BIG HOLE NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD Big Hole National Battlefield is 10 miles west of Wisdom, Montana, on Montana Highway 43. The Nez Perce were camped in this area in 1877 when they were attacked by Col. John Gibbon's troops. The 655-acre unit of the National Park System is managed by the National Park Service. Two self-guiding trails lead from the lower parking area to the location of the Nez Perce camp and the seige area where U.S. soldiers were pinned down during the second half of the battle. Another self-guiding trail leads to a site on the hill overlooking the scene where a prolonged battle took place. The U.S. Army brought a 12-pound mountain howitzer. After the army fired two rounds into the village, Nez Perce warriors subdued the howitzer detachment and captured and dismantled the howitzer. The Big Hole Battlefield Visitor Center interprets the Big Hole Battle and the War of 1877. Wayside exhibits, trail guide booklets, and battlefield markers supply details of the battle on the battlefield. The National Battlefield, which is surrounded by ranching operations and the Beaverhead National Forest, retains much of the character of 1877 when Col. John Gibbon's forces attacked the Nez Perce at their camp next to the Big Hole River. The few visual intrusions are the National Park Service visitor center and housing, and a single light-colored ranch outbuilding in the distance. This area is traditionally used by the Flathead, the Kootenai-Salish, and many other Native American tribes. Land use in the vicinity is cattle ranching. The National Park Service does not have title to the subsurface minerals under some of the national battlefield; this could be a potential threat.

As an addition to the 655 acres now in federal ownership, 355 acres along the east boundary are being appraised for NPS acquisition in cooperation with the landowner. NPS visitor and operational facilities on the battlefield are a Visitor Center, five residential structures (providing ten living units), a water treatment plant, a picnic area, interpretive trails, and parking lots. There are minor roads for internal circulation. As a separate unit of the National Park System, Big Hole receives administrative support and management oversight from Nez Perce National Historical Park headquarters in Spalding, Idaho. The battlefield is a site along the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail, and the National Park Service works closely with the Forest Service in managing and interpreting associated resources.

MANAGEMENT ISSUES The exhibits and slide presentation are outdated and inadequate. There is insufficient interpretive space. The trails are not accessible to visitors with disabilities. There is an existing non-NPS water right. The use of cavalry hats and feathers as symbols may be offensive. Management Zoning The following management zones will be established for Big Hole National Battlefield: The historic zone will cover the battlefield and will include the siege area, the howitzer capture site, the Nez Perce camp, and a section of the Nez Perce (Nee-Me Poo) National Historic Trail. Lands in the development zone will be those used for nonhistoric park development and intensive use. The developments in this zone serve the needs of park management and park visitors. When the battlefield was enlarged in 1963, the top of Ruby Bench was added to be used for the developed area. It contains the entrance road, the visitor center, the employees' residence, the sewage lagoons, and the access road to the battle area parking lot. The battle area road and the lower parking lot will also be in this zone. The special use zone encompasses the irrigation facilities used by the owners of private water rights. Although the National Park Service owns the land, the deeds reserve the private use of four irrigation ditches and the right of access to maintain and repair them. Three ditches are on the slope of Ruby Bench, which includes a service road. The vehicles of the water rights owners traverse this special use zone to maintain the ditches. The ditches on the northeast and southeast corners of the battlefield do not have service roads. Each ditch has a different combination of rights claimants.

ACTION PLAN The visitor center will be rehabilitated on the basis of functional analysis, and displays will be expanded. Curatorial and maintenance space will be expanded. A monument for the Nez Perce will be established. A visitor circulation plan will be developed and implemented. The lower parking lot will be redesigned to minimize visual impact. The housing and parking intrusions will be mitigated through redesign, realignment, and screening. The historic scene will be retained, and the viewshed north and south of the site will be preserved. The Park Service will facilitate understanding of the entire park and nearby sites. Trail interpretive media will be rethought and redesigned, to replace the hats and feathers. Artifacts from the archeological survey will be incorporated into exhibits. The Park Service will continue strong ties with the Forest Service. Shoshone-Bannock and Flathead Tribes will be consulted about their traditional uses in the area. Land acquisition of 355 acres will be completed. Surveys for special concern species will be conducted, and any mitigation needed to avoid impacts on such species will be implemented.