The sites are strongly associated with the resistance of Chief Joseph and his band, who in June 1877 migrated from Oregon in an attempt to reach freedom in Canada and avoid being forced on to a reservation.

They were pursued by U.S. Army cavalry forces and fought numerous skirmishes against them during the so-called Nez Perce War, which eventually ended with Chief Joseph's surrender in the Montana Territory.

It includes sites associated with the Nez Perce War of 1877, when the people resisted takeover by the United States, and the flight of Chief Joseph and his band.

[3][4] Construction of the planned headquarters site and museum at Spalding were delayed by land acquisition and federal funding problems.

[12] Several of the sites are connected by the Nez Perce National Historic Trail, managed by the United States Forest Service.

The second, found in the plateaus of the Columbia and Snake rivers, is sagebrush steppe at around 3,000 ft in altitude; it includes lava fields and flows.