Chris Wimmer (10:37)
This episode is brought to you by Amazon. Sometimes the most painful part of getting sick is the getting better part. Waiting on hold for an appointment, sitting in crowded waiting rooms, standing in line at the pharmacy. That's painful. Amazon One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy remove those painful parts of getting better with with things like 24. 7 virtual visits and prescriptions delivered to your door. Thanks to Amazon Pharmacy and AmazonOne, medical healthcare just got less painful. Between the Yellowstone river and the Missouri river, the nez Perce crossed 150 miles of territory in nine days. They reached a traditional crossing point on September 23rd. It was the most shallow part of the Missouri river in the area, and Native American hunters had used it for generations. By the time the Nez Perce arrived at the Missouri in September 1877, the crossing was called Cow Island. Several small islands, complete with grass and trees sat in the middle of the waterway. Because of the obstructions and the low water level. Cow island was the farthest point at which a steamboat could travel on the Missouri. That turned Cow island into a hub for army supplies. Steamboats transported tons of supplies up to Cow island where they were offloaded and then shipped overland to forts in the area. So Cow island would have looked like a feast from heaven to the Nez Perce. There were huge piles of food and other supplies just sitting there and they were only guarded by a few soldiers and civilians. An army sergeant was in charge of the supplies. The Nez Perce sent a representative to negotiate with him. The Nez Perce man was probably Lean Elk, who had been guiding the expedition for the past month. The Nez Perce asked for some supplies and the sergeant refused. They asked to buy some supplies and the sergeant agreed to sell a little bacon and some hardtack. The Nez Perce made the deal and and the column rode two miles upriver to make camp. The bacon and hardtack, which was a rough flour and water biscuit that was a staple of the army was barely enough to ease the hunger of a single family, let alone hundreds. That night, younger warriors rode back to Cow island and fired shots at the supply depot. The shots kept the soldiers pinned down while other warriors and women raided the stacks of supplies. They took anything that could be of use from cooking utensils to food to tobacco. When they were done, they burned the rest in a giant bonfire. There were some minor injuries on both sides and one overly eager soldier died. But it wasn't the massacre it could have been. Still, a soldier and 30 civilians tracked the Nez Perce for the next day and a half. The soldier, a major, had been stationed downriver and had heard about the raid. He collected a group of volunteers and chased the Nez Perce. The Nez Perce learned about the group and sent warriors back to confront the volunteers. The warriors found positions in the hills and peppered the volunteers with rifle fire. One civilian died, and the others settled into a standoff rather than to keep pushing forward. After a few hours, the warriors broke off the engagement. The main column had safely advanced behind them and there was no reason to continue to trade shots with the rabble. When the warriors returned to the column. They all camped for the night on September 25, and there was another big council. The Nez Perce were only about 70 miles away from Canada. The last major barrier, the Milk river, was only a couple days ahead of them. As far as they knew, General Howard's force was the only army unit chasing them and that unit was way behind them. But the people and animals were in serious trouble. Despite the supplies that had been taken from Cow island the people had been sleeping out in the open for weeks. As temperatures dropped each night, horses were dying at an awful rate. So Looking Glass, one of the leaders of the five bands, argued for a slowdown. The people seemed to be out of immediate danger. They were tired and hurting and the animals were suffering badly. They should take it easier for the next few days. The other prominent members agreed. And for the next three days the column moved at a slower pace. On September 29, the column camped near a creek about 40 miles from Canada. That day, the warriors killed a couple buffalo and the meat would be the first real food the Nez Perce had had in weeks. They settled in that night for a well earned feast and they had no idea that Colonel Miles scouts had found them. The Nez Perce had been right about Howard's command. It was hopelessly out of range and it was crumbling. But Miles command was within striking distance. If. If the Nez Perce had kept their previous pace and kept pushing toward Canada, they would have made it easily. But when they slowed down for three days, they set up the final battle of the war. Colonel Miles and his force of 530 men, which included Sioux and Cheyenne's scouts had been tracking the Nez Perce for a week. Miles wasn't able to cut them off at Judith Gap as he had hoped so he continued on an angle to intercept them before the Canadian border. On the same day, the Nez Perce held their council to slow down the pace of their advance. Miles heard of the raid on the Cow island supply depot. He had crossed the Missouri river far to the east of Cow