The Big Hole Battlefield
The Big Hole Battle was one of four major battles during the Indian Wars in the late 1870s. It was one of the biggest victories for the United States Army during this time period and one of the Nez Perce’s biggest defeats. The Big Hole Battlefield is located in the Big Hole Valley, just a few minutes away from Wisdom, Montana. When the Nez Perce tribe was fleeing form the United States army in 1877, they were trying to reach what they had called “Buffalo Country,” in the plains of Eastern Montana.
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The Nez Perce set up camp in the Big Hole Valley on August 8th 1877, when the United States Army caught up to the Nez Perce tribe, and attacked their camp. Their camp had a total of 89 tipis, all in a v-shaped pattern. Commander John Gibbon led his army of 206 men to the Nez Perce camp. When they approached the camp in the morning, they found a Nez Perce elder, then proceeded to kill him. Gibbon’s men then crossed the Big Hole River and entered the Nez Perce camp and started shooting their guns into the tipis while most of the Native Americans were still sleeping. They shot at anyone they saw. The men, women and even children. Chief Looking Glass quickly gathered his warriors on one end of the village and the fight was on. Gibbon was shot in the leg and wounded. After 20 minutes of his men being in the village, Gibbon ordered his men into a full retreat. They fell back into a treed area about 300 yards from the Nez Perce camp. His men were ordered to dig rifle pits and built barriers out of rock and logs. The battle then turned into a sniper duel between a few Nez Perce warriors and the U.S Army. The Nez Perce started to collect guns and ammo left by the soldiers. On August 10th Nez Perce warriors continued their sniping, keeping the U.S Army held up in their camp while the rest of the tribe fled away from the camp.
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The casualties were small in number, but big in comparison. The United States Army had lost 31 men and another 38 wounded. The Nez Perce lost about 90 people. Of that 90, only 30 were actually warriors. Before the battle, the Nez Perce had about 750 people with about 200 warriors. The United States Army had about 206 men in their army. Today the Big Hole Battlefield is a national monument and reflects the events that had happened on the dates of August 9th and 10th.