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.She was swept away 106Chief Joseph & the Flight of the Nez Perceand the baby was never found.Others were wounded as they fled into thewoods in panic.The soldiers and volunteers continued their looting, taking buffalorobes and bags of powder and anything that looked like it might be ofvalue.Then they destroyed what remained.They drove off all the horsesand cattle and shot randomly at anyone they saw.Several of LookingGlass s people were injured, and the band lost almost all of its food andpossessions.By the time the other nontreaty bands had completed their successfulcrossing of the Camas Prairie, Looking Glass s people were staring at a dec-imated, leveled campsite with uprooted gardens, scattered and smashedhousehold goods, and almost no shelters.Unaware of this tragedy, the other nontreaties made their camp severalmiles away in a wide valley at the base of a high, almost perpendicularbluff.The same Clearwater River that ran by Looking Glass s ravaged vil-lage flowed through the center of the campsite, affording good water forthe people and the horses and offering a fine, wide area for camping andgrazing.Here the chiefs and warriors and influential basket hat women tooktime to rest and continue their discussions.Should they flee across themountains, then continue east to buffalo country? Should they crossthe mountains, then turn north to the Old Woman Country the whitescalled Canada, where they heard that Sitting Bull had been allowed tosettle in peace after the fight at the Little Bighorn? Should they surrender?Should they send the women and children into hiding while the menstayed back to fight? There was no easy answer because no one knew thenumber or intentions of the soldiers, and no one knew the full extent ofthe complicity of the treaty Nez Perce.Whatever direction the various speakers were leaning, it all becamemoot when Looking Glass rode in with a dark and ominous message. Two days ago my camp was attacked by the soldiers, he said. I tried tosurrender in every way I could.My horses, lodges, and everything I hadwere taken away from me.Now, my people, as long as I live I will nevermake peace with the Americans.I am ready for war. Any remaining sentiment to trust the honor of the American soldiersand government now disintegrated.They had to fight or flee.But while the people were discussing their choices, unbeknownst to We Are Living Here Peacefully and Want No Trouble 107them, Howard s soldiers were moving along the top of the bluff severalmiles back from the crest that towered over their campsite.He had madeit across the river, losing several horses in the process, and had consoli-dated the forces that had been spread out over the prairie.He was nowmoving with a force of almost five hundred men.He had also picked up anintrepid war correspondent named Thomas Sutherland, who had recentlygraduated from Harvard and was trying to make a name for himself by re-porting directly from the front, an idea considered novel and daring forthe time.The two men had struck up such a good friendship that Howardhad begun including the young correspondent in his command retinue.So with his own soldiers, the remnants of the command that had beendecimated at White Bird Canyon, a motley group of settler volunteers, andhis own personal war correspondent who was issuing dispatches to thePortland Standard, the New York Herald, and the San Francisco Chronicle,Howard had begun moving to the south in an effort to loop around the rene-gades and catch them unawares.His march along the top of the bluff, withhis supply wagons trailing far behind, was merely part of this positioning.But one of the settler volunteers who happened to be wandering alongthe top of the bluff a ways off from the main command made a discoverythat immediately altered the military s plans.Far below, on the flats acrossthe river, the man saw what looked to be almost seventy teepees and hun-dreds of horses.Young Indian boys were engaged in horse races, andwomen were bathing in the river.Clearly, these were the hostiles, andclearly, the camp was not prepared for war.He immediately hurried backand informed General Howard.Howard had assumed the Indians were in the area, but this was a strokeof unexpected luck.He now had not only the strategic advantage of highground but also the incalculable advantage of surprise.Unfortunately forhim, however, that surprise was not total.Indian lookouts had caught aglimpse of the settler as he peered down on them and had shouted to theothers to mobilize.The terrain too proved to be less of an advantage than Howard hadhoped [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.She was swept away 106Chief Joseph & the Flight of the Nez Perceand the baby was never found.Others were wounded as they fled into thewoods in panic.The soldiers and volunteers continued their looting, taking buffalorobes and bags of powder and anything that looked like it might be ofvalue.Then they destroyed what remained.They drove off all the horsesand cattle and shot randomly at anyone they saw.Several of LookingGlass s people were injured, and the band lost almost all of its food andpossessions.By the time the other nontreaty bands had completed their successfulcrossing of the Camas Prairie, Looking Glass s people were staring at a dec-imated, leveled campsite with uprooted gardens, scattered and smashedhousehold goods, and almost no shelters.Unaware of this tragedy, the other nontreaties made their camp severalmiles away in a wide valley at the base of a high, almost perpendicularbluff.The same Clearwater River that ran by Looking Glass s ravaged vil-lage flowed through the center of the campsite, affording good water forthe people and the horses and offering a fine, wide area for camping andgrazing.Here the chiefs and warriors and influential basket hat women tooktime to rest and continue their discussions.Should they flee across themountains, then continue east to buffalo country? Should they crossthe mountains, then turn north to the Old Woman Country the whitescalled Canada, where they heard that Sitting Bull had been allowed tosettle in peace after the fight at the Little Bighorn? Should they surrender?Should they send the women and children into hiding while the menstayed back to fight? There was no easy answer because no one knew thenumber or intentions of the soldiers, and no one knew the full extent ofthe complicity of the treaty Nez Perce.Whatever direction the various speakers were leaning, it all becamemoot when Looking Glass rode in with a dark and ominous message. Two days ago my camp was attacked by the soldiers, he said. I tried tosurrender in every way I could.My horses, lodges, and everything I hadwere taken away from me.Now, my people, as long as I live I will nevermake peace with the Americans.I am ready for war. Any remaining sentiment to trust the honor of the American soldiersand government now disintegrated.They had to fight or flee.But while the people were discussing their choices, unbeknownst to We Are Living Here Peacefully and Want No Trouble 107them, Howard s soldiers were moving along the top of the bluff severalmiles back from the crest that towered over their campsite.He had madeit across the river, losing several horses in the process, and had consoli-dated the forces that had been spread out over the prairie.He was nowmoving with a force of almost five hundred men.He had also picked up anintrepid war correspondent named Thomas Sutherland, who had recentlygraduated from Harvard and was trying to make a name for himself by re-porting directly from the front, an idea considered novel and daring forthe time.The two men had struck up such a good friendship that Howardhad begun including the young correspondent in his command retinue.So with his own soldiers, the remnants of the command that had beendecimated at White Bird Canyon, a motley group of settler volunteers, andhis own personal war correspondent who was issuing dispatches to thePortland Standard, the New York Herald, and the San Francisco Chronicle,Howard had begun moving to the south in an effort to loop around the rene-gades and catch them unawares.His march along the top of the bluff, withhis supply wagons trailing far behind, was merely part of this positioning.But one of the settler volunteers who happened to be wandering alongthe top of the bluff a ways off from the main command made a discoverythat immediately altered the military s plans.Far below, on the flats acrossthe river, the man saw what looked to be almost seventy teepees and hun-dreds of horses.Young Indian boys were engaged in horse races, andwomen were bathing in the river.Clearly, these were the hostiles, andclearly, the camp was not prepared for war.He immediately hurried backand informed General Howard.Howard had assumed the Indians were in the area, but this was a strokeof unexpected luck.He now had not only the strategic advantage of highground but also the incalculable advantage of surprise.Unfortunately forhim, however, that surprise was not total.Indian lookouts had caught aglimpse of the settler as he peered down on them and had shouted to theothers to mobilize.The terrain too proved to be less of an advantage than Howard hadhoped [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]