ALTA GUZMAN: THEY WERE THE ONES WHO SAID, "I WILL NOT FOLLOW. I WILL NOT BE PUT ON A RESERVATION. I WILL NOT HAVE A LIFE THAT TELLS ME I HAVE TO ASK SOMEBODY ELSE HOW TO LIVE."

VOICE OVER: COMING UP NEXT, NEZ PERCE TRIBAL MEMBERS TELL ABOUT THE EPIC STRUGGLE OF THEIR PEOPLE DURING THE WAR OF 1877.

TODAY DESCENDANTS STILL GATHER TO HONOR THE COURAGE AND DETERMINATION OF THEIR ANCESTORS.

ALLEN SLICKPOO: WE REMEMBER ALL THE WRONGS THAT WERE DONE, AND ALL THE SACRIFICES THAT WE HAD TO MAKE.

VOICE OVER: DESPITE THEIR LOSSES AND PAIN, THE NEZ PERCE SPIRIT ENDURES.

JULIA DAVIS: WE AS A PEOPLE, ARE STILL FIGHTING. WE'RE FIGHTING FOR OUR HERITAGE.

ALAN PINKHAM: YOU CAN'T BE AN INDIAN AS WE KNEW IT 200 YEARS AGO... BUT WE'RE INDIAN. WE'RE THE NIMIPU. WE'RE NEZ PERCE. WE'RE NOBODY ELSE.

VOICE OVER: PRESENTATION OF SACRED JOURNEY OF THE NEZ PERCE IS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING THROUGH A GRANT FROM THE PACIFIC MOUNTAIN NETWORK PROGRAM FUND, AND BY THE IDAHO HUMANITIES COUNCIL, MONTANA ARTS COUNCIL, MONTANA COMMITTEE FOR THE HUMANITIES, AND THE IDAHO PUBLIC TELEVISION FOUNDATION.

HATTIE KAUFFMAN, NARRATOR, NEZ PERCE TRIBAL MEMBER: TODAY THE CANYON OF THE SNAKE RIVER NEAR LEWISTON, IDAHO IS A PEACEFUL, RELAXING PLACE. YET ONLY 120 YEARS AGO THIS PART OF THE NORTHWEST WAS CAUGHT IN A DESPERATE CONFLICT. IN 1877 ALL THE TENSIONS BETWEEN THE NEZ PERCE INDIANS AND THE WHITE NEWCOMERS WHO WANTED THEIR LAND ERUPTED INTO VIOLENCE.

HISTORY BOOKS CALL IT THE NEZ PERCE WAR. FOR THE NEZ PERCE IT WAS A STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL.

HELLO, I'M HATTIE KAUFFMAN. YOU MAY KNOW ME AS A NETWORK NEWS CORRESPONDENT. I AM ALSO A MEMBER OF THE NEZ PERCE TRIBE. IN THE NEXT HOUR YOU WILL HEAR FROM MANY NEZ PERCE WHO LIVE THROUGHOUT IDAHO, OREGON, AND WASHINGTON.

THEY WILL TELL YOU THE STORY OF THE WAR AS IT WAS TOLD TO THEM IN THEIR OWN HOMES AND AT TRIBAL GATHERINGS. WE WILL ALSO HEAR THE WORDS OF YELLOW WOLF, WHITE BIRD, WETATONMI, CHIEF JOSEPH AND OTHERS WHO LIVED THROUGH THOSE PAINFUL CHANGES. WE WILL SEE HOW THE TRIBE'S SPIRIT SURVIVES, AS TODAY'S GENERATIONS WORK TO PRESERVE AND REBUILD THEIR HERITAGE.
ALTA GUZMAN, NEZ PERCE TRIBAL MEMBER: THEY KNEW THAT THEY WERE GOING TO BE SHOT AT. THEY KNEW THAT THE SOLDIERS WERE GOING TO BE AFTER THEM. AND THEY KNEW THAT THEIR FAMILIES MAY NOT MAKE IT, AND MANY TIMES THEY DIDN'T.

THEY VALUED LIFE LIKE ANYONE ELSE. BUT THEY VALUED THEIR WAYS AND THEIR TRADITIONS IN THEMSELVES. SO THEY DID GIVE A SACRIFICE.

KAUFFMAN: THE NEZ PERCE STILL REMEMBER THE LONG JOURNEY OF 1877 WHEN HUNDREDS WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THE LANDS OF THEIR ANCESTORS. THEY HAD LIVED IN THE NORTHWEST FOR CENTURIES STRONG, WEALTHY, AND FREE. NOW THEY WERE FIGHTING FOR THEIR VERY SURVIVAL.

HORACE AXTELL, NEZ PERCE SPIRITUAL LEADER: THEY REALLY DIDN'T WANT THE WAR, THEY WERE JUST TRYING TO GET AWAY. BUT STILL, THE GOVERNMENT AND THE SOLDIERS, THEY WANTED TO PUT THEM WHERE THEY THOUGHT THEY BELONGED. SO THAT IS WHY THEY PURSUED THEM AND WENT TO BRING 'EM BACK, AND BRING 'EM BACK AND MAKE 'EM, FORCE 'EM TO BE SOMETHING ELSE.

AND WHEN YOU ASK SOMEONE TO LEAVE YOUR HOME, YOU KNOW, YOUR LAND AND YOUR LIFE, WELL A JOURNEY FROM THERE WAS VERY SAD. TO ME IT'S A SACRED JOURNEY.

KAUFFMAN: THE JOURNEY WOULD COVER 1600 MILES THROUGH WHAT ARE NOW THE STATES OF OREGON, WASHINGTON, IDAHO, WYOMING, AND MONTANA. OVER 800 NEZ PERCE MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN, AND 2,000 HORSES MADE THE PERILOUS TRIP. THEY WERE RELENTLESSLY PURSUED BY THE U.S. MILITARY.

IN AN INCREDIBLE FEAT OF COURAGE AND SKILL THEY DEFEATED, ELUDED, AND OUTDISTANCED THE TROOPS FOR ALMOST FOUR MONTHS. THEN, ONLY 40 MILES FROM THE CANADIAN BORDER AND FREEDOM THEY REACHED BEAR PAW. THERE MANY WARRIORS WERE KILLED, THE HORSES WERE LOST, AND MOST NEZ PERCE WERE TAKEN PRISONER OR FORCED INTO EXILE.
GUZMAN: THEY MAY BE DOWN IN HISTORY, BUT WHAT THEY DID, THEY IMPLANTED THEMSELVES INSIDE OF US AND SAID, "YOU MUST ALWAYS LOOK FOR THE GOOD WAY, BUT A FREE WAY. YOU MUST ALWAYS BE STRONG ABOUT WHO YOU ARE."

KAUFFMAN: AS THE SUN RISES OVER THE BEAR PAW MOUNTAINS, NEZ PERCE PEOPLE BEGIN ARRIVING FOR AN ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE. FROM ALL AROUND THE NORTHWEST, THEY RETURN TO THIS SACRED GROUND, WHERE MANY OF THEIR ANCESTORS WHO FOUGHT FOR FREEDOM ARE STILL BURIED. THE NEZ PERCE WHO COME HERE TODAY CONTINUE THE STRUGGLE TO KEEP THEIR CULTURE ALIVE. THEY REMEMBER THE TUMULTUOUS EVENTS OF 1877.

JULIA DAVIS, WHITE BIRD DESCENDANT: FOR ME, IT WAS LIKE ATTENDING A FUNERAL, JUST BEING THERE ON THE BATTLEGROUND AND BEING AWARE OF ALL OF THE CHIEFS THAT WERE LAYING OUT ON THE BATTLEGROUND, THE DIFFERENT FAMILIES THAT WERE REPRESENTED. IT GAVE ME A SENSE OF PRIDE AND IT WAS LIKE KIND OF A HEALING FOR ME. IT WAS A HEALING JOURNEY FOR ME, WHICH HAS MADE ME STRONGER.

GWEN CARTER, WHITE BIRD DESCENDANT: I KNOW THAT'S WHERE OUR PEOPLE, OUR FAMILY, CAME THROUGH THAT, THAT WE WERE STRONG ENOUGH TO SURVIVE IT. THERE WERE PEOPLE THAT DIDN'T MAKE IT AND ARE BURIED THERE. AND I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE, A LOT OF THE TRIBAL MEMBERS THAT DO GO THERE, THAT THEY ALL MAKE THIS PILGRIMAGE.

CARLA HIGHEAGLE, NEZ PERCE TRIBAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: I DO IT TO SHOW MY CHILDREN THAT THIS IS A PART OF YOUR HISTORY AND YOUR CULTURE AND YOU NEED TO ALWAYS MAINTAIN THAT CLOSENESS WITH WHO YOU ARE IN ORDER TO HAVE A FULLNESS IN YOUR HEART, IN YOUR BEING THAT YOU HAVE TO MAINTAIN THAT CLOSENESS WITH THE LAND.