island and was fortunate to encounter a small boat with people who told him about the attack. Miles reasoned that if the Nez Perce headed in a straight line to the north, they would head for a gap between two small mountain ranges. They would go through the gap, cross the Milk river and then be within sight of the Canadian border. With that in mind, he hurried for the gap between the mountains. The Nez Pers helped him by slowing their pace and as they cooked their buffalo feast Miles scouts found their trail. That night while the Nez Perce slept with full stomachs for the first time in weeks. The army column was camped several miles away. The soldiers built no fires and quietly prepared for battle. At 2am Miles woke his men and began the advance. At dawn, Miles Cheyenne scouts spotted the Nez Perce camp in the distance. The army Picked up its pace. When they were close enough to see smoke from cook fires, Miles stopped the column and placed them in battle formation. He positioned the three companies of the 7th Cavalry on the right flank, the three companies of the 2nd Cavalry on the left flank and the four companies of mounted 5th infantry in the center. When they were in line, he ordered a charge and a full assault. In the Nez Perce camp, they had early warning that there might be soldiers in the area. No one had seen them, but nearby buffalo had been spooked and were stampeding. Something must have set them off. But even with the possible threat, Nez Perce leader Looking Glass told the people not to rush. He thought they still had time. A crucial hour passed, and then a warrior appeared on a bluff and shouted and whirled his horse in a circle and waved a blanket. It was the age old city signal that an enemy was deadly close. Joseph, as he had in previous battles, shouted at warriors to help him protect the horses. The setup was nearly identical to the Battle of Big Hole six weeks earlier. The Nez Perce camp was next to a creek and the herd of horses was grazing in the hills on the other side of the creek. Joseph and several others sprinted toward the animals while women grabbed the children and tried to find cover. And the army suffered a problem almost immediately. On the left side of the line, the second Cavalry was the lead element. The Cheyenne scouts were supposed to guide the cavalry right into the camp. But the scouts wanted to capture the horses, so they veered way off to the left and galloped across the creek. The 2nd Cavalry followed them, having no idea that they were now on the wrong side of the creek from the camp and cut off from the rest of the command. With the 2nd Cavalry temporarily out of action, Miles ordered the 7th Cavalry to move out in front of the mounted infantry and assume the lead position for the attack. The three companies thundered forward and then discovered a second problem. The current Nez Perce camp was different from the one at Big Hole in one significant way. It was down in a depression that was 30 to 40ft below the flat land above when the army started the charge. The men were so far away that they had no depth perception. As they pounded forward, they rode straight toward a cliff. When two of the three companies saw the drop off, they yanked back on their reins and skidded to a halt before the cliff. On the far right side of the line, the third company had time to change direction. It looped farther around to the right and and rode along the edge of the cliff until it was Even with the camp, the cliff wasn't as steep over there, and there were several narrow ravines that led down to the camp. But those ravines were now packed with warriors who were racing into the fight. The Nez Perce lost a critical hour when they could have been preparing to defend their position. But they rallied quickly and and sent warriors in multiple directions. One group ran with Joseph across the creek to keep the horses from stampeding. Another group hurried toward the cliff to engage the first two companies of the 7th Cavalry. When those two companies slammed on the brakes to keep from galloping over the edge, the warriors climbed up the cliff and fired over the edge straight into the soldiers. A third group of warriors raced into the ravines below the other company of the seventh. When that company reached the drop off, the warriors unleashed a volley that cut through the soldiers. The raw recruits of the 7th were about to prove themselves in battle. They weathered the first storm of gunfire, jumped off their horses and struggled toward the ravines. The warriors didn't back off and the fight became close quarters and hand to hand, the other two companies pulled back from the cliff and rushed around to help the third Company in the brutal fight for the ravines. The fight turned messy as the crossfire produced friendly fire casualties. Captain Owen Hale, the commander of the 3rd Company and a veteran of the siege of Reno Hill, died when a bullet hit him in the throat. His second in command, a lieutenant, died soon after. His body was found with bullets from both warriors and soldiers. Colonel Miles saw the violent struggle on his right flank and ordered the infantry to hurry to the edge of the cliff and pour gunfire onto the warriors in the ravines. From the infantry's angle, they could shoot at the warriors from the side where they were vulnerable. With a fusillade from the