Misplaced Pages

#274725

93-792: After the first armed engagements in June, the Nez Perce embarked on an arduous trek north initially to seek help with the Crow tribe . After the Crows' refusal of aid, they sought sanctuary with the Lakota led by Sitting Bull , who had fled to Canada in May 1877 to avoid capture following the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn . The Nez Perce were pursued by elements of the U.S. Army with whom they fought

186-723: A Crow camp in the Bighorn valley greeted the Jesuit missionary Pierre-Jean De Smet. From 1842 to around 1852, the Crow traded in Fort Alexander opposite the mouth of the Rosebud. The River Crows charged a moving Blackfeet camp near Judith Gap in 1845. Father Pierre-Jean De Smet mourned the destructive attack on the "petite Robe" band. The Blackfeet chief Small Robe had been mortally wounded and many killed. De Smet worked out

279-527: A Lakota camp destroyed a whole Crow camp at Tongue River the following year. This was likely the most severe attack on a Crow camp in historic time. The Crows put up 300 tipis near a Mandan village on the Missouri in 1825. The representatives of the US government waited for them. Mountain Crow chief Long Hair (Red Plume at Forehead) and fifteen other Crows signed the first treaty of friendship and trade between

372-705: A coalition of several leaders from the different bands who comprised the "non-treaty" Nez Perce, including the Wallowa Ollokot , White Bird of the Lamátta band, Toohoolhoolzote of the Pikunin band, and Looking Glass of the Alpowai band. Brigadier General Howard was head of the U.S. Army's Department of the Columbia , which was tasked with forcing the Nez Perce onto the reservation and whose jurisdiction

465-644: A crime". We took away their country and their means of support, broke up their mode of living, their habits of life, introduced disease and decay among them and it was for this and against this they made war. Could anyone expect less? In 1855, at the Walla Walla Council , the Nez Perce were coerced by the federal government into giving up their ancestral lands and moving to the Umatilla Reservation in Oregon Territory with

558-476: A group of whites with horses on the Yellowstone River. By stealth, they captured the mounts before morning. The Lewis and Clark Expedition did not see the Crow. The first trading post in Crow country was constructed in 1807, known as both Fort Raymond and Fort Lisa (1807–ca. 1813). Like the succeeding forts, Fort Benton (ca. 1821–1824) and Fort Cass (1832–1838), it was built near the confluence of

651-754: A long confrontation. Crow chief Blackfoot objected to this incursion and called for resolute U.S. military actions against the Indian trespassers. Due to Sioux attacks on both civilians and soldiers north of the Yellowstone in newly established U.S. territory ( Battle of Pease Bottom , Battle of Honsinger Bluff ), the Commissioner of Indian Affairs advocated the use of troops to force the Sioux back to South Dakota in his 1873 report. Nothing happened. Two years later, in early July 1875, Crow chief Long Horse

744-472: A new Fort Laramie treaty between the Sioux and the U.S. turned 1851 Crow Powder River area into "unceded Indian territory" of the Sioux. "The Government had in effect betrayed the Crows…". On 7 May, the same year, the Crow ceded vast ranges to the US due to pressure from white settlements north of Upper Yellowstone River and loss of eastern territories to the Sioux. They accepted a smaller reservation south of

837-467: A pipe-hatchet during the fight just west of Chinook, Montana . In the summer of 1834, the Crow (maybe led by chief Arapooish) tried to shut down Fort McKenzie at the Missouri in Blackfeet country. The apparent motive was to stop the trading post's sale to their Indian enemies. Although later described as a month long siege of the fort, it lasted only two days. The opponents exchanged a few shots and

930-582: A remarkable fighting retreat. They crossed from Idaho over Lolo Pass into Montana Territory , traveling southeast, dipping into Yellowstone National Park and then back north into Montana, roughly 1,170 miles (1,880 km). They attempted to seek refuge with the Crow Nation , but, rejected by the Crow, ultimately decided to try to reach safety in Canada. A small number of Nez Perce fighters, probably fewer than 200, defeated or held off larger forces of

1023-573: A series of battles and skirmishes on a fighting retreat of 1,170 miles (1,880 km). The war ended after a final five-day battle fought alongside Snake Creek at the base of Montana's Bears Paw Mountains only 40 miles (64 km) from the Canada–US border. A large majority of the surviving Nez Perce represented by Chief Joseph of the Wallowa band of Nez Perce, surrendered to Brigadier Generals Oliver Otis Howard and Nelson A. Miles . White Bird , of