KAUFFMAN: THE NEZ PERCE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN TIED TO THE LAND AND HAVE A GREAT RESPECT FOR IT.

HERMAN REUBEN, FORMER NEZ PERCE TRIBAL CHAIRMAN: THE WAY WE WERE TAUGHT IS THAT WE ARE PART OF MOTHER EARTH. WE ARE BROTHERS AND SISTERS TO THE ANIMALS. WE ARE LIVING IN HARMONY WITH THEM, FROM THE BIRDS, TO THE FISH, TO THE WINGED, EVEN TO THE SMALLEST INSECT.

KAUFFMAN: FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS THE NEZ PERCE LIVED IN THE LUSH VALLEYS ALONG THE SALMON, SNAKE, AND CLEARWATER RIVERS.

THEY KNEW THE MOUNTAINS, PRAIRIES, AND CANYONS FOR MILES IN EVERY DIRECTION.

MOVING FREELY WITH THE SEASONS THEY ENJOYED A RICH AND ABUNDANT LIFE.

CARTER: WELL, I THINK WE WERE REAL WEALTHY IN THAT WE HAD A REAL BEAUTIFUL AREA THAT WE HAD A LOT OF FISH AND A LOT OF GAME. THIS AREA IS REAL RICH IN TRADITIONAL FOODS. AND SO, IN THAT RESPECT I DON'T THINK WE WANTED FOR MUCH.

KAUFFMAN: EACH BAND OF THE TRIBE HAD ITS OWN SPECIAL PLACE, THOUGH THEY OFTEN CAME TOGETHER TO HUNT BUFFALO OR GATHER ROOTS.

WHITE BIRD'S PEOPLE CAMPED ALONG THE SALMON RIVER, WHILE THE JOSEPH BAND LIVED IN THE WALLOWA VALLEY.

THERE WERE MANY DIFFERENT GROUPS WITHIN THE TRIBE, AND EACH HAD A PLACE THEY CALLED HOME FOR GENERATIONS.

HIGHEAGLE: THEY WERE AUTONOMOUS, THEY HAD THEIR OWN DECISION MAKING, AND A LOT OF THE DECISIONS EVOLVED AROUND THE FAMILY AND THE NEEDS OF THE VILLAGE.

KAUFFMAN: IN 1805, WHITE MEN KNEW LITTLE ABOUT THE RICH COUNTRY OF THE NEZ PERCE. THEN A DESPERATE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION STRUGGLED OVER THE BITTERROOT MOUNTAINS.

CARTER: LEWIS AND CLARK, THEY WERE PRACTICALLY STARVING, AND IT WAS BECAUSE OF THE NEZ PERCE PEOPLE AND THEIR GENEROSITY GIVING THEM FOOD AND WATER AND LETTING THEM REST, AND LET THEIR HORSES REST THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO MAKE IT ON.

ALLEN SLICKPOO, NEZ PERCE CULTURAL COMMITTEE: IT WAS RATHER IRONIC THAT WE MET LEWIS AND CLARK WITH OPEN ARMS ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT 70 YEARS LATER, WE WERE GOING TO BE GOING INTO BATTLE WITH THE SAME PEOPLE WE MET, OVER THE LAND THAT THEY WERE WALKING.

KAUFFMAN: FOR DECADES AFTERWARDS, THE NEZ PERCE WOULD ACCOMMODATE THE WHITES, WELCOMING FUR TRADERS AND MISSIONARIES TO THEIR PRISTINE VALLEYS.

IN 1836, HENRY SPALDING AND HIS WIFE ELIZA ESTABLISHED A MISSION ALONG THE CLEARWATER RIVER. THE SPALDINGS BEGAN CONVERTING MANY INDIANS TO CHRISTIANITY.

DIANE MILES, NEZ PERCE TRIBAL MEMBER: IT IS A THING THEY ASKED FOR AND THAT WAS THE RELIGION. AND ALL THEY DID WAS ADD IT TO THEIR OWN. AND NOT ALL PEOPLE GAVE UP WHAT THEY HAD FOR THAT. IT'S A BLENDING HERE.

KAUFFMAN: IN-MUT-TOO-YAH-LAT-LAT, WHO LATER BECAME KNOWN AS CHIEF JOSEPH RECALLED HOW BOTH HE AND HIS FATHER RECEIVED THEIR BIBLICAL NAMES FROM SPALDING. BUT HE ALSO REMEMBERED HOW THE WHITES USED THE FRIENDSHIP OF THE NEZ PERCE TO ACQUIRE MORE AND MORE LAND.

JOSEPH VOICE ACTOR: "IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE PRIDE OF THE NEZ PERCE THAT THEY WERE THE FRIENDS OF THE WHITE MEN. BUT WE SOON FOUND THAT THE WHITE MEN WERE GROWING VERY RICH VERY FAST AND WERE GREEDY TO POSSESS EVERYTHING THE INDIAN HAD."

KAUFFMAN: FOR CENTURIES THE LAND HAD GIVEN THE NEZ PERCE ALL THEY NEEDED. BUT NOW, PROCLAIMING MANIFEST DESTINY, WHITE PEOPLE BEGAN TO POUR INTO THEIR COUNTRY. THE NEZ PERCE WERE HIT BY AN UNSTOPPABLE TIDE. A TIDE THAT SWEPT AWAY MUCH OF THEIR NATIVE HOMELANDS.

ALLEN PINKHAM, FORMER NEZ PERCE TRIBAL CHAIRMAN: WHEN SETTLERS CAME OUT HERE TO NEZ PERCE COUNTRY THEY SAID, "OH, LOOK AT ALL THIS SPACE OUT HERE. THERE'S NOBODY ON IT, SO IT MUST BE OPEN AND FREE." SO THEY CAME AND EXPLOITED THE RESOURCES AND MARKED THEIR GROUND. THE WHITE MAN SAYS, "WE NEED TO DRAW A LINE. THIS IS YOURS. THIS IS MINE."

KAUFFMAN: THE FIRST LINES THE U.S. GOVERNMENT DREW ACROSS NEZ PERCE LANDS CAME IN 1855 AT THE COUNCIL OF WALLA WALLA. AFTER DAYS OF DEBATE, MOST OF THE CHIEFS EVENTUALLY SIGNED A TREATY.

IT GAVE THE NEZ PERCE A LARGE RESERVATION WHICH INCLUDED MOST OF THEIR TRADITIONAL HOMELANDS. BUT A FEW SHORT YEARS LATER, WHITE MEN FOUND GOLD ON THE RESERVATION. MINERS BY THE THOUSANDS ILLEGALLY STREAMED ONTO INDIAN LANDS.

MILES: WHAT IT WAS, IT WAS A BREAKING THE TREATY OF 1855, WHICH DID NOT ALLOW ANYBODY BUT A TRIBAL MEMBER ON THE RESERVATION. IT ONLY ALLOWED FOR NEZ PERCE PEOPLE. AND SO BECAUSE OF THIS GOLD THAT HAD BEEN DISCOVERED, THAT WAS TOO LARGE OF A RESOURCE TO PASS UP. AND SO WHAT THEY DID WAS THEY IMPOSE THE TREATY OF 1863, WHICH REDUCED THE RESERVATION TO ABOUT 1/10 OF ITS SIZE.

KAUFFMAN: THE GOVERNMENT PRESSURED THE NEZ PERCE TO ACCEPT THE BOUNDARIES. FINALLY AFTER HEATED DISCUSSION, CHIEFS LAWYER, TIMOTHY, AND SEVERAL OTHER NEZ PERCE LEADERS SIGNED THE TREATY. NEARLY ALL THEIR LANDS WERE INCLUDED IN THE NEW RESERVATION. JOSEPH, WHITE BIRD, TOOHOOLHOOLZOTE, AND THE OTHER MORE TRADITIONAL NEZ PERCE CHIEFS REFUSED TO SIGN.

MILES: A PART OF THAT TREATY SAID THAT ALL THE BANDS OF THE NEZ PERCE WOULD NOW HAVE TO MOVE INTO THAT SMALL, CONFINED AREA. AND THAT LEFT ROUGHLY FIVE MAJOR BANDS OUTSIDE OF THOSE BOUNDARIES. WHAT HAPPENED WAS WE HAD SOMEONE IN THE TRIBE WHO SPOKE FOR ALL OF THEM AND THEY KNEW THAT WAS NOT ACCEPTABLE. THEY KNEW YOU COULD NOT SPEAK FOR SOMEONE ELSE, BUT THEY DID IT ANYWAY. AND IT WAS EASY FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO LISTEN TO THEM.

DAVIS: IT CAUSED A DIVISION IN THE TRIBE, AS WITH ANYTHING. SOME OF THE TRIBAL MEMBERS FELT, "WELL WE DIDN'T SIGN THIS TREATY, SO WE'RE NOT OBLIGATED TO IT. THOSE OF YOU THAT DID SIGN IT, YOU'RE OBLIGATED TO IT." SO IT DID CAUSE A RIFF IN THE TRIBE.

