From where they crouched in the tall September grass in 1805, three young Nez Perce boys watched William Clark and a few men approach the Nez Perce lodges. Clark had just crossed the Bitterroot Mountains ahead of his companion, Meriwether Lewis, using Nez Perce hunting trails. To the boys' surprise, Clark came up to where the boys were hiding and offered them each a ribbon, a gesture of friendly intentions.
Lewis and the remainder of his party soon joined Clark as guests in the Nez Perce village, where they recovered from their journey, traded, and discussed an appropriate route, which Lewis and Clark soon took down the Clearwater River in five dugout canoes. When Lewis and Clark returned to the village in May 1806, they stayed at a place known as Long Camp, waiting for the snow to melt on the pass back over the Bitterroot Mountains. During the party's month-long stay, Clark acted as a physician to the Nez Perce in exchange for room and board. Today, you can visit the site of Long Camp, which is now a well-maintained park in the city of Kamiah, as well as Lewis and Clark's Canoe Camp, where the party launched on the Clearwater River the previous year.
For thousands of years before Lewis and Clark arrived, the Nez Perce, or Nimi'ipuu, had been living in what is now northern Idaho, southeastern Washington, and northeast Oregon. They traveled with the seasons, following the plentiful fish, game, and native vegetation that could be found in the deep canyons cut by the Snake, Clearwater, and Salmon Rivers. The Spalding Site Visitor Center offers a revealing glimpse at the Nez Perce's compelling culture, with insightful exhibits and video presentations.
The Nez Perce generally enjoyed friendly relations with the exploring Americans. However, relations with the settlers who followed were not always as amicable. In 1877, war broke out between the US Army and the Nez Perce in a dispute over land, among other things. The war lasted nearly six months and ended after the Nez Perce, who both inflicted and sustained heavy losses, fled to Montana in front of a determined foe. With nowhere to go and winter approaching, Chief Joseph finally surrendered on behalf of his exhausted people, declaring, "I will fight no more forever." This inevitable defeat shrunk the Nez Perce's land by over seven million acres to fewer than 770,000 acres, or 1,200 square miles. Today, visitors can walk part of the 1,200-mile Nez Perce National Historic Trail, the route the Nez Perce took in their futile efforts to escape the US Army.
Visitors can join in many of their celebrations to get a better understanding of this intriguing and historic culture. With their strong tie to the land and their cross-cultural society, the Nez Perce will stay a part of our history for decades.