side and continuous gunfire from the front, the warriors pulled back and paused their attack. Captain Miles Moylan and Captain Edward Godfrey helped pull the soldiers back from the cliff and reorganize them. They were both veterans of the Little Bighorn, and now Colonel Miles ordered them to make another charge. When they did, Colonel Miles sent a small squad of infantry around the far left to crawl down into the depression and assault the camp. The second charge of the 7th Cavalry failed immediately, and the 25 soldiers who were sent to take the camp met a group of warriors who fought them back to the cliff and forced them to scramble back up to the plateau. To the left of the soldiers and across the Creek, the 2nd Cavalry and the Cheyenne scouts were stuck in swirling chaos. Joseph and other warriors tried to save the horse herd, but the army captured about 500 animals. The women and children hurried to the north to get away from the battle, but most had no horses or supplies and were just running for their lives. There were fights happening in at least six locations as the Nez Perce tried to repel the attack. Joseph leapt on a horse and galloped through the camp. His wife held up his rifle and he grabbed it as he passed. He raced toward another location where the battle still raged. And all of that fighting happened in just one hour. And it was a decisive hour. The Nez Perce succeeded in stopping the army from overrunning the camp. And now both sides pulled back to regroup and assess the situation. They both suffered terribly. The 7th Cavalry lost all three first sergeants and at least one lieutenant and one captain. Only one officer was uninjured. In total, the army lost between 20 and 30 men. The NEZ Perce lost similar numbers. Lean Elk, the man who had led the journey for more than a month, was killed. Joseph's brother, his closest companion, was killed. One of the leaders of the 5Bands of Nez Perce was also killed. The Nez Perce were divided once again and the end was in sight. A number of people from the camp had been able to wrangle some horses and escape to the north. The ones who were left behind and the warriors who had done the fighting had to make a choice. They could try to join the others and make a final run for Canada, or they could stay and fight. If they stayed, they had no horses and virtually no chance of escape. Toward the end of the first day of fighting, September 30, 1877, an early winter storm dumped 5 inches of snow on everyone along the creek up on the flatland. Colonel Miles had rushed forward to make the attack and had left his supply wagons behind so his men had no tents. The soldiers shivered and froze, and it was worse for the Nez Perce. Their camp was in ruins. Women scratched out pits in the ground with plates or knives or anything else available. They huddled around their children to protect them from the snow and freezing cold. The next day, the gunfire resumed, but without the fierce fighting of the first day, though there were still casualties. Looking Glass, one of the leaders of the Nez Perce, was killed. The only hope for the survivors in camp was that the refugees who fled north could rally Sitting Bull's Village to ride to the rescue. But that was the longest of long shots. As the second day of the battle wore on, the situation improved for the army. The supply wagons arrived and now the soldiers had tents, blankets, food and more ammunition. The misery on the Nez Perce side deepened and Colonel Miles began discussions for a surrender. Miles eventually asked for Joseph to come forward, and Joseph entered the army camp under a white flag of truce to discuss the stalemate. When Joseph wouldn't surrender outright, Miles arrested him and held him overnight. The next day, Miles released Joseph in an exchange for a lieutenant who had been captured. That day, October 2nd, Colonel Miles started shelling the camp with small cannon. Luckily for the Nez Perce, the weapons caused more fright than damage, though they did account for the final two fatalities of the battle. The rest of the day dragged on with no result. The warriors and the soldiers traded long range fire, but neither side could dislodge the other. On October 3, the fourth day of the siege, the first Nez Perce refugees reached Sitting Bull's Camp in Canada. They tried to explain the location of their camp, but the Sioux misunderstood. They thought it was much farther away than it actually was, and therefore they couldn't help. A day or two later, the next group of refugees arrived and corrected the misunderstanding. But by then it was too late. General Howard arrived at the battlefield. By that time, he only had 20 soldiers with him. A week earlier, his command had collapsed. His civilian volunteers were fed up and went home. He sent a cavalry unit back to Idaho to resume its regular duties and he separated from Colonel Sturgis and the rest of the 7th Cavalry. He made it to Cow island in the Missouri river and followed the trail north. He met a couple couriers along the way who told him about the fighting along the creek near the Milk River River. Sturgis had also learned of the engagement that would be called the Battle of Bearspaw, named for the nearby mountain range. He had turned around with companies of cavalry and infantry, but by the time he arrived, it was all over. On October 4, the fifth