Big Hole National Battlefield

45°38′15″N 113°38′37″W / 45.63750°N 113.64361°W / 45.63750; -113.64361Area655.61 acres (265.32 ha)^[1]Established1883 (1883) (Military Preserve)
June 23, 1910 (NPS)^[2]Visitors54,781 (in 2022)^[3]Governing bodyNational Park ServiceWebsiteBig Hole National Battlefield

Big Hole National Battlefield preserves a battlefield in the western United States, located in Beaverhead County, Montana. In 1877, the Nez Perce fought a delaying action against the U.S. Army's 7th Infantry Regiment here on August 9 and 10, during their failed attempt to escape to Canada. This action, the Battle of the Big Hole, was the largest battle fought between the Nez Perce and U.S. Government forces in the five-month conflict known as the Nez Perce War.

In 1992, the park was made a part of Nez Perce National Historical Park, which consists of 38 locations in five states, following the flight of the Nez Perce tribe from the U.S. military, the route of which was designated Nez Perce National Historic Trail in 1986.

Just east of the continental divide at Chief Joseph Pass, Big Hole National Battlefield is located on 975.61 acres (3.9 km²)^[1] (including 320 acres/1.3 km² privately held),^[1] ten miles (16 km) west of Wisdom on Montana Highway 43. A year-round visitor center is located in the park.

History

The Nez Perce homeland territory was in the states now known as Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. In 1873, Chief Joseph negotiated with the federal government to ensure his people could stay on their land in the Wallowa Valley as stipulated in 1855 and 1863 land treaties with the U.S. government. By 1860 more than 15,000 miners had broken the treaty terms, and the government did nothing to intervene. In 1877, President Grant signed an Executive order granting the Wallowa to the Nez Perce, only to rescind it two years later. As a result, more people overran the land. Two farmers killed a warrior wrongly accused of stealing a horse. Warriors then engaged with settlers, until Joseph, who was 36 years of age, decided it best to not continue to engage, as he was a peace-loving person. Fearing U.S. Army retaliation, Chief Joseph decided that the best way to avoid the official U.S. Government policy of forcing Native Americans onto reservations was to escape to Canada, where he believed that his people would be treated differently and they could unite with Sitting Bull, leader of a band of Lakota there.

At White Bird Canyon, Brigadier General Oliver Howard, who outnumbered the Nez Perce two to one, was defeated on June 17, after firing on the Nez Perce who came to parley under a white flag. Thirty-four soldiers were killed, but only two Nez Perce warriors were. The Nez Perce who were now part of the group moving to Canada, numbered around 750, with only 200 warriors. Six weeks after leaving their homeland, U.S. Army forces performed a predawn attack on the men, women, and children encamped at Big Hole. The Nez Perce mounted a fierce resistance and managed to overwhelm the attacking force, cornering them on a hillside. Meanwhile, the women and children fled the battlefield after burying their dead. During the day and a half battle, the Nez Perce lost an estimated 60 to 90 men, women and children, although it is believed that actual losses may have been much higher with a good portion being women and children. U.S. forces lost 29 and an additional 40 serious casualties. The confrontation was the most violent battle between the Nez Perce and the U.S. Government forces. After the battle the Nez Perce fled east through Yellowstone National Park, then headed north. In October 1877, only 40 miles (64 km) from the Canada–US border in Montana's Bear Paw Mountains, the starving and exhausted Nez Percé surrendered to the U.S. Forces commanded by General Oliver O. Howard, only after Howard and Miles said they would be allowed to return to their beloved Wallowas. It was a lie. Approximately 200-250 Nez Perce warriors escaped to Canada prior to the surrender, leaving 417 women, children and elderly. Upon the final surrender by Chief Joseph he was quoted as saying, "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". The actual speech was much longer. The Nez Perce were removed to the Colville Reservation in Washington state, and Chief Joseph was never allowed to return to his Wallowas until 1900, when he was "allowed" to see his father's grave. The Nez Perce farmed before the settlers arrived.

