SPALDING, IDAHO—
On a blisteringly
hot day in southern Idaho, we stopped at the Spalding site of the Nez
Perce National Historical Park, and were pleased to find an air-conditioned
visitors' center with excellent displays of Nez Perce bead and leather
work, bows and arrows, ceremonial clothing and even a reconstruction of
a sweat lodge.
Park ranger
Kevin Peters told us about the park's famous collection of over 5,000
historic photographs. A selection hangs on the wall of the theater, where
we watched a movie about Nez Perce culture and history.
The Nez Perce
park includes twenty-four separate sites, and it's a 400-mile trip to
visit all of them. We decided to visit the White Bird Battlefield, where
the Nez Perce fought the U.S. Army on June 17, 1877. Thirty-four soldiers
were killed, and the Nez Perce lost none. It was the first battle fought
by the Nez Perce over the right to inhabit their homeland. Gold had been
discovered there in 1860, and an 1863 treaty reducing the size of the
reservation by 90% had been signed by one group of Nez Perce. The other
group, which became known as "non-treaty," refused to give up
the right to live in their ancestral lands. This group, under the leadership
of Young Joseph, continued to elude the U.S. Army for months, but finally
met defeat 40 miles south of the refuge of the Canadian border in October,
1877.
Other sites
maintained by the park include missions, forts, trading posts, rock formations
sacred to the Nez Perce, and an archaeological dig.
Nez
Perce National Historical Park