SECTION 10

#1732771949275

1116-533: A site for a single earth lodge on the lower Yellowstone River. Most families lived in tipis or other perishable kinds of homes at the new place. These Indians had left the Hidatsa villages and adjacent cornfields for good, but they had yet to become "real" buffalo hunting Crow following the herds on the open plains. Archaeologists know this "proto-Crow" site in present Montana as the Hagen site. Some time before 1765,

1209-565: A surprise attack upon the Nez Perce camp on the morning of September 30. After a three-day standoff, Howard arrived with his command, on October 3 and the stalemate was broken. Chief Joseph surrendered on October 5, 1877, and declared in his famous surrender speech that he would "fight no more forever." In total, the Nez Perce engaged 2,000 American soldiers of different military units, as well as their Indian auxiliaries. They fought "eighteen engagements, including four major battles and at least four fiercely contested skirmishes." Many people praised

1302-632: The Appaloosa in battle and in flight. The lyrics identify Chief Joseph 's Nez Perce name, which translates as "Thunder Rolling Down the Mountain," and quotes extensively from his "I will fight no more forever" speech. Texas country band Micky & the Motorcars released the song "From Where the Sun Now Stands" on their 2014 album Hearts from Above. The song chronicles the flight of

1395-719: The Bighorn Mountains (Iisiaxpúatachee Isawaxaawúua), Pryor Mountains (Baahpuuo Isawaxaawúua), Wolf Mountains (Cheetiish, or "Wolf Teeth Mountains") and Absaroka Range (also called Absalaga Mountains). Once established in the Valley of the Yellowstone River and its tributaries on the Northern Plains in Montana and Wyoming , the Crow divided into four groups: the Mountain Crow, River Crow, Kicked in

1488-480: The Lamátta band of Nez Perce, managed to elude the Army after the battle and escape with an undetermined number of his band to Sitting Bull's camp in Canada. The 418 Nez Perce who surrendered, including women and children, were taken prisoner and sent by train to Fort Leavenworth , Kansas. Although Chief Joseph is the most well known of the Nez Perce leaders, he was not the sole overall leader. The Nez Perce were led by

1581-694: The Little Big Horn College . The autonym of the tribe, Apsáalooké or Absaroka, means "children of the large-beaked bird" and was given to them by the Hidatsa , a neighboring and related Siouan-speaking tribe. French interpreters translated the name as gens du corbeau ("people of the crow"), and they became known in English as the Crow. Other tribes also refer to the Apsáalooke as "crow" or "raven" in their own languages. The identity of

1674-944: The Missouri River , then southeast to the confluence of the Yellowstone and Powder rivers (Bilap Chashee, or "Powder River" or "Ash River"), south along the South Fork of the Powder River, confined in the SE by the Rattlesnake Mountains and westwards in the SW by the Wind River Range . Their tribal area included the river valleys of the Judith River (Buluhpa'ashe, or "Plum River"), Powder River, Tongue River , Big Horn River and Wind River as well as

1767-812: The Nez Perce War in 1877. Pierce was the first county seat for Shoshone County , which was established in January 1861 in Washington Territory and for most of its first year included most of present-day Idaho and Wyoming . The Pierce Courthouse , constructed in 1862, is Idaho's oldest public building. Idaho Territory was established in 1863, and the county seat moved north to the Silver Valley in Murray in 1884 (and to Wallace in 1898). Present-day Clearwater County, formed in 1911,

1860-823: The Walla Walla , Cayuse , and Umatilla tribes. The tribes involved were so bitterly opposed to the terms of the plan that Isaac I. Stevens, governor and superintendent of Indian affairs for the Washington Territory , and Joel Palmer , superintendent of Indian affairs for Oregon Territory , signed the Nez Perce Treaty in 1855, which granted the Nez Perce the right to remain in a large portion of their own lands in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon territories, in exchange for relinquishing almost 5.5 million acres of their approximately 13 million acre homeland to

1953-426: The Wallowa valley in northeastern Oregon. Disputes there with white farmers and ranchers led to the murders of several Nez Perce, and the murderers were never prosecuted. Tensions between Nez Perce and white settlers rose in 1876 and 1877. General Oliver Otis Howard called a council in May 1877 and ordered the non-treaty bands to move to the reservation, setting an impossible deadline of 30 days. Howard humiliated

SECTION 20

#1732771949275

2046-842: The fur trade , the Crow had migrated to this area from the Ohio Eastern Woodland area of present-day Ohio, settling south of Lake Winnipeg . From there, they were pushed to the west by the Cheyenne. Both the Crow and the Cheyenne were pushed farther west by the Lakota, who took over the territory west of the Missouri River, reaching past the Black Hills of South Dakota to the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming and Montana. The Cheyenne eventually became allies of

