Nez Perce Forlorn Hope: The Battle of White Bird Canyon

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WHAT THEY SAID

Without some aid, in the shape of memoranda, personal or official documents, diaries, or the suggestions and assistance of comrades one is certain to commit blunders, or, to say the least, be guilty of errors on both flanks, front and rear.

— WILLIAM PARNELL

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National Archives

Records of the Assistant Attorney General for Claims Cases, Record Group 205. The Claim of Isabella Robie, no. 10557.

Records of the United States Army Commands, Record Group 98.

1. Records of the Department of the Columbia.

a. Letters Received, 1877-1878. See especially Joel G. Trimble, Report of the Nez Perce Campaign, c. December, 1877, Fort Walla Walla, letter no. 131; and David Perry, Detailed Account of the Affair in White Bird Canõn, June 17, 1877, October 22, 1878, Fort Walla Walla, letter no. 1024.

b. Letters Sent, 1877-1878.

2. Records of Fort Lapwai, Letters Received, 1877.

Records of the United States Court of Claims, Record Group 123. See claims filed by Arthur Chapman (1102), L. P. Brown (2714), Benjamin F. Morris (2718), Catherine Cleary (2723), John J. Manuel (3496), Henry C. Johnson (3501), Hiram Titman (4945), Patrick Brice (7427), Henry Croasdaile (7439), James Chamberlin (8632), and Jennie Bunker (9816).

Records of the Office of the Adjutant General, Record Group 94.

1. ACP File. Personnel files of Perry, Trimble, Parnell and Theller.

2. Medal of Honor File. See folders on William Parnell and Michael McCarthy.

3. Registry of Enlistments in the United States Army, 1798-1914, vols. 72-73 (1871-1877), Microfilm copy no. 233. Arranged alphabetically by year, the records contain basic statistics on enlisted men, including place of birth, age, previous occupation, height, and place of discharge.

4. Regular Army Muster Rolls. Companies F and H of the First Cavalry, 1875-1879.

5. Records of the Office of the Surgeon General. Medical History of Fort Lapwai.

Records of the Office of the Judge Advocate General, Record Group 153.

Transcript of a Court of Inquiry Concerning the Conduct of Captain David Perry During the Nez Perce Campaign of 1877, file no. QQ1738. Contains testimony by Trimble, Parnell, McCarthy, Powers, Shearer, Leeman, Coughlin, and Perry on the Battle of White Bird Canyon.

Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92.

List of Remains of Soldiers and Others Disinterred in Post Cemetery at Fort Lapwai by Second Lieutenant N. F. McClure, c. November 14, 1890, General Correspondence, Military Cemeteries File.

Buck, Henry, "The Nez Perce Indian War of 1877," Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.

Cone, H. W., "White Bird Battle," Idaho Historical Society, Boise, Idaho. Typewritten copy.

McCarthy, Michael, The Journals and Papers of Michael McCarthy, Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. Found in the material is his "Diary" for the period May 6 to August 6, 1877; his typewritten "Army Sketches," which is a reminiscence based on his diary; and his "Journal," which he kept in later years.

McWhorter, Lucullus Virgil, The Papers of Lucullus Virgil McWhorter, Washington State University Library Archives, Pullman, Washington. This is the finest collection of Nez Perce Indian material in the United States. Although Lucullus McWhorter published many of the Indian accounts he recorded in his two books, Yellow Wolf: His Own Story and Hear Me My Chiefs!: Nez Perce History and Legend, there are unpublished fragmentary accounts of interest. Among them are the accounts of About Asleep, First Red Feather on the Wing, and Arthur Simon, which deal with the Battle of White Bird Canyon. Most of the material is described in Nelson Ault, The Papers of Lucullus Virgil McWhorter (Pullman: Friends of the Library of the State College of Washington, 1959).

Peo-Peo Tah-likt, "Stories about Indians as told by Chief Peo-Peo Tah-likt to Sam Lott (Many Wounds), February 25, 1935," Washington State University Library Archives, Pullman, Washington.

Walsh, Helen J., "Personal Experiences of the Nez Perce War," University of Washington Library, Seattle, Washington. Copy in Idaho Historical Society, Boise.

