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On August 9-10, 1877, at the Battle of the Big Hole, Colonel John Gibbon massacred Nez-Perce Indians. "The Battle of the Big Hole claimed the lives of 60 to 90 Nez Perce, primarily women and children. Only 30 warriors were killed in the battle. The army lost 29 soldiers and suffered 40 wounded." From the article:
"The Battle of the Big Hole remembered
Big Hole Battlefield
BIG HOLE BATTLEFIELD — Camas blossoms rise from the field near the confluence of Trail Creek and Ruby Creek on the west edge of the Big Hole Valley. Here those waters converge to form the North Fork of the Big Hole River.
Seeing the broad views of the valley sweep east toward Wisdom and the Pioneer Mountains, it’s hard to imagine a more serene place, but on the morning of Aug. 9, 1877, this valley was anything but peaceful.
In the predawn hours, members of the 7th Infantry, led by Col. John Gibbon, were poised to assault a Nez Perce Indian camp along the North Fork. But before the soldiers could strike, they were surprised by a Nez Perce named Natalekin who was checking his horses along the willowed banks of the river. Shots shattered the morning air and the Battle of the Big Hole began.
Chief Looking Glass
Chief Looking Glass
The five bands of non-treaty Nez Perce camped by the river had been told by the U.S. government that they would be forcibly moved onto a reservation in May and had been battling the army since June. Led by Chief Looking Glass, the Nez Perce had crossed Lolo Pass and descended the Bitterroot Valley following skirmishes with troops under the command of Gen. Oliver O. Howard in Idaho.
The Nez Perce arrived in the Big Hole Valley on Aug. 7. The Indians raised their teepees at an old campsite along the river and gathered camas bulbs. They set their ponies to graze in the grass and willows along the river.
“The Nez Perce utilized camas extensively as a food source,” Big Hole National Battlefield Park Ranger Leslie Lula said. “They would roast them in pits in the ground and grind them into a powder to transport. They were roasting camas in pits at the time of the battle.”
Col. John Gibbon
Col. John Gibbon
Chief Looking Glass believed the Nez Perce were far enough ahead of Howard’s force that he did not post scouts. He was unaware that Gibbon’s 7th Infantry was also in pursuit. After shots rang out, killing Natalekin, on the morning of Aug. 9, chaos ensued.
“About early morning I was awaken,” recounted Young Red Elk, a survivor of the battle, in Aubrey L Haines’ “The Battle of the Big Hole.”
“My father and Chief Yellow Bull were standing, talking low. They thought they saw soldiers across the creek. Next instant we heard shots from above the creek across the canyon, maybe a quarter mile away. I heard the load call, ‘We are attacked!’”
Gibbon’s troops became ensnared in the thick willows and brush along the North Fork as they neared the Nez Perce encampment. The Nez Perce struggled to make sense of the gunfire. Some dispersed from their teepees quickly to mount a defense while others were slow to respond. Numerous women and children were gunned down in the firefight.
“From what we understand it was pretty indiscriminate,” Lula said. “The soldiers were ordered to fire three volleys into the teepees. They weren’t trying to target women and children, but they weren’t trying to avoid them by any means.”
The U.S. soldiers pushed southeast from Battle Mountain across the North Fork and into the encampment. Nez Perce chiefs Looking Glass and White Bird rallied their warriors to respond. The Nez Perce counterattack struck west of the initial assault. Sharpshooters forced Gibbon’s troops to retreat from the river across a stretch of sagebrush and into a point of timber at the base of the mountain. Gibbon’s troops dug in for a siege that would last 24 hours. The pits they dug with their bayonet trowels can still be seen today.
During the counterattack a group of Gibbon’s men, who had struggled to transport a 12-pounder mountain howitzer through the timber above the encampment, were spotted by Nez Perce warriors. The Nez Perce descended on the big gun, which, at the outer limit of its range, was only able to fire twice before being overtaken. The warriors dismantled the howitzer and scattered its parts on the hillside.
Through the afternoon and evening of Aug. 9, the Nez Perce fought while women, children and the elderly withdrew from the battlefield to continue their journey through north toward Canada. By the morning of Aug. 10, the remaining warriors fired their parting shots and left to join their families.
