Overview

In the centuries of war between Indians and whites one episode is surely epical: the flight of the Nez Perce. Provoked by bad treaties and bitter memories, in 1877 a few Nez Perce raided homesteads in Idaho and killed their inhabitants. The raid quickly escalated into a series of skirmishes, and at last involved Chief Joseph and the ablest Nez Perce warriors in a prolonged chase by the army for over a thousand miles through Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. The band of Nez Perce astonished military experts by their tactical ingenuity, swift maneuvers, daring, and endurance. By the time the chase concluded, barely forty miles from the Canadian border, the Nez Perce had left behind a record of heroic sacrifices, spectacular escapes, and incredible courage.

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9780803260696

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Reviews

The Flight of the Nez Perce stands head and shoulders above other recent publications on the subject. Brown has shown great diligence in securing materials, keen judgment in evaluating what he has found, and above all, intellectual honesty in transcribing and interpreting his selections. -San Francisco Chronicle

The Flight of the Nez Perce stands head and shoulders above other recent publications on the subject. Brown has shown great diligence in securing materials, keen judgment in evaluating what he has found, and above all, intellectual honesty in transcribing and interpreting his selections. -San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Chronicle

This is a military man's book. Mark H. Brown, author of The Plainsmen of Yellowstone (1961), has provided an Estimate of the Situation rather than an outright history, in which he makes a number of new assessments. He starts out with a view of the Nimpau (the Real People), the Nez Perce, originally dwelling in Idaho under the aegis of a traditional tribal council, proceeds to the enterprizing settlers who openly coveted their lands and property, pedalled whiskey to them, and even murdered some of them. But the major portion of his book is written from the standpoint of the forces which attempted to place the Non-Treaty Nez Perce on the reservation, by agreement, and when that failed pursued them into Montana to a showdown and surrender. Mr. Brown has gone to the official government records and firsthand accounts for his fresh view of the Nez Perce war, working on the theory that accuracy is inversely porportionate to the time-lag of the testimony. It is an impressive research job, from which he proceeds to a series of contained insights (there is disappointingly little, for example, from the Nez Perce side), never overstepping into sentiment or supposition. One finding of import is Joseph's true role in relating to the other leaders and his people. A rifle precision and a cool head for analysis inform the proceedings and render this a genuine contribution to Western history. A new look at an old war that will be viewed with much interest in the field. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

Colonel Mark H. Brown, an expert in strategic intelligence, reviewed the military records, journal accounts, and personal testimonies to write this exact and candid study of the flight of the Nez Perce.

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