KAUFFMAN: THE DIVISION WHICH BEGAN WITH THE MISSIONARIES WIDENED. MOST OF THE MORE TRADITIONAL NEZ PERCE CONTINUED TO LIVE OUTSIDE THE RESERVATION. THEY EITHER REFUSED TO ACCEPT CHRISTIANITY OR, AS IN THE CASE OF JOSEPH AND HIS FATHER, RENOUNCED THEIR CONVERSIONS.

THE CHRISTIAN NEZ PERCE, ALMOST ALL OF WHOM LIVED WITHIN THE NEW RESERVATION BOUNDARIES WERE KNOWN AS THE "TREATY NEZ PERCE".

SOY REDTHUNDER, CHIEF JOSEPH DESCENDANT: THE NON-TREATY AND THE NON-CHRISTIAN WHO WANTED TO PRACTICE THEIR OWN RELIGION, STAYED OFF THE RESERVATION. AND I THINK THAT DIFFERENCE WAS MADE THEN, AND I THINK THE DIFFERENCE IS STILL TODAY, IS OVER RELIGION.

KAUFFMAN: THE CONTINUED FLOW OF PROSPECTORS AND SETTLERS INTO THE TRADITIONAL HOMELANDS CREATED MANY CONFLICTS. INDIANS WERE ROBBED OR EVEN KILLED BY WHITE MEN, WHOSE CRIMES WENT UNPUNISHED.

PINKHAM: THERE'S ABOUT 28 TO 29 MURDERS OF NEZ PERCE PEOPLE PRIOR TO 1877, MURDERS IN OUR ESTIMATION, BECAUSE THEY WERE NEVER PUT TO TRIAL EXCEPT ONE. THE NEZ PERCES GOT TIRED OF HAVING TO SACRIFICE THEIR OWN LAND AND THEIR OWN LIVES BECAUSE OF THE ONSLAUGHT OF THE WHITE PEOPLE.

KAUFFMAN: IN 1877, THE GOVERNMENT DECIDED TO STEP IN. IT SENT THE UNCOMPROMISING GENERAL OLIVER OTIS HOWARD TO MEET WITH THE NON-TREATY LEADERS.

HOWARD, WHO HAD LOST AN ARM IN THE CIVIL WAR, WAS A DOGMATIC CHRISTIAN AND DID NOT UNDERSTAND TRADITIONAL NEZ PERCE WAYS. HE COULDN'T COMPREHEND THE RESISTANCE TO FARMING AND RESERVATION LIFE. DURING A COUNCIL MEETING CHIEF TOOLHOOLHOOLZOTE TRIED TO EXPLAIN.

TOOLHOOLHOOLZOTE VOICE ACTOR: "PART OF THE INDIANS GAVE UP THEIR LAND. I NEVER DID. THE EARTH IS PART OF MY BODY, AND I NEVER GAVE UP THE EARTH. I BELONG TO THE LAND OUT OF WHICH I CAME. THE EARTH IS MY MOTHER."

KAUFFMAN: HOWARD GREW IMPATIENT WITH TOOLHOOLHOOLZOTE AND ARRESTED HIM. HE GAVE THE BANDS 30 DAYS TO MOVE ONTO THE RESERVATION WITH ALL THEIR POSSESSIONS.
JOE REDTHUNDER, CHIEF JOSEPH DESCENDANT: SO THE ORDER CAME IN APRIL 1877 THAT JOSEPH, TO GIVE 'EM 30 DAYS TO VACATE WALLOWA VALLEY. SO THE TIME CAME. THAT WAS JUST LIKE TAKING ORDERS AT THE GUNPOINT.

KAUFFMAN: TO AVOID WAR, THE NON-TREATY BANDS RELUCTANTLY COMPLIED WITH HOWARD'S ORDER. CHIEF JOSEPH'S PEOPLE HAD ONE OF THE LONGEST AND MOST DIFFICULT TRIPS TO THE RESERVATION.

FROM THE WALLOWA VALLEY THEY HAD TO JOURNEY EASTWARD THROUGH THE STEEP CANYON COUNTRY OF THE SNAKE RIVER, WHICH WAS SWOLLEN WITH SPRING RUNOFF.

J. REDTHUNDER: YOU KNOW, THAT'S A ROUGH RIVER. THE CATTLE COULDN'T CROSS. HE LOST QUITE A FEW OF THEM THAT TRIED TO CROSS. AND HE LOST A FEW HEAD OF HORSES.

KAUFFMAN: DESPITE THE DIFFICULTIES, BY MID JUNE ALL THE BANDS GATHERED NEAR TOLO LAKE. THEY WERE JUST OUTSIDE OF THE RESERVATION, AND AHEAD OF HOWARD'S DEADLINE.

BUT BEFORE THE BANDS COULD MOVE ONTO THE RESERVATION, EMOTIONS EXPLODED. ON JUNE 14, THREE YOUNG WARRIORS OF WHITE BIRD'S BAND WENT BACK TO THE SALMON RIVER AREA. THEY WERE ENRAGED BY THE UNCOMPENSATED LOSS OF THEIR HOMES, THE UNTIMELY DEATHS OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY, AND THEIR POWERLESSNESS TO CONTROL THEIR OWN LIVES.

ANTONE MINTHORN, CAYUSE/NEZ PERCE: WHEN THE WAR WAS STARTING UP, WHEN THESE MEN WENT OUT AND KILLED THE SETTLER AND ONE OF THE MEN THAT WAS THERE WENT AROUND THE CAMP AND WAS TELLING THE PEOPLE WHAT HAD HAPPENED, THAT THESE KILLINGS HAD TAKEN PLACE, AND THAT THERE WAS GOING TO BE A WAR, THAT THERE WAS GOING TO BE A FIGHT.

KAUFFMAN: THAT FIRST SMALL GROUP OF WARRIORS KILLED ONLY A FEW WHITES. BUT THE CONFLICT EXPANDED, AND IN TWO DAYS OF RAIDS, 17 SETTLERS WERE KILLED.

JOSEPH WOULD LATER MAKE CLEAR HIS OWN UNDERSTANDING OF ACCOUNTABILITY FOR A WAR THAT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED.

JOSEPH VOICE ACTOR: "I BLAME MY YOUNG MEN AND I BLAME THE WHITE MEN. I BLAME GENERAL HOWARD FOR NOT GIVING MY PEOPLE THE TIME TO GET THEIR STOCK AWAY FROM THE WALLOWA. IT IS STILL OUR LAND. IT MAY NEVER BE OUR HOME, BUT MY FATHER SLEEPS THERE, AND I LOVE IT AS I LOVE MY MOTHER."

KAUFFMAN: KNOWING SOLDIERS WOULD COME TO RETALIATE, THE CHIEFS PREPARED FOR WAR. QUICKLY MOST OF THE NON-TREATY BANDS GATHERED TOGETHER NEAR THE BOTTOM OF WHITE BIRD CANYON. THERE WERE ENTIRE COMMUNITIES HERE - WOMEN, CHILDREN, AND THE ELDERLY. AFTER A LONG RIDE FROM FORT LAPWAI, THE EXPECTED TROOPS DESCENDED INTO THE CANYON. THE WARRIORS WERE WAITING.

CECIL CARTER, WHITE BIRD DESCENDANT: I THINK THEY WERE READY TO DO BATTLE, BUT THEY WENT PEACEFUL OUT TO MEET THEM AND SEE WHAT THEY COULD TALK ABOUT. BUT, I DON'T THINK THEY GOT THAT FAR AND THE BATTLE STARTED.

KAUFFMAN: A SHOT FIRED BY A WHITE CIVILIAN VOLUNTEER STARTED THE CONFLICT. BEFORE LONG THE SKILLED NEZ PERCE WARRIORS OVERWHELMED THE DISORGANIZED SOLDIERS AND SENT THE ARMY INTO A RETREAT BACK UP THE CANYON. JOSEPH LATER REMEMBERED THE BATTLE.

JOSEPH VOICE ACTOR: "WE NUMBERED IN THAT BATTLE SIXTY MEN AND THE SOLDIERS A HUNDRED. THE FIGHT LASTED BUT A FEW MINUTES. THEY LOST THIRTY-THREE KILLED. NOT ONE NEZ PERCE WAS KILLED AND ONLY THREE WERE WOUNDED."

SLICKPOO: THE TROOPS, THE COMMANDERS, INCLUDING GENERAL HOWARD FELT HE WAS GOING AGAINST AN INFERIOR FORCE. SO, OBVIOUSLY, THE NEZ PERCE PEOPLE WERE BETTER FIGHTERS THAN THEY THOUGHT.

KAUFFMAN: TODAY, WELL OVER A CENTURY LATER, MANY NEZ PERCE GATHER AT THE WHITE BIRD BATTLEFIELD EACH YEAR. THEY COME HERE TO HONOR THEIR ANCESTORS AND TO REMEMBER THOSE WHO FOUGHT IN THE FIRST MAJOR BATTLE OF AN UNWANTED WAR.

