Chief Joseph Scenic Highway
Nez Perce National Historic Trail, WY

General William Tecumseh Sherman called the saga of the Nez Perce "the most extraordinary of Indian wars." Precipitated into a fight they did not seek by the impulsive actions of a few revengeful young men, some 750 nontreaty Nez Perces - only 250 of them warriors, the rest women, children, and old or sick people, together with their 2,000 horses - fought defensively for their lives in some 20 battles and skirmishes against a total of more than 2,000 soldiers aided by numerous civilian volunteers and Indians of other tribes. Their route through four states, dictated by topography and their own skillful strategy, covered over 1,100 miles until they were trapped and surrendered at Montana's Bear Paw Mountains, just short of the Canadian border and safety on October 5, 1877.

There is irony in the tragic fate of the Nez Perces. In addition to having been loyal friends and allies of the whites for almost three quarters of a century, their conduct during the war was free of traits which whites usually associated with Indian warfare. Following what the whites regarded as a civilized code of conduct, the Nez Perces refrained from scalping, mutilating bodies, or torturing prisoners, and generally avoided attacks on noncombatant citizens. Nevertheless, as defeated Indians, the surviving Nez Perces were sent to several years of exile in present-day Oklahoma before they were allowed to return to reservations in the Northwest.