Administrative history

The site was established as a Military Preserve in 1883, and designated a National Monument on June 23, 1910. It was redesignated a National Battlefield on May 17, 1963. The trail system was designated as a National Recreation Trail in 1977. As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, the battlefield was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.^[4]

References

Sources

• The National Parks: Index 2001–2003. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior.
• Theodore Catton; Ann Hubber (1999). "Commemoration and Preservation: An Administrative History of Big Hole National Battlefield". National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2012-12-02.
• Aubrey Haines (1968). "Historical Research Management Plan for Big Hole National Battlefield and Bibliography of Nez Perce War, 1877" (PDF). National Park Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-11-14.
• Douglas D. Scott (1994). "A Sharp Little Affair-Archeology of the Big Hole Battlefield" (PDF). Reprints in Archeology. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-11-13.

External links

Federal

National parks	Glacier Yellowstone
National monuments	Little Bighorn Battlefield Pompeys Pillar (BLM) Upper Missouri River Breaks (BLM)
National battlefield	Big Hole
National historical parks and historic sites	Grant–Kohrs Ranch NHS Nez Perce NHP
National historic and scenic trails	Lewis and Clark NHT Nez Perce NHT Continental Divide NST Pacific Northwest NST
National recreation area	Bighorn Canyon
National Wildlife Refuges	Benton Lake Black Coulee Bowdoin Charles M. Russell Creedman Coulee Grass Lake Hailstone Hewitt Lake Lake Mason Lake Thibadeau Lamesteer Lee Metcalf Lost Trail Medicine Lake Ninepipe Pablo Red Rock Lakes Swan River UL Bend War Horse
National Forests	Beaverhead–Deerlodge Bitterroot Custer Flathead Gallatin Helena Kootenai Lewis and Clark Lolo
National Wilderness	Absaroka–Beartooth Anaconda–Pintler Bear Trap Canyon Bob Marshall Cabinet Mountains Gates of the Mountains Great Bear Lee Metcalf Medicine Lake Mission Mountains Rattlesnake Red Rock Lakes Scapegoat Selway–Bitterroot UL Bend Welcome Creek
National wild and scenic rivers	East Rosebud Creek Flathead Missouri

State

State parks	Ackley Lake Anaconda Smoke Stack Bannack Beaverhead Rock Beavertail Hill Big Arm Black Sandy Brush Lake Chief Plenty Coups Clark's Lookout Cooney Council Grove Elkhorn Finley First Peoples Buffalo Jump Fort Owen Frenchtown Pond Giant Springs Granite Ghost Town Greycliff Prairie Dog Town Hell Creek Lake Elmo Lake Mary Ronan Lewis and Clark Caverns Logan Lone Pine Lost Creek Madison Buffalo Jump Makoshika Medicine Rocks Missouri Headwaters Painted Rocks Parker Homestead Pictograph Cave Pirogue Island Placid Lake Rosebud Battlefield Salmon Lake Sluice Boxes Smith River Somers Beach Spring Meadow Lake Thompson Falls Tongue River Reservoir Tower Rock Travelers' Rest Wayfarers West Shore Whitefish Lake Wild Horse Island Yellow Bay
State forests	Clearwater Coal Creek Lincoln Lubrecht Experimental Stillwater Sula Swan River Thompson River
Wildlife Management Areas	Amelia Island Aunt Molly Badlands Beartooth Beckman Big Lake Blackfoot-Clearwater Blackleaf Blue Eyed Nellie Bowdoin Buffalo Head Park Bull River Calf Creek Canyon Creek Canyon Ferry Dodson Creek Dodson Dam Dome Mountain Ear Mountain Elk Island F Island Flathead Lake Flathead River Fleecer Mountain Fox Lake Freezout Lake Fresno Reservoir Fresno Tailwater Gallatin Garrity Mountain Grant Marsh Gravelly-Blacktail Haymaker Hinsdale Horseshoe Lake Howard Valley Isaac Homestead Judith River Kootenai/Falls Kootenai/West Kootenai/Woods Ranch Lake Helena Lost Creek Lower Stillwater Lake Madison-Bear Creek Madison-Wall Creek Milk River Mount Haggin Mount Jumbo Mount Silcox Nevada Lake Ninepipe North Swan Valley CE Pablo Ray Kuhns Robb-Ledford Rookery Roundhom Sanders Seven Sisters Silver Gate Silver Run Smith River Sun River Swan Lake Thompson-Fisher CE Three Mile Threemile Vandalia War Dance Island Warm Springs

Other

Nonprofit	American Prairie
Tribal	CSKT Bison Range