USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume I > Part 53
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When the three Indians who started the trouble returned to the rendezvous and with their reinforcements again started on the war path, Tu-cal-la-ca-se-na, a brother of Looking Glass, warned the white settlers to be on their guard. L. P. Brown, of Mount Idaho, wrote to General Howard that the Indians were killing white people and burning their homes. This was the first information the gen- eral had of the uprising. At 7 o'clock on the morning of the 15th, Mr. Brown again wrote to Howard, advising him of an attack made the evening before upon B. B. Norton and others who were trying to reach Mount Idaho and urging that troops be sent to break up the Indian camp at Rocky Canyon. An hour later he sent the following message to the commanding officer at Fort Lapwai: "Send letters by friendly Indian, Looking Glass' brother, the parties that started from Cottonwood have been brought in. The wounded are Mr. Day, mortally ; Mrs. Norton, both legs broken ; Moore, shot through the hip; Mr. Norton, killed and left in the road six miles from Mount Idaho. Teamsters attacked on the road, wagons abandoned and plundered and horses taken by the Indians. Indians have possession of Camas Prairie. Lose no time in getting force of men here. Stop stage and other travel on road unless they have strong force. Hurry up, we need help."
BATTLE OF THE WHITE BIRD
There was at that time two companies of cavalry at Fort Lapwai. General Howard ordered Captain Perry to march with Troop F, numbering ninety men,
Courtesy vi L. V. Mcwhorter. Copyrighted. HO-SUS-PA-OW-YUN (SHOT-IN-THE-HEAD) ONE OF CHIEF JOSEPH'S FIERCEST WARRIORS
Vol. 1-34
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to the relief of the settlers and at the same time sent a messenger to advise Mr. Brown that troops were on the way. He also sent messengers to Walla Walla asking that more troops be sent into Idaho. Perry left Fort Lapwai late in the afternoon of the 15th for the Camas Prairie and the next afternoon reached Grangeville, where he was joined by a small company of volunteers commanded by Maj. George M. Shearer. That night the whole force started for the Indian camp and arrived near the White Bird Creek about daylight on the morning of the 17th. Here the old trick was played. A few Indians exposed themselves, gradually falling back and drawing the troops after them until the latter were well within a canyon with rough, rocky sides, when the ambush was sprung, about three hundred savages opening fire upon the soldiers from all sides.
Lieutenant Sheller and eighteen men fell at the first volley and the rest be- came panic stricken. Perry tried in vain to rally them, but the odds were too great and they fled in all directions with the Indians in hot pursuit. In less than an hour thirty-six of the ninety men were left killed or wounded upon the field. Shearer's little company of volunteers (eleven men), which moved down one side of the canyon, was also fired on, but they escaped with two men slightly wounded. The survivors retreated to Grangeville, where Captain Perry re- organized his shattered troops the best he could and awaited further orders. This first battle of the war was a complete victory for the Indians, who captured forty or fifty guns and a considerable supply of ammunition without the loss of a man.
PREPARING FOR DEFENSE
When the Norton party was brought into Mount Idaho the people of that place immediately began the erection of a stockade and a company of volunteers was organized with Arthur Chapman as captain. A little later a full company was formed with D. B. Randall, captain ; James Cearley, first lieutenant ; L. P. Wilmot, second lieutenant. A company of forty-two men was organized at Grangeville, with W. B. Bloomer as captain, and at Placerville a company was formed with J. V. R. Witt, captain; Fred Campbell, first lieutenant ; James H. Hawley, second lieutenant. At Lewiston a company of sixty men was organ- ized by Capt. Edward McConville for the protection of the city. Some of these volunteer companies afterward served under General Howard until the close of the war. At Slate Creek, where the Florence trail left the Salmon River, there were a number of women and children, but only a few men. A stockade was built and a friendly Nez Perce squaw named Too-Lah agreed to go to Florence, twenty-five miles away, for assistance. She covered the distance in such a short time that her pony died from the effects of the hard ride, and returned with twenty-five men, after which she walked to her home on Mckenzie Creek, where she died in 1898.
