Bear Paw Battlefield, Nez Perce National Historical Park, Chinook, MT.

Bear Paw Battlefield is the site of the last battle of the four-month Nez Perce War of 1877. The battlefield is a part of Nez Perce National Historical Park and Nez Perce National Historic Trail.
The war was fought between June and October 1877 and stemmed from the refusal of several bands of Nez Perce (“non-treaty Indians”) to give up their ancestral lands in the Pacific Northwest and move to a reservation in Idaho Territory.
The first battle occurred on June 17, 1877. That was followed by a tragic, heroic, remarkable, much acclaimed, 1,126-mile fighting retreat of the Nez Perce over four states to try to reach the safety of Canada.
In late September the Indians were camped in a shallow valley just 40 miles from Canada along Snake Creek at the foot of the Bear Paw Mountains. On September 30 troops under Col. Nelson A. Miles attacked the camp, but the attack failed, and the fight became a siege. Chief Joseph finally surrendered on October 5, 1877, vowing “to fight no more forever.”
There is not much to see at the Battlefield, but there is much to feel and experience. The site looks very much like it did in 1877. It is mostly empty grassland. Trees are rare. And when I visited the Battlefield in July of 2022 there were no other visitors at the site. None. The Battlefield is rather remote. That made my visit very quiet, somber, almost spooky. Just the wind and a few birds to hear. And listen for the ghosts of Nez Perce and Army soldiers who fought and died in the cold and snow. [There were three employees doing something in a distant field.]
In the fighting, the Army lost 23 men killed, and 45 more were wounded. The Nez Perce lost 30 people killed, and another 46 were wounded. About 300 of the Nez Perce managed to elude capture and make it to Canada. The rest were sent to Indian Territory in Oklahoma eventually.
The National Park Service website for the Bear Paw Battlefield can be found at:
www.nps.gov/ne...
And a very good NPS brochure and map can be downloaded at:
www.nps.gov/ne...
Enjoy the video of my visit to the BEAR PAW Battlefield in the Nez Perce National Historical Park. Pause the video to read all the information posted on signs.
• Bear Paw Battlefield, ...
And please view the video of my visit to the BIG HOLE Battlefield in the Nez Perce National Historical Park, near Wisdom, Montana:
• Big Hole National Batt...
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[@groovyroses]

My parents and I were there back in June 1977 and stayed overnight at the lone picnic area. We saw a breathtaking sunset and during the night we heard scratching noise coming from the front of our camping van. It was creepy. The following morning, we went for our walk and checking out the battlefield. It is a quite interesting place.

[@hervelakotasunka2625]

Thank you for sharing.

[@deanjoon1527]

I enjoyed your video of Bear Paw Battlefield. I visited the site in 2004. Seems we travel the same paths as I also viewed your Big Hole Battlefield field video. I appreciate your style of presenting the sites with beautiful music, maps and the numbered stop photos/video. THANKS

[@stagecoacher]

Glad you liked my video!