The Daily Oregonian (Portland)

Brown, L. P., Letter from L. P. Brown to Commanding Officer of Fort Lapwai, June 17, 1877, Mount Idaho, The Daily Oregonian, June 21, 1877, p. 3.

Chase, H. M., Letter to the Editor, June 22, 1877, Lewiston, The Daily Oregonian, June 26, 1877, p. 3.

Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper (New York)

"Statistics of the Army," Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, February 8, 1879. p. 415.

The Idaho Statesman (Boise)

Fenn, Frank, Letter to A. F. Parker, The Idaho Statesman, September 4, 1927, section 3, p. 2.

"Idaho Country Marks Sites of Nez Perce Battleground," The Idaho Statesman, September 4, 1927, section 3, p. 2.

Schorr, John, "Participant in Whitebird Massacre Recalls Fatal March into Ambush," The Idaho Statesman, September 13, 1931, section 2, p. 2.

Stranahan, C. P., "Taciturn Chief Joseph Refuses to Discuss War," The Idaho Statesman, June 8, 1933, section 2, p. 4.

Willey, Norman B., "Letter to Editor," The Idaho Statesman, December 8, 1877, p. 2.

Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman (Boise)

Goulder, W. A., "Northern Idaho," Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman, March 4, 1876, p. 2 and February 24, 1877, p. 2.

"Non-Commissioned Officers in the U. S. Army," Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman, August 18, 1877, p. 2.

"Shocking Details," Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman, July 21, 1877, p. 2.

Sears, C. A., "Letter from Mount Idaho," Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman, July 3, 1877, p. 2 and August 4, 1877, p. 2.

Walsh, Helen, Letter to her husband, June 16, 1877, Slate Creek, Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman, June 30, 1877, p. 3.

Idaho World (Idaho City)

Benedict, Isabella, Letter to Mrs. Orchard and Mrs. Dougherty, June 19, 1877, Mount Idaho, Idaho World, July 13, 1877, p. 1.

Brice, Patrick, "The Nez Perce Outbreak," Idaho World, September 14, 1877, p. 2.

Lewiston Morning Tribune

Greenburg, D. W., "Old Luna Clock Rich in History," Lewiston Morning Tribune, May 3, 1936.

Lewiston Teller

Benedict, Isabella, Letter to Alonzo Leland, April 27, 1878, Lewiston Teller, April 26, 1878, p. 1.

Brown, L. P., "From the Scene of Hostilities," Lewiston Teller, June 30, 1877, p. 1.

Chapman, A. I., "More of the Murderers," Lewiston Teller, February 23, 1878, p. 2.

"Indian Status Since Our Last Issue," Lewiston Teller, July 7, p. 4.

JUSTICE, "Reason Why," Lewiston Teller, September 29, 1877, p. 2.

"Keep Cool Gentlemen," Lewiston Teller, July 7, 1877, p. 2.

"Killing of Norton," Lewiston Teller, June 30, 1877, p. 2.

Leland, A., "Letter from Slate Creek," Lewiston Teller, June 30, 1877, p. 4.

"Mount Idaho," Lewiston Teller, June 2, 1877, p. 1.

Poe, J. W., "Beginning of Nez Perce Hostilities," Lewiston Teller, April 13, 1878, p. 2.

__________, "Letter from Mount Idaho," Lewiston Teller, July 28, 1877, p. 1.

Popham, George, "From the Scene of Hostilities," Lewiston Teller, June 30, 1877, p. 4.

SCOUT, "Letter from Lewiston," Lewiston Teller, June 30, 1877, p. 4.

Swarts, Theodore, Letter to Alonzo Leland, July 21, Mount Idaho, Lewiston Teller, July 28, 1877, p. 4.

"Theller's Remains," Lewiston Teller, December 15, 1877, p. 2.

Walsh, Helen J., "Incidents of an Indian Murder," Lewiston Teller, September 9, 1877, p. 2.

"White Feather," Lewiston Teller, July 14, 1877, p. 3.

