Nez Perce Forlorn Hope: The Battle of White Bird Canyon

1. A native Virginian, Manuel migrated to Idaho during the gold rush and settled in Warren, where he built and managed a hotel. In 1873 he sold his property and bought a ranch from Arthur Chapman on White Bird Creek, one mile east of the present town of White Bird. Manuel owned about 300 head of cattle in partnership with Benjamin F. Morris. In the late 1860's he married Jennet Popham. Her father, George Popham, was a frequent visitor and had been at the Manuel ranch since the fall of 1876. Statement of J. J. Manuel, February 6, 1878; statement of Benjamin F. Morris, August 16, 1890; and statement of George Woodward, August 16, 1890, in Claim of Benjamin F. Morris, no. 2718, RG 123. See also the account of Maggie Manuel Bowman in "William Bowman, North Idaho, pp. 529-30; George Popham, "From the Scene of Hostilities," Lewiston Teller, June 30, 1877, p. 1.

2. Baker was a bachelor. His ranch stood near the center of the present town of White Bird. Baker was one of 57 settlers who had petitioned Howard on May 7 to remove the nontreaty band to the reservation. H. W. Cone, p. 4; Mark Brown, The Flight of the Nez Perce, p. 61.

3. Patrick Brice was born in Londonderry, Ireland, in 1837. At the age of 14 he emigrated to the United States. After spending some time in Oregon, he moved to Idaho to search for gold. In his later years he worked as a miner in Montana and apparently died sometime around the turn of the century. Statement of Patrick Brice, November 23, 1897. Anaconda, Montana, Claim of Patrick Brice, no. 7427, RG 123.

4. Patrick Brice, "The Nez Perce Outbreak," Idaho World, (Idaho City), September 14, 1877, p. 2; Popham, Lewiston Teller, p. 1; Maggie Bowman in North Idaho, p. 529. The third Manuel child, Julia, was in school at Mount Idaho.

5. Maggie Bowman in North Idaho, 530.

6. Statement of Manuel, February 6, 1878, Morris 2718; Statement of Manuel, February 13, 1878, and statement of George Popham, August 13, 1890, Claim of John J. Manuel, no. 3496, RG 123; Brice, Idaho World; Popham, Lewiston Teller; Maggie Bowman in North Idaho, pp. 529-30.

7. Samuel Benedict was a Canadian by birth. Born in Shannonville Ontario, he migrated to Idaho in 1862 during the gold rush and in 1868 settled near the mouth of White Bird Creek. On February 7, 1863, he married Isabella Kelly, a fiery redhead of Irish ancestry, who had been born on Staten Island in 1848, shortly after her parents disembarked to find a new life in a new country. The Benedicts had four children: Grant, Caroline, Frances, and Addie. At the time of the outbreak the two older children were attending school in Mount Idaho.

Like Henry Elfers, Samuel Benedict had more than one source of income. In addition to farming and raising horse, cattle, hogs, and chickens, Benedict ran a general store and wayside inn and did blacksmithing. In 1874 he obtained a franchise from the county to operate a ferry across the Salmon River. His extensive orchards produced apples, pears plums, peaches, cherries, and grapes, and he kept a few acres in vegetables. Isabella also put her talents to work and occasionally taught school in a building her husband erected for the purpose. Apparently rich in physical assets and promises to pay, Benedict was short on cash. At the time of the outbreak, his books showed that the debts of his customers totaled more than $1000.

Benedict had a reputation as a bootlegger, and one settler noted that the Indians who congregated around his store were often drunk and quarrelsome. According to J. W. Poe, who apparently investigated the matter thoroughly in 1878, some Nez Perce attempted to force their way into Benedict's store to obtain liquor late on the night of August 29, 1875. Grabbing his rifle, Benedict opened fire and succeeded in driving them off. In the process, according to Poe, he killed one Indian and wounded one or two others. On the other hand, Isabella Benedict stated in a letter to the editor of the Lewiston Teller that her husband had wounded two Indians, but that he had not killed any. She went on to relate that they found the body of an Indian near the store the following morning. He had been killed with a pistol, which they later learned was his own. The Nez Perce, however, tell a different story. They declared that the shooting occurred in broad daylight and that Red Moccasin Tops was the only casualty. According to them, he took some buckshot in the back of his head but quickly recovered. Sometime before or after the incident, the Nez Perce said Benedict apparently murdered an Indian named Chipmunk for stealing liquor from under his nose.

For information on Benedict and the killing see "Edward W. Robie" and "William G. Brown," in North Idaho, pp. 464-65, 543. Robie later married Isabella Benedict and Brown married her daughter Addie. See also Letter from Isabella Benedict to Alonzo Leland, April 17, 1878, Lewiston Teller, April 26, 1878, p. 1; Affidavit of Isabella Robie, November 9, 1899, and the statement of Charles F. Cone, Robie, 10557; M. Alfreda Elsensohn, Pioneer Days in Idaho County by Eugene F. Hoy (Caldwell, 1951), 2, p. 71; Bailey, River of No Return, p. 205; Poe, "Beginnings of Nez Perce Hostilities," Lewiston Teller, April 13, 1878, p. 2; McWhorter, Hear Me pp. 210-11.