PINKHAM: IT'S BEEN OVER A HUNDRED YEARS NOW SINCE THAT OCCURRED AND THERE'S STILL SOME STRONG FEELINGS ABOUT THAT EVENT. AND SO THIS IS WHAT WAS DECIDED, THAT WE WOULD GO TO THESE DIFFERENT PLACES WHERE MAJOR EVENTS OCCURRED, RECOGNIZING WHAT THAT HURT IS THEN YOU CAN REALIZE THAT, YEAH, IT'S OKAY. IT'S OVER WITH. BUT NOW WE GOT TO GET ON WITH OUR LIVES AND DO SOMETHING.

KAUFFMAN: IRONICALLY, SOME OF THE NEZ PERCE HERE TODAY ARE VETERANS OF THE SAME U.S. MILITARY THAT WAS SO SOUNDLY DEFEATED AT WHITEBIRD CANYON. THEY UNDERSTAND THAT THE VICTORY HERE WAS AN IRREVERSIBLE STEP INTO A FIGHT ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO WIN.

THE BATTLE OF WHITE BIRD CANYON WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE FULL SCALE WAR THAT WOULD INVOLVED NEARLY 2,000 SOLDIERS FROM FORTS AROUND THE WEST.

SCORES OF CITIZEN VOLUNTEERS AND 10 DIFFERENT INDIAN TRIBES WOULD ALSO SIDE WITH GENERAL HOWARD AND THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER AND EARLY FALL THERE WOULD BE MORE THAN A DOZEN BATTLES AND SKIRMISHES...A RUNNING FIGHT ALONG 1,600 MILES THAT CROSSED FIVE FUTURE STATES.

BARELY A YEAR AFTER CUSTER'S HUMILIATING DEFEAT AT THE LITTLE BIG HORN, THE MILITARY SEEMED DETERMINED TO PUNISH THE NEZ PERCE AND MAKE UP FOR ITS OWN PAST FAILURES. HEMENE MOX MOX OR YELLOW WOLF, A WARRIOR FROM THE JOSEPH BAND DESCRIBES HIS FEELINGS ABOUT THE WAR.

YELLOW WOLF VOICE ACTOR: "WE CAME FROM NO COUNTRY, AS HAVE THE WHITES. NATURE PLACED US IN THIS LAND OF OURS--LAND THAT HAS BEEN TAKEN FROM US. I AM TELLING MY STORY THAT ALL MAY KNOW ABOUT THE WAR WE DID NOT WANT. WAR IS MADE TO TAKE SOMETHING NOT YOUR OWN."

KAUFFMAN: THOUGH STUNG BY THE LOSSES AT WHITE BIRD AND THE ABILITY OF THE NEZ PERCE TO BOTH ELUDE AND OUTFIGHT HIS TROOPS, HOWARD STUBBORNLY PURSUED THEM. ON JULY 11TH, HE FINALLY CAUGHT UP WITH THE BANDS AS THEY CAMPED ALONG THE CLEARWATER RIVER. AGAIN, THE OUTNUMBERED WARRIORS HELD THEIR OWN AND INFLICTED HEAVY CASUALTIES IN THE TWO DAY FIGHT.

THE BATTLE WAS INDECISIVE, BUT THE NEZ PERCE FORCES WERE NOW STRONGER BECAUSE THE GREAT WARRIOR, LOOKING GLASS, JOINED THEM.

DELORES WHEELER, LOOKING GLASS DESCENDANT: I JUST REMEMBER LOOKING GLASS DIDN'T WANT TO GO INTO THE WAR. HE WAS PEACEFUL UNTIL HE WAS PUSHED BEYOND. WHAT BROUGHT HIM INTO THE WAR WAS BEING ATTACKED UP AT CLEARWATER, CLEAR CREEK, HIS CAMP, SURPRISE ATTACK.

KAUFFMAN: LOOKING GLASS BECAME THE WAR CHIEF FOR ALL THE BANDS.

EDITH STROMBECK, LOOKING GLASS DESCENDANT: WELL, HE WAS OUTSTANDING, I THINK, IN HIS APPEARANCE. HE WAS LARGE AND COULD SPEAK BECAUSE HE'D BEEN OVER, YOU KNOW, TO THE BUFFALO COUNTRY, HE KNEW MONTANA. AND THIS IS WHY ONE OF THE REASONS THEY CHOSE HIM, BECAUSE HE HAD BEEN OVER THERE AND HE KNEW THE COUNTRY AND HE KNEW THE PEOPLE.

KAUFFMAN: BOTH LOOKING GLASS AND JOSEPH WERE PART OF THE GROUP'S LEADERSHIP, WHICH INCLUDED THE CHIEFS OF ALL FIVE BANDS. THOUGH WHITE PEOPLE CALLED JOSEPH "THE RED NAPOLEON" HE WAS PRIMARILY A CIVIL CHIEF. HIS BROTHER OLLOKOT ACTUALLY LED THE WARRIORS OF THE WALLOWA BAND.

S. REDTHUNDER: THEY WERE GOVERNED BY A COUNCIL IN WHICH JOSEPH WAS JUST ONE. I DON'T THINK THERE WAS AN OVERALL CHIEF OF THE, THAT ENTIRE 1877 TRIP. I THINK THERE WAS A WAR CHIEF, I THINK THERE WAS A FOOD CHIEF, AND, AND I THINK JOSEPH WAS THE PEOPLE CHIEF.

MILES: I THINK THAT REASON HE WAS PORTRAYED AS A MILITARY STRATEGIST AND SUCH A GENIUS AT THIS, WAS BECAUSE IF YOU WERE GOING TO BE DEFEATED BY SOMEBODY, IT HAD TO BE SOMEBODY REAL SMART. WE DON'T WANT TO BE DEFEATED BY SOMEBODY WHO IS JUST AVERAGE.

KAUFFMAN: AFTER THE BATTLE AT THE CLEARWATER, THE NEZ PERCE HELD COUNCIL. LOOKING GLASS AND OTHER PROMINENT WARRIORS CONVINCED THE LEADERS TO SEEK REFUGE WITH THE CROW TRIBE IN THE BUFFALO COUNTRY OF MONTANA.

IN JULY THE LONG TREK OVER THE BITTERROOT MOUNTAINS BEGAN.

AXTELL: SO THEY BEGAN, COMING THIS WAY. IT WAS SAD FOR THEM TO LEAVE, BECAUSE THEY KNOW THEY WAS LEAVING A LOT OF THEIR ANCESTORS, THEIR BURIAL GROUNDS, AND ALL THEIR HOMESTEADS. IT WAS A SAD TIME.

KAUFFMAN: EVEN WITH THE STEEP AND ROCKY TERRAIN OF THE LOLO TRAIL, THE LARGE COMMUNITY WAS ABLE TO MOVE MUCH FASTER THAN HOWARD'S TROOPS.

PINKHAM: THEY WOULD TRAVEL PROBABLY FROM DAYLIGHT UNTIL ALMOST DARK AND THAT MEANT IN THE SUMMERTIME YOU'RE PROBABLY TALKING ABOUT 10 OR 11 HOURS. AND OF COURSE THIS TOOK A TOLL ON ANIMALS, BUT THEY KNEW WHAT WAS BEHIND THEM.

KAUFFMAN: CHIEF WHITE BIRD EXPRESSED HIS FEELINGS ABOUT WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO HIS PEOPLE.

WHITE BIRD VOICE ACTOR: "WITH WOMEN'S HEARTS BREAKING, CHILDREN WEEPING, AND MEN SILENT, WE MOVED OVER THE DIVIDE AND CLOSED OUR EYES UPON OUR ONCE HAPPY HOMES. WE WERE WANDERERS ON THE PRAIRIE. FOR WHAT? FOR WHITE MAN'S GREED! THE WHITE MAN WANTED THE WEALTH OUR PEOPLE POSSESSED. HE GOT IT BY THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR PEOPLE."

KAUFFMAN: JOSEPH RECALLED AN AGREEMENT THEY MADE ALONG THE WAY WITH A GROUP OF SOLDIERS AND SETTLERS FROM MONTANA.

JOSEPH VOICE ACTOR: "WE AGREED NOT TO ATTACK ANY ONE AND THEY AGREED THAT WE MIGHT PASS THROUGH THE BITTERROOT COUNTRY IN PEACE. WE INTENDED TO GO TO THE BUFFALO COUNTRY AND LEAVE THE QUESTION OF RETURNING TO OUR COUNTRY TO BE SETTLED LATER."

OTIS HALFMOON, NEZ PERCE TRIBAL MEMBER: WHEN THE NEZ PERCE PEOPLE WENT THROUGH BITTERROOT VALLEY, THAT EVEN ADDED MORE TO THEIR SENSE OF SECURITY. THEY THOUGHT THE WAR WAS OVER. THEY THOUGH THE WAR WAS LEFT BACK IN IDAHO.

