White Bird Battlefield - Nez Perce National Historical Park

 

Visited: May 2024

Nearby town: Grangeville, ID

This windswept valley along White Bird Creek saw the opening salvo of the Nez Perce War of 1877.

Nez Perce National Historical Park memorializes the tragic episode between the U.S. Army and the Nez Perce Tribe, led by Chief Joseph. The Park contains dozens of units spread across the Northwest, located in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. One of those units is White Bird Battlefield, located in north-central Idaho, near the present-day town of Grangeville.

For background on the war and our visit to other sites in Nez Perce National Historical Park, see:

Big Hole Battlefield in Montana https://paulnationalparks.blogspot.com/2019/08/big-hole-national-battlefield.html

and Bear Paw Battlefield in Montana https://paulnationalparks.blogspot.com/2019/08/bear-paw-national-battlefield.html 

By the mid-1800s, The Nez Perce Tribe had lived on the land in present-day Idaho, Oregon, and Washington for generations. In general, this included the Wallowa Valley in Oregon/Washington and a large area of Idaho where the Salmon River and Clearwater River flow into the Snake River.

In the 1855 Nez Perce Treaty, a large reservation was established that recognized the Nez Perce ancestral homeland (approximately 7.5 million acres in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho). Under the terms of the treaty, white settlers were not allowed to live on the reservation without tribal permission. 

In 1860, gold was discovered on the reservation (near the present-day town of Pierce) and white miners and others rushed to build settlements, including the town of Lewiston. These settlements were on reservation land and illegal under the terms of the 1855 treaty. This led to much conflict between the Nez Perce tribe and white settlers, who lobbied the federal government for protection.

In 1863, a minority of the Nez Perce tribes signed a new treaty with the U.S. government, which reduced the Nez Perce Reservation by 90% (7.5 million acres down to 750,000 acres) to lands along the Clearwater River in Idaho. Many Nez Perce, including Chief Joseph, viewed the new treaty (which they dubbed a "steal treaty") as illegitimate because a majority of the tribal leaders did not agree to it. These "non-Treaty" Nez Perce tribes resisted and refused to move to the new reservation.

Violence between the "non-Treaty" tribes and white settlers (who the Nez Perce viewed as squatters) continued for over a decade. Finally, in May 1877, U.S. General Oliver Otis Howard ordered all Nez Perce tribes to move to the new reservation within 30 days or they would be moved by force. 

After years of violence, Chief Joseph yearned for peace and began to move his tribes from the Wallowa Valley in Oregon to the lands of the new reservation. However, many other leaders wished to continue the resistance. In the early part of June 1877, Nez Perce warriors attacked many white settlements along the Clearwater River, leading to the deaths of 18 settlers. Chief Joseph was very distraught upon hearing this news and realized that, at this point, peace was likely impossible. 

In response to the raids, General Howard dispatched Captain David Perry and the 1st Cavalry Regiment to confront Chief Joseph and the non-treaty tribes, who had gathered near the White Bird Creek, and move them to the reservation by force. Chief Joseph and his men prepared for the attack.

The rest stop along Hwy 95 north of the town of White Bird offers panoramic views of the battlefield

On the morning of June 17, 1877, the Cavalry approached the Nez Perce encampment. Chief Joseph tried one last attempt at a peaceful solution. Six Nez Perce scouts rode ahead to meet the U.S. Army with white flags signifying truce. Chief Joseph gave them orders to only fire if fired on.

For reasons never fully explained by Capt. Perry, the U.S. Army fired at the truce party. The truce party took cover and returned fire. The Nez Perce War had begun.

Perry's 1st Cavalry Regiment numbered about 100 men. Many of them were civilian volunteers, and were inexperienced fighters and unskilled horseback riders. Meanwhile, the Nez Perce numbered about 70 warriors, led by Chief Ollokot and Chief White Bird (although Chief Joseph himself may have fought in the battle, it has never been confirmed if he actually did). They were much more experienced on horseback and were very familiar with the terrain.

Although the Nez Perce had sent forth a truce party, they were ready for the Cavalry attack. Many of the warriors had been hiding in bushes and trees and they ambushed a company led by George Shearer, who served as left-flank support for Perry's main column. Shearer ordered his men to dismount and fight on foot, but few obeyed. Instead, many of the men (again, who were mostly volunteers) turned and fled.

Perry's view of Shearer's company was obstructed. Believing that he was protected on his left-flank, he advanced the main column in an attempt to take the high ground and fight the Nez Perce from that vantage point. Once he realized that his left-flank was exposed (due to Shearer's retreat), it was too late.

head down into the canyon and walk the battlefield along White Bird Creek

The U.S. Army was simply overpowered by the Nez Perce and retreated. The Nez Perce had routed Perry's men. In all, 34 soldiers of Perry's regiment were killed, and 4 were wounded. In contrast, none of the Nez Perce warriors had died, and only 3 had been wounded.