8. Letter from Isabella Benedict to Mrs. Orchard and Mrs. Dougherty, Mount Idaho, June 19, Idaho World, July 13, 1877, p. 1; Affidavit of Isabella Robie, November 9, 1889, Robie 10557.

9. Account of Isabella Robie in Kirkwood, Nez Perce Indian War, p. 50.

10. Affidavit of John Doumecq, Abstract of Evidence, May 10, 1898, Robie 10557; "John Doumecq," North Idaho, p. 525.

11. Isabella Robie in Kirkwood, p. 50.

12. Benedict letter, June 19, Idaho World, p. 1; Kirkwood, p. 50.

13. Letter from Camille Williams to McWhorter, c. May, 1942, McWhorter Collection; Brice, Idaho World, p. 2; McWhorter, Hear Me, p. 212. On June 20 Louis Boucher returned to the Benedict ranch and found it destroyed by fire. He saw the body of Benedict "laying in the creek," but made no effort to retrieve it. When others later searched for the corpse, it could not be found. Affidavit of Louis Boucher, August 1, 1890, Robie 10557.

14. Isabella Robie in Kirkwood, pp. 50-51.

15. Kirkwood, p. 46; McWhorter, Hear Me, pp. 212-13.

16. Harry Mason was born in 1830, apparently in England. When about 18 years old, he signed on a whaling vessel and sailed around Cape Horn to San Francisco. The dream of quick riches kept him in California for more than a decade In 1861 he formed a partnership with his friend Henry Elfers and headed for Warren, Idaho, to try his luck in the new goldfields. The following year Mason and Elfers settled on John Day Creek and began raising stock. Mason later sold his share in the ranch to Elfers and moved to Mason Prairie, where he kept a stage station. In 1872 he returned to Salmon River and bought a ranch and store about three miles upriver from the mouth of White Bird Creek.

Mason and William Osborn married sisters, Anna and Elizabeth Klein. Osborn located one-half mile upriver and operated a placer mine on the bank of the Salmon. About 48 years old, Osborn had been born in Massachusetts and reached Idaho as early as 1864. Elizabeth Osborn was born in Hessendamstodt, Germany, in 1842. She married Osborn on October 29, 1867. After his wife died in 1876. Mason asked his sister and her husband, Helen and Edward Walsh, to live with him Edward might work in the store and Helen could keep house. Walsh was a Civil War amputee with one arm and was apparently having difficulty making a living, so the couple accepted. Helen reached the Mason ranch with her two children early in the fall of 1876, and Edward planned to follow a year later. See Helen Julia Walsh, "Personal Experiences of the Nez Perce War," pp. 1-4.

17. H. W. Cone identifies French Frank as Francois Chodoze. Apparently all of the men were in the employ of Mason at the time. H. W. Cone account in River of No Return, p. 187.

18. The following account of the Mason Affair is based primarily on three accounts written by Helen Walsh. See "Personal Experiences of the Nez Perce War," pp. 5-29; "Incident of an Indian Murder," Lewiston Teller, September 9, 1877, p. 2; and her account in Kirkwood, pp. 43-45.

19. C. A. Sears, "Letter from Mount Idaho," Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman, (Boise) July 3, 1877, p. 2; North Idaho, p. 53.

20. In her accounts of the affair, Helen Walsh indicated that she and Elizabeth Osborn had been treated kindly by the war party. Apparently she did not wish the fact of their misfortune known. A diarist, who visited Slate Creek on June 26, reported that the women had been raped and would not show themselves because of their shame. Michael McCarthy, "Diary," June 26, 1877 (The Journals and Papers of Michael McCarthy, Library of Congress). See also North Idaho, p. 54.

21. "William J. Wilson," North Idaho, p. 571.

22. H.W. Cone, "White Bird Battle," pp. 3-4; "Wilson," North Idaho, p. 571; Walsh "Personal Experiences," pp. 29-31; Statement of Hiram Titman, 1888, Claim of Hiram Titman, no. 4945 and statement of Philip Cleary, September 23, 1890, Cleary 2723, RG 123; Kirkwood, p. 42. Cone reported that there were 25 miners who came to the rescue but Wilson stated that there were 12 and Cleary placed the number between 12 and 15.

23. "Wilson," p. 571; "Charles P. Cone," p. 550; H.W. Cone, "White Bird Battle," p. 3; H.W. Cone in River of No Return, pp. 184-85; Walsh, "Personal Experiences," p. 30; Elsensohn, 2, pp. 279-281.

24. Benedict letter, June 19, Idaho World, September 14, p. 2.

25. Brice, Nez Perce Outbreak," Idaho World, September 14, p. 2.