EVENTUALLY THE NEZ PERCE CAME TO A PLACE CALLED ESCHUNCHILPAH, WHICH MEANS PLACE OF THE BUFFALO CALF. THEY CAMPED THERE. AGAIN FEELING SECURE, FEELING THAT GENERAL HOWARD WAS MANY, MANY MILES BACK. BUT LITTLE DID THEY KNOW ANOTHER MAN NAMED GIBBON WAS MOVING HIS SOLDIERS UP THROUGH BITTERROOT VALLEY.

KAUFFMAN: DURING THE NIGHT THE SOLDIERS CREPT UP TO THE CAMP NEAR THE BIG HOLE RIVER. JUST BEFORE SUNRISE, GIBBON AND HIS MEN BEGAN FIRING.

HALFMOON: THE SOLDIERS ATTACKED ALL OF THE DAYS THREE VOLLEYS AND MOVE, THREE VOLLEYS AND MOVE, SHOOT LOW INTO THE TEPEES. MANY NEZ PERCE WOMEN WERE KILLED. MANY OF THEM HAD NO IDEA WHAT HIT THEM.

PINKHAM: THE SOLDIERS WERE KILLING WOMEN AND CHILDREN, SO WE REALIZED THEN THESE WHITE PEOPLE ARE REALLY OUT TO WIPE US OUT. SO IT HAD BECOME A STRUGGLE OF SURVIVAL. IT BECAME A VERY DESPERATE STRUGGLE BECAUSE WE THEN REALIZED THEY WERE GOING TO KILL ALL OF US.

KAUFFMAN: THE WARRIORS RALLIED AND DROVE THE ARMY BACK. THEY KEPT THE TROOPS PINNED DOWN WHILE THE NEZ PERCE DEAD WERE BURIED. MANY SOLDIERS WERE KILLED AND WOUNDED. THE SURVIVING TROOPS WERE SO BADLY HURT THEY COULD NO LONGER FOLLOW. BUT NEARLY 90 INDIANS HAD BEEN KILLED, MOST OF THEM WOMEN AND CHILDREN. AN ANGRY YELLOW WOLF ASKED,

YELLOW WOLF VOICE ACTOR: "THESE YOUNG GIRLS, THESE YOUNG WOMEN YOU SEE DEAD! WERE THEY WARRIORS? THESE YOUNG BOYS, THESE OLD MEN. WERE THEY WARRIORS?"
KAUFFMAN: AND JOSEPH ADDED,

JOSEPH VOICE ACTOR: "NEZ PERCE NEVER MAKE WAR ON WOMEN AND CHILDREN, WE WOULD FEEL ASHAMED TO DO SO COWARDLY AN ACT."

KAUFFMAN: THE NEZ PERCE NOW ANGRILY REALIZED WHY THE MILITARY TREATED INDIANS SO BRUTALLY DURING WAR.

S. REDTHUNDER: INDIAN POLICY BACK THEN WAS TO ERADICATE THEM. AND, SO THESE MILITARY PEOPLE THAT CAME OUT HERE, THEY WERE TALKING BODY COUNT. AND WHETHER THEY WERE WOMEN AND CHILDREN WAS IRRELEVANT, TOTALLY IRRELEVANT. KAUFFMAN: THE BIG HOLE BATTLEFIELD IS NOW A NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE. IN A RECENT CEREMONY NEZ PERCE TRIBAL MEMBERS BROUGHT HORSES BACK TO THIS SACRED GROUND FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE WAR.
HIGHEAGLE: ONE OF THE CEREMONIES THAT IS BEING REVIVED IS THE EMPTY SADDLE CEREMONY. THE SYMBOL OF IT IN THAT THEY HAVE ONE HORSE DRESSED IN THE TRADITIONAL TRAPPINGS OF A MAN'S STYLE AND ONE IN THE WOMEN'S STYLE, IS TO HONOR AND REMEMBER THOSE MEN, THOSE WARRIORS, AND THOSE WOMEN, AND THOSE CHILDREN WHO LOST THEIR LIVES TO HONOR THE SACRIFICES THAT THEY MADE.

DAVIS: WHEN YOU ATTEND ANY OF THE CEREMONIES, YOU WOULD GET THAT FEELING THAT THE HEALING HAS NOT QUITE TAKEN PLACE YET. AND WHEN SOME OF OUR ELDERS TALK ABOUT THE DIFFERENT SKIRMISHES, OR THEY TALK ABOUT THE DIFFERENT FIGHTS THAT TOOK PLACE ON THE RESERVATION, TEARS WILL COME TO THEIR EYES BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOT YET HEALED FROM THAT.

AND I THINK WHAT WE NEED TO DO, AS A TRIBE, IS WE NEED TO ALL COME TOGETHER AND HEAL OURSELVES UNDER A CIRCLE OF WELLNESS, TO GET ON WITH OUR LIVES, AND TO CARRY ON FOR OUR FUTURE.

HIGHEAGLE: IN THIS TIME, AS WE RECLAIM WHO WE ARE AS A PEOPLE, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT THE KIDS GO TO THESE SITES AND SEE THEM AND EXPERIENCE THEM BECAUSE WE STILL UNDERSTAND THERE'S THAT SPIRITUAL TIE TO THOSE THINGS. OUR BLOOD WAS LEFT THERE, SO THERE WILL ALWAYS BE PART OF US THERE.

KAUFFMAN: AFTER BIG HOLE, LEAN ELK, WHO WAS ALSO KNOWN AS POKER JOE, WAS CHOSEN AS THE NEW TRAIL LEADER. HE AND OTHER SKILLED HUNTERS HAD JOINED THE NON-TREATY BANDS IN THE BITTERROOT. THOUGH NOT A CHIEF, HE KNEW MONTANA WELL FROM YEARS OF BUFFALO HUNTING. HIS EXPERIENCE WOULD PROVE INVALUABLE.

THE BANDS NOW TRAVELED EAST ALONG THE MONTANA-IDAHO BORDER THROUGH AN AREA KNOWN AS THE HORSE PRAIRIE.

J. REDTHUNDER: THEY WENT DOWN AND HAD A CAMP AT CAMAS MEADOWS, WHERE HOWARD HAPPENED TO BE STATIONED. THAT'S WHERE JOSEPH STOLE UP A LOT OF HIS HORSES AND MULES.

KAUFFMAN: AFTER THE BRIEF SKIRMISH WITH HOWARD'S TROOPS THE NEZ PERCE CONTINUED EASTWARD INTO YELLOWSTONE PARK.

THEY WERE HEADING TOWARD CROW COUNTRY WHERE THEY HOPED TO FIND SANCTUARY. AFTER THE HARSH LESSONS OF BIG HOLE THE NEZ PERCE WERE LESS TOLERANT. PINKHAM: WHEN THEY ENTERED YELLOWSTONE THEY CAME UPON SOME TOURISTS THERE, SOME MEN AND WOMEN, AND THEY TOOK THEM CAPTIVE. WE WERE THOUGHT OF AS SAVAGES AND CRUEL, BUT REALLY WE WERE FIGHTING FOR OUR LIVES, AND WE KILLED PEOPLE. NO QUESTION ABOUT IT.
KAUFFMAN: WHILE THE GROUP MOVED SWIFTLY ALONG THE MADISON AND YELLOWSTONE RIVERS, THE ARMY MADE PLANS TO TRY AND CORNER THEM. BUT THE BANDS WERE ELUSIVE. SKIRTING AROUND THE SHORES OF YELLOWSTONE LAKE, THE WEARY GROUP CONTINUED TO AVOID THE SOLDIERS.

THEIR ROUTE WOULD TAKE THEM INTO THE RUGGED ABSAROKA MOUNTAINS.

EVENTUALLY THEY DESCENDED TO THE CLARKS FORK RIVER,

AND FINALLY REACHED CROW COUNTRY.

HALFMOON: AND SO ONCE THEY GOT OVER CROW COUNTRY, IT'S RATHER UNFORTUNATE BECAUSE THE CROW PEOPLE WERE DIVIDED THEMSELVES. THEY WERE ALREADY SCOUTS FOR THE SOLDIERS, IT WAS A VERY SAD THING. THE NEZ PERCE, THEY REALIZED THEY COULD RECEIVE NO OTHER HELP FROM THE CROW. SO THEY ENDED UP GOING NORTH. AND THEN IT WAS DECIDED TO GO TO CANADA.

KAUFFMAN: THE ARMY HAD MISSED ITS OPPORTUNITY TO TRAP THE NEZ PERCE IN YELLOWSTONE PARK, BUT THE TROOPS FINALLY CAUGHT UP WITH THEM AGAIN AT CANYON CREEK, NEAR BILLINGS, MONTANA. JOSEPH REMEMBERED THE ENCOUNTER.

