Lostine Campsite

At the junction of the Lostine and Wallowa rivers in Oregon is a traditional nimíipuu (Nez Perce) summer campsite. Old Chief Joseph died at this location in 1871, and he was originally buried between the forks of the Wallowa and Lostine rivers. Thieves robbed his grave twice after the U.S. government forced the nimíipuu to leave the valley in 1877. In 1926, Old Chief Joseph’s remains were reburied at their current location near Wallowa Lake.

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Joseph Canyon Viewpoint

Joseph Canyon is a 2,000 foot basalt canyon in northern Wallowa County, Oregon, and southern Asotin County, Washington. It contains Joseph Creek, a tributary of the Grande Ronde River, which flows into the Snake River and then into the Columbia.

Prior to European settlement, the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) used the canyon bottomlands as a travel corridor from summer campsites in the Wallowa Valley to winter campsites along the Grande Ronde and Snake rivers. In the 1700s the nimíipuu raised horses on the canyon grasslands. The canyon, seen from this overlook, was one of the winter homes of the Chief Joseph band of nimíipuu . Tradition holds that Chief Joseph was born in a cave along the east bank of the creek.

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Dug Bar

Following the 1863 Treaty, the Wallowa Valley in northeastern Oregon was left outside of the new Nez Perce Reservation. This was the homeland to Chief Joseph's band of nimíipuu (Nez Perce). They were given only 30 days to pack up and move to the new Nez Perce Reservation. The nimíipuu usually traversed Dug Bar in the late summer, after the water levels dropped. Now, however, the bands had to cross the Snake River at the end of May when the water ran high and fast with the spring runoff. When the nimíipuu forded the river on May 31, 1877, they lost many of their livestock in the churning waters.

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Buffalo Eddy

Long before Europeans or Americans first set foot in this country, the Nez Perce left behind vivid evidence of their association with this land. On either side of an eddy formed by a series of sharp bends in the Snake River are densely grouped clusters of petroglyphs and pictographs.

Petroglyphs are designs that have been chipped or rubbed into a rock surface, while pictographs are designs painted or drawn onto a rock surface. It's possible that these unique petroglyphs date from as early as 4,500 years ago.

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Hasotino Village Site

Archeologists have uncovered evidence that the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) have lived in the Pacific Northwest for close to 11,000 years. The river valleys that bisect Nez Perce country provided all of the necessities for survival. The Hasotino Village archeological site was one of the largest villages along the Snake River, just upriver of the confluence with the Clearwater. The village was located near an important lamprey fishery, a delicacy among the nimíipuu. There is little visual evidence of the large village and lamprey fishery that once were here. The nimíipuu name for the site is Hesutiin (pronounced He-soo-teen). 

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Confluence Overlook

From this overlook, one can see the vast expanse of the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) homeland: the Snake and Clearwater rivers, Hells Canyon, and on a clear day, glimpses of the Bitterroot and Wallowa mountains.

The Clearwater River joins the Snake River at Lewiston, Idaho, continuing to the Columbia River one hundred miles to the west. All of the water eventually drains to the Pacific Ocean. The nimíipuu used the Clearwater and its tributaries as a superhighway, traveling up and down the river to visit relatives, trade and fish.

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Coyote's Fishnet

Coyote’s Fishnet is a legend site above the Clearwater River. Two surface geological features, one on each side of the river canyon, represent Black Bear and Coyote’s Fishnet.

According to the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) legend, in autumn the people go to buffalo country to get food for the winter. Coyote had forgotten about this annual trip and was in the Clearwater River fishing for salmon. Black Bear came upon Coyote fishing and asked why he was still in the area instead of heading to buffalo country. Coyote did not want to admit that he had forgotten to leave with everyone else, so he got angry at Black Bear for being nosy. In his anger, Coyote flung his fishnet up onto the hill on the south side of the Clearwater River and grabbed Black Bear by the scruff of his neck. He then yelled at Black Bear for interrupting him and threw him onto the hill on the north side of the river. Coyote then left for buffalo country.

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Ant and Yellowjacket

Ant and Yellowjacket is a basaltic rock outcrop formation that is the subject of a nimíipuu (Nez Perce) legend. The legend of Ant and Yellowjacket represents the role of Coyote as a teacher to the nimíipuu. Ant and Yellowjacket got into an argument over who had the right to sit on a particular rock and enjoy eating some salmon. Fighting fiercely, they failed to notice Coyote, the all-powerful animal spirit. Even when Coyote ordered them to stop, they kept on struggling. For not heeding his warning, Coyote turned them to stone.