The Nez Perce scored a resounding and impressive victory over the U.S. Army. However, Chief Joseph knew that retribution would be swift, harsh, and brutal. Additionally, at this point, Chief Joseph abandoned all hope of a peaceful solution or compromise. 

Chief Joseph led his people (about 250 warriors, and approximately 500 women and children) on a valiant retreat to seek protection and liberty. First, they ventured east across the unforgiving terrain of the Lochsa River and Lolo Pass, south through the Bitterroot Valley, east through Yellowstone National Park (which had been officially designated as such a few years prior), and finally to the lands of the Crow Tribe in southeastern Montana. They fought against the advancing U.S. Army along the way, and suffered many losses at the Battle of the Big Hole in Montana. When the Crow Tribe indicated that they had no interest in uniting with the Nez Perce against the U.S. Army, the Nez Perce headed north, in an attempt to seek freedom and refuge in Canada.

On October 5, 1877, in the Bear Paw Mountains of northern Montana (aka "40 miles from freedom"), Chief Joseph finally surrendered to General Nelson Miles (uttering the famous speech "from where the sun now stands, I will fight no more, forever"). Chief Joseph and the remaining tribe members were sent to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas (despite Miles's promise that they would be returned to the Nez Perce reservation in Idaho). 

Finally, in 1885, Chief Joseph and the surviving 268 Nez Perce were allowed to return to the Pacific Northwest. However, Joseph himself was not allowed to return to the reservation and instead he settled on the Colville Reservation in northeastern Washington. Chief Joseph lived there for the rest of his life. He passed away in 1904, at the age of 64.       

Learn more about the Nez Perce War: https://www.nps.gov/nepe/index.htm

Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site

 

Visited: July 2024

Nearby city: New York City, NY

"Youth - I want to see you game, boys. 

I want to see you brave and manly

and I also want to see you gentle and tender.

Be practical as well as generous in your ideals

Keep your eyes on the stars and keep your feet on the ground.

Courage, hard work, self-mastery, and intelligent effort are all essential to a successful life.

Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and nations alike."

-Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore ("Teddy") Roosevelt was one of the most influential Presidents in American history. Serving from 1901 - 1909, Roosevelt championed what he referred to as the "Square Deal" - an aggressive domestic policy of anti-trust legislation (fostering economic competition and growth), regulation of the railroad industry, improvement of working conditions, and passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act. Roosevelt also focused on conservation and his efforts led to the establishment of many national parks, national monuments, and national forests. In foreign policy, Roosevelt's tactics (summarized by the phrase "speak softly and carry a big stick") led to the construction of the Panama Canal and expansion of U.S. Naval power. His successful diplomatic efforts ended the Russo-Japanese War and he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906. Due to his ebullient personality and expansion of executive authority, many historians regard Roosevelt as the first "modern" U.S. president.

Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site celebrates our nation's 26th president. 

The site is actually a replica of Roosevelt's birth home (more on this below). It's a traditional brownstone at 28 East 20th Street in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, New York City. 

Theodore (or "Teedie" as his parents nicknamed him) was born here on October 27, 1858, the second-oldest child and eldest son of Theodore Roosevelt Sr., prominent philanthropist and scion of the Roosevelt family who made their fortune in the plate-glass importing business. His mother was Martha Bulloch, a Southern Belle who grew up in a wealthy planter family in Savannah, Georgia.

Theodore had an older sister, Anna (known as "Bamie"), a younger brother, Elliott (who would later father the famous First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt), and a younger sister, Corinne.    

Theodore was a sickly child who suffered from debilitating asthma attacks. Due to his ill health, his parents were very protective of him and decided to homeschool him. Young Theodore was precocious and inquisitive. He developed an interest in wildlife and zoology at age 7, when he discovered the skull of a seal that had washed up on the beach. Theodore and his cousins would later display the seal's skull, along with other insects they had captured, in his bedroom, which Theodore dubbed "The Roosevelt Museum of Natural History." At age 9, Theodore wrote a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects" in which he documented the size, sex, shape, color, place located, and sometimes even the stomach contents of each insect he had collected over the years.

Roosevelt at age 11

Theodore's family traveled extensively during his youth, and he visited Egypt and Europe in his young teens. These trips broadened his perception of the world and fostered a lifelong love of learning. While hiking in the Alps, he discovered the benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma. After some older boys had bullied him on a camping trip, he took boxing lessons to build strength and stamina. Theodore would box well into adulthood. Even as President, he would box with sparring partners as often as two or three times a week. 

