Battle of the Big Hole

Battle of the Big Hole
Part of the Nez Perce War
Big Hole Battlegrounds, 2003
Date 9–10 August 1877 Location Beaverhead County, Montana 45°38′51″N 113°39′03″W / 45.64750°N 113.65083°W / 45.64750; -113.65083Coordinates: 45°38′51″N 113°39′03″W / 45.64750°N 113.65083°W / 45.64750; -113.65083 Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
United States	Nez Perce
Commanders and leaders
John Gibbon	Chief Joseph Looking Glass
Strength
206	200 warriors
Casualties and losses
31 killed 38 wounded	70–90 killed of whom perhaps thirty were warriors.

The Battle of the Big Hole was fought in Montana, August 9–10, 1877, between the U.S. Army and the Nez Perce tribe of Native Americans during the Nez Perce War. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. The Nez Perce withdrew in good order from the battlefield and continued their long fighting retreat that would result in their attempt to reach Canada and asylum.

The Nez Perce leaders had led their people on an extensive trek after the Battle of the Clearwater to escape the soldiers of General Oliver Otis Howard. The Nez Perce crossed from Idaho into Montana via rugged Lolo Pass. After a brief confrontation at Fort Fizzle on July 28 the Nez Perce entered the Bitterroot Valley and proceeded southward. Looking Glass seems to have taken over leadership from Chief Joseph. Looking Glass pledged to the white settlers in the Bitterroot Valley that the Nez Perce would pass through their valley without violence and they did so, even trading and purchasing supplies from white merchants.

Looking Glass persuaded the Nez Perce that Howard was far behind and that the citizens of Montana did not want war with them. Thus, their progress was leisurely and they took few precautions for defense, not sending out scouts or setting pickets to guard their encampments. They left the Bitterroot Valley, crossed a mountain range, and camped in the Big Hole Basin, pausing to replenish their tipi poles from the surrounding forest. The Nez Perce numbered about 750 persons in all with about 200 warriors.

Unknown to the Nez Perce, Colonel John Gibbon had left Fort Shaw with 161 officers and men and one howitzer. Following the trail of the Nez Perce he collected 45 civilian volunteers in the Bitterroot Valley. On August 8, Gibbon located the Nez Perce encampment in the Big Hole. That night Gibbon marched overland to the Nez Perce camp, reaching it at dawn, leaving his 12-pound howitzer and a pack train to follow behind with a guard of 20 men. He had come to fight: his orders were no prisoners and no negotiations.

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