Significance
In 1877, the Wallowa Band Nez Perce, under the leadership of the brothers Joseph and Ollokot, joined four other tribal groups traveling from their traditional homeland in the Wallowa Valley to the Nez Perce reservation in Idaho Territory. At Tolo Lake (Idaho), several young warriors (who were not members of the Wallowa Band) avenged the death of tribal members by killing four white men. Fearing retaliation from the military, the not-treaty Nez Perce, joined by bands of the Palouse, left for White Bird Canyon -- and the cavalry followed. Thus began the flight of Joseph, Ollokot, and the non-treaty Nez Perce; a journey that would capture the imagination of the nation.

About 800 people, herding more than 2000 horses and carrying whatever possessions they could manage, embarked on a circuitous 1,100 mile route through four states. They made this trek in less than four months, fleeing from the U.S. Army which was under orders to place them on a reservation in western Idaho Territory. The 250 Nez Perce men fought more than twenty engagements and five major battles against 2000 US soldiers and civilians. Time and again the non-treaty Nez Perce outmaneuvered the military as they tried to reach the Canadian border. The exhausted bands surrendered just forty miles short of its goal. It was there that Chief Joseph reportedly made the speech: "My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever." The story of the non-treaty Nez Perces' flight from their traditional homelands and Chief Joseph's diplomacy in the years that followed are internationally recognized symbols of Indian skill and resilience.

Historical context
The Nez Perce people had lived in the mountain ranges and high plateaus of what we now call northeastern Oregon, southeastern Washington, and central Idaho for centuries before Euro-Americans ever crossed the land. Members of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery were the first from the relatively new nation of the United States that the Nez Perce met. Their congenial meeting lead to years of peaceful coexistence with the ever-increasing population of trappers and traders, missionaries, and emigrants. The emigrant's hunger for land severely affected native groups as Euro-Americans moved across the continent and the government initiated a reservation system to divide Indian lands.

In 1855, Washington Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens and headmen of fifty-six bands or villages signed the first treaty defining the Nez Perce Reservation as seven million acres -- from southeast Washington, across the Wallowa Country of northeast Oregon, to central Idaho, from the Palouse River, to south of the Salmon River. An 1860 gold discovery on Nez Perce land near Orofino, Idaho, prompted the government to enter into treaty negotiations again, reducing the lands to 700,000 acres. Lawyer, a Christian leader and fifty-four Christianized Nez Perce representatives signed the treaty, but five bands of the Nez Perce, who were non-Christian, refused to sign. The Nez Perce people became divided into Christian and non-Christian, treaty and non-treaty factions. The Americans claimed Lawyer represented the entire Nez Perce people and the U.S. Government launched a campaign to move all Nez Perce onto the reservation.

The non-treaty Nez Perces, however remained on their traditional homeland. In 1871, Old Chief Joseph, leader of the non-treaty Wellamotkin Band of Nez Perce, died. He was 85. At nearly the same time, the first white emigrants pushed their herds of cattle from the Grande Ronde Valley into the Wallowa Valley's lush meadows. Chief Joseph, the old chief's oldest son, assumed responsibility for the band's civil relations with other tribes and the U.S. Government and its agents.

As the years passed, it became increasingly difficult for the Nez Perce to accommodate the constant flow of whites into the Valley. Hostilities began when settlers and cattlemen increasingly trespassed upon the Indians' land. The government told emigrants that the valley was United States property and that they could settle there as easily as anywhere else. Moreover, the government agreed to protect the white settlers.

Increasing demands on limited resources pressed the Nez Perce and the emigrants to the breaking point. In the spring of 1877 an ultimatum was issued and the cavalry was sent to move the non-treaty groups onto reservation land. When the orders came for all non-treaty bands to move, the Wallowa Band was at its winter camp on the lower reaches of the Grande Ronde. Seeing no alternative, the Wallowa Band agreed to move peacefully. Approximately 400 Indians, including about 64 braves ages 16 and over, and only 1,000 head of horses and cattle were gathered and the move to the ancient gathering place of Tepahlewam, near Tolo Lake, began on May 14, 1877.

The Indians assembled at Dug Bar, where they crossed the Snake River. After climbing to Joseph Plains and crossing the Salmon River, they proceeded to Tepahlewam where a majority of the non-treaty Nez Perce had gathered to await the final move onto the reservation at Lapwai. The last few days were emotional ones for the Nez Perce. Several young warriors, intent on avenging the deaths of tribal members killed by miners and settlers, killed four white men. Fearing retaliation, the non-treaty Nez Perce fled to White Bird Canyon and the cavalry followed. When the military ignored a truce flag flown by the Nez Perce and attacked, the Nez Perce warriors defeated the troops, killing thirty-four and losing none. They continued their flight to freedom in Montana, hoping that their buffalo-hunting friends, the Crows, would help them. When the Crow were unable to help, Canada held the last promise for freedom.

Their 1,100 mile circuitous route through four states was dictated by terrain and strategic advantage. From the beginning to the end, the warrior force led by Joseph's brother, the war chief Ollokot, never exceeded 250 men. They fought some 20 engagements and five major battles with forces which totaled some 2,000 soldiers plus numerous civilian volunteers and the support of Nez Perces' tribal enemies. The Nez Perce defeated and humiliated the cavalry again and again as they struggled toward Sitting Bull's Sioux in Canada. Still, the cavalry pursued, frustrated by this small group's resilience and skill.

Some forty miles from the Canadian border, the Army cornered Joseph's exhausted band forcing them to surrender. Though the Nez Perce fared better than did the cavalry, too many on both sides died. It was cold and the Nez Perce were without blankets. It was here that Joseph reportedly said: "My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."

The 1877 War yielded greater casualties than the Battle of the Little Bighorn. About 300 of the 750 fugitive Nez Perces -- men, women, and children -- died before reaching the Bear's Paw Mountains, or shortly thereafter as prisoners. During the surrender negotiations, the Nez Perces were first told they could return to the Idaho reservation, but then were sent to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. For the next eight years, Chief Joseph lobbied for the return of his people to Idaho. Finally in 1885, 118 Nez Perces were returned to the Nez Perce Reservation, Idaho. The remaining 150, including Joseph, were sent to the Colville Indian Reservation, Washington. Many died as prisoners.

The USDA Forest Service has designated the route of the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail in Oregon. Of a total of 55 miles of trail, 40 miles are across private lands and 15 miles on national forest land. The Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail in Oregon cannot be followed in its entirety by wheeled vehicles. Except for portions where existing roads coincide with or intersect the Indians' route, the trail is in rugged country largely inaccessible to vehicles. Neither historic continuity of trail use nor accessibility is a standard of the trail's significance.

The Nez Perce (Nee-me-Poo) National Historic Trail is complemented by the Nez Perce National Historical Park. In 1992, Congress added fourteen additional historic sites in Oregon, Washington, and Montana to the Nez Perce National Historical Park, expanding the park to thirty-eight sites. The Trail, managed by the USDA Forest Service, and the Park, managed by the USDI National Park Service, have exercised agreements to share the management and development of some sites in Oregon: the Old Chief Joseph Gravesite and Dug Bar Crossing. In addition, the Joseph Canyon Overlook and the traditional summer campground at the confluence of the Lostine and Wallowa Rivers have been added to the Nez Perce National Historical Park.