2139-520: The 1850s, a vision by Plenty Coups , then a boy, but who later became their greatest chief, was interpreted by tribal elders as meaning that the whites would become dominant over the entire country, and that the Crow, if they were to retain any of their land, would need to remain on good terms with the whites. By 1851, the more numerous Lakota and Cheyenne were established just to the south and east of Crow territory in Montana. These enemy tribes coveted

2232-978: The Americans deal with them regarding any intrusion into these areas. The Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1851 with the United States confirmed as Crow lands a large area centered on the Big Horn Mountains: the area ran from the Big Horn Basin on the west, to the Musselshell River on the north, and east to the Powder River ; it included the Tongue River basin . But for two centuries the Cheyenne and many bands of Lakota Sioux had been steadily migrating westward across

2325-610: The Bellies, and Beaver Dries its Fur. Formerly semi-nomad hunters and farmers in the northeastern woodland, they adapted to the nomadic lifestyle of the Plains Indians as hunters and gatherers, and hunted bison . Before 1700, they were using dog travois for carrying goods. From about 1730, the Plains tribes rapidly adopted the horse, which allowed them to move out on to the Plains and hunt buffalo more effectively. However,

2418-509: The Crow camp, reclining on his bed covered with robes, his face handsomely painted". Crow woman Pretty Shield remembered the sadness in camp. "We fasted, nearly starved in our sorrow for the loss of Long-Horse." Exposed to Sioux attacks, the Crows sided with the U.S. during the Great Sioux War in 1876–1877. On 10 April 1876, 23 Crow enlisted as Army scouts . They enlisted against a traditional Indian enemy, "... who were now in

2511-534: The Crow held a Sun Dance, attended by a poor Arapaho. A Crow with power gave him a medicine doll, and he quickly earned status and owned horses as no one else. During the next Sun Dance, some Crow stole back the figure to keep it in the tribe. Eventually the Arapaho made a duplicate. Later in life, he married a Kiowa woman and brought the doll with him. The Kiowas use it during the Sun Dance and recognize it as one of

2604-505: The Crow lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming , through Montana and into North Dakota , where it joins the Missouri River . Since the 19th century, Crow people have been concentrated on their reservation established south of Billings, Montana . Today, they also live in several major, mainly western, cities. Tribal headquarters are located at Crow Agency, Montana . The tribe operates

2697-401: The Crow remained dominant in their established area through the 18th and 19th centuries, the era of the fur trade . Their historical territory stretched from what is now Yellowstone National Park and the headwaters of the Yellowstone River (E-chee-dick-karsh-ah-shay in Crow, translating to "Elk River") to the west, north to the Musselshell River , then northeast to the Yellowstone's mouth at

2790-658: The Crow split from the Hidatsa and moved westward. The Crow were largely pushed westward due to intrusion and influx of the Cheyenne and subsequently the Sioux , also known as the Lakota. To acquire control of their new territory, the Crow warred against Shoshone bands, such as the Bikkaashe, or "People of the Grass Lodges", and drove them westward. The Crow allied with local Kiowa and Plains Apache bands. The Kiowa and Plains Apache bands later migrated southward, and

2883-520: The Crows and the United States on 4 August. With the signing of the document, the Crows also recognized the supremacy of the United States, if they actually understood the word. River Crow chief Arapooish had left the treaty area in disgust. By help of the thunderbird he had to send a farewell shower down on the whites and the Mountain Crows. In 1829, seven Crow warriors were neutralized by Blood Blackfoot Indians led by Spotted Bear, who captured

Nez Perce War - Misplaced Pages Continue

2976-539: The First Infantry; the rest traveled on horseback escorted by troops of the Seventh Cavalry en route to their winter quarters. A majority of Bismarck's citizens turned out to welcome the Nez Perce prisoners, providing a lavish buffet for them and their troop escort. On November 23, the Nez Perce prisoners had their lodges and equipment loaded into freight cars and themselves into eleven rail coaches for

3069-813: The Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne achieved a major victory over army forces under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in the Crow Indian Reservation , but the Great Sioux War (1876–1877) ended in the defeat of the Sioux and their Cheyenne allies. Crow warriors enlisted with the U.S. Army for this war. The Sioux and allies were forced from eastern Montana and Wyoming: some bands fled to Canada, while others suffered forced removal to distant reservations, primarily in present-day Montana and Nebraska west of

