Idaho Heartland - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 268

White Bird Battlefield, now peaceful rolling hills, was once the site of a violent clash between the Nez Perce bands and
the U.S. Army Cavalry in which thirty-four soldiers were killed, sparking the beginning of the Nez Perce War in 1877.
6. White Bird Battlefield
The rolling hills here, covered with grasses that sway gently in the breeze, were not always
so peaceful and serene. Back in 1877 a group of Nez Perce Indians and their chief, White
Bird, clashed with a party of soldiers and civilian volunteers from Fort Lapwai. What was
supposed to be a time for making peace turned violent when, without warning, one of the
civilians fired on the Indians. In the ensuing battle, the Nez Perces killed 34 of the govern-
ment's troops, a third of the fort's force; the Indians had suffered no casualties. Brief and
brutal, the battle was the opening salvo of what came to be known as the Nez Perce War.
TheWhiteBirdBattlefield,oneof38widelyscatteredsitesthatmakeuptheNezPerce
National Historical Park, occupies about 1,100 acres. A shelter on Rte. 95 offers one of the
best places to view the area, with a sweeping panorama of the grassy hills. After taking in
the vista, head down the hill to the town of White Bird, where road signs give directions to
the battlefield and recall the events of that fateful day.