Photo from LA Times: Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce. (Pendleton USA)
Before Lewis and Clark, Oregon Trail ruts, loggers or cattle ranches appeared, the peaceful and powerful Nez Perce, or Nee-Me-Poo (meaning the real people), called the Wallowas home.
Theirs is a familiar, sad story of the West. Discovery of gold led to broken treaties and a forced exodus to a reservation in 1877. Nearly 750 Nez Perce took a 1,170-mile evasive walk instead, pausing to fight the U.S. Army at their heels, before being captured about 40 miles from Canada...
Read the rest of the article in the LA Times Travel section -->