Following a 1,200-mile (1,900 km) running fight from north central Idaho Territory over the previous four months, the U.S. Army managed to corner most of the Nez Perce led by Chief Joseph in early October 1877 in northern Montana Territory, just 42 miles (68 km) south of the border with Canada, where the Nez Perce intended to seek refuge from persecution by the U.S. government.

Although some of the Nez Perce were able to escape to Canada, Chief Joseph was forced to surrender the majority of his followers to Brigadier General Oliver Howard and Colonel Nelson A.

The Nez Perce began their journey with the mistaken notion that after crossing the next mountain range or defeating the latest army sent to oppose them they would find a peaceful new home.

They came to realize, however, that the only sanctuary available to them was in Saskatchewan, Canada alongside the Lakota led by Sitting Bull, who had found asylum there after the Great Sioux War of 1876.

[4] By late September, the Nez Perce, numbering about 800, including fewer than 200 warriors, had traveled more than a thousand miles and fought several battles in which they defeated or held off the U.S. Army forces pursuing them.

The Nez Perce, exhausted by their long ordeal, also slowed down their flight, believing themselves a safe distance ahead of Howard's forces.

[6] On their journey north from Canyon Creek and through the Judith Basin near the present-day town of Lewistown, Montana, the Nez Perce raided several ranches for horses and food and reportedly killed one sheepherder.

After the Canyon Creek fight, an army surgeon said of the Nez Perce, "I am actually beginning to admire their bravery and endurance in the face of so many well-equipped enemies.

"[8] Nevertheless, although they spoke favorably of the Nez Perce, Army commanders William Tecumseh Sherman and Philip Sheridan were determined to punish them severely to discourage other Indians who might consider rebelling against the rule of the United States.

A small contingent of about a dozen soldiers under a sergeant were stationed at the landing to protect the stockpiled goods until they could be freighted on to Fort Benton by wagon train.

[9][10] Upon the approach of the Nez Perce the outnumbered soldiers, along with two civilians, retreated into their camp, which had a low earth embankment built around it to protect it during rains.

Upon being turned away with only a side of bacon and some hardtack, the Nez Perce waited until dark and pinned the soldiers down with rifle fire from bluffs overlooking their camp.

[11] However, although they gained a cornucopia of supplies, they had lost a day of travel and historians have proposed that the delay might have been decisive in allowing the U.S. Army to catch up.

An English-speaking French-Nez Perce mixed blood called Poker Joe or Lean Elk had become prominent as a guide and interpreter during the march.

[citation needed] With the forces of General Howard far behind the Nez Perce after the Canyon Creek fight, Looking Glass advocated a slower pace to allow the travel-weary people and their horses an opportunity to rest.

[14] Some of the Indian scouts had fought against George Armstrong Custer in the Battle of the Little Big Horn only 15 months earlier, but had subsequently surrendered to Miles.

On September 25, Miles received a dispatch informing him of the Cow Creek fight and that the Nez Perce had crossed the Missouri going north.

Consequently, the Nez Perce went into camp on Snake Creek only 42 miles (68 km) from Canada and slowly the next morning, September 30, prepared to continue their journey.

[16] Miles was following a tried and true tactic of the U.S. Army in fighting Plains Indians: attack a village suddenly and "shock and demoralize all the camp occupants—men, women, and children, both young and old—before they could respond effectively to counter the blow.

Some men quickly gathered to defend the encampment while 50 to 60 warriors and many women and children rushed out of the village to attempt an escape to Canada.

Rather than attacking the camp, the Cheyenne scouts veered to the left toward the horse herd, and the 2nd Cavalry, commanded by Captain George L. Tyler, followed them.

The Cheyenne and Tyler captured most of the horse herd of the Nez Perce and cut off from the village about seventy men, including Chief Joseph, plus women and children.

Miles ordered two of the three companies in the 7th Cavalry to dismount and quickly brought up the mounted infantry, the 5th, to join them in the firing line.

Miles ordered a charge on the Nez Perce positions with the 7th Cavalry and one company of the infantry, but it was beaten back with heavy casualties.

[1] On October 3, the soldiers opened fire again with a 12-pounder Napoleon gun which did little damage to the dug-in Nez Perce, although one woman and one small girl were killed when a shell hit a shelter pit.

[24] Coincidentally, Arthur "Ad" Chapman, the translator of Joseph's message, was also the man who had fired at a Nez Perce truce party before the Battle of White Bird Canyon nearly four months earlier, thus setting off a war which might have been avoidable.

In mid to late afternoon, Joseph appeared for the formal surrender, mounted on a black pony with a Mexican saddle and flanked by five warriors on foot.

White Bird and about 50 followers, however, slipped through the army lines and continued on to Canada, joining other Nez Perce who had escaped earlier during the battle and siege.

[27] The Nez Perce who successfully reached Canada were hospitably received by Sitting Bull, although reported by Canadian authorities to be in pitiful condition.

In 1885, the Nez Perce were allowed to return to Washington but Joseph was refused permission to live in his homeland in the Wallowa River Valley in northeastern Oregon.