On June 22, 1877, General Howard took personal command of the campaign against the Indians with a force of about five hundred men, most of whom were volunteers, and on the 25th reached Grangeville. Chiefs Joseph and White Bird were then on the west side of the Salmon River with about one hundred and fifty warriors, with all their women and children and a large number of horses and cattle. Some of the citizens advised General Howard to station a force of men at the Craig or old Billie crossing of the Salmon, then cross that stream
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near the mouth of the White Bird Creek and drive the Indians into the trap, but this plan was rejected. Howard crossed to the west side of the Salmon with all his command except Captain Whipple's company, which was left at the Norton house on the Cottonwood Creek, with instructions to gather in Looking Glass and his band, who were supposed to be still friendly, and conduct them to Mount Idaho to prevent them from joining the hostiles.
Captain Whipple moved to the camp of Looking Glass, which was on Clear Creek, and a peace talk was in progress when some one from a distance fired a shot into the Indian camp. This broke up the parley, Captain Whipple and his men returned to Cottonwood, and Looking Glass soon afterward joined Chief Joseph. On July 4, 1877, Captain Perry arrived at Cottonwood with a pack train of supplies and assumed command. About noon of that day the Indians sur- rounded their camp and the next morning Captain Randall with sixteen of his company was sent to Perry's assistance. When within about a mile and a half of the camp, but within plain view, Randall was surrounded by a force of Indians that outnumbered his men nearly ten to one. They dismounted and prepared to defend themselves, expecting Perry to send reinforcements, but no help came. F. D. Vansise, one of Randall's men, succeeded in getting through the Indian lines and rode into Perry's camp begging for assistance. Probably the recollec- tion of his inglorious defeat at the White Bird Canyon kept Perry from sending a detachment of men to Randall's assistance. Finally Sergeant Simpson called to the men: "If your officers will not lead you to the rescue I will." He was immediately joined by about twenty-five men and Captain Perry, seeing that they were determined to go, ordered Captain Whipple to take command. Whipple charged the Indians and drove them back, but not until Captain Randall and B. F. Evans had been killed and three others of his party wounded. This affair is known as the battle of the Cottonwood.
BATTLE OF THE CLEARWATER
When General Howard led his command to the west side of the Salmon, Joseph and White Bird crossed to the east side at the Craig crossing. Had the suggestion of the citizens, who were well acquainted with the country, been fol- lowed it is probable that the war would have been ended in a few days after it commenced. Howard returned to Grangeville on July 9, 1877, and sent out scouts to look for the Indians. They were located in a forest southeast of Kamiah, on a small tributary of the middle fork of the Clearwater, and General Howard was notified. About 10 o'clock on the morning of the 11th Howard came up with about four hundred men and opened an attack on the Indian camp with one howitzer and two Gatling guns. The fight continued into the 12th, when Joseph withdrew from his fortified position across the Clearwater. In this engagement the loss of the whites was thirteen killed and twenty-two wounded, while the Indians lost twenty-three killed, about forty wounded and the same number captured.
JOSEPH'S MASTERLY RETREAT
On July 17. 1877. Joseph began his retreat over the Lolo Trail and though encumbered with the old men, women and children he reached the Lolo Pass on the 28th. Howard, for some inexplicable reason, did not begin his pursuit until
TWO MOON AND HIS WIFE
Mrs. Two Moon, who distinguished herself at the battles of White Bird and The Big Hole by exposing herself to the fire of the troops in securing ammunition belts from wounded soldiers. Two Moon, Chief Joseph's trusted head man and councilor. One of the greatest of the Nez Perce warriors.
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the 27th, thus giving the Indians a start of ten days. However, he telegraphed Gen. W. T. Sherman, then in Montana, to intercept the Indians, but it seems Joseph was expecting something of this kind. After leading his men through the Lolo Pass he turned southward up the Bitter Root Valley and it is said made a "treaty of forbearance" with the settlers, agreeing not to disturb them if they would allow him to pass unmolested. At the Big Hole River he was sur- prised by General Gibbon, but managed to extricate himself and escaped to the Lemhi Valley and made his way to Lake Henry in Southeastern Idaho. At Camas Meadows he made a night attack on Howard's camp and captured a num- ber of mules, after which he fled eastward through the Yellowstone National Park and Northwestern Wyoming. He then turned northward through Mon- tana, hoping to reach the Canada line before he could be intercepted, though at that time the lines were fast closing around him.