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Spalding

The Spalding area is home to the Nez Perce National Historical Park’s visitor center and park headquarters along with several historic sites, including Watson’s Store, the Spalding Presbyterian Church, the Northern Idaho Indian Agency’s cabin and agent’s residence, remnants of the Spalding Mission, the Lapwai Mission cemetery where Henry and Eliza Spalding are buried, and archeological remains of the gristmill, sawmill and associated millraces.

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Northern Idaho Indian Agency

When the federal government established relationships with native people, the Indian agent represented that association. The agent was responsible for fulfilling the stipulations spelled out in a treaty such as distributing annuity payments, provisions and services stipulated by the treaty.

With the signing of the Treaty of 1855, William Craig served as the first agent for the nimíipuu (Nez Perce). Other agents came and went, and some were conscientious, but most had corrupt intentions or were disengaged from supporting the needs of the nimíipuu. The agency was originally established at the Spalding Site where the Agency Cabin now sits, but it was moved to Lapwai in 1902 to the site of Fort Lapwai.

Lapwai Mission

In 1836, Henry and Eliza Spalding came to the Pacific Northwest to open a Presbyterian mission. The Spaldings selected a spot approximately 2 miles up Lapwai Creek and settled among the nimíipuu (Nez Perce). At the beginning of January 1837, Eliza began to teach, and Henry began to preach among the nimíipuu. By the summer, however, Spalding made the decision to relocate his mission because it was too hot and inundated with mosquitoes.

In the summer of 1838, Henry Spalding and his wife moved their mission complex and home to its present location, where it would remain until 1848 when they fled Nez Perce country in the aftermath of the murders of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman at their mission in Walla Walla.

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Fort Lapwai Officers' Quarters

The discovery of gold in Pierce, Idaho, in 1860 caused thousands of settlers to trespass on the new Nez Perce Reservation created from the Treaty of 1855. Unable to stem the tide, civilian authorities called on the military to establish a fort on the reservation to protect the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) from the invading miners. In 1862, Fort Lapwai was established. The fort played a key role in the events leading up to the Flight of 1877, when General Oliver Otis Howard, commanding officer of the Department of the Columbia, ordered Joseph’s band to move from their homeland in the Wallowa Valley to the reservation.

When war broke out in 1877, Fort Lapwai became the center of operations for the U.S. Army until the nimíipuu crossed the Bitterroot Mountains into Montana.

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Craig Donation Land Claim

In 1855 at the age of 18, William Craig of Virginia joined the American Fur Company as a fur trapper. He met a nimíipuu (Nez Perce) headman known as Thunder Eyes and fell in love with his daughter and married her. When the American Fur Company went out of business in 1840, Craig came to Nez Perce country to settle in the Lapwai Valley.

William Craig’s Donation Land Claim is the first place in current-day Idaho where a white settler obtained title to a farm through the Oregon Donation Land Act. William Craig was the only white person to have official permission from the nimíipuu to live on the reservation. He was a mountain man, interpreter and friend of the nimíipuu.

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Saint Joseph's Mission

Protestant missionaries had an established presence in Nez Perce country for more than 20 years when Father J.M. Cataldo arrived in the area in 1867. Despite fierce competition from some of the Protestant churches on the reservation, Cataldo successfully established Saint Joseph’s Mission, the first Roman Catholic mission to serve the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) people. Chief Slickpoo, a local nimíipuu leader, gave permission to establish a mission on the lands used by his band. While Father Cataldo would leave once the mission was founded and go on to establish Gonzaga University, a large complex would grow on the site. One of the first structures to be built was a chapel in 1868.

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Weis Rockshelter

More than 8,000 years ago, the ancestors of the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) first made this rock shelter their home. This small shelter is located near Cottonwood, Idaho, and is close to the Salmon River, making it an ideal location because of its proximity to major food sources and transportation routes. The shelter is not a cave, but a small niche in a wall of basalt. The shelter was continuously inhabited until about 600 years ago.

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Cottonwood Skirmishes

As the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) crossed the Camas Prairie following the battle at White Bird Canyon, they fought with the U.S. Army and volunteers near Cottonwood, Idaho. Skirmishes occurred between the U.S. Army and the nimíipuu for three days (July 3-5). On July 5, as the nimíipuu crossed the Camas Prairie to find a trail over the Bitterroot Mountains, warriors came across a party of 17 armed civilian volunteers. The warriors quickly surrounded the volunteers, which allowed the main body of the nimíipuu escape.

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Tolo Lake

Tolo Lake, a shallow lake covering about 35 acres, is the largest natural water body on the Camas Prairie. The nimíipuu (Nez Perce) name for Tolo Lake is Tepahlewam or Split Rocks.

After being forced from their homes in the Wallowa Valley, several bands of nimíipuu gathered here on June 2, 1877, in preparation to move onto the reservation. Frustrated by the injustices against the nimíipuu, a group of young warriors decided to get revenge. They killed 18 settlers in the Salmon River area. As a result of this action, called the Salmon River Raids, the Flight of 1877 began.

