“Upon the capture of Joseph and his Indians, the first question that arises is, ‘What shall be done with them?’ Humanity prompts us to send them back and place them on the Nez Perce reservation, as Joseph and his followers have shown themselves to be brave men and skilled soldiers[.] ...

There is, however, an insuperable difficulty ... owing to the fact that at the beginning of the outbreak of the Nez Perce war, twenty-one whites in the immediate vicinity of Joseph’s home were murdered[.] ... Now, however, they will have to be sent to the Indian Territory; and this will be no hardship to them[.]” — Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1877

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“You might as well expect all rivers to run backward as that any man who was born a free man should be contented penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases.” — Hinmató·wyalahtq’it (Young Chief Joseph), Nez Perce, 1879

Photo: Hinmató·wyalahtq’it (Young Chief Joseph)

A group of survivors led by the lamtáama band headman, White Bird, fled Bear Paw to seek asylum with Sitting Bull’s Sioux camp. Sitting Bull had defeated General Custer at Little Big Horn before retreating to Canada just the year before. That victory influenced the U.S. to insist upon pursuing the fleeing Nez Perce.

“It was in the night when I escaped with Chief White Bird and his band all afoot. The fight was over and nothing to stay for. … It was lonesome, the leaving. Husband dead, friends buried or held prisoners. I felt that I was leaving all that I had but I did not cry.” — Wetatonmi, wal’wá·ma survivor, 1877

Many who escaped Bear Paw were captured, killed by enemy tribes, or died of exposure during the journey. Those who reached the Sioux were welcomed and many later settled in Pincher Creek, Alberta. In the years following the war, dispersed survivors who returned to the U.S. were often arrested and sent to exile.

Photos: Sitting Bull. White Bird.

“The Missouri River bottom ... between a lagoon and the river, [is] the worst possible place that could have been selected; and the sanitary condition of the Indians proved it. The physician in charge said that ‘one-half could be said to be sick, and all were affected by the poisonous malaria of the camp.’ After the arrival of Joseph and his band in the Indian Territory, the bad effect of their location at Fort Leavenworth manifested itself ... and within a few months they have lost by death more than one-quarter of the entire number. A little care in the selection of a wholesome location near Fort Leavenworth would have saved very much sickness and many lives.” — Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Kansas, 1878

’iyeq’iispe (The Hot Place)

“I am sorry to be compelled to report that there has been a large amount of sickness and many deaths among [the Nez Perce] during the last year[.] This arises from the fact that they have not become acclimated, and are to a great extent compelled to live in tepees, the cloth of which has become so rotten from the long wear and the effects of the weather as to be no longer capable of keeping out the rain[.] ... So brave, good, and generous a people deserve well of their government, and I can only express the hope that such generous action will be taken by the coming Congress in their behalf as may enable the department to furnish them with the horses and implements of agriculture that they so much need. Such a people should not be allowed to perish, and this great government can afford to be generous and just.” — Report of Thomas J. Jordan, United States Indian Agent, Ponca Agency, Indian Territory, 1882

“The amount of supplies I had on hand for these Indians was not sufficient to issue them one-fourth rations[.] … After considerable writing and telegraphing to the Department ... some two months later I was permitted to contract for supplies and to issue to these Indians full rations. It was about this time that Joseph, with 120 of his people, expressed a desire to move to the Nespelem, where Moses was living, and to take up farms. ... They are now busy fencing in the land.” — Report of Benjamin P. Moore, United States Indian Agent, Colville Indian Agency, Washington Territory, 1886

“Nez Perces of Joseph’s band reached this agency [by train from Oklahoma.] … After an absence of eight years they return very much broken in spirit. … [Members] of White Bird’s band have come in and are scattered over the reserve. As fast as they appear at the agency I instruct the police to cut off their long hair ... they must make a selection of a piece of land, settle down, and go to work. I have endeavored to make this tribe understand that my word is law.” — Report of Charles E. Monteith, United States Indian Agent, Nez Perce Agency, 1885

Before, during, and especially after 1877, Nez Perce people sought out their relatives on the Umatilla Reservation.

“There were very close family relations between the Joseph band and the Cayuse. The war was one source of the Joseph Band diaspora but there were many reasons why they came to Umatilla.” — Tom Hampson, Director of ONABEN, 2018