DISTINCTLY MONTANA MAGAZINE
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WINTER 2022-23
60
O
n July 25th, 1877, some 800 Nez Perce crossed
Lolo Pass into what is now Montana and made
camp around Lolo Hot Springs. Included were about
250 warriors, with the rest being mainly women, chil-
dren and elders. They brought with them more than
2,000 horses and all the gear needed to start a new
life in exile.
They were leaving behind their homelands in northeast Oregon
and Idaho: lands promised to them in their treaty of 1855, but tak-
en away by the "new" treaty in 1863. This new treaty shrunk the
Nez Perce Reservation to a small fraction of the original allotted
territory. The discovery of gold will do that. The exiles were mem-
bers of the bands that lived outside of the boundaries of the new
treaty, negotiated without their input or consent. They refused to
recognize the new treaty and would henceforth be known as
the "non-treaty Nez Perce," a distinction that remains with-
in the tribe to this day.
It had been 73 years since the Nez Perce had greeted
Lewis and Clark with friendship and pledged peace
with the U.S. government, thinking they would
get the same respect in return. They were now
retracing the Voyage of Discovery's route back
MONTANA
and the
NEZ PERCE
by DOUG STEVENS
Chief Joseph