On September 13, 1877, Joseph encountered Colonel Sturgis' command.at Canyon Creek, Mont., but Sturgis failed to stop him. Four days later Col. Nelson A. Miles, then near the mouth of the Tongue River, received orders from Howard to get in front of Joseph if possible and cut off his retreat. Miles was an experienced Indian fighter and well acquainted with the general char- acter of the country through which the Indians must pass. By making fast marches he intercepted Joseph at Bear Paw Mountain, less than fifty miles from the international boundary, on October 4, 1877, and the next day Joseph sur- rendered. Concerning the retreat of this wily chief, Mooney, of the United States Bureau of Ethnology, says: "He displayed remarkable generalship in a retreat worthy to be remembered with that of Xenophon's ten thousand. With Colonel Miles in front, General Howard pressing him upon the rear, and Colonel Sturgis on the flank, he evaded them for about thirteen hundred miles until cut off by fresh troops when within fifty miles of the Canadian border."
JOSEPH'S SURRENDER SPEECH
General Howard, accompanied by two aides, two friendly Nez Perce Indians and an interpreter, rode into Miles camp at Bear Paw Mountain while the firing was still going on. Next day the two Nez Perces-George and Captain John- went into Joseph's camp to tell him General Howard was there with promises of good treatment if he would surrender. When they returned, Captain John brought this message from Chief Joseph and his eyes filled with tears as he de- livered it:
"Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told me before I have it in my heart. I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. Too-hul-hul-sote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men, now, who say yes or no (vote in council). He who led on the young men (Ollicut) 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 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 to see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me; my chiefs! My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."
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It was almost sunset when Joseph came into camp to surrender. He offered his rifle to General Howard, who motioned him toward Colonel Miles and Miles received the token of submission, promising him that he and his warriors would be permitted to live on the reservation at Lapwai. But Carl Schurz, then secre- tary of the interior, requested the war department to send Joseph and his fol- lowers to the Indian Territory. The chief and about four hundred and fifty of his people were accordingly taken to the Indian Territory, but the climate did not agree with them and a number died. In 1885 the remnant of the band was removed to the Colville reservation in Washington, where a few are still living. Chief Joseph died on the Colville reservation on September 21, 1904.
AN INCIDENT OF THE WAR
On June 19, 1877, a messenger arrived in Boise from the Council Valley, in what is now Adams County, with the report that the Indians were thought to be moving southward and asking protection for the settlers in that region. About the same time news was received that some thirty or forty Bannock Indians belonging on the Fort Hall reservation, well armed and mounted, were encamped about thirty miles east of Boise. Governor Mason Brayman issued a proclama- tion calling for volunteers and that evening a company was organized with Or- lando (Rube) Robbins as captain. There was at that time a quantity of arms and ammunition, which had been furnished the territorial authorities for use in just such emergencies as this, stored at Fort Boise. Governor Brayman refused to let the volunteers have arms and ammunition unless they agreed to go to Fort Boise and enlist under Major Collins, then commandant at the fort. This Rob- bins and his men refused to do, and they finally told the governor that unless he gave them an order for the arms, neither he nor the fifteen men at the fort could prevent them from taking them without an order, reminding him that the United States had furnished them for the people to use on just such occasions as the present.
Brayman then yielded and gave the order. The arms and ammunition were brought down to the city and distributed to the members of the company, and Captain Robbins started for the Council Valley. Milton Kelly, I. N. Coston and a few others went out to investigate the rumor that some Bannock Indians were encamped east of the city and brought them to Boise on the 21st, where they were well treated and the next day started on their return to Fort Hall. Captain Robbins' company afterward accompanied General Howard in his long chase after Chief Joseph and was at Bear Paw Mountain at the time of the surrender.
ATTITUDE OF OTHER TRIBES IN NEZ PERCE WAR
None of the inhabitants of Idaho were interested in greater degree in the Nez Perce war and its results than were the reservation Indians, and none were better informed of its progress. This was not on account of any kindly feeling entertained by the Indians of Southern Idaho toward the warring Nez Perces, but a desire to measure the strength of the Government and judge its ability to quickly subdue and punish the insurgent tribe.
