Nez Perce National Historical Park - General Park Information

Since time immemorial, the Nimiipuu or Nez Perce have lived among the rivers, canyons and prairies of the inland northwest. Despite the cataclysmic change of the past two centuries, the Nez Perce are still here. Join us in exploring the park's thirty-eight sites and experiencing the story of a people who are still part of this landscape.

Early on the morning of August 9, 1877, soldiers under the command of Colonel John Gibbon unleashed an attack on the quiet camp of Nez Perce. Gibbon's attack was repulsed, but at a great cost to the Nez Perce, making the battle at Big Hole the bloodiest single day in the four month long struggle between certain bands of the Nez Perce, their allies, and the U.S. Army.

On September 29, 1877 800 men women and children made camp on Snake Creek, forty miles from the Canadian Border. At dawn the next day, the U.S. Army attacked the camp, beginning a siege that would last until October 5, when Chief Joseph ended the siege. This quiet and compelling site is sacred ground for all who fought here and looks much the way it did in 1877.

With thirty-eight sites in fours states, every season offers a wide variety of weather conditions. Click on the link below to find out more about daily forecasts at sites around the park. Elevations in the Park range from 700 feet above sea level to over 8,000, providing a wide range of climatic conditions, that follow the four seasons. Be prepared for very warm weather in the summer months, in particular in the river valleys. The spring and fall are moderate and comfortable. Winter conditions can be severe in the higher elevations, with snow and ice making travel difficult and dangerous.

In Nez Perce country, the landscape tells stories. The lump of basalt near Kamiah, Idaho represents the Heart of a Monster. Coyote battled and killed a monster and from the drops of the creature's blood the Nez Perce were created.