3162-490: The Lakota, as they sought to expel European Americans from the area. The Crow remained bitter enemies of both the Sioux and Cheyenne. They managed to retain a large reservation of more than 9300 km despite territorial losses, due in part to their cooperation with the federal government against their traditional enemies, the Sioux and Blackfoot. Many other tribes were forced onto much smaller reservations far from their traditional lands. The Crow were generally friendly with

3255-480: The Missouri River. In 1918, the Crow organized a gathering to display their culture, and they invited members of other tribes. The Crow Fair is now celebrated yearly on the third weekend of August, with wide participation from other tribes. A group of Crow went west after leaving the Hidatsa villages of earth lodges in the Knife River and Heart River area (present North Dakota) around 1675–1700. They selected

3348-403: The Missouri and "had little impact" on the tribe according to one source. The River Crows grew in number, when a group of Hidatsas joined them permanently to escape the scourge sweeping through the Hidatsa villages. Fort Van Buren was a short-lived trading post in existence from 1839 to 1842. It was built on the bank of the Yellowstone near the mouth of Tongue River. In the summer of 1840,

3441-539: The Nez Perce and the strategist behind the Nez Perce's skilled fighting retreat. The American press referred to him as "the Red Napoleon " for the military prowess attributed to him, but the Nez Perce bands involved in the war did not consider him a war chief. Joseph's younger brother, Ollokot; Poker Joe , and Looking Glass of the Alpowai band were among those who formulated the fighting strategy and tactics and led

3534-489: The Nez Perce by jailing their old leader, Toohoolhoolzote , who spoke against moving to the reservation. The other Nez Perce leaders, including Chief Joseph, considered military resistance to be futile; they agreed to the move and reported as ordered to Fort Lapwai , Idaho Territory. By June 14, 1877, about 600 Nez Perce from Joseph's and White Bird's bands had gathered on the Camas Prairie , six miles (10 km) west of present-day Grangeville . On June 13, shortly before

3627-442: The Nez Perce campaign. The Nez Perce perspective was represented by Yellow Wolf: His Own Story , published in 1944 by Lucullus Virgil McWhorter , who had interviewed Yellow Wolf , a Nez Perce warrior. This book is very critical of the U.S. military's role in the war, and especially of General Howard. McWhorter also wrote Hear Me, My Chiefs! , published after his death. It was based on documentary sources and had material supporting

3720-407: The Nez Perce for their exemplary conduct and skilled fighting ability. The Montana newspaper New North-West stated: "Their warfare since they entered Montana has been almost universally marked so far by the highest characteristics recognized by civilized nations. " By the time Chief Joseph formally surrendered on October 5, 1877, 2:20 pm, European Americans described him as the principal chief of

3813-404: The Nez Perce stopped to make camp and rest on the prairie adjacent to Snake Creek in the foothills of the north slope of the Bear's Paw Mountains in Montana Territory, only 40 miles (64 km) from the Canada–United States border . They believed that they had shaken off Howard and their pursuers, but they were unaware that the recently promoted Brigadier General Nelson A. Miles in command of

Nez Perce War - Misplaced Pages Continue

3906-414: The Nez Perce through Idaho and Montana. Crow tribe The Crow , whose autonym is Apsáalooke ( [ə̀ˈpsáːɾòːɡè] ), also spelled Absaroka , are Native Americans living primarily in southern Montana. Today, the Crow people have a federally recognized tribe , the Crow Tribe of Montana , with an Indian reservation , the Crow Indian Reservation , located in the south-central part of

3999-527: The Pacific Northwest. Joseph, however, was not permitted to return to the Nez Perce reservation but instead settled at the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington . He died there in 1904. General Oliver Otis Howard was the commanding officer of U.S. troops pursuing the Nez Perce during the Nez Perce War of 1877. In 1881, he published an account of Joseph and the war, Nez Perce Joseph: An Account of His Ancestors, His Lands, His Confederates, His Enemies, His Murders, His War, His Pursuit and Capture , depicting

4092-501: The President and Congress, and his account was published in the North American Review . While he was greeted with acclaim, the U.S. government did not grant his petition due to fierce opposition in Idaho. Instead, Joseph and the Nez Perce were sent to Oklahoma and eventually located on a small reservation near Tonkawa, Oklahoma . Conditions in "the hot country" were hardly better than they had been at Leavenworth. In 1885, Joseph and 268 surviving Nez Perce were finally allowed to return to

4185-515: The Sioux overpowered a barricaded war group of 30 Crow in the Big Dry area. The Crow were killed to either last or last but one man. Later, mourning Crow with "their hair cut off, their fingers and faces cut" brought the dead bodies back to camp. The drawing from the Sioux winter count of Lone Dog shows the Crow in the circle (the breastwork), while the Sioux close in on them. The many lines indicates flying bullets. The Sioux lost 14 warriors. Sioux chief Sitting Bull took part in this battle. In