JOSEPH VOICE ACTOR: "WE DID NOT KNOW WHAT HAD BECOME OF GENERAL HOWARD, BUT ANOTHER NEW WAR CHIEF, COLONEL STURGIS, ATTACKED US. WE HELD HIM IN CHECK WHILE WE MOVED ALL OUR WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND STOCK OUT OF DANGER, LEAVING A FEW MEN TO COVER OUR RETREAT."

KAUFFMAN: THE BANDS CONTINUED TO HEAD NORTH TOWARD CANADA. THEY HOPED TO JOIN SITTING BULL OF THE HUNK PAPA SIOUX, WHO HAD BEEN FORCED INTO EXILE IN CANADA AFTER THE DEFEAT OF CUSTER.

DESPITE THEIR MANY SUCCESSES, THE NEZ PERCE BEGAN TO SUFFER FROM THE HARDSHIPS OF THE TRAIL.

MILES: WHAT WASN'T ON THEIR SIDE WAS THE FACT THAT THEY WERE OUTNUMBERED. WHEN WE HAD OUR PEOPLE KILLED, WE HAD NO ONE TO REPLACE THEM. WHEN THE MILITARY, THE SOLDIERS WERE KILLED, THEY'D JUST REPLACE THEM WITH MORE.

KAUFFMAN: THERE WERE NOW FEWER THAN A HUNDRED WARRIORS TO PROTECT THE WHOLE COMMUNITY. MANY OF THE NEZ PERCE WERE SICK BECAUSE FOOD AND OTHER SUPPLIES WERE SCARCE. THE JOURNEY HAD BECOME A MONUMENTAL STRUGGLE.

TODAY IT'S DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE HOW THE NEZ PERCE SUFFERED ON THAT LONG TREK. THE ROUTE THEY FOLLOWED IS NOW KNOWN AS THE NEZ PERCE NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL. EACH YEAR SOME TRIBAL MEMBERS RE-RIDE SECTIONS OF THEIR ANCESTORS' PATH. IT'S A JOURNEY WHICH HAS GREAT MEANING FOR US.
TED GEORGE, NEZ PERCE TRIBAL MEMBER: WELL, I HOPE TO LEARN ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE WENT THROUGH AND, 'CAUSE I BELIEVE IT WAS PRETTY HARD UPON THE PEOPLE THERE, THAT'S WOMEN AND CHILDREN ESPECIALLY.

OH, I BELIEVE WE HAVE A LOT OF RESPECT FOR THEM BECAUSE THIS HERE IS NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT THEY DID AND WHAT THEY WENT THROUGH, YOU KNOW, LEAVING THEIR HOMELAND AND THEIR SORROW THAT WAS IN THEIR HEART.
GUZMAN: SO I THINK WHEN WE VISIT THOSE TRAILS AGAIN IT'S NOT A SIGHTSEEING TOUR FOR MOST OF US. IT'S A VERY PAINFUL EXPERIENCE. IT'S A VERY HURTFUL THING BECAUSE THEY WERE THE ONES THAT SAID, "I WILL NOT FOLLOW. I WILL NOT BE PUT ON A RESERVATION. I WILL NOT BE DICTATED TO."

KAUFFMAN: KNOWING THAT EACH NEW MILITARY VICTORY WOULD BRING RENEWED EFFORTS TO CAPTURE THEM, LEAN ELK QUICKLY LED THE BANDS OVER THE MUSSELSHELL RIVER, THROUGH THE JUDITH GAP, AND ACROSS THE ROUGH COUNTRY OF THE MISSOURI BREAKS.

THE COMMUNITY THEN CROSSED THE MISSOURI RIVER NEAR COW ISLAND. THERE A GROUP OF WARRIORS RAIDED A LOCAL SUPPLY DEPOT THAT WAS GUARDED BY A SMALL DETACHMENT OF SOLDIERS.

J. REDTHUNDER: FROM THERE THEY DECIDED THEY WOULD STILL GO NORTH, GOING UP INTO SNAKE CREEK AT BEAR PAW, THINKING THAT THEY HAD PASSED THEIR DANGER.

KAUFFMAN: EXERCISING HIS PREROGATIVE AS A CHIEF, LOOKING GLASS AGAIN ASSUMED COMMAND. HE WAS UNAWARE OF A NEW ARMY DETACHMENT ADVANCING FROM THE EAST. BELIEVING THEY WERE OUT OF DANGER, THE NEZ PERCE STOPPED TO HUNT BUFFALO. THEY WERE NOW ONLY 40 MILES FROM THE SAFETY OF CANADA.

THOUGH GENERAL HOWARD WAS FAR BEHIND, THE AMBITIOUS AND TIRELESS COLONEL NELSON MILES WAS CLOSING IN.

SLICKPOO: THEY WERE SO CLOSE TO IT AND SECONDLY, THEM BEING TIRED, FATIGUED, AND LIMITED FOOD, AND THE WEATHER WAS GETTING COLDER, THEY THOUGHT BEST TO STAY THERE, NOT KNOWING THAT GENERAL MILES WAS COMING, YOU KNOW, FROM ANOTHER DIRECTION.

KAUFFMAN: ADVANCING UNDER THE PROTECTION OF A LOW CLOUD COVER, MILES' LARGE FORCE OF 350 MEN APPROACHED THE BEAR PAW FIELD. ON SEPTEMBER 30TH, THEY ATTACKED. YELLOW WOLF REMEMBERED THE CHAOS.

YELLOW WOLF VOICE ACTOR: "A WILD STIR HIT THE PEOPLE. GREAT HURRYING EVERYWHERE. SOON, FROM THE SOUTH CAME A NOISE - A RUMBLE LIKE STAMPEDING BUFFALOS. HUNDREDS OF SOLDIERS CHARGING IN TWO WIDE, CIRCLING WINGS. THEY WERE SURROUNDING OUR CAMP. FIGHT!"

HALFMOON: WHEN COLONEL NELSON MILES MADE HIS ATTACK, HE HAD TURNED ALL OUT CAVALRY CHARGE, THE SAME TYPE OF CHARGE THAT OVER-WHELMED MANY OF THE TRIBES. THE NEZ PERCE DID SOMETHING VERY UNIQUE IN THE SENSE THAT THEY HELD THEIR FIRE. AND ALL OF A SUDDEN THEY OPENED UP AT THE LAST MINUTE, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, THEY WERE SHOOTING AT STRIPES AND NOW THE OFFICERS. NCO'S AND OFFICERS WERE THE MAIN TARGETS. THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING. THEY KNEW THIS TYPE OF WARFARE. THE NEZ PERCE FIGHTING ABILITY IS EXTRAORDINARY, VERY EXTRAORDINARY.

KAUFFMAN: DESPITE THE ADVANTAGE OF SURPRISE, THE TROOPS WERE UNABLE TO OVERWHELM THE DEFENDERS. IN LESS THAN FORTY-MINUTES OF FIGHTING MILES LOST 23 MEN. LOSSES FOR THE OUTNUMBERED WARRIORS WERE ALSO DEVASTATING. AMONG THE 22 DEAD WERE JOSEPH'S BROTHER OLLOKOT, THE GREAT WARRIOR TOOHOOLHOOLZOTE, AND THE FORMER TRAIL LEADER LEAN ELK. MILES THEN LAID SIEGE TO THE CAMP.

PINKHAM: YOU KNOW, THIS WAS A DESPERATE FIGHT. THIS WAS THEIR LAST CHANCE TO GET AWAY. AND A LOT OF 'EM KNEW THAT. THIS IS WHY SOME OF THEIR MOST PROMINENT WARRIORS WERE KILLED THERE.

KAUFFMAN: THE SURROUNDED NEZ PERCE PREPARED TO DEFEND THEMSELVES AS A WINTER STORM APPROACHED.

YELLOW WOLF VOICE ACTOR: "WILD AND STORMY, THE COLD WIND WAS THICK WITH SNOW. FLASH OF GUNS THROUGH IT ALL. I FELT THE END COMING. ALL FOR WHICH WE HAD SUFFERED, LOST."

KAUFFMAN: ON OCTOBER 2, LOOKING GLASS, THINKING HE SAW A MESSENGER FROM SITTING BULL, STOOD UP IN HIS RIFLE PIT AND WAS KILLED.

GENERAL HOWARD FINALLY REACHED THE BATTLEFIELD WITH A SMALL ESCORT ON THE FOURTH DAY. BY THEN THE EFFECT OF THE SIEGE HAD LED JOSEPH TO CONSIDER NEGOTIATING AN END TO THE FIGHTING. THE ARMY, FEARING A SURPRISE ATTACK FROM SITTING BULL'S WARRIORS TO THE NORTH, MADE AN OFFER. JOSEPH LATER RECALLED THE TERMS.

JOSEPH VOICE ACTOR: "MILES SAID TO ME IN PLAIN WORDS, `IF YOU WILL COME OUT AND GIVE UP YOUR ARMS, I WILL SPARE YOU YOUR LIVES AND SEND YOU BACK TO THE RESERVATION IN IDAHO'.