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Camas Prairie

The rolling hills and plains of the Camas Prairie mark the heart of the Nez Perce Reservation. Rich in resources, the prairie grasslands provided forage for horse herds and camas bulbs could be harvested in abundance. With the passage of the Allotment Act by Congress in the 1880s, the amount of land on the Camas Prairie held by nimíipuu (Nez Perce) families would shrink. Much of the land was converted to agriculture.

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White Bird Battlefield

White Bird Battlefield is the location of the first battle of the Nez Perce Flight of 1877. On June 17, 1877, Captain David Perry and his troops moved into the canyon to strike the native encampment. However, they encountered a peace party of six nimíipuu (Nez Perce) riding toward them. A civilian shot twice at the peace party and the battle began. The nimíipuu attacked the flanks of the military line, which began to collapse as they panicked and retreated up the slope. The U.S. cavalry was defeated with heavy losses, and the nimíipuu began their long journey to find safety and sanctuary.

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Lenore

The nimíipuu (Nez Perce) established permanent village sites along major river corridors. This site contains evidence of early occupation by ancestral nimíipuu dating back about 8,500 years. When archeologists explored Lenore in the 1960s, they found remains of pit houses. As the name suggests, the pits were covered with a log superstructure and then soil. This method of construction kept the house warm in the winter and cool in the summer. In some pit houses, areas had been dedicated to food storage to sustain the occupants through the winter months.

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Canoe Camp

At this site, the Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery learned from the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) to carve canoes to take them to the Pacific Ocean in 1805. They built five canoes in 10 days, three of which were 55 feet long. The Corps cached their saddles and gear and left their horses here in the care of the nimíipuu until their return the following spring.

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Long Camp

After spending the winter of 1805-06 on the Oregon coast, Lewis and Clark were eager to return home. Having left their horses in the care of the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) they had met the previous fall, the expedition was compelled to return to Nez Perce country. Their enthusiasm to return home was dampened by snow in the Bitterroot Mountains. With their route home blocked, they spent four weeks (May 14-June 10) living among the nimíipuu near present day Kamiah. When the time to go arrived, there was genuine sadness that the two parties would in all likelihood not see each other again. Accompanied by three nimíipuu guides, they left Nez Perce country for good in June 1806.

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Asa Smith Mission

The Asa Smith Mission was established near present day Kamiah, Idaho, in 1838 by Asa Smith and his wife, Sarah. Asa Smith took the first steps in saving the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) language by writing the first nimíipuu dictionary and grammar.

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Heart of the Monster

According to the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) creation story, Iceye’ye (Coyote) killed a large monster along the Clearwater River near present day Kamiah, Idaho. Iceye’ye scattered parts of the monster across the northwest, where each piece became a different regional tribe. Iceye’ye left the heart of the monster near Kamiah and sprinkled blood from the heart around the surrounding countryside, thus creating the nimíipuu.

The rock formation is said to represent the heart of the monster described in the nimíipuu legend.

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McBeth House

Kate and Sue McBeth were missionary teachers to the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) during the last quarter of the 19 ^th  century. Sue arrived in Lapwai in 1873, and her sister followed in 1879. The McBeth sisters built on Henry Spalding’s work and continued to strengthen the Presbyterian Church, vigorously enforcing church doctrine and stamping out traditional practices. The house they lived and worked out of is still standing.

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Looking Glass Camp

Though he originally opposed the 1863 Treaty and certainly sympathized with the bands who had been dispossessed of their land, Chief Looking Glass was originally neutral during the Flight of 1877. Unfortunately, General Howard did not trust that Looking Glass would remain this way. He ordered Captain Whipple and two companies of men from the First U.S. Cavalry to attack the Looking Glass camp. Several nimíipuu (Nez Perce) were killed, and the village was burned to the ground. Enraged, Looking Glass joined the nontreaty bands. Familiar with the route and a skilled warrior, Looking Glass provided invaluable assistance to the nontreaty bands of nimíipuu.

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Weippe Prairie

Long before Lewis and Clark arrived, the prairie had been a traditional gathering place for the nimíipuu (Nez Perce). Families came to this area to dig for camas bulbs and socialize for thousands of years. In mid-September of 1805, Lewis and Clark made contact with the nimíipuu for the first time. Unprepared for the arduous trek over the Bitterroot Mountains, Captain Clark and a small group of hunters went ahead of the main party in search of food. When they entered the Weippe Prairie, they encountered three frightened nimíipuu boys hiding in the grass. Clark gave them small presents and sent them to the village. After Lewis and Clark reunited on September 22, 1805, they spoke with a headman known as Twisted Hair. They traded gifts, passed the pipe and acquired information about the country.

