Bear Paw Battlefield

We decided we would sleep in this morning, but with the longer sunlight hours and time difference, we got up at the late hour of 8:00. We decided to look for some breakfast, but we were informed that the closest place to eat was Harlem or Havre. Having driven through Harlem yesterday, we didn't think we would find much on a Sunday morning. We ate at our hotel's continental breakfast which was basically cereal and toast.

We took a drive to Bear Paw Battlefield, in the Nez Perce National Historical Park. Once again I didn't have my National Parks Passport to get stamped. I looked for it at home, but couldn't find it to bring on this trip. I had grabbed a brochure on it the night before. I found it a little confusing. This was the location of the final battle of the Nez Perce War of 1877.

The brochure was mostly comments from Nez Perce tribe members, which was neat, but since I'm not real familiar with the events I found it hard to follow. From what I gather, the Nez Perce (pronouced Nee-me-poo) had territory in Idaho and surrounding areas. I don't know who started it (probably us) but the two groups keep retaliating on one another. The Nez Perce decided to leave their homeland and seek refuge in Canada. They often traveled at night since they were passing through the territories of other tribes. They stopped to rest just 40 miles from the Canadian border. The next morning the U.S. troops caught up to them and attacked them.

The battle ended a week later when Chief Joseph surrendered saying, "From where the sun now shines, I will fight no more forever." Colonel Miles in return promises, "Which is the place that you love and want to stay in? I want you to tell me, as I have the power to remove these white people, and let you live there." Chief Joseph was the only one who kept his promise. The Nez Perce were sent to live in Oklahoma, which while similar in terrain, proved to be a difficult climate for them to thrive in.

The whole thing seemed incredibly tragic to me. Anyone who has been to Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho can see that there is much more land than there are people. It seems like they should have been able to work something out. There is a guided trail at the battleground, which is considered sacred ground for the Nez Perce. We wanted to walk it, but the temperature was only about 45 degrees (it later warmed up to 70) and the winds were really high. We might try to go back another day.

The photo above is of one of the male pheasants we saw along the side of the road.