The New Northwest (Deer Lodge. Montana)

McDonald, Duncan, "Goaded to the War-Path," The New Northwest, June 21, 1878.

New York Times

"Soldier Life and Death," New York Times, July 12, 1877, p. 2.

The Times (London)

"The American Indians," The Times, July 3, 1877, p. 10.

Adkison, Harriet Brown, "Inside Mount Idaho Fort," in Nez Perce Indian War Original Stories by Norman D. Adkison, Grangeville, Idaho, Idaho County Free Press, 1966, pp. 42-45.

Adkison, John R., "The Norton Rescue," in Original Stories, pp. 36-37.

Babcock, W. H., "Joseph, The Nez Perce, Harper's New Monthly Magazine 58 (1878), p. 109.

Baird, G. W., "The Capture of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce," The International Review 7 (1879), pp. 209-15.

"Blackeagle, Chief Joseph's Nephew, Has Passed Away," The Nez Perce Indian (Lapwai Agency) 14 (1918), p. 1.

Bromlow, George Francis, ed., Nez Perce War Diary--1877 of Private Frederick Mayer of Troop L, 1st United States Cavalry," in Seventh Biennial Report of Trustees of the Idaho Historical Society, 1939-1940, Boise, Idaho, December 31, 1940, pp. 27-31.

Carpenter, John A., "General Howard and the Nez Perce War of 1877," Pacific Northwest Quarterly (1958), pp. 129-45.

Chaffee, Eugene B., ed., "Nez Perce War Letters to Governor Mason Brayman," in Fifteenth Biennial Report of the Board of Trustees of the State Historical Society for the Year 1935-1936, Boise, State Historical Society, 1936.

Chief Joseph, "Chief Joseph's Own Story," in Northwestern Fights and Fighters by Cyrus Townsend Brady, Garden City, 1913, pp. 48-75.

"Chief Joseph Was a Great Indian," The Indian School Journal 5 (1904), pp. 37-39.

Faxon, H. A., "Survivor of Nez Perce War," Winners of the West 14 (February, 1937), p. 7.

Forse, Albert Gallatin, "Chief Joseph as a Commander," Winners of the West 13 (November, 1936), pp. 1, 3-6.

Greenburg, D. W., "Victim of the Nez Perce Tells Story of Indian Atrocities," Winners of the West 3 (February 15, 1926), p. 8. Account by Jennie Norton Bunker.

Haines, Francis, "Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce Warriors," Pacific Northwest Quarterly 45 (1954), pp. 1-7.

______________ ed., "The Skirmish at Cottonwood: A Previously Unpublished Eyewitness Account of an Engagement of the Nez Perce War by George Shearer," Idaho Yesterdays 2 (1958), pp. 2-7.

Howard, O. O., "The True Story of the Wallowa Campaign," The North American Review 129 (1879), pp. 1-7.

Hutchins, James S., "Mounted Riflemen: The Real Role of Cavalry in the Indian Wars," in Probing the American West, ed. by K. Ross Toole, et. al., Santa Fe, Museum of New Mexico Press, 1962, pp. 79-85.

Laird, Floyd, ed., "Reminiscences of Francis M. Redfield, Chief Joseph's War," Pacific Northwest Quarterly 28 (1936), pp. 66-77.

Moody, Charles Stuart, "The Bravest Deed I Ever Knew," Century Magazine 55 (1911), pp. 783-84.

Norton, Hill Beachy, "Hill Beachy Norton Speaks Out of the Past," in Original Stories, pp. 38-39.

Parnell, William R., "The Battle of White Bird Canõn," in Northwestern Fights, pp. 90-111.

____________________ "The Nez Perce Indian War--1877: Battle of White-Bird Canõn," The United Service, n.s. 2 (1889), pp. 364-74.

__________________, "Recollections of 1861," The United Service 13 (1885), pp. 264-70.

Perry, David, "The Battle of White Bird Canõn," in Northwestern Fights, pp. 112-18.

____________, "The First and Second Battles in the Lava Beds, and the Capture of Captain Jack," in Northwestern Fights, pp. 291-304.