4278-586: The U.S. Army in several battles. The most notable was the two-day Battle of the Big Hole in southwestern Montana territory, a battle with heavy casualties on both sides, including many women and children on the Nez Perce side. Until the Big Hole the Nez Perce had the naive view that they could end the war with the U.S. on terms favorable, or at least acceptable, to themselves. Afterwards, the war "increased in ferocity and tempo. From then on all white men were bound to be their enemies and yet their own fighting power had been severely reduced." The war came to an end when

4371-452: The U.S. could not enforce respect for the treaty borders agreed upon 15 years before. The River Crow north of the Yellowstone developed a friendship with their former Gros Ventre enemies in the 1860s. A joint large-scale attack on a large Blackfoot camp at the Cypress Hills in 1866 resulted in a chaotic withdrawal of the Gros Ventres and Crow. The Blackfoot pursued the warriors for hours and killed allegedly more than 300. In 1868,

4464-405: The U.S. government for a nominal sum, with the caveat that they be able to hunt, fish. and pasture their horses etc. on unoccupied areas of their former land – the same rights to use public lands as Anglo-American citizens of the territories. The newly established Nez Perce Indian reservation was 7,500,000 acres (30,000 km) in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington territories. Under the terms of

4557-429: The Yellowstone and the Bighorn. The Blood Blackfoot Bad Head's winter count tells about the early and persistent hostility between the Crow and the Blackfoot. In 1813, a force of Blood warriors set off for a raid on the Crow in the Bighorn area. Next year, Crows near Little Bighorn River killed Blackfoot Top Knot. A Crow camp neutralized thirty Cheyenne bent on capturing horses in 1819. The Cheyenne and warriors from

4650-416: The Yellowstone. The Sioux and their Indian allies, now formally at peace with the U.S., focused on intertribal wars at once. Raids against the Crows were "frequent, both by the Northern Cheyennes and by the Arapahos, as well as the Sioux, and by parties made up from all three tribes". Crow chief Plenty Coups recalled, "The three worst enemies our people had were combined against us …". In April 1870,

4743-427: The age of 18 living with them, 57.4% were married couples living together, 3.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 2.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.2% were non-families. 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.67. The median age in

SECTION 50

#1732771949275

4836-438: The bird this name was meant to refer to originally is lost to time, but many Apsáalooké people believe it references the mythical Thunderbird . The early home of the Crow Hidatsa ancestral tribe was near Lake Erie in what is now Ohio. Driven from there by better armed, aggressive neighbors, they briefly settled south of Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba . Later the people moved to the Devil's Lake region of North Dakota before

4929-446: The city. The population density was 619.5 inhabitants per square mile (239.2/km ). There were 296 housing units at an average density of 361.0 per square mile (139.4/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 94.3% White , 1.8% Native American , 0.2% Asian , 1.8% from other races , and 2.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.1% of the population. There were 235 households, of which 18.7% had children under

5022-471: The commanding general of the Army, William Tecumseh Sherman , overruled them and directed that the Nez Perce were sent to Kansas. "I believed General Miles, or I never would have surrendered," Chief Joseph said afterward. Miles marched his captives 265 miles (426 km) to the Tongue River Cantonment in southeast Montana Territory, where they arrived on October 23, 1877, and were held until Oct. 31. The able-bodied warriors were marched out to Fort Buford , at

5115-450: The confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers. On November 1, women, children, the ill and the wounded set out for Fort Buford in fourteen Mackinaw boats . Between November 8 and 10, the Nez Perce left Fort Buford for Custer's post command at the time of his death; Fort Abraham Lincoln across the Missouri River from Bismarck in the Dakota Territory . About two hundred left in the mackinaws on November 9 guarded by two companies of

5208-408: The culture. The drama was notable for attempting to present a balanced view of the events: the leadership pressures on Joseph were juxtaposed with the Army's having to carry out an unpopular task while an action-hungry press establishment looked on. Folk singer Fred Small 's 1983 song " The Heart of the Appaloosa " describes the events of the Nez Perce War, highlighting the Nez Perce's skillful use of

5301-455: The deadline for removing onto the reservation, White Bird's band held a tel-lik-leen ceremony at the Tolo Lake camp in which the warriors paraded on horseback in a circular movement around the village while individually boasting of their battle prowess and war deeds. According to Nez Perce accounts, an aged warrior named Hahkauts Ilpilp (Red Grizzly Bear) challenged the presence in the ceremony of several young participants whose relatives' deaths at