I COULD NOT BEAR TO SEE MY WOUNDED MEN AND WOMEN SUFFER ANY LONGER. WE HAD LOST ENOUGH ALREADY. WE COULD HAVE ESCAPED FROM BEAR PAW MOUNTAIN IF WE HAD LEFT OUR WOUNDED, OLD WOMEN AND CHILDREN BEHIND. WE WERE UNWILLING TO DO THIS. WE HAD NEVER HEARD OF A WOUNDED INDIAN RECOVERING WHILE IN THE HANDS OF WHITE MEN."

KAUFFMAN: THE NEZ PERCE MET IN COUNCIL. WHITE BIRD AND JOSEPH WERE NOW THE ONLY CHIEFS STILL ALIVE. WHITE BIRD INSISTED ON GOING INTO CANADA, JOSEPH ADVOCATED GIVING UP ARMS. A VERSION OF JOSEPH'S FAMOUS "SURRENDER" SPEECH, AS IT IS OFTEN CALLED, WAS MOST LIKELY DELIVERED AT THIS TIME. IT WAS AN EXPLANATION TO HIS OWN PEOPLE.

THE SPEECH LATER PRINTED IN THE WHITE PRESS WAS BASED ON A VERBAL REPORT FROM ARMY SCOUTS, A REPORT EXTENSIVELY REVISES BY HOWARD'S AIDE, LT. C.E.S. WOOD.

ON THE NEXT AFTERNOON, THE SUN BROKE THROUGH THE STORM CLOUDS. JOSEPH SLOWLY RODE OUT TO MEET HOWARD AND MILES. YEARS LATER, HE REMEMBERED GIVING ONLY A SHORT STATEMENT TO THE ARMY COMMANDERS.

JOSEPH VOICE ACTOR: "ON THE FIFTH DAY I WENT TO GENERAL MILES AND GAVE UP MY GUN. I SAID, `FROM WHERE THE SUN NOW STANDS, I WILL FIGHT NO MORE.'"

S. REDTHUNDER: I DON'T THINK THERE WAS ANYTHING MORE HEART BREAKING THAN TO HEAR THAT SPEECH AND KNOW THAT THERE WAS CHILDREN, AND WOMEN, AND PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT WERE SUFFERING.

I THINK IT TOOK A BRAVE MAN TO STAND UP AND SAY, "I'M GOING TO SURRENDER FOR MY PEOPLE."

MILES: BUT AS FAR AS WHAT YOU MIGHT CALL AN OUT AND OUT VICTORY, THAT DID NOT OCCUR. AND IF WE LOOK AT THE MILITARY RECORD, ACTUALLY THE MILITARY DID NOT DEFEAT THE NEZ PERCE. THEY DEFEATED WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

HALFMOON: WHEN JOSEPH SURRENDERED HIS OWN BAND, YOU KNOW, AND OTHER NEZ PERCE THEY CAN DO WHATEVER THEY WANT TO DO. NOW WHITE BIRD HE CHOSE TO GO ON TO CANADA. THE PEOPLE, LOOKING GLASS, AND TOOHOOLHOOLZOTE, THEY COULD GO WITH EITHER CHIEF, WHERE EVER THEY WANT TO GO. SURRENDER WITH JOSEPH OR GO TO CANADA. AND MANY OF THEM ESCAPED TO CANADA. ABOUT 150 MAYBE 200 NEZ PERCE WENT ON TO CANADA.

KAUFFMAN: OLLOKOT'S WIFE WETATONMI REMEMBERED LEAVING THE BATTLEFIELD.

WETATONMI VOICE ACTRESS: "IT WAS IN THE NIGHT WHEN I ESCAPED WITH CHIEF WHITE BIRD AND HIS BAND. PEOPLE WERE DIVIDED. SOME WOULD GO WITH JOSEPH, SOME WITH WHITE BIRD. THE FIGHT WAS OVER. WE LEFT BEFORE JOSEPH SURRENDERED HIS GUN. WE LEFT MANY FRIENDS BEHIND. SOME BADLY WOUNDED. I FELT THAT I WAS LEAVING ALL THAT I HAD. OUR GOING WAS WITH HEAVY HEARTS AND BROKEN SPIRITS."

KAUFFMAN: SOME OF THE NEZ PERCE WHO ESCAPED FROM BEAR PAW WERE KILLED BY ENEMY TRIBES. THOSE WHO DID REACH CANADA WERE TAKEN IN BY THE EXILED LAKOTA BANDS UNDER SITTING BULL. MANY, LIKE YELLOW WOLF, EVENTUALLY MADE THEIR WAY BACK TO THE UNITED STATES, BY ELUDING U.S. AUTHORITIES. OTHERS, FEARING PROSECUTION ACROSS THE BORDER SETTLED PERMANENTLY WITH CANADIAN TRIBES, LIKE THE PIEGAN.

FOR MANY YEARS THE NEZ PERCE WHO HAD SETTLED IN CANADA HAD LITTLE CONTACT WITH TRIBAL MEMBERS IN THE UNITED STATES. THEY WERE OFFICIALLY LISTED IN CANADA AS MEMBERS OF OTHER TRIBES. THESE "LOST" RELATIVES FEARED THEY WOULD BE PUNISHED IF THEY REVEALED THEIR TRUE BACKGROUNDS. IN 1995, A HISTORIC REUNION TOOK PLACE IN CANADA.

MILES: WHAT WAS SO HISTORICAL ABOUT IT WAS THE FACT THAT IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THE NEZ PERCE PIEGAN AND THE NEZ PERCE PEOPLE HAVE GOTTEN TOGETHER IN 118 YEARS, OFFICIALLY.

ARMAND MINTHORN, CAYUSE/NEZ PERCE: ALL OF THE PEOPLE CAME TOGETHER TO RECOGNIZE EACH OTHER AND TO RECOGNIZE THAT WE CAN WORK TOGETHER TO BRING TO LIGHT WHAT'S IMPORTANT TO US.

HALFMOON: THEY HAD A GREAT REUNION UP THERE. IT WAS RIGHT BEFORE THE BATTLE OF THE BEAR PAW ANNIVERSARY. AND IT'S A VERY EMOTIONAL THING TO WATCH THAT, WHERE PEOPLE ARE MAKING FRIENDS ALL OVER AGAIN. AND THAT GIVES YOU A REAL GOOD EXAMPLE WHAT HAS WAR DONE TO THE NEZ PERCE PEOPLE. IT DIVIDED US.

KAUFFMAN: THE NEZ PERCE WHO DID NOT GO TO CANADA WOULD BE SADLY DISAPPOINTED. MILES' PROMISE OF A RETURN TO IDAHO WAS OVERRULED BY GENERAL OF THE ARMY, WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN.

HALFMOON: WHEN JOSEPH SURRENDERED, HE WAS PROMISED TO COME BACK HOME TO THE NORTHWEST. AND IT IS MY SINCERE BELIEF THAT MILES REALLY THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. BUT INSTEAD, HE WAS SENT DOWN TO OKLAHOMA.

KAUFFMAN: THE GOVERNMENT HAD RELOCATED A LARGE NUMBER OF TRIBES TO THE INDIAN COUNTRY OF OKLAHOMA. YELLOW WOLF REMEMBERED THE HOT PLACE WHERE MANY NEZ PERCE DIED IN A CLIMATE SO DIFFERENT FROM THE NORTHWEST,

YELLOW WOLF VOICE ACTOR: "WE FOUGHT THE SOLDIERS TO A STANDSTILL. WE DID NOT EXPECT BEING SENT TO THE EEIKISH PAH. HAD WE KNOWN THIS, WE NEVER WOULD HAVE SURRENDERED."

S. REDTHUNDER: THE POLICY WAS TO DIVIDE ALL OF THE INDIAN PEOPLE AND SHIP 'EM WHERE THEY DIDN'T BELONG AND I KNOW, SOME OF THE RELATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN TO, TO US, IS THEY ALWAYS TALK ABOUT THE HOT COUNTRY. THEY CALL OKLAHOMA THE HOT COUNTRY. AND, AND I THINK, IT WAS SYSTEMATIC GENOCIDE.

HALFMOON: SO ONCE HE GOT DOWN TO OKLAHOMA, HE HAD A VERY STRONG MISSION, ONCE HE GOT DOWN THERE, TO LEAVE THAT AREA BECAUSE MANY OF THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN WERE DYING DOWN THERE. HE LOST HIS OWN DAUGHTER DOWN THERE. HE MADE TRIPS TO WASHINGTON, DC, NEW YORK CITY. HE MADE MANY TRIPS TO CARLYSLE TO PLEAD FOR HIS PEOPLE TO COME BACK HOME TO THE NORTHWEST. HE APPEALED TO AMERICA, "LET MY PEOPLE GO HOME."