Redington, J. W., "Battle of White Bird Canyon, Idaho, June 17, 1877," Winners of the West 4 (April 30, 1929), p. 2.

Rowton, J. G., "A Tribute to Mrs. Bunker," Winners of the West 3 (March 30, 1926), p. 2.

Ruby, Robert H., "First Account of Nez Perce War by Man Who Went: Josiah Red Wolf," Inland Empire Magazine, November 17, 1963, p. 3.

Schorr, John, "The White Bird Fight," Winners of the West 4 (February 28, 1929), p. 7.

Trimble, Joel G., "Carrying a Strecher Through the Lava-Beds," in Northwestern Fights, pp. 314-19.

_______________, "The Country They Marched and Fought Over," in Northwestern Fights, pp. 281-85.

_______________, "The Killing of the Commissioners," in Northwestern Fights, pp. 286-90.

Trimble, Will J., "A Soldier of the Oregon Frontier," The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society 8 (1907), pp. 42-50.

Whittaker, F., "The American Army," The Galaxy 24 (1877), pp. 390-98.

Wilmot, Luther P., "The Norton Massacre," in Original Stories, pp. 21-25.

Wood, C. E. S., "Chief Joseph, The Nez Perce, Magazine 28 (1884), pp. 135-42. Reprinted in The Red Man 19 5, pp. 189-204.

Woodruff, C. A., "Battle of the Big Hole," in Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana, Helena, Montana Historical Society, 1910, 7, pp. 97-116.

Adkison, Norman B., Nez Perce Indian War and Original Stories, Grangeville, Idaho, Idaho County Free Press, 1966. See articles.

An Illustrated History of North Idaho, Western Historical Publishing Company, 1903. A great deal of useful information included on the settlers and settlements involved in the beginning of the Nez Perce Indian War.

Bailey, Robert G., River of No Return, Lewiston, Bailey Publishing Company. Contains accounts by H. W. Cone and Grant Benedict.

Bancroft, Hubert Howe, History of Washington, Idaho and Montana, San Francisco, The History Co., 1890.

Beale, Merrill D., "I Will Fight No More Forever": Chief Joseph and the Nez War, Seattle, University of Washington Press, 1963. Good summary. Best on later phases of the war.

Beyer, W. F. and O. F. Keydel, eds., Deeds of Valor, 2 vols., Detroit, Perrin-Keydel Co., 1903. Contains highly romanticized account of Sergeant McCarthy's part in the Battle of White Bird Canyon.

Brady, Cyrus Townsend, Northwestern Fights and Fighters, Garden City, Doubleday Page & Company, 1913. See articles.

Brown, Mark H., The Flight of the Nez Perce, New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1967. Contains much new material. Good account of military operations.

Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana, Helena, Montana Historical Society, 1910, Vol. 7. See articles.

Curtis, Edward S., The North American Indian, 20 vols., Norwood, Edward S. Curtis, 1911. Volume 8 contains accounts by Yellow Bull and Three Eagles.

Defenbach, Byron, Idaho, The place and Its People: A History of the Gem State from Prehistoric to Present Days, 3 vols., Chicago, The American Historical Society, Inc., 1933. Volume I contains account by Maggie Manuel.

Drury, Clifford M., Marcus Whitman, M. D., Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1937.

Elsensohn, M. Alfreda, Pioneer Days in Idaho County, 2 vols., Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1947, 1951. Second volume edited by Eugene F. Hoy. Rambling but valuable local history.

Fee, Chester Anders, Chief Joseph: The Biography of a Great Indian, New York, Wilson-Erickson, 1936. Part fact and part fiction. Undocumented, but does have bibliography.

Gaston, Joseph, Portland, Oregon: Its History and Builders, Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911. Volume 3 contains biography of Colonel William William Chapman.

Haines, Francis, The Nez Perces: Tribesmen of the Columbia Plateau, Norman, Oklahoma, University of Oklahoma Press, 1955. One of the best studies available. Critical bibliography.

Hawley, James H., ed., History of Idaho, Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1920. Volume 4 contains biography of Dr. John Morris.

Heitman, Francis B., Historical Register of the United States Army, 1789-1903, 2 vols., Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1903.

