Chief Joseph
Learn of the flight of the Nez Perce and their final surrender near Havre.

 

 
 

            The flight of the Nez Perce Indians, from their homeland in northeast Oregon to the plains of Northern Montana, began in 1877 when more than 800 men, women and children composing five Indian bands refused to be placed on a reservation.  In a running battle that covered 1,300 miles, the Nez Perce successfully, but fatefully, outfought and outran U.S. troops commanded by General Oliver D. Howard.
            The Nez Perce plan was to seek help from their Crow allies in eastern Montana.  Unfortunately the Crow refused to aid the Nez Perce forcing them to continue their flight north toward Canada.
            Only about 40 miles from the safety of the Canadian border and just north of the Bear Paw Mountains, the Nez Perce paused to rest and regroup before making their final trek to safety.
Unbeknownst to the Nez Perce, Colonel Nelson A. Miles, with 400 men from the Tongue River Cantonment near what is today Miles City, Montana, had been dispatched to intercept them.  Coming from the east, the Indian scouts, who were deployed to the south to scout for General Howard, did not learn of the threat until it was too late.  Thus began the five day Battle of the Bear Paws – the last battle the Nez Perce were to fight and the end of their dream of remaining free.

            The date was Sept. 30, 1877, and a sharp north wind and snowstorm had moved into the area making conditions for solders and the Nez Perce alike almost unbearable.  The Indians endured artillery and sniper fire from the troops while about 150 women and children escaped the battle and continued their journey to Canada.
            On Oct. 4, 1877, General Howard finally arrived to support Colonel Miles and the outcome of the battle was sealed.
            Chief Joseph, a piece chief or medicine man, who was now the leader of the surviving Nez Perce, decided to surrender.

Chief Joseph tells his people "I will fight no more forever" in this
museum diarama.
Sometime during the final hours of the siege, Chief Joseph spoke to the remainder of his people with an eloquence that has immortalized him, and the plight of all Native Americans, for all time.
“My people; some of them have run away to 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, to see how many I can find.  Maybe I shell 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.”
            At 2 p.m. on Oct. 5, Chief Joseph offered his rifle in surrender.
            The Bear Paw Battlefield is located about 35 miles east of Havre.  The battle remains as a testament to determination and perseverance and also serves as an epitaph of all the proud, but no longer free, North American Indians.