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Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings
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BIG HOLE NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD
Montana
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Location: Beaverhead County, on Mont. 43, about 12
miles west of Wisdom; address: c/o Yellowstone National Park,
Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. 82190.
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This national battlefield memorializes the courage of
the Nez Perce Indians and the soldiers who fought one of the battles of
the Nez Perce War at the site in 1877. After crossing the Lolo Trail in
their flight from Idaho, believing their tribulations over, the
nontreaty Nez Perces proceeded southward along the Bitterroot Valley.
Reaching the Big Hole prairie on August 7, they camped near the north
fork of the Big Hole River.
On August 8 Col. John Gibbon, accompanied by 17
officers and 146 enlisted men of the 7th Infantry from Fort Ellis,
Missoula, and Shaw, Mont., and a group of civilian volunteers located
the camp. That evening the troops, undetected, took a position directly
across the river from it. At dawn, the tepees clearly in sight, they
moved down into the willow-lined river bottom. An Indian on his way to
check the horseherd, which the troops had already passed, approached the
left of the line. When one of the men fired and killed him, the assault
began. The troops plunged across the river to the camp. Most of the
Indians, who had been sleeping, fled in panic. Some ran directly into
the path of the soldiers, who fired at anyone in sightman, woman,
or child. Before the troops could destroy the camp, the Indians,
infuriated at the loss of women and children, began a counterattack.
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Indian village site, Big Hole
National Battlefield. The tepees marking the site were erected for the
visitor center ground-breaking ceremonies in August 1967, but have since
been removed. (photo Bill Keller, National Park
Service) |
The soldiers retreated to a wooded area across the
river from the upper end of the camp. They took shelter on a bluff
behind logs and trees and in hastily dug rifle pits. At this point, some
of the Indians besieged the troops, while others returned to the camp to
pack supplies and equipment. The main body departed, continuing their
retreat, while a small group of warriors maintained the siege until the
next morning.
Gibbon was unable to give pursuit because of his
heavy losses29 dead and 40 woundedand lack of supplies. His
men had slain 89 Indians, including probably 50 women and children, and
wounded many more. The loss of warriors, lodges, and supplies seriously
handicapped the embittered Nez Perces, but they pushed on southward and
eastward across Yellowstone National Park. Continually brushing aside or
eluding the military forces pursuing them, they then turned northward en
route to a hoped-for refuge in Canada. But less than 2 months elapsed
before they met a heart-rending defeat at the Battle of Bear Paw
Mountains, Mont.
Big Hole National Battlefield embraces the siege
area, the site of the Indian village, a monument to the Nez Perce Chief
Joseph, the place where the Indians captured a howitzer, and the area
across the Big Hole River where the Nez Perces besieged the troops. The
natural setting has changed little since 1877. Traces of rifle pits may
still be seen. The visitor center museum displays exhibits of the
battle, including the captured howitzer and a battle diorama. A
self-guiding trail leads through the siege area to the howitzer-capture
site.
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/soldier-brave/sitea17.htm
Last Updated: 19-Aug-2005
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