Nez Perce War

The help came late, and Camas Prairie never forgave it. Captain David Perry could see the volunteers pinned down from his earthworks at Cottonwood and held his men back, guarding the supplies meant for General Howard, until the firing slackened. Captain D. B. Randall and Ben Evans died. The Nimiipuu lost one older man, the first of their dead in the war. The settlers named the volunteers the Brave Seventeen; Perry, who asked for a court of inquiry, was cleared, his delay found not excessive under the circumstances. An earlier sign here told it as a Gatling-gun victory.

What the plaque says

Erected in memory of the seventeen volunteers who engaged in battle with the Indians 2000 feet east from this point with two killed and three wounded the 5th day of July 1877 during the Nez Perce Indian war. Captain D. B. Randall * C. M. Day · James Buchanan · H. C. Johnson F. A. Fenn · Frank D. Vansise · L. P. Wilmot A. D. Bartley · Charles Johnson · A. B. Leland E. J. Bunker · Charles W. Case · B. F. Evans J. L. Cearley · William B. Beemer · D. H. Howser George Riggins Donated and erected by Evan Evans through Idaho County Pioneer Association Grangeville, Idaho the 5th day of July 1931. Nez Perce War Following the battle at White Bird Canyon on July 4, 1877, U.S. cavalrymen, entrenched nearby at Cottonwood, resisted attacks by Nez Perce warriors. East of here on July 5, 1877, Nez Perce warriors created a strategic diversion by surrounding 17 Mount Idaho volunteers. Two of the volunteers were killed and three were wounded before help arrived from the U.S. forces stationed at Cottonwood. Meanwhile the Nez Perce bands crossed the prairie to join allies on the Clearwater. A circuitous path led to Montana and the War's end in October 1877. 38 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by the Idaho Transportation Department

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 - Foster's Gravesite — steps away
• Camas Prairie — 11 mi
• Camas Prairie — 11 mi