This rigorous exercise regimen developed into a philosophy that Theodore called "the strenuous life." As an adult, Theodore argued that strenuous effort and overcoming hardship were ideals to be embraced for the betterment of the individual and the nation as a whole. Along with boxing, Theodore took up tennis, hiking, rowing, polo, horseback riding, and ju-jitsu. 

Theodore was a voracious reader and had a photographic memory. He became very proficient in biology, ornithology, geography, history, philosophy, French, and German.

The home is only available via a guided tour. Tours are offered throughout the day on a first-come, first-served basis. 

piano in the parlor/sitting room

Roosevelt's home had a chandelier very similar to the one seen here.

In his autobiography, Roosevelt recollected the chandelier in the parlor room as follows:

"The ornaments of that parlor I remember now, including the glass chandelier decorated with a great quantity of cut-glass prisms. These prisms struck me as possessing peculiar magnificence. One of them fell off one day, and I hastily grabbed it and stowed it away, passing several days of furtive delight in the treasure, a delight always alloyed with fear that I would be found out and convicted of larceny."

dining room

fine china

this is the actual crib used by Teddy as an infant

Theodore's family lived in this home until 1872 (he was 14 years old). The neighborhood had become more commercial, and the family moved further uptown. 

In 1876, at age 18, Theodore enrolled at Harvard University. It was there that his classmates started to call him "Teddy". Theodore disliked the moniker and felt it was too boyish. However, once he entered politics, reporters frequently referred to him as "Teddy" in newspaper articles and the nickname stuck. 

While at Harvard, he studied naval history during the War of 1812. Roosevelt would ultimately write his first published book "The Naval War of 1812" which was recognized as a seminal work in its field and was used as a textbook at the U.S. Naval Academy. 

After your guided tour, spend some time in the museum and watch the documentary video about young Theodore's life. Many interesting artifacts are on display.

a "Teddy" bear

As the story goes, in 1902, President Roosevelt was on a bear-hunting trip in Mississippi. Some of his hunting partners had cornered and tied an American Black Bear to a willow tree after a long chase with hounds. They suggested that Roosevelt shoot the bear. He refused, stating that doing so would be unsportsmanlike. The incident became popularized in a political cartoon in The Washington Post. Morris Michtom, a Russian Jewish immigrant living in Brooklyn, saw the cartoon and was inspired to design a stuffed toy and the "Teddy Bear" was born.

 

Theodore's "Rough Rider" uniform

In 1898, Roosevelt was serving as the Assistant Secretary to the Navy in the McKinley administration. When the Spanish-American War broke out, Roosevelt resigned his post and formed the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, known as the "Rough Riders." Roosevelt's brazen horseback charge up Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill in Cuba made Roosevelt a national hero and a household name.    

The undershirt Roosevelt was wearing when he was shot in 1912.

After years of disappointment with his hand-picked successor, President William Howard Taft, Roosevelt decided to challenge Taft for the Republican nomination in the 1912 election. Although Roosevelt had great success in the primaries (which did not have great influence at that time), Taft was selected to be the nominee by the delegates at the Republican convention. Roosevelt bolted from the GOP and formed the Progressive Party. 

On October 14, 1912, while giving a campaign speech in Milwaukee, Roosevelt was shot by a delusional saloonkeeper named John Schrank, who believed that the ghost of William McKinley had instructed him to kill Roosevelt. The bullet lodged in Roosevelt's chest after penetrating his eyeglasses case and passing through a 50-page folded copy of the speech in his breast pocket. Once Schrank was subdued and taken away by the authorities, Roosevelt assured the crowd that he was "fine" and insisted on delivering his 90-minute speech. Only after delivering his speech did he seek medical attention. Doctors concluded that it would be less dangerous to leave the bullet in instead of attempt to remove it. Roosevelt carried the bullet inside him for the rest of his life. After two weeks to recuperate, he was back on the campaign trail. When a reporter asked him if the injury would effect his campaign, Roosevelt responded that it wouldn't and quipped "I'm as fit as a bull moose." Roosevelt's Progressive Party would go down in history as the "Bull Moose" party.    

notice the bullet holes in the copy of his speech

The original birthplace home was torn down in 1916 to make way for retail space. Before that construction started however, Roosevelt passed away in 1919 at the age of 60. The early demise saddened the nation. This prompted the formation of the Women's Roosevelt Memorial Association. The Association purchased the empty lot and began to build an exact replica of the birth home. The rebuilt home was dedicated in 1923 and furnished with many original pieces donated by Roosevelt's widow, Edith. 

The Association donated the building to the NPS in 1963. 

There is much more to the story of Theodore Roosevelt, and his life is celebrated in many other units of the National Park Service. His political rise, family tragedies and triumphs, presidential accomplishments, and enduring legacy will be discussed in subsequent blog posts. 

For more info on the birthplace home: https://www.nps.gov/thrb/index.htm