5394-424: The early 19th century, the Apsáalooke fell into three independent groupings, who came together only for common defense: Apsaalooke oral history describes a fourth group, the Bilapiluutche ("Beaver Dries its Fur"), who may have merged with the Kiowa in the second half of the 17th century. When European Americans arrived in numbers, the Crows were resisting pressure from enemies who greatly outnumbered them. In

5487-411: The failure of the U.S. government to uphold the treaties , and at settlers who squatted on their land and plowed up their camas prairies, which they depended on for subsistence. In 1863, a group of Nez Perce were coerced into signing away 90% of their reservation to the U.S., leaving only 750,000 acres (3,000 km) in Idaho Territory. Under the terms of the treaty, all Nez Perce were to move onto

5580-399: The following evening, June 14, 1877, Swan Necklace returned to the lake to announce that the trio had killed four white men and wounded another man. Inspired by the war furor, approximately sixteen more young men rode off to join Shore Crossing in raiding the settlements. Joseph and his brother Ollokot were away from the camp during the raids on June 14 and 15. When they arrived at the camp

5673-460: The fort in 1851. In 1851, the Crow, the Sioux, and six other Indian nations signed the Fort Laramie treaty along with the U.S. It should ensure peace forever between all nine partakers. Further, the treaty described the different tribal territories. The U.S. was allowed to construct roads and forts. A weak point in the treaty was the absence of rules to uphold the tribal borders. The Crow and various bands of Sioux attacked each other again from

SECTION 60

#1732771949275

5766-402: The hands of whites had gone unavenged. One named Wahlitits (Shore Crossing) was the son of Eagle Robe, who had been shot to death by Lawrence Ott three years earlier. Thus humiliated and apparently fortified with liquor, Shore Crossing and two of his cousins, Sarpsisilpilp (Red Moccasin Top) and Wetyemtmas Wahyakt (Swan Necklace), set out for the Salmon River settlements on a mission of revenge. On

5859-441: The high plains from the Black Hills of the Dakotas westward across the Powder River Basin to the crest of the Big Horn Mountains. Thereafter bands of Lakota Sioux led by Sitting Bull , Crazy Horse , Gall , and others, along with their Northern Cheyenne allies, hunted and raided throughout the length and breadth of eastern Montana and northeastern Wyoming , which had been for a time ancestral Crow territory. On 25 June 1876,

5952-408: The hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are – perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever. Joseph's speech was translated by the interpreter Arthur Chapman and

6045-409: The historical claims of each side. The fifth volume of William T. Vollmann 's Seven Dreams cycle, The Dying Grass , offers a detailed account of the conflict. The 1975 David Wolper historical teledrama I Will Fight No More Forever , starring Ned Romero as Joseph and James Whitmore as General Howard, was well received at a time when Native American issues were receiving wider exposure in

6138-436: The hunting lands of the Crow and warred against them. By right of conquest , they took over the eastern hunting lands of the Crow, including the Powder and Tongue River valleys, and pushed the less numerous Crow to the west and northwest upriver on the Yellowstone . After about 1860, the Lakota Sioux claimed all the former Crow lands from the Black Hills of South Dakota to the Big Horn Mountains of Montana. They demanded that

6231-476: The median income for a household in the city was $ 34,318, and the median income for a family was $ 36,667. Males had a median income of $ 36,250 versus $ 24,375 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 13,980. About 14.7% of families and 18.5% of the population were below the poverty line , including 27.4% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over. As of the census of 2010, there were 508 people, 235 households, and 150 families residing in

6324-498: The men in the fort fired a cannon, but no real harm came to anyone. The Crows left four days before the arrival of a Blackfeet band. The episode seems to be the worst armed conflict between the Crows and a group of whites until the Sword Bearer uprising in 1887. The death of chief Arapooish was recorded on 17 September 1834. The news reached Fort Clark at the Mandan village Mitutanka. Manager F.A. Chardon wrote he "was Killed by Black feet". The smallpox epidemic of 1837 spread along

6417-424: The mid-1850s. Soon, the Sioux took no notice of the 1851 borders and expanded into Crow territory west of the Powder. The Crows engaged in "… large-scale battles with invading Sioux …" near present-day Wyola, Montana . Around 1860, the western Powder area was lost. From 1857 to 1860, many Crow traded their surplus robes and skin at Fort Sarpy (II) near the mouth of the Bighorn River. During