KAUFFMAN: FINALLY IN 1885, THE GOVERNMENT PERMITTED THE EXILED NON-TREATY BANDS TO RETURN TO THE NORTHWEST. ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEEN SURVIVORS OF THE WAR, WHO ACCEPTED CHRISTIANITY, WENT TO THE RESERVATION AT LAPWAI, IDAHO. JOSEPH AND 150 OTHERS WERE SENT TO THE CONFEDERATED RESERVATION AT COLVILLE, WASHINGTON.

ALTHOUGH A PUBLIC FIGURE, JOSEPH ENDURED THE MANY HARDSHIPS OF EXILE ALONG WITH HIS PEOPLE. ALL OF HIS NINE CHILDREN DIED BEFORE HIM. HE WAS NEVER ALLOWED TO LIVE AGAIN IN THE WALLOWA VALLEY.

BUT HE REMAINED A STRONG VOICE FOR ALL NATIVE AMERICANS UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1904. IN REFLECTING ON THE ORDEAL OF HIS PEOPLE, JOSEPH CONCLUDED,

JOSEPH VOICE ACTOR: "THE EARTH IS THE MOTHER OF ALL PEOPLE, AND ALL PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE EQUAL RIGHTS UPON IT. WHENEVER THE WHITE MAN TREATS THE INDIAN AS THEY TREAT EACH OTHER, AT THAT TIME WE SHALL HAVE NO MORE WARS. THEN THE CREATOR WHO RULES ABOVE WILL SMILE UPON THIS LAND AND ALL MAY BE ONE."

KAUFFMAN: TODAY THE NEZ PERCE CARRY ON THE FIGHT FOR EQUALITY AND UNDERSTANDING. TRIBAL MEMBERS STRUGGLE TO KEEP THEIR CULTURE AND TRADITIONS ALIVE.

MILES: THESE THINGS DIDN'T END IN 1877. THEY DIDN'T END IN THE TURN OF THE CENTURY. THEY DIDN'T END IN THE 1960S WHEN WE HAD AIM SETTLE A FEW THINGS. THESE THINGS CONTINUE. MUCH OF OUR LIFE HAS BEEN TAKEN AWAY AND WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF RECLAIMING THAT.

PEOPLE ARE USING WHATEVER MECHANISM THAT THEY FEEL THEY NEED TO DO, WHETHER IT'S THE HORSES, WHETHER IT'S THE LANGUAGE, WHETHER IT'S SONGS, DRUMMING AND SINGING, WHETHER IT'S DANCING. THERE ARE MANY WAYS PEOPLE ARE DOING THIS, BUT I DO THINK THAT IT'S HAPPEN MORE AND MORE AND IT'S BECOMING NOT ONLY VALUED, BUT IT'S ALSO BECOMING SOMETHING THAT IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE TO US.

KAUFFMAN: RE-ESTABLISHING THE ANCIENT CONNECTION WITH THE HORSE IS ONE VITAL LINK WITH THE PAST. TODAY NEZ PERCE ARE AGAIN WORKING WITH THE APPALOOSA, THE STURDY BREED THEY HELPED MAKE FAMOUS DURING THE WAR.

HIGHEAGLE: THE HORSES WERE MORE THAN JUST UTILITARIAN, THEY WERE MORE THAN JUST A TOOL. THEY HAD A SPECIAL BOND WITH THE PEOPLE IN THAT THEY TAUGHT US A LOT OF THINGS. AND THE REASON IT'S IMPORTANT NOW IS THAT WE'RE RE-ESTABLISHING NOT ONLY THE BOND TO THE LAND AND TO THE HORSE, BUT TO EACH OTHER.

DAVIS: WE ARE BRINGING THE APPALOOSA HORSE BACK TO THE RESERVATION, WHICH IS GIVING THE YOUTH PRIDE IN LEARNING HOW TO TAKE CARE OF THE HORSE AND HOW TO RIDE THE HORSE.

KAUFFMAN: THE TRIBE IS WORKING TO RESTORE ITS TRADITIONAL LANGUAGE. THEY HAVE TOLD THEIR STORY HERE IN ENGLISH, BUT THEY KNOW THE TRUE MEANING OF THE WAR EXPERIENCE CAN BEST BE CONVEYED IN THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE.

HIGHEAGLE: THE LANGUAGE IS SO IMPORTANT IN ESTABLISHING WHO WE ARE AS A PEOPLE AND BEING ABLE TO PASS ON LESSONS. THERE'S BEEN A REAL PUSH IN THE LAST, I'D SAY, TEN YEARS TO REVIVE THE LANGUAGE. AND IT HAS BEEN MAINLY THROUGH THE HARD WORK AND PERSEVERANCE OF THE ELDERS.

KAUFFMAN: BOTH THE ELDERS AND YOUNGER NEZ PERCE ARE STILL DIGGING ROOTS, MUCH LIKE THEIR ANCESTORS DID FOR CENTURIES.

MILES: IF YOU LOOK AT THE TUKEKAS WE HAVE TODAY, THE DIGGING STICK, IT IS THE SAME AS IT WAS HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO, PROBABLY THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO. THIS WAS JUST A PART OF THEIR LIFESTYLE. IT'S A PART OF WHO THEY WERE, WHAT THEY DID. AND PEOPLE ENJOYED WHAT THEY WERE DOING.

KAUFFMAN: BY HELPING TO BRING WOLVES BACK TO IDAHO, THE TRIBE IS RE-ESTABLISHING ITS CONNECTION WITH THE LAND AND ANIMALS.

JAMIE PINKHAM, NEZ PERCE DEPT. OF NATURAL RESOURCES: FROM WHAT WE CAN TELL, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN THE NATION THAT AN INDIAN TRIBE HAS TAKEN A LEAD ROLE IN A REINTRODUCTION OF A SPECIES. I THINK THE REINTRODUCTION OF THE WOLVES, ACTUALLY IT MIRRORS THE HISTORY OF THE NEZ PERCE PEOPLE. SO I THINK WHAT WE SAW WAS KIND OF A SUPPRESSION OF THE WOLF, A SUPPRESSION OF THE NEZ PERCE PEOPLE AND OVER TIME KIND OF THIS QUIET HISTORY. BUT NOW I THINK WHAT WE SEE IS BOTH THE WOLF AND THE TRIBE BECOMING A STRONGER VOICE IN THE COMMUNITY.

KAUFFMAN: THE NEZ PERCE PARTICIPATE IN MANY CULTURAL EVENTS, GATHERINGS AND POW WOWS, LIKE THIS ANNUAL FRIENDSHIP FESTIVAL IN THE WALLOWA VALLEY.

HERE TRIBAL MEMBERS CAN SET UP TEPEES AND FEEL THE POWER OF THE OLD CAMPING GROUNDS. GATHERINGS LIKE THIS GIVE THE NEZ PERCE A CHANCE TO REBUILD THEIR HERITAGE.

SLICKPOO: NOW WE HAVE A LOT MORE PEOPLE THAT ARE TAKING PART IN THE TRADITIONAL PRACTICES THAT WE HAVE, WHETHER IT'S A FEAST, WHETHER IT'S A POW-WOW. I'VE SEEN IT HAPPEN. NOW, THERE'S MORE PEOPLE GETTING INVOLVED IN IT, WHICH IS GOOD. I MEAN I LIKE THAT, IT'S GOOD. THAT TELLS ME THAT OUR TRADITION IS COMING BACK TO LIFE. THE INDIAN RELIGION, THE INDIAN BELIEFS ARE COMING BACK.

DAVIS: WE AS A PEOPLE, AS THE NEZ PERCE PEOPLE, AS WOMEN, SURVIVORS, ARE STILL FIGHTING. WE'RE FIGHTING FOR OUR HERITAGE. WE'RE FIGHTING TO KEEP OURSELVES STRONG AND WE HAVE SO MANY BATTLES AHEAD OF US. AND OUR CHILDREN NEED TO BE PROUD OF WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY STAND FOR.

AXTELL: EACH TIME WE GATHER AS INDIAN PEOPLE, WE BECOME LIKE A FAMILY AND IF THIS IS THE WAY OUR OLD PEOPLE WERE, AND I'M SURE ANYTIME WE REMEMBER A LOT OF THINGS ABOUT THE WAR, WE REMEMBER OUR ANCESTORS. I THINK THAT, WE'RE JUST LIKE THE OLD PEOPLE, WE'RE LOOKING AHEAD FOR OUR YOUNG. WE WANT OUR INDIAN WAYS TO LIVE FOREVER.

KAUFFMAN: NEZ PERCE CULTURE IS EXPERIENCING A REBIRTH. TRIBAL MEMBERS DRAW GREAT STRENGTH FROM THEIR ANCESTORS' COURAGE DURING THE WAR. THOUGH MANY OF THEM DIED FAR FROM THEIR HOMES COUNTRY, THEIR SPIRITS ARE STILL HERE. THOSE WHO CARRY ON TODAY SAY THEY CAN STILL HEAR THE ECHO OF THEIR VOICES IN THE WIND.