day of the siege, Howard and Miles tried again to negotiate a surrender. The Nez Perce were hesitant and suspicious, and discussions dragged on throughout the day. That night, a group of soldiers crawled near the Nez Perce camp and opened fire. No one was hurt, but it was a reminder of the dire situation. Later that night, the Nez Perce discussed their options and the group was split by a slim margin. The majority favored surrender, especially since they believed they would be allowed to return to Idaho. The minority, which was sizable, wanted to escape to Canada. That group, which was led by White Bird, slipped away under the COVID of darkness and eventually made it to Sitting bull's camp by one Nez Perce estimate between 200 and 250 people successfully made it to Canada. That was nearly half of the people Howard and Miles believed they had trapped along the creek. The ones who stayed were done fighting. They informed Miles and Howard they would surrender the next day. On the afternoon of October 5th, Joseph rode his horse up to the army camp. His Winchester rifle lay across his saddle. His shirt was pockmarked with bullet holes and there were scratches from bullets on his face, wrist and back. He was followed by five men on foot and when the small procession reached General Howard and Colonel Miles, Joseph dismounted. Joseph offered his rifle as a token of surrender and Miles accepted it. The three leaders shook hands and secured the end of the Nez Perce War. At that point, Joseph spoke a line that has been immortalized in the history of the West. It is most often translated to from where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. After the surrender, the Nez Perce were given food and blankets. Two days later, the army and the Nez Perce began the long, slow walk to the army outpost at present day Miles City. From there, the Nez Perce experienced eight of the worst years of their lives. First, they were shipped by wagon and boat to Fort Lincoln, home of the 7th Cavalry, near Bismarck in Dakota Territory. Then they were sent south to Leavenworth, Kansas. They spent six months in Kansas before Congress voted to send them to Indian Territory. They lived in Indian Territory for seven years and their numbers dropped substantially. When they arrived in the summer of 1878. They had been traveling for a solid year. Since their capture, they'd been living in terrible conditions and were ravaged by disease. In 1879, Joseph made his first trip to Washington, D.C. he was the designated representative of the bands who had tried to remain free and he became known as Chief Joseph. He constantly pushed the US Government to allow his people to return home. In the spring of 1885, seven years after the Nez Perce War started the survivors in Indian Territory were sent to Washington State. A little under half were allowed to return to the Nez Perce Reservation in Idaho. The rest, including Joseph, were forced to live on the Colville Reservation in northern Washington. Two years later, the US took more land from the NEZ perceived the reservation that had been created by the 1863 treaty was roughly 630,000 acres. Under the Dawes act of 1887, the reservation was reduced by 85% to 90,000 acres. And that's where it stands today. Slowly, over time, many of the refugees who made it to Canada drifted back to the United States. Some were able to slip back onto the reservation, but in 1882, White Bird, the leader who was the most resistant to the reservation, was killed in Canada. In 1899, 22 years after the Nez Perce War, Joseph was finally allowed to see his homeland again. It was his final trip to the Wallowa Valley in eastern Oregon before he passed away in 1904. It's hard to know the exact nature and full extent of his role as one of the leaders of the journey that became known as the Flight of the Nez Perce, but afterward he became the most prominent member of his people and lobbied tirelessly on their behalf. It wasn't his intention, but he ended up achieving the legendary status of Native American leaders like Tecumseh, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Cochise, Geronimo, and Quanah Parker. If there were two Mount Rushmores of Native American leaders, he would be on one of them. Thanks for listening to the story of the Nez Perce War here on Legends of the Old West. Next time we'll go back to the outlaws and tell the stories of three notorious figures Joaquin Murrieta, the inspiration for the character of Zorro, Blackjack Ketchum and Texas killer Jim Miller. That's next time on Legends of the Old West. And members of our Black Barrel program don't have to wait week to week to receive new episodes. They receive the entire season to binge all at once with no commercials, and they also receive exclusive bonus episodes. Sign up now through the link in the Show Notes or On our website blackberrymedia.com memberships begin at just $5 per month. Original music by Rob Valier. I'm your writer, host and producer, Chris Wimmer. If you enjoyed the show, please give us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening. Check out our website blackberrymedia.com for more details and join us on social media. We're Old West Podcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and all our episodes are available on YouTube. Just search for Legends of the Old West Podcast. Thanks for listening.