Joseph and his Nez Perces, after the Big Hole fight, struck for the head of the Lemhi Valley, and went into camp near Junction, about fifty miles above
TED
CHIEF TENDOY MONUMENT
TENDOY, CHIEF OF THE LEMHIS
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Salmon City, there staying for several days recouping from the arduous trip with its many hardships, that they had just finished, and taking the opportunity to attend their wounded of whom there were many. The settlers left their homes, collected in a blockhouse hastily erected, resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible if attacked. Joseph's men made no attempt, however, to in- jure anyone; in fact, Joseph did not make war upon settlers anywhere after he started upon his famous retreat, but confined his fighting to the soldiers opposing him and the volunteers aiding them. It is undoubtedly true that many teamsters and other noncombatants were killed by Joseph's forces while on their march, but it is equally true that nothing of that kind ever happened when Joseph was personally present; it is specially to be remembered in Joseph's favor that he never permitted mistreatment of women captured by his forces, and any outrage inflicted upon women during the Nez Perce war, was without his presence or knowledge.
While in the Lemhi Valley Joseph's forces respected property as well as life, and although they had possession of all the ranchers' houses in that vicinity, nothing whatever was taken except articles of linen, all of which were con- fiscated for the purpose of making lint for the benefit of the wounded.
Col. George L. Shoup, afterward governor and United States senator, lived in Salmon City at the time, and organized a force of volunteers, of which he took command and proceeded up the valley to the vicinity of Junction, resolved to risk an encounter with the overwhelming force of the Indians, if it seemingly became necessary for the protection of the settlers.
Half way between Salmon City and Junction in the Lemhi Valley, was situate the agency headquarters of the Lemhi Indians. Tendoy, the chief of that tribe, a firm friend of the whites, and an Indian of unusual intelligence, organized the warriors of his tribe and with them proceeded to Junction. There he had numer- ous conferences with Joseph and his lieutenants, seeking to impress upon them the strength of the whites in Lemhi Valley and the fallacy of making trouble there; the wily old chief also had several conferences with Colonel Shoup and the other leaders of the whites, and diligently endeavored to persuade them of the overwhelming force under Joseph and the necessity of refraining from at- tack. Tendoy's attitude undoubtedly did much toward keeping the peace in Lemhi Valley, the object to which his attention had been directed, as his tribe would certainly have severely suffered had trouble commenced. Tendoy showed that himself and his tribe had no sympathy with Joseph and his followers, and gave them no assistance whatever.
After leaving Lemhi Valley Joseph and his forces passed through the Birch Creek country in Idaho and on to the headwaters of the North or Henry Fork of the Snake River, where they were necessarily in communication, or easily could have been, with the Bannock and Shoshone Indians, but so far as known had no assistance from them. In fact, throughout the Nez Perce war, after the opening battles, a force of Bannock scouts under the leadership of Buffalo Horn, War Chief of the Bannocks in the subsequent war with that tribe, accompanied General Howard's forces and rendered effective service.
None of the Indian tribes of either Idaho or Montana joined with Joseph's forces or rendered them service, so far as the facts are known, in the Nez Perce war.
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WAR WITH THE BANNOCK
The Bannock Indians were never fully satisfied with the reservation given to them under the provisions of the Fort Bridger treaty of July 3, 1868, which promised them "a reasonable portion of the Port Neuf and Kansas (Camas) Prairie country," and then the Government placed them upon the Fort Hall reser- vation, quite a distance from the prairie where they had been accustomed to dig camas. However, as the agent permitted them to go to the prairie to hunt, fish and dig camas whenever they felt so inclined, they remained peaceable for ten years after the conclusion of the treaty.
