Last updated: April 19, 2024
Place
Nez Perce Encampment
NPS
Quick Facts
Amenities
5 listed
Accessible Sites, Benches/Seating, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Information, Information - Ranger/Staff Member Present
When the 800 nımí·pu· reached ?ıckumcılé.lıkpe, they had been traveling for six weeks. This was a place familiar to many of them, who regularly traveled east across the Bitterroot Mountains to hunt buffalo. This particular part of the Big Hole Valley had fresh water, grass for their horses, game, and fish from the river. As the families established their camp sites, they took advantage of the resources the valley offered.
The Big Hole Valley has an abundant supply of lodgepole pines, which could be fashioned into tipi frames. At the base of Battle Mountain, women collected qemas (camas) bulbs, a traditional root food, and began to bake them in pits. However, before the cooking process could be completed, Colonel John Gibbon’s forces attacked.
In the early hours of August 9th, 1877, sleeping families of nımí·pu· were attacked in their tipis at this campsite. Many did not live to tell their stories. That day, when the river ran red, forever marked ?ıckumcılé.lıkpe as a sacred land.
60-90 nımí·pu· children, adults, and elders are buried here, in and near the campsite. Tipis have been erected in the exact locations where these people camped, played, sang, and cooked peacefully for two days before the battle. Many are marked with the names of who slept inside them. When exploring this site, please remain on the established trail out of respect for those buried here.