The Battle of the Big Hole claimed the lives of 60 to 90 Nez Perce, primarily women and children. Only 30 warriors were killed in the battle. The army lost 29 soldiers and suffered 40 wounded.
The Nez Perce would confront the army again at Camas Meadows in western Idaho and the Bear Paw Battlefield in north-central Montana, but the Battle of the Big Hole was the most costly.
“This is where the greatest loss of life occurred,” during the 1,170-mile journey that defined the Nez Perce War of 1877, Lula said. “From this point on there was no turning back. The Nez Perce were never able to go back to their normal lifestyle ever again. From this point they knew they were being pursued.”
Recognition of the Big Hole Battlefield as an important historical site began shortly after the battle ended. In 1883, the army erected a monument to honor the soldiers killed in the fighting. Early visitors scoured the battlefield for artifacts and even chipped off pieces of the monument.
In the late 1960s, three teepees were erected at the site of the Nez Perce encampment. More teepees were added in the 1970s and Nez Perce families added additional teepees to honor family fallen in the battle in subsequent years. Today, 58 teepees dot the site, though closer to 90 lodges stood at the time of the battle.
Yellow Wolf
Yellow Wolf
Yellow Wolf, a Nez Perce warrior who fought at the Big Hole, returned six years later and gave a first-person account of the battle. His detailed description of the encampment outlined the location of lodges in the camp. The teepees standing today reflect the locations of the lodges occupied by Chief Looking Glass, Chief Joseph and others at the time of the battle.
Nez Perce families return to the battlefield from the Nez Perce Indian Reservation in Lapwai, Idaho, for an annual commemoration. They hold an empty saddle ride and drum ceremonies to remember family lost in the battle. The journey is an emotional one for many who make the trip, but Lula said the battle is just a single instance in the much larger story of the Nez Perce people.
“The Nez Perce always impress on me that it is important that they are not defined by what happened here,” Lula said. 'They are a strong independent people, very peaceful, practicing their traditions and religion. It was a tragedy, it was a travesty, but it does not define who they are as a people today.'”
"The Battle of the Big Hole remembered
Big Hole Battlefield
BIG HOLE BATTLEFIELD — Camas blossoms rise from the field near the confluence of Trail Creek and Ruby Creek on the west edge of the Big Hole Valley. Here those waters converge to form the North Fork of the Big Hole River.
Seeing the broad views of the valley sweep east toward Wisdom and the Pioneer Mountains, it’s hard to imagine a more serene place, but on the morning of Aug. 9, 1877, this valley was anything but peaceful.
In the predawn hours, members of the 7th Infantry, led by Col. John Gibbon, were poised to assault a Nez Perce Indian camp along the North Fork. But before the soldiers could strike, they were surprised by a Nez Perce named Natalekin who was checking his horses along the willowed banks of the river. Shots shattered the morning air and the Battle of the Big Hole began.
Chief Looking Glass
Chief Looking Glass
The five bands of non-treaty Nez Perce camped by the river had been told by the U.S. government that they would be forcibly moved onto a reservation in May and had been battling the army since June. Led by Chief Looking Glass, the Nez Perce had crossed Lolo Pass and descended the Bitterroot Valley following skirmishes with troops under the command of Gen. Oliver O. Howard in Idaho.
The Nez Perce arrived in the Big Hole Valley on Aug. 7. The Indians raised their teepees at an old campsite along the river and gathered camas bulbs. They set their ponies to graze in the grass and willows along the river.
“The Nez Perce utilized camas extensively as a food source,” Big Hole National Battlefield Park Ranger Leslie Lula said. “They would roast them in pits in the ground and grind them into a powder to transport. They were roasting camas in pits at the time of the battle.”
Col. John Gibbon
Col. John Gibbon
Chief Looking Glass believed the Nez Perce were far enough ahead of Howard’s force that he did not post scouts. He was unaware that Gibbon’s 7th Infantry was also in pursuit. After shots rang out, killing Natalekin, on the morning of Aug. 9, chaos ensued.
