• Nez Perce National Historical Park. Front Page banner photograph is of Heart of the Monster, an ancient place where the Nez Perce creation story originates. The secondary page photograph is of Nez Perce beadwork.

    Nez Perce

    National Historical Park ID,MT,OR,WA

The Struggle of 1877

"You white people measure the Earth and divide it. The Earth is part of my body, and I never gave up the Earth. I belong to the land out of which I came. The Earth is my mother."

Chief Tulhuulhulsuit

"We do not wish to interfere with your religion, but you must talk about practical things. Twenty times over you have repeated the Earth is your mother. and that chieftenship is from the Earth. Let us hear it no more, but come to business at once."

General Oliver O. Howard

The events of 1877, as one Nez Perce elder suggests, can be remembered as "our people's painful and tragic encounter with 'Manifest Destiny'". The series of engagements between certain bands of Nez Perce, their allies and the U.S. Army, in the summer of 1877 are events that still resonnate in the hearts and minds of the Nez Perce. Many of the sites of conflict are protected and preserved by the park and serve as reminders of the sacrifices of those who died.

  • Friends of Nez Perce Battlefields Friends of Nez Perce Battlefields

    Help us protect the battlefields for future generations. Read More

  • Explore the Nez Perce Trail Explore the Nez Perce Trail

    link to the trail web site Read More

Did You Know?

Tolo Lake

For centuries the Nez Perce used Tolo Lake or Tepalewam as a gathering place. In June, 1877 the Wallowa Nez Perce paused here before their final move to the  Reservation.  Brooding over past injustices, warriors raided homes on the Salmon River, precipitating events that would trigger the 1877 War.