Battle of the Big Hole

Fighting broke out over two days, August 9 and 10, 1877, when soldiers of the United States Army clashed with the Nez Perce in Montana Territory as part of the larger conflict known as the Nez Perce War. Losses on both sides were severe. Rather than being routed, the Nez Perce managed an orderly withdrawal, pressing onward with the drawn-out fighting retreat that would eventually lead them toward Canada in search of refuge.

The site where this engagement took place lies within Beaverhead County, situated between Wisdom and the continental divide at Chief Joseph Pass.

Background

Following the clash at Clearwater on July 11 and 12 in Idaho Territory, the Nez Perce set out on a long flight aimed at putting distance between themselves and Brigadier General Oliver Otis Howard's troops. Their path took them over the difficult terrain of Lolo Pass into Montana Territory, where a short standoff at Fort Fizzle on July 28 did little to slow them before they moved into the Bitterroot Valley heading south. Leadership at this point appears to have shifted from Chief Joseph to Looking Glass, who gave his word to settlers there that his people would move through peacefully. This promise held, and the Nez Perce even bought goods and traded with local merchants along the way.

Convinced by Looking Glass that Howard's forces trailed well behind and that Montana's residents harbored no hostile intentions, the group slowed their pace considerably. Defensive measures grew lax, with no scouts sent ahead and no pickets posted around their camps. After leaving the Bitterroot Valley and crossing over a mountain range, they settled into the Big Hole Basin, stopping there to cut fresh tipi poles from nearby timber. Altogether the band consisted of roughly 750 people, among them some 200 fighting men.

What the Nez Perce could not know was that Colonel John Gibbon had already departed Fort Shaw, bringing with him 161 officers and enlisted men along with a single howitzer. As he tracked their movements, he picked up 45 volunteers from among the Bitterroot Valley's civilians. On August 8, scouts under Lieutenant James Bradley located the tribe's camp situated along the North Fork of the Big Hole River. Gibbon pressed forward that same night, marching his men overland so they arrived at the encampment by daybreak. He left behind the twelve pound howitzer and supply train, guarded by a detachment of twenty, to catch up later. There was no ambiguity in his purpose or his instructions, which called for neither prisoners taken nor terms discussed.

Battle

A shallow but chilly stretch of water, waist-deep and thick with willows along its banks, the North Fork of the Big Hole River separated Gibbon's troops from the Nez Perce camp, where eighty-nine lodges stood arranged in the shape of a V. Moving in on foot as dawn broke, Gibbon's soldiers came upon an elderly Nez Perce man and shot him dead. They then pushed across the river and stormed into the camp, unleashing gunfire into lodges where most of the occupants were still asleep. Caught completely off guard, the Nez Perce scattered in every direction. The troops shot without discrimination at men, women, and children alike, though accounts suggest some of the women had taken up arms and returned fire. Lieutenant James H. Bradley, commanding the left wing of Gibbon's force, fell dead in the opening moments of the fight. With their officer gone, his men halted rather than pressing forward, leaving the northern end of the encampment untouched and thereby handing the Nez Perce a place to regroup and make a stand.

Wary of letting his troops become too spread out, Gibbon called off the chase and ordered the lodges set ablaze, an effort that turned out harder than expected. This delay bought the Nez Perce precious time to reorganize. Soldiers could hear White Bird and Looking Glass calling out to rally their warriors from across the village. Firing began again as the Nez Perce took up covered positions and answered the troops' volleys. Gibbon himself took a leg wound and lost his horse in the exchange, while several more soldiers were cut down. The Nez Perce fired with their customary accuracy, even though the warrior Yellow Wolf later recalled that most of his fellow fighters had run off without weapons, leaving only a handful actually armed.

Barely twenty minutes into the assault on the village, Gibbon concluded his position had become untenable and pulled his men back across the river to a wooded area some three to four hundred yards off, hidden from the camp's view. There the troops dug in, scraping out rifle pits and piling up barriers of rock and

Aftermath

The victory Gibbon achieved by catching the Nez Perce off guard dealt a severe blow to Looking Glass's standing among his people. He had assured them that Montana offered safety, yet almost every family among the Nez Perce buried someone lost in the fighting. Joseph appears to have stepped back into his former position as the tribe's principal leader, though Looking Glass kept his role directing warriors in combat.

The toll this engagement took on the Nez Perce proved severe beyond measure. Their hope had been that abandoning Idaho would let them escape the conflict entirely and settle into peace. That illusion was gone now, replaced by the grim understanding that mercy would not be shown to them going forward. Howard's troops, having just reached the site, picked up the trail and pressed after Joseph as he moved toward Yellowstone National Park. Ten days later, on August 20, the two sides fought again at Camas Meadows.

Today the site of the fighting is protected as part of Nez Perce National Historical Park, within the Big Hole National Battlefield unit situated along State Highway 43.