aboutthe Indians?motives and actions. Poo (We,the Nez Perces)Culture and Historyof the Nez Perces(Lapwai, Oneyear later, Rt. Rev. W. H. Hareedited "Chief Joseph's Own Story," in Idaho:Nez PerceTribe, 1973). NorthAmerican Review (April 1879), which told the storypurportedly in 3. A confidantof the Nez Perces,fur trader Duncan McDonald, got Joseph'sown words. ThomasA. Sutherland,a journalistwho accompa- this informationin conversationswith Nez Perces in Canadaafter the nied the militaryduring part of the pursuit,wrote Howard's Campaign flightand reported them in a series of letterspublished in NewNorthwest Againstthe Nez Perce Indians (Portland: A. G.Walling, 1878) and contrib- (DeerLodge, Montana), January 10, January 17, February 7,1879. At this uted significantlyto the imageof Josephas a militarygenius. Ami Frank pointof decision,and likely others, the Nez Perceshad alternative plans. Mulford'sFightingIndians in the7th United States Calvary (Corning, New Accordingto McDonald,White Bird had been preparedto chargeRawn's York:Paul L. Mulford,1878) added to Joseph'smilitary reputation. By breastworks,torch the whole area, burn out ranchers,and race north 1881,when O. O. Howardwrote