“About early morning I was awaken,” recounted Young Red Elk, a survivor of the battle, in Aubrey L Haines’ “The Battle of the Big Hole.”
“My father and Chief Yellow Bull were standing, talking low. They thought they saw soldiers across the creek. Next instant we heard shots from above the creek across the canyon, maybe a quarter mile away. I heard the load call, ‘We are attacked!’”
Gibbon’s troops became ensnared in the thick willows and brush along the North Fork as they neared the Nez Perce encampment. The Nez Perce struggled to make sense of the gunfire. Some dispersed from their teepees quickly to mount a defense while others were slow to respond. Numerous women and children were gunned down in the firefight.
“From what we understand it was pretty indiscriminate,” Lula said. “The soldiers were ordered to fire three volleys into the teepees. They weren’t trying to target women and children, but they weren’t trying to avoid them by any means.”
The U.S. soldiers pushed southeast from Battle Mountain across the North Fork and into the encampment. Nez Perce chiefs Looking Glass and White Bird rallied their warriors to respond. The Nez Perce counterattack struck west of the initial assault. Sharpshooters forced Gibbon’s troops to retreat from the river across a stretch of sagebrush and into a point of timber at the base of the mountain. Gibbon’s troops dug in for a siege that would last 24 hours. The pits they dug with their bayonet trowels can still be seen today.
During the counterattack a group of Gibbon’s men, who had struggled to transport a 12-pounder mountain howitzer through the timber above the encampment, were spotted by Nez Perce warriors. The Nez Perce descended on the big gun, which, at the outer limit of its range, was only able to fire twice before being overtaken. The warriors dismantled the howitzer and scattered its parts on the hillside.
Through the afternoon and evening of Aug. 9, the Nez Perce fought while women, children and the elderly withdrew from the battlefield to continue their journey through north toward Canada. By the morning of Aug. 10, the remaining warriors fired their parting shots and left to join their families.
The Battle of the Big Hole claimed the lives of 60 to 90 Nez Perce, primarily women and children. Only 30 warriors were killed in the battle. The army lost 29 soldiers and suffered 40 wounded.
The Nez Perce would confront the army again at Camas Meadows in western Idaho and the Bear Paw Battlefield in north-central Montana, but the Battle of the Big Hole was the most costly.
“This is where the greatest loss of life occurred,” during the 1,170-mile journey that defined the Nez Perce War of 1877, Lula said. “From this point on there was no turning back. The Nez Perce were never able to go back to their normal lifestyle ever again. From this point they knew they were being pursued.”
Recognition of the Big Hole Battlefield as an important historical site began shortly after the battle ended. In 1883, the army erected a monument to honor the soldiers killed in the fighting. Early visitors scoured the battlefield for artifacts and even chipped off pieces of the monument.
In the late 1960s, three teepees were erected at the site of the Nez Perce encampment. More teepees were added in the 1970s and Nez Perce families added additional teepees to honor family fallen in the battle in subsequent years. Today, 58 teepees dot the site, though closer to 90 lodges stood at the time of the battle.
Yellow Wolf
Yellow Wolf
Yellow Wolf, a Nez Perce warrior who fought at the Big Hole, returned six years later and gave a first-person account of the battle. His detailed description of the encampment outlined the location of lodges in the camp. The teepees standing today reflect the locations of the lodges occupied by Chief Looking Glass, Chief Joseph and others at the time of the battle.
Nez Perce families return to the battlefield from the Nez Perce Indian Reservation in Lapwai, Idaho, for an annual commemoration. They hold an empty saddle ride and drum ceremonies to remember family lost in the battle. The journey is an emotional one for many who make the trip, but Lula said the battle is just a single instance in the much larger story of the Nez Perce people.
“The Nez Perce always impress on me that it is important that they are not defined by what happened here,” Lula said. 'They are a strong independent people, very peaceful, practicing their traditions and religion. It was a tragedy, it was a travesty, but it does not define who they are as a people today.'”
The Battle of the Big Hole remembered
Posted from bozemandailychronicle.com
Native Americans
American History
Military History
Warfare
Combat
Posted >1 y ago
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