6510-409: The mid-1860s, the Sioux resented the emigrant route Bozeman Trail through the Powder River bison habitat, although it mainly "crossed land guaranteed to the Crows". When the Army built forts to protect the trail, the Crow cooperated with the garrisons. On 21 December 1866, the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho defeated Captain William J. Fetterman and his men from Fort Phil Kearny . Evidently,

6603-426: The most powerful tribal medicines. They still credit the Crow tribe for the origin of their sacred Tai-may figure. The enmity between the Crow and the Lakota was reassured right from the start of the 19th century. The Crow killed a minimum of thirty Lakota in 1800–1801 according to two Lakota winter counts . The next year, the Lakota and their Cheyenne allies killed all the men in a Crow camp with thirty tipis. In

6696-406: The new and much smaller reservation east of Lewiston. A large number of Nez Perce, however, did not accept the validity of the treaty, refused to move to the reservation, and remained on their traditional lands. The Nez Perce who approved the treaty were mostly Christian; the opponents mostly followed the traditional religion. The "non-treaty" Nez Perce included the band of Chief Joseph, who lived in

6789-665: The newly created District of the Yellowstone had been dispatched from the Tongue River Cantonment to find and intercept them. Miles led a combined force made up of units of the Fifth Infantry, and Second Cavalry and the Seventh Cavalry . Accompanying the troops were Lakota and Cheyenne Indian Scouts , many of whom had fought against the Army only a year prior during the Sioux War . They made

6882-534: The next day, most of the Nez Perce had departed for a campsite on White Bird Creek to await the response of General Howard. Joseph considered an appeal for peace to the Whites, but realized it would be useless after the raids. Meanwhile, Howard mobilized his military force and sent out 130 men, including 13 friendly Nez Perce scouts, under the command of Captain David Perry to punish the Nez Perce and force them onto

6975-543: The northern Plains tribes of the Flathead (although sometimes they had conflicts); Nez Perce , Kutenai , Shoshone, Kiowa , and Plains Apache . The powerful Iron Confederacy (Nehiyaw-Pwat), an alliance of northern plains Indian nations based around the fur trade, developed as enemies of the Crow. It was named after the dominating Plains Cree and Assiniboine peoples, and later included the Stoney , Saulteaux, and Métis . By

7068-488: The number of women and children taken captive to 160. By and by and with a fur trader as an intermediary, the Crows agreed to let 50 women return to their tribe. Fort Sarpy (I) near Rosebud River carried out trade with the Crow after the closing of Fort Alexander. River Crow went some times to the bigger Fort Union at the confluence of the Yellowstone and the Missouri. Both the "famous Absaroka amazon " Woman Chief and River Crow chief Twines His Tail (Rotten Tail) visited

7161-492: The old Crow country, menacing and often raiding the Crows in their reservation camps." Charles Varnum , leader of Custer's scouts, understood how valuable the enrolment of scouts from the local Indian tribe was. "These Crows were in their own country and knew it thoroughly." Pierce, Idaho Pierce is a city in the northwest United States , located in Clearwater County , Idaho . The population

7254-550: The plains, and were still pressing hard on the Crows. Red Cloud's War (1866–1868) was a challenge by the Lakota Sioux to the United States military presence on the Bozeman Trail , a route along the eastern edge of the Big Horn Mountains to the Montana gold fields. Red Cloud's War ended with victory for the Lakota. The Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1868 with the United States confirmed the Lakota control over all

7347-788: The powerful Blackfoot , Gros Ventre , Assiniboine , Pawnee , and Ute . Later they had to face the Lakota and their allies, the Arapaho and Cheyenne , who also stole horses from their enemies. Their greatest enemies became the tribes of the Blackfoot Confederacy and the Lakota-Cheyenne-Arapaho alliance. In the 18th century, pressured by the Saulteaux and Cree peoples (the Iron Confederacy ), who had earlier and better access to guns through

7440-622: The protests to Sherman by the commander of the Fort, the Nez Perce were forced to live in a swampy bottomland. One author described the effects on the Nez Perce refugees: "the 400 miserable, helpless, emaciated specimens of humanity, subjected for months to the malarial atmosphere of the river bottom." Chief Joseph went to Washington in January 1879 to plead that his people be allowed to return to Idaho or, at least, be given land in Indian Territory , what would become Oklahoma . He met with

7533-490: The reservation. Howard anticipated that his soldiers "will make short work of it." The Nez Perce defeated Perry at the Battle of White Bird Canyon and began their long flight eastward to escape from the U.S. soldiers. Joseph and White Bird were joined by Looking Glass's band and, after several battles and skirmishes in Idaho during the next month, approximately 250 Nez Perce warriors, and 500 women and children, along with more than 2000 head of horses and other livestock, began

