NEZ PERCE FORCED TO FIGHT
David.Gettman September 30th, 2008
From:
ONE HUNDRED YEARS WITH THE SECOND CAVALRY
By Joseph I. Lambert, Major, Second Cavalry
Copyright 1939 Commanding Officer, Second Cavalry, Fort Riley, Kansas
Capper Printing Company, Inc.
During the summer of 1877, reports reached Fort Ellis, Montana, of troubles with the Nez Perce Indians in Idaho under their chief, Joseph. These people, who were friends of the whites, had always occupied the Wallowa Valley. They were in comfortable circumstances, having herds of cattle and horses. Whites had recently been encroaching upon their land, which had been ceded to them by treaty. These white squatters brought influence upon the state government to drive the Indians away and get Congress to give them title to the land. A number of the Indians had been murdered and they retaliated in kind against the settlers. Finally, troops were sent to arrest the alleged Indian culprits. Several sharp engagements took place in which Joseph showed General Howard the Nez Perces were formidable antagonists.
Late in July it was reported that these Indians had moved east into Montana with the intention of escaping to British Columbia. Having heard of the direction the savages had taken, Colonel Gibbon organized a small force at Fort Ellis to intercept the fugitives. The command consisted of four companies of the Seventh Infantry, a group of citizens, and eight men of Company L, Second Cavalry, in all about 180 strong. The latter were used as scouts and succeeded in locating the Nez Perce camp on August 8. Beginning next morning, a desperate engagement lasted two days, during which Colonel Gibbon’s force was so crippled he was unable to follow the savages when they withdrew on the night of the 10th. In this encounter Sergeant Edward Page, Company L, was killed, and Private Wilfred Clark of the same company was cited for gallantry and decorated with the Congressional Medal of Honor.
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- Comments(6)
I am a resident of southeast Idaho, living near the Camas Meadows. While hunting elk several years back I came across a military grave marker west of I-15 near the Idaho-Montana border. It read:
Samuel A Glass
New York
Blacksmith
2 US Cavalry
August 23 1877
I have searched for information on this man for some time. After learning that the 2nd Cavalry engaged Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce warriors on 8 Aug 1877 my research brought me to this website. I always presumed that Samuel Glass died of wounds sustained in this battle, but cannot confirm this. The otherwise excellent summary written of this battle does not list the casualties by name. Can anyone help me to locate this information?
Glass was gut-shot when the nez perce attacked at camas praire. the nez perce stole many horses and mules from the army/civilian volunteers. Gen Howard sent the civilians back to virginia city, mt (where they were from). Glass was too sick to travel too long, so the civilians volunteers left him with the Dr (name?) at the pleasant valley stage station (the railroad wasnt there yet). Glass was cared for by the dr, the station owner, and two ladies. he died a day or two later.
you have any more info? I am working on finding all details. arlonaustin@gmail.com
Arlon,
Thank you for the additional information. I have forwarded it to Joe Valasquez and hopefully he will respond.
Joe sent me some photos of Sam Glass’ grave site and headstone he took years ago and then he returned to take recent photos for me only to find that the headstone had been damaged by gunfire. It was obvious from the photos that someone has been caring for the site and bringing flowers. It is a lone site on a dirt road off the main highway out in the middle of nowhere, but there is a house nearby that may be tending to the site.
There is a first-person account of Sgt. Glass in the book “Saga of Chief Joeseph” by Howard. On page 268 they describe the Sgt. as having been shoot in the bladder on August 17th, 1877. I was at the grave last week and we are planningto repair the fence sometime before the winter sets in.
I find it rediculas that the Nez Perce are referred to as savages. After all Lewis & Clark (Corps of Discovery) found the Nez Perce to be the most civilized, honest, and friendly Native Americans they had met. The facts are that the White population that was encroaching upon Nez Perce (Wallowa Band) legally owned land were the real savages. Court house records and historical documents show that it was the whites steeling land and prized horses from the Nez Perce. Murder of Nez Perce was also a problem. The Nez Perce alway attempted to utilize the “Rule of Law” and the courts to help but that was like a black man in the south in the 1800′s attempting to use the courts for justice. That wasn’t going to happen by a long shot. President Grant caved in to the white “voters” and allowed the home of the true Native Americans to be stolen. Now who was the real savage here.
White men were the savages here president grant on down