In the spring of 1878 food was scarce on the Fort Hall reservation and some of the Indians wandered away in quest of something to increase the supply. The scarcity was partly caused by the Nez Perce war of the preceding year, and partly because the number of Indians on the reservation was greater than usual. Toward the latter part of May, a few of them went to the Camas Prairie, where they found Lou Kensler, William Silvey and George Nesbit engaged in watching a large herd of horses and cattle. Two of the Indians, known as Jim and Charley, went to the herders' camp on the 27th of May and remained until evening. The next morning, just as the white men were finishing their breakfast, the two Indians came back, still apparently friendly, but while Nesbit was picking up the camp dishes Charley shot him in the jaw with a pistol, and at the same time Jim shot Kensler, who was saddling a horse near the tent. Silvey was some distance from the camp looking after the herd. Hearing the shooting he started for the camp and the Indians opened fire on him when he was some two or three hundred yards away. This gave Kensler an opportunity to get to the tent and secure his gun. He began shooting at the Indians who took flight, though one of them was badly wounded. Kensler was only slightly wounded and he and Silvey saddled two horses for the purpose of taking Nesbit to Boise. When near the Little Camas Prairie they met John McCameron and John Young on foot. McCameron took Silvey's horse and rode back to notify the stage and two freight wagons that he knew were on the road. He met the freighters and the stage where the road to Rocky Bar turned off and waited until Silvey and the other two men came up, when Nesbit was placed in one of the wagons and taken back to Dixie Station, while the stage went on to Rocky Bar.
It does not appear that the shooting of Kensler and Nesbit was a part of any concerted plan to attack the whites, but there had been such dissatisfac- tion among the Indians over the settlers' taking possession of the Camas Prairie that Jim and Charley probably felt that the time for action had come, especially as they noticed the settlers had driven some hogs upon the prairie and these animals were destroying the camas roots. A friendly Indian afterward stated that a number of Indians, while drinking, had a very stormy council, some of them being opposed to war and others determined to make an attack on the white settlements. Chief Buffalo Horn was an advocate of war and he succeeded in enlisting about two hundred young warriors for an attack on the whites, the remainder of the Indians then on the Camas Prairie returning to the reservation.
King Hill stage station was the first point attacked by Buffalo Horn and his party, but the men in charge of the station saw the Indians coming in time to make their escape. The Indians took all the provisions at the station, destroyed
Courtesy of L. V. Mcwhorter. Copyrighted. YI-YI-WA-SOM-WAY, "GEESE-LIGHTING" FROM FLIGHT), SISTER OF CHIEF JOSEPH AND THE MOTHER OF CHIEF YELLOW WOLF
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the harness and other property and took the nine horses. They then went down the Snake River to Glenn's Ferry, five miles below the King Hill station. Lafe Griffin had warned the men in charge of the ferry that the Indians were on the war path, and when Buffalo Horn arrived there he found the place deserted. After ferrying themselves and their horses across the river, the Indians cut the ferry boat loose and it drifted down the river about thirty miles, when it was caught by John Carpenter and a man named Calhoun. Not far from the ferry were several freight wagons laden with goods for Boise merchants, but the teamsters had been warned of the approach of the savages and had turned their horses loose, leaving the wagons standing in the road. The Indians found the abandoned wagons, in one of which were several cases of liquor. In looting the wagons they found the liquor and the night was spent in a general spree. The next morning they took most of the mules and horses, cut the harness to pieces and burned the wagons, and then went on down the Snake River.
The alarm spread rapidly. When the stage driver, W. C. Tatro, arrived at Rocky Bar on May 28, 1878, with the news of the outbreak, George M. Parsons, afterward attorney-general of Idaho, organized a company of about forty vol- unteers and started in pursuit, following the Indians to Glenn's Ferry and not finding them returned to Rocky Bar. At Silver City a company was organized by Capt. J. B. Harper. It numbered only twenty-six men, well armed and mounted, and as soon as it was certain the Indians were south of the Snake River Captain Harper started in search of them. On June 8, 1878, he came upon a camp of sixty about seven miles east of South Mountain. Although out- numbered nearly three to one, they attacked the Indian camp and in the fight two white men-Chris Studer and O. H. Purdy-were killed and three slightly wounded. The Indian loss was never ascertained, but was generally believed Buffalo Horn was killed in this fight. The result was a drawn battle, the vol- unteers finally retiring and the Indians did not follow.
As soon as the news reached Boise, Colonel Bernard started for the Camas Prairie with a detachment of United States troops and thirty-five scouts under Col. Orlando (Rube) Robbins, the gallant old pioncer who had been chief of scouts under General Howard the year before, and who was now a colonel in the Idaho militia. Bernard followed the trail to Glenn's Ferry, and found the ferry boat gone. Learning that the Indians had gone down the river on the opposite side, he went down to the Big Bend, near the mouth of the Bruneau River, where the men swam their horses across and took their supplies over in a skiff.
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