Nez Perce War - Foster's Gravesite

William Foster was the scout who brought the Army to the camp. He and Charles Blewett had been sent out to find the Nimiipuu and ran into them; Blewett was killed, and Foster rode back to Cottonwood with the news, then guided Lieutenant Rains's detachment out. Warriors including Rainbow, Five Wounds and Two Moons met them on the way, and within minutes all were dead. Foster, shot in the forehead, was buried beside the road where he fell. The sign quotes Yellow Wolf, whose account of the war, told to Lucullus McWhorter, was published in 1940.

What the plaque says

Nez Perce War - Foster's Gravesite "I will not hide anything. That part of the fight was not long." Yellow Wolf, Nez Perce warrior. On July 3, 1877, 2nd Lt. Sevier M. Rains, civilian scout William Foster, and ten 1st cavalrymen rode from Norton's ranch (Cottonwood) in search of Nez Perce. Six miles northwest of here warriors attacked and killed the detachment. Foster's grave is three miles west on Cottonwood Butte road. The soldiers' remains were reinterred at Fort Walla Walla. 500 Text prepared by the Nez Perce National Historic Park and the Idaho State Historical Society

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• White Bird Battlefield — 17 mi
  Six Nimiipuu men rode out under a white flag. A shot came from the soldiers' side, and the Nez Perce War began.
• Heart of the Monster — 20 mi
  Where the Nimiipuu say their story begins: Coyote, a monster, and the heart he tore loose, still on the Clearwater's bank.
• Weippe Prairie — 30 mi
  Where the Nimiipuu decided what to do with Clark's starving men, and fed them camas until they were sick.

More markers nearby

• Lewis and Clark — steps away
• Nez Perce War — steps away
• Camas Prairie — 11 mi
• Camas Prairie — 11 mi