Howard, Helen Addison, Saga of Chief Joseph, Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd. 1965 Latest revised edition of the history of the Nez Perce Indian War by the author, which, unlike earlier editions, plays down the role of Joseph as a military strategist. Good bibliography.

Howard, O. O., Nez Perce Joseph: An Account of His Ancestors, His Lands, His Confederates, His Enemies, His Murders, His War, His Pursuit and Capture, Boston, Lee and Shepard Publishers, 1881 Excellent for understanding the workings of the military, but Howard is highly imaginative in discussing Indian motives and tactics.

Hunter, George, Reminiscences of an Old Timer, San Francisco, H. S. Crocker and Co., 1887.

Jocelyn, Stephen Perry, Mostly Alkali, Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1953.

Josephy, Alvin M., Jr., The Patriot Chiefs: A Chronicle of Indian Leadership, New York, the Viking Press, 1961. Chapter 9 is devoted to Joseph.

Josephy, Alvin M., Jr., The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest, New Haven, Connecticut, Yale University Press, 1965. Perhaps the best book yet written on the Nez Perce. Certainly the best account of the tribe prior to the outbreak.

Kirkwood, Charlotte M., The Nez Perce Indian War Under Chiefs Joseph and Whitebird, Grangeville, Idaho, Idaho County Free Press, 1928. Contains accounts by E. J. Bunker, Helen Walsh, and Isabella Benedict in the first person, and accounts of Catherine Elfers, Jennie Norton, Lynn Bowers, and H. C. Brown based on interviews.

Knight, Oliver, Following the Indian Wars, Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1960.

List of Field Officers, Regiments, and Battalions in the Confederate States Army, 1861-1865, n.p., n.d.

Malone, Dumas, ed., Dictionary of American Biography, 22 vols., New York, 1928-1944. Volumes 9 and 10.

McWhorter, Lucullus Virgil, Hear Me My Chiefs!: Nez Perce History and Legend, ed. by Ruth Bordin, Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd. 1952. In many cases the author lets the Indians speak for themselves. Of particular value for this study are the accounts of Two Moons, Camille Williams, Wetatonmi, Nat Webb, Wounded Head, Black Feather, Bow and Arrow Case, and Roaring Eagle.

_________________, Yellow Wolf: His Own Story, rev. ed., Caldwell, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1948. The best account of the war by a Nez Perce.

Murray, Keith A., The Modocs and Their War; Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1959.

Pollock, Robert W., Grandfather, Chief Joseph and Pyschodynamics, Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1964.

Report of the Secretary of War, 1878, Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office, 1878.

Spinder, Herbert Joseph, The Nez Perce Indians [Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association, vol. 2, part 3], Lancaster, Pennsylvania, New Era Print Co., 1908.

Secretary of the State of Idaho, Twenty-Seventh Report of the Secretary of the State of Idaho, 1943-1944, Boise, 1944. Contains biographical information on L. P. Brown, Frank Fenn, B. B. Norton, and George Shearer.

State Historical Society, Fifteenth Biennial Report of the Board of Trustees of the State Historical Society for the Year 1935-1936, Boise, State Historical Society, 1936. See articles.

____________________________, Eleventh Biennial Report of the Board of Trustees of the State Historical Society of Idaho, Boise, State Historical Society, 1928. Contains biographical sketch of Frank Fenn.

_______________________________, Tenth Biennial Report of the Board of Trustees of the State Historical Society of Idaho, 1925-1926, Boise, State Historical Society, 1926. Contains biographical sketch of Dr. John Morris.

Toole, K. Ross, et al., Probing the American West, Santa Fe, Museum of New Mexico Press, 1962. See articles.

United States Senate, Claims of the Nez Perce Indians, Senate Executive Document 257, 56th Congress, 1st session. Testimony of many of the Nez Perce who acted as scouts for Perry.

Webb, George W., Chronological List of Engagements Between the Regular Army of the United States and Various Tribes of Hostile Indians, Which Occurred During the Year, 1790 to 1898, Inclusive, St. Joseph, Missouri, Wing printing and Publishing Company, 1939.