Historians today say that the Nez Perce were on our way to Canada. A lot of people think this is a strange way to go to Canada, going south, through the Bitterroot Valley. But actually the Nez Perce were not on their way to Canada yet, it was a secondary destination. The primary destination was Crow country, over there in present day Billings, Montana, Crow Agency. That is where they were headed to and that is the reason why they came south in the first place. They came down through the Bitterroot Valley and they though they left the war. They thought it was all over. They thought it was complete. They knew General Howard was way behind them somewhere so they took their time going through the Bitterroot Valley. In fact they traded with the settlers. They traded for food, gun powder, blankets and everything else. They thought the war was over.

They got here and then they camped in this place here. You are talking about maybe 750 people, camped out in this valley. You are also looking at probably about 3,000 head of horses that were up all around the hillside, not only up there but also down below here. You had a regular village, a town that was located in this beautiful location. There were 750 people, men, women, children, elders, grandparents, grandchildren, babies. In fact two days before they got here a baby was born. They had a teepee that was way over on the other side that was called the maternity teepee. That is where the baby was kept along with the mother and also the maid. That is where it was. The little baby represented so much. It represented freedom and all these things to the people because they knew that they were looking for another adventure. And so when they came to this location they thought the war was over.