Synopses & Reviews
Nez Perce Summer, 1877 tells the story of a people's epic struggle to survive spiritually, culturally, and physically in the face of unrelenting military force. Written by one of the foremost experts in frontier military history and reviewed by members of the Nez Perce tribe, this definitive treatment of the Nez Perce War is the first to incorporate research from all known accounts of Nez Perce and U.S. military participants.Enhanced by sixteen detailed maps and forty-nine historic photographs, Jerome A. Greene's gripping narrative takes readers on a three-and-a-half-month, 1,700-mile journey across the wilds of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana territories. All of the skirmishes and battles of the war receive detailed treatment, which benefits from Greene's astute analysis of both sides' strategies and decision making. Between 100 and 150 of the more than 800 Nez Perce men, women, and children who began the trek were killed during the war. Almost as many died in the months following the surrender, after they were exiled to malaria-ridden northwestern Oklahoma. Army deaths numbered 113. The casualties, on both sides, were an extraordinary price for a war that nobody wanted, but whose history has since intrigued generations of Americans. (6 x 9, 576 pages, b&w photos, illustrations, maps)
Review
"The story of the [Nez Perces'] escapes, hardships and ultimate defeat makes an epic struggle any Hollywood scriptwriter would admire. In Nez Perce Summer, Jerome A. Greene . . . is precise, even brilliant, in detailing the Nez Perce trail and the military groups that hounded them for weeks."ÑDenver Post
"Jerome A. Greene . . . gives the Nez Perce saga the attention it deserves. . . . Greene's expert treatment is detailed, but his narrative is never boring."ÑWild West
"The flight of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perces across mountain and plain in a quest for Canadian sanctuary is a commanding saga. . . . Applying his exceptional powers of research in breadth and depth, Jerome A. Greene has crafted the most exhaustive history yet published of this story of courage, endurance, pathos, and tragedy. His contribution fills in a wealth of missing detail and immeasurably enriches the extensive literature."ÑRobert M. Utley, author of The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull
Review
"Unlike recent treatments of the Nez Perce Indian War, Jerome A. Greene's study adds a great deal of new information, culled from an impressive array of primary sources. His book is now the standard, and it is hard to imagine that there will ever be a better one."ÑJohn D. McDermott, author of Forlorn Hope: A Study of the Battle of White Bird Canyon and the Beginning of the Nez Perce Indian War
"The great fighting retreat of the patriotic Nez Perces, struggling for their lives, lands, and freedom, outwitting and battling off one pursuing force after another, is one of the giant epics of the American West, and the literature about it is immense. But there is no volume like this monumental account of the war by Jerome A. Greene." ÑAlvin M. Josephy, Jr., author of The Patriot Chiefs: A Chronicle of American Indian Resistance
Synopsis
The great fighting retreat of the Nez Perces, struggling for their lives, lands, and freedom, outwitting and battling off one pursuing force after another, is one of the giant epics of the American West, and the literature about it is immense. But there is no volume like this monumental account of the war by Jerome A. Greene. Written by one of the foremost experts in frontier military history and reviewed by members of the Nez Perce tribe, Nez Perce Summer, 1877 details the dozen armed encounters between U.S. Army troops and a desperate body of Nez Perces that spanned the long summer of 1877 in the wilds of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana territories. A meticulously researched and well-written narrative, it chronicles a people s epic struggle to survive spiritually, culturally, and physically in the face of unrelenting military force. Sixteen maps detail troop and Indian movements and skirmishes, while 49 photographs further illuminate this dramatic conflict. Between 100 and 150 of the more than 800 Nez Perce men, women, and children who began the trek were killed during the war. Almost as many died in the months following the surrender, after they were exiled to malaria-ridden northeastern Oklahoma. Army deaths numbered 113. The casualties, on both sides, were an extraordinary price for a war nobody wanted, but whose history has since intrigued generations of Americans.
Synopsis
Nez Perce Summer, 1877 tells the story of a people's epic struggle to survive in the face of unrelenting military force. Written by a noted frontier military historian and reviewed by members of the Nez Perce tribe, this is the most definitive treatment of the Nez Perce War to date.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Maps
Foreword, by Alvin M. Josephy, Jr.
Introduction and Acknowledgments
Chapter I: Reasons
Chapter II: Eruption and White Bird Canyon
Chapter III: Looking Glass's Camp and Cottonwood
Chapter IV: Clearwater
Chapter V: Kamiah, Weippe, and Fort Fizzle
Chapter VI: Bitterroot and the Big Hole
Chapter VII: Camas Meadows
Chapter VIII: The National Park
Chapter IX: Canyon Creek
Chapter X: Cow Island and Cow Creek Canyon
Chapter XI: Yellowstone Command
Chapter XII: Bear's Paw: Attack and Defense
Chapter XIII: Bear's Paw: Siege and Surrender
Chapter XIV: Consequences
Epilogue: Later Lives
Appendix A: U.S. Army Casualties, Nez Perce War, 1877
Appendix B: Known Nez Perce Casualties, 1877
Bibliography
Index