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Superintendent's Message, by Tami DeGroskyWe had a busy summer and fall at the Big Hole and Bear Paw Battlefields. The Guest Speakers series at the Big Hole was well attended and included some very interesting speakers and demonstrators including a Nez Perce drum group and a military veterans historic reenactment troop. The 130th Commemoration of the Big Hole Battle was well attended. Our new Big Hole ranger Robert West and our interpretive staff did an excellent job giving tours and programs all summer.
Some fall projects scheduled for the Big Hole Battlefield included replacing the visitor center’s 40 year old boiler and heating system and preliminary planning for new museum exhibits. We hope to have the new museum exhibits in place and ready for the public by next summer. We said good bye to a couple of our old favorite museum objects this summer. The red Chief Joseph Coat, belt and the deer skin beaded dress that have been in the Big Hole museum for over 20 years were returned to the West Point museum. The objects have been replaced with a beautiful Nez Perce display of children’s objects and a beaded Nez Perce dress commissioned by the NPS for the U.S. bi-centennial. I encourage people to come and see these items before they are replaced by new exhibits.
The Big Hole Valley transitioned into fall and now winter. A couple of wild fires in late 2007 burned near the Battlefield, which provided us with a steady stream of fire fighters to talk to and share our story with.
This year marks the 130th anniversary of the Battle of the Bear’s Paw that ended the 1877 Nez Perce War. After being pursued relentlessly by the U.S. Army for three months across three territories, seven hundred Nez Perce men, women, and children were attacked by a cavalry force on the morning of September 30th at a temporary encampment just forty miles from safe refuge in Canada. After a bloody six-day siege, Chief Joseph surrendered, uttering what has been memorialized as the “most famous speech never written.”
Every fall Nez Perce descendants and other Indians return to the Battlefield to commemorate this historical event in a colorful and moving memorial service. The observance includes a riderless horse ceremony, pipe ceremony, and traditional drum circle. However, visitors are reminded that photography is not allowed during the sacred pipe ceremony. This year’s event took place on Saturday, October 6.
On-site facilities are limited to a small picnic shelter and vault toilets. A 1.25 mile self-guided interpretive trail through the Battlefield describes the events of 1877.
Bear Paw Battlefield, a unit of the Nez Perce National Historical Park, is located seventeen miles south of Chinook, Montana on Route 240 (Cleveland Road). All services are available in Chinook but motel accommodations are limited. Further accommodations and services are also available twenty miles west in Havre. Any questions may be directed to the park service administrative office at 301 Ohio Street in Chinook or by phoning 406-357-3130.
We hope to see you here or at the Bear Paw this winter or spring.
January, 2008 |