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Musselshell Meadow

Before the arrival of settlers and sustained agriculture and ranching, the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) frequented the prairies above the Clearwater River to gather camas. After the Treaty of 1863, Weippe Prairie was out of the reservation boundaries and with the passage of the Dawes Act in the 1880s, most of Camas Prairie became privately held farmland. Many nimíipuu went to gather roots at the edge of the mountains, such as Musselshell Meadow. Nimíipuu root diggers continue to frequent Musselshell Meadow and often gather camas in the late summer and early fall.

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Pierce Courthouse

The namesake of the courthouse, Elias Pierce, discovered gold in the creeks above Orofino, Idaho. This triggered events that would have lasting consequences for the nimíipuu (Nez Perce). His discoveries along the North Fork of the Clearwater River lead to a gold rush along the drainages. The town of Pierce, the primary area of settlement of the region, became the center for Shoshone County. Built in 1862, the courthouse is the oldest public building in the state of Idaho.

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Clearwater Battlefield

In the weeks following the battle at White Bird, General Oliver O. Howard pursued the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) across the reservation. On July 11, 1877, General Howard crossed the South Fork of the Clearwater above the nimíipuu camp hoping to take it by surprise. Following a two-day battle, Howard captured the nimíipuu camp while the nimíipuu retreated north to Kamiah and began to head east over the Lolo Trail into western Montana.

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Lolo Trail and Lolo Pass

Used by the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) long before Euro-Americans came on the scene, the route over the Bitterroot Mountains, known today as the Lolo Trail, extends from Weippe Prairie to Lolo Pass along the Idaho-Montana border.

Lewis and Clark followed this route on their trip across the mountains to the West Coast in 1805.

Looking for safety in Montana in late July of 1877, the nontreaty nimíipuu followed the same trail during the Flight of 1877.

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Big Hole National Battlefield

Believing General Howard was far behind them, the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) camped along the Big Hole River in order to rest and make new tipi poles. Unbeknownst to the nimíipuu, Colonel Gibbon had left Fort Shaw with 132 soldiers and three volunteers. On the morning of August 9, 1877, the nimíipuu awoke to Army bullets ripping through their tipis. The nimíipuu leaders were able to rally their warriors and pushed the soldiers back across the river. When the soldiers found themselves surrounded on a nearby hill, they dug rifle pits for protection. A few nimíipuu warriors were able to keep the soldiers pinned down while their families were able to escape. However, heavy losses were suffered on both sides.

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Camas Meadows Battle Sites

After the horrific attack at Big Hole, the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) went south, crossing back into Idaho over Bannock Pass before heading toward Yellowstone National Park. In the meantime, General Howard’s troops, which had not taken part in the attack at Big Hole, had taken a circuitous route roughly parallel to the nimíipuu. In an effort to slow down Howard, a small group of nimíipuu warriors raided Howard’s camp to steal horses and disrupt Howard’s advance. The raiders were able to steal more than 200 of the U.S. Army’s pack horses and mules, halting the U.S. Army’s advance.

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Canyon Creek

At the beginning of September, 1877, the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) emerged from Yellowstone National Park and were pursued by the 7 ^th  U.S. Cavalry under Colonel Sturgis. Though both sides surprised each other, the troops charged, trying to cut off the fleeing nimíipuu from the relative safety of the trees in Canyon Creek. The canyon mouth offered natural defenses for the nimíipuu. Positioned high on the slopes and on top of both buttes, nimíipuu snipers kept soldiers pinned down while the women, children and elders escaped.

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Bear Paw Battlefield

The fleeing bands of nimíipuu (Nez Perce) stopped at C’aynmin Alikinwaaspa (Place of the Manure Fire) to rest and gather food and supplies before the final 40 miles to the Canadian border. They had left their homes more than four months prior and more than 1,100 miles behind them. Fighting for the safety of their families and seeking a place to live in peace, they sought refuge in Canada with Sitting Bull.

On the morning of September 30, Colonel Miles and 450 men caught the nimíipuu unaware as they prepared to continue their journey. The battle turned into a five- day siege. With no options left, 400 nimíipuu agreed to quit fighting on October 5, 1877, while a few hundred escaped to Canada.

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Nez Perce (Nespelem) Campsites

The two Nez Perce campsites, also known as Nespelem Camps, have been identified as the last homesites of Chief Joseph on the Colville Reservation.

The exact location is ambiguous, and probably much that was used by the Joseph band is underwater. There is no interpretive media at the campsite locations and the location is not identified. This is a culturally sensitive site and exact locations will not be provided by the park. Visitation is not encouraged.