The Last Indian War The Nez Perce Story

by West, Elliott

• ISBN13: 9780199769186
• ISBN10: 0199769184
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-05-27
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This newest volume in Oxford's acclaimed Pivotal Moments series offers an unforgettable portrait of the Nez Perce War of 1877, the last great Indian conflict in American history. It was, as Elliott West shows, a tale of courage and ingenuity, of desperate struggle and shattered hope, of short-sighted government action and a doomed flight to freedom. To tell the story, West begins with the early history of the Nez Perce and their years of friendly relations with white settlers. In an initial treaty, the Nez Perce were promised a large part of their ancestral homeland, but the discovery of gold led to a stampede of settlement within the Nez Perce land. Numerous injustices at the hands of the US government combined with the settlers' invasion to provoke this most accomodating of tribes to war. West offers a riveting account of what came next: the harrowing flight of 800 Nez Perce, including many women, children and elderly, across 1500 miles of mountainous and difficult terrain. He gives a full reckoning of the campaigns and battles--and the unexpected turns, brilliant stratagems, and grand heroism that occurred along the way. And he brings to life the complex characters from both sides of the conflict, including cavalrymen, officers, politicians, and--at the center of it all--the Nez Perce themselves (the Nimiipuu, "true people"). The book sheds light on the war's legacy, including the near sainthood that was bestowed upon Chief Joseph, whose speech of surrender, "I will fight no more forever," became as celebrated as the Gettysburg Address. Based on an rich cache of historical documents, from government and military records to contemporary interviews and newspaper reports, The Last Indian War offers a searing portrait of a moment when the American identity--who and who was not a citizen--was being forged.

Author Biography

Elliott West is Alumni Distinguished Professor of American History at the University of Arkansas.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations and Maps	p. xi
Editor's Note	p. xv
Preface	p. xvii
Timeline	p. xxvii
Real People	p. 3
Marks of Friendship	p. 20
The Place of the Butterflies	p. 35
God Named This Land to Us	p. 52
Gold, Prophecy, and the Steal Treaty	p. 75
ôConquering by Kindnessö	p. 98
ôIt Will Have to Be War! ö	p. 123
Maneuvering and Scrapping	p. 137
Ways of Life, Ways of War	p. 152
Leaving Home	p. 169
Big Hole	p. 186
Toward Buffalo Country	p. 201
War in Wonderland	p. 214
ôThe Best Skirmishers in the Worldö	p. 230
Toward the Medicine Line	p. 243
Under the Bear s Paw	p. 267
Going to Hell	p. 283
Eeikish Pah and Return	p. 301
Epilogue	p. 315
Acknowledgments	p. 322
A Note on Sources	p. 325
Notes	p. 329
Index	p. 381
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