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Lucullus V. McWhorter devoted much of his life to preserving the history of the Nez Perce and Yakama Indians of the Pacific Northwest's interior plateau region. McWhorter held a unique role as Nez Perce tribal historian and gatherer of tradition lore from both treaty and non-treaty bands. In Voice of the Old Wolf, Steve Evans helps to fill a gap in Nez Perce history, focusing on the 1880s to the 1940s, a period often neglected by the many historians of the 1877 war. -
Missionary Henry Spalding shipped two barrels of "Indian curiosities"--exquisite Nez Perce shirts, dresses, baskets, and horse regalia--to Dr. Dudley Allen in 1847. Donated to Oberlin College in 1893 and transferred to the Ohio Historical Society (OHS) in 1942, the collection languished in storage until Nez Perce National Historic Park curators rediscovered it in 1976. The OHS loaned most of the artifacts to the National Park Service. Twelve years later, the OHS abruptly recalled the collection, demanding the full appraised value of $608,100. Given just six-months to raise the funds, the tribe mounted a brilliant grassroots campaign. One day before the deadline, they met their goal. The author draws on interviews with Nez Perce experts and extensive archival research to tell the fascinating Spalding-Allen Collection story. He also examines the ethics of acquiring, bartering, owning, and selling Native cultural history. -
After the Civil War and Reconstruction, a new struggle raged in the Northern Rockies. In the summer of 1877, General Oliver Otis Howard, a champion of African American civil rights, ruthlessly pursued hundreds of Nez Perce families who resisted moving onto a reservation. Standing in his way was Chief Joseph, a young leader who never stopped advocating for Native American sovereignty and equal rights. Thunder in the Mountains is the spellbinding story of two legendary figures and their epic clash of ideas about the meaning of freedom and the role of government in American life. -
This powerful account of the tragic defeat of the Nez Perce Indians in 1877 by the United States Army is narrated by Chief Joseph's strong and brave daughter. -
Here is the story of the 1,800-mile journey made by Chief Joseph and eight hundred Nez Perce men, women, and children from their homelands in what is now eastern Oregon through the most difficult, mountainous country in western America to the high plains of Montana where they surrendered just 40 miles from the Canadian border. Hidden in the shadow cast by the great western expeditions of Lewis and Clark lies another journey every bit as poignant, every bit as dramatic, and every bit as essential to an understanding of who we are as a nation - the 1,800-mile journey made by Chief Joseph and eight hundred Nez Perce men, women, and children from their homelands in what is now eastern Oregon through the most difficult, mountainous country in western America to the high, wintry plains of Montana. There, only forty miles from the Canadian border and freedom, Chief Joseph, convinced that the wounded and elders could go no farther, walked across the snowy battlefield, handed his rifle to the U.S. military commander who had been pursuing them, and spoke his now-famous words, "From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever." -
Although the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) Indians gave instrumental help to Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition, they were rewarded by decades of invasive treaties and encroachment upon their homeland. In June 1877, the Nez Perce struck back and were soon swept into one of the most devastating Indian wars in American history. The conflict culminated in an epic twelve-hundred-mile chase as the U.S. Army pursued some eight hundred Nez Perce men, women, and children, who tried to fight their way to freedom in Canada. In this enthralling account of the Nez Perce War, Bruce Hampton brings to life unforgettable characters from both sides of the conflictwarriors and women, common soldiers and celebrated generals. Looking Glass, White Bird, the legendary Chief Joseph, and fewer than three hundred warriors waged a bloody guerilla war against a modernized American army commanded by such famous generals as William Tecumseh Sherman, Nelson Miles, Oliver Otis Howard, and Philip Sheridan. Hampton also gives voice to the Native Americans from other tribes who helped the U.S. Army block the escape of the Nez Perce to Canada. Using authoritative sources, Hampton, a Native American history scholar, presents an objective account of the Nez Perce war and offers a glimpse into the lives of the Indians struggling to maintain their homeland and way of life. Prior to 1877, the Nez Perce were a peaceful and wealthy band. Misled by the white man's promises and faced with encroachment, a renegade band massacred 18 settlers. Fearing retribution, over 750 Nez Perce Indians began their flight toward Canada, followed by several army regiments. This war would eventually last several weeks, cover 1200 miles through three states, involve numerous battles, cost over $930,000, and result in the loss of many lives before the Indians would be forced to surrender only miles from their destination. -
Organized both chronologically and thematically, "Encounters with the People" is an edited, annotated compilation of unique primary sources related to Nez Perce history--Native American oral histories, diary excerpts, military reports, maps, and more. Generous elders shared their collective memory of carefully-guarded stories passed down through multiple generations, beginning with early Nimiipuu/Euro-American contact and extending until just after the Treaty of 1855 held at Walla Walla. -
The author of Nez Perce Summer has written a comprehensive history of the Nez Perces who took refuge in Canada after the war of 1877.
