10/04/2026
The first week of September in 1877, the Nez Perce had crossed Yellowstone National Park and were entering the rugged Absaroka Mountain Range. General Howard and his troops were shadowing the fleeing Indians from the west, while military forces from across the Great Plains began to encircle the Nez Perce in an ever-tightening web on the north, south and east. Several thousand soldiers were involved, along with hundreds of Indian scouts. It was estimated that up to 400 Crow Indians were hired by the Army and were engaged in the fighting, and to the Nez Perce, this was the ultimate betrayal. Yellow Wolf remembered, “For many snows the Crow had been our friends, but now they had become enemies. This made my heart like fire.”
Excerpt from “Seventh Son – Nez Perce Lost Cause, 1877” … tells the story of a historical collision between two opposing cultures and the highly controversial use by the United States Army of employing Indian scouts to fight as mercenaries. This practice divided the Indian nations and effectively ended any possibility of the tribes banding together to drive the white invaders from Indian lands.
After a string of broken promises by the United States government, Chief Joseph and the non-treaty Nez Perce Indians were forced to give up their lands and traditional way of life. In a futile attempt to avoid war with Army forces directed by Civil War General Oliver Otis Howard, the Nez Perce embark on a 1,170-mile flight that ended abruptly only 40 miles shy of freedom in Canada. This ugly conflict has proven to be one of our nation’s most defining moments, and one of our most shameful failures.
Available at Rick Steber – MAKERS, 131 NE 5th Street in downtown Prineville … 541-447-3115 …. FREE shipping when ordering two or more books …