7626-580: The severe winters in the North kept their herds smaller than those of Plains tribes in the South. The Crow, Hidatsa, Eastern Shoshone , and Northern Shoshone soon became noted as horse breeders and dealers and developed relatively large horse herds. At the time, other eastern and northern tribes were also moving on to the Plains, in search of game for the fur trade, bison, and more horses. The Crow were subject to raids and horse thefts by horse-poor tribes, including

7719-531: The state. Crow Indians are a Plains tribe , who speak the Crow language , part of the Missouri River Valley branch of Siouan languages . Of the 14,000 enrolled tribal members, an estimated 3,000 spoke the Crow language in 2007. During the expansion into the West, the Crow people were allied with the United States against its neighbors and rivals, the Sioux and Cheyenne . In historical times,

7812-443: The summer of 1805, a Crow camp traded at the Hidatsa villages on Knife River in present North Dakota. Chiefs Red Calf and Spotted Crow allowed the fur trader Francois-Antoine Larocque to join it on its way across the plains to the Yellowstone area. He traveled with it to a point west of the place where Billings, Montana , is today. The camp crossed Little Missouri River and Bighorn River on the way. The next year, some Crow discovered

7905-485: The summer of 1870, some Sioux attacked a Crow reservation camp in the Bighorn/Little Bighorn area. The Crows reported Sioux Indians in the same area again in 1871. During the next years, this eastern part of the Crow reservation was taken over by the Sioux in search of buffalo. In August 1873, visiting Nez Percé and a Crow reservation camp at Pryor Creek further west faced a force of Sioux warriors in

7998-459: The treaty, no white settlers were allowed on the reservation without the permission of the Nez Perce. However, in 1860 gold was discovered near present-day Pierce, Idaho , and 5,000 gold-seekers rushed onto the reservation, illegally founding the downstream city of Lewiston as a supply depot on Nez Perce land. Ranchers and farmers followed the miners, and the U.S. government failed to keep settlers out of Indian lands. The Nez Perce were incensed at

8091-566: The trip via train to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. One of the most extraordinary Indian Wars of which there is any record. the Indians displayed a courage and skill that elicited universal praise. They abstained from scalping: let captive women go free; did not commit indiscriminate murder of peaceful families, which as usual, and fought with almost scientific skill, using advance and rear guards , skirmish lines and field fortifications . Over

8184-467: The warriors in battle, while Joseph was responsible for guarding the camp. Chief Joseph became immortalized by his famous speech: I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. Toohoolhoolzoote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say, "Yes" or "No." He who led the young men [Ollokot] is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to

8277-555: Was 508 at the 2010 census , down from 617 in 2000. The first discovery of gold in Idaho (then Washington Territory ) was made by Elias D. Pierce and Wilbur F. Bassett on Orofino Creek (Canal Gulch) in October 1860, a mile (1.6 km) north of Pierce. On land ceded to the Nez Perce people at the Walla Walla Council in 1855 (with a 1859 treaty), the gold discovery led to significant reduction of that agreement in 1863, and

8370-415: Was extended by General William Tecumseh Sherman to allow Howard's pursuit. It was at the final surrender of the Nez Perce when Chief Joseph gave his famous "I Will Fight No More Forever" speech, which was translated by the interpreter Arthur Chapman. An 1877 New York Times editorial discussing the conflict stated, "On our part, the war was in its origin and motive nothing short of a gigantic blunder and

8463-488: Was killed in a suicidal attack on some Sioux, who previously had killed three soldiers from Camp Lewis on the upper Judith River (near Lewistown). George Bird Grinnell was a member of the exploring party in the Yellowstone National Park that year, and he saw the bringing in of the dead chief. A mule carried the body, which was wrapped in a green blanket. The chief was placed in a tipi "not far from

8556-700: Was part of Shoshone County until 1904, when it was annexed by Nez Perce County. Pierce is located about 9 miles northeast of the Weippe Prairie , north of the Clearwater River canyon. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 0.82 square miles (2.12 km ), all of it land. Pierce has a humid continental climate (Dfb) according to the Köppen climate classification system. As of 2000

8649-503: Was transcribed by Howard's aide-de-camp Lieutenant C. E. S. Wood . Among other vocations, Wood was a writer and a poet. His poem, "The Poet in the Desert" (1915), was a literary success, and some critics have suggested that he may have taken poetic license and embellished Joseph's speech. During the surrender negotiations, Howard and Miles had promised Joseph that the Nez Perce would be allowed to return to their reservation in Idaho. But,

#274725