The entry from my book for June 20, 1939: "By Proclamation No. 2339, the president transferred certain lands from the Beaverhead Nation Forest and made them the Big Hole Battlefield National Monument in Montana. This was the site of one of the battles on the Nez Perce flight in 1877."
The entry from my book for August 9, 1877: "During the Nez Perce War, the army was led by Colonel John Gibbon (they had found the remains of Custer’s forces after the Battle of the Little Big Horn). Depending on the source, 183 to 191 soldiers started the fight, twenty-nine to thirty-one soldiers were killed, including Captain William Logan and First Lieutenant James Bradley, and forty soldiers were wounded, including Colonel Gibbon. The soldiers today mounted a surprise attack at dawn. The Nez Perce set up eighty-nine teepees in a mountain valley called the Big Hole (west of modern Wisdom, Montana). The soldiers took the upper hand in the fighting early on. When the Nez retreated, the victorious soldiers did not follow. This allowed the Nez Perce to regroup and mount a counterattack. Captain Richard Comba, in charge of the burial detail, reported finding the bodies of eighty-nine Nez Perce on the battleground. Chief Joseph reported his losses as thirty warriors and fifty women and children killed during the fight, which ended the next day. Private Lorenzo D. Brown, Company A, Seventh Infantry, Private Wilfred Clark, Company L, Second Cavalry, First Sergeant William D. Edwards, Company F, Seventh Infantry, musician John McLennon, Company A, Sergeant Patrick Rogan, Company A, and Sergeant Milden Wilson, Company I, would be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for their actions."
A visitor to this site, Lorna Hainesworth, was kind enough to merge 5 of my photos into one panoramic view. Thanks Lorna.
Page 2003: Spokane, Washington to Grangeville, Idaho
Page 2003a: Grangeville, Idaho to Kamiah, Idaho
Page 2003b: Kamiah to Lolo Pass
Page 2003c: Lolo, Montana to Salmon, Idaho
Page 2003d: Salmon, Idaho to Gilmore Summit, Idaho
Page 2003e: Kilgore, Idaho to Yellowstone National Park
Page 2003f: More Yellowstone
Page 2003g: Grand Tetons to Lander, Wyoming
Page 2003h: Wind River Canyon to Legend Rock, Wyoming
Page 2003i: Medicine Lodge State Archaeological Site to Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite, Wyoming
Page 2003j: Shell Creek Falls to Wagon Box Battlefield, Wyoming
Page 2003k: Rosebud Battlefield to Little Bighorn Battlefield, Montana
Page 2003l: Little Bighorn Battlefield to Crow Agency, Montana
Page 2003m: Fetterman Battlfield to Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming
Page 2003n: Crazy Woman Creek to Fort Fetterman, Wyoming
Page 2003o: Oregon Trail to Fort Laramie, Wyoming
Page 2003p: Grattan Battlefield, Wyoming to Fort Robinson, Nebraska
Page 2003q: Hudson-Meng Bison Bonebed, Nebraska to Crazy Horse Monument, South Dakota
Page 2003r: Devil's Tower, Wyoming
Page 2003s: Rapid City to Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Page 2003t: Eagle Butte Powwow to the Blessing Ceremony
Page 2003u: Sakakawea Monument to Fort Buford
Page 2003v: Fort Union to Old Fort Peck
Page 2003w: Cree Crossing to Fort Assiniboine
Page 2003x: Glacier Park
Page 2003y: Glacier #2 to Missoula, Montana
Page 2003z: blank (so far)
