Journey to Camas Meadows

From Birch Creek, the Nez Perce cavalcade passed around the foothills in a southeastward direction. By the evening their scouts reached the stage road a mile north of Hole-in-Rock stage station The station was located on a Beaver Creek, four miles above present-day Dubois

Dubois, Idaho

Dubois is a city in Clark County, Idaho, United States. The population was 647 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Clark County.The city was named for U.S. Senator Fred Dubois....

. The Indians did not raid the station, and the next morning a camp was established on the north edge of the Snake River Plain

Snake River Plain

The Snake River Plain is a geologic feature located primarily within the state of Idaho in the United States of America. It stretches about westward from northwest of the state of Wyoming to the Idaho-Oregon border. The plain is a wide flat bow-shaped depression, and covers about a quarter of Idaho...

, in a meadow bisected by Spring and Camas creeks. The Nez Perce name for their camp was Kamisnim Takin, meaning "camas meadows" .

Race to the Crossing

Howard's

Oliver O. Howard

Oliver Otis Howard was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War...

 forces reached the Montana Trail at the mouth of the Horse Prairie Creek a few days earlier. He was overtaken by the Virginia City volunteers under the command of James E. Callaway, who were anxious to join his cavalry . On the same say, Captain Randolph Norwood and fifty fresh cavalry men, designated as Company 4 of the Second Infantry, also overtook Howard's command. Howard arranged to have the infantrymen transported in wagons along the freight road, and all energy was exerted t intercept the Nez Perces in the Dry Creek station area. Bannock Indian scouts were a day ahead of Howard's cavalry, and they observed the Nez Perce rear guard cross the road toward Camas Meadows. Chief Buffalo Horn, one of Howard's scouts, obtained a view of their camp in Camas Meadows.

Perhaps a few shots were exchanged between the two sets of Indian scouts. In any case, the Nez Perces were alert and Howard's forces, having strained to intercep them, were still a day behind. Howard's command traveled the eighteen miles to Camas Meadows and made Camp Callaway between Camas and Spring creeks a day later .

The Raid

The exceptional precautions Howard has taken for the protection of Camp Callaway were observed by Nez Perce scouts. Upon returning to their own camp, they reported what they had seen to the chiefs. The information did not diminish their resolution to carry out the plan. This tactic was designed to put Howard's cavalry on foot. The chiefs did not envision a battle. Yellow Wolf described the movements of the band:
Several scouts dismounted and crept among the picketed horses to cut them loose. Then two things happened simultaneously. As a mounted column approached, a sentry shouted, "Who goes there?" At the same moment, a foot scout named Otskai accidentally discharged his gun in the midst of the camp . Thus, an alarm was sounded from two places before many horses had been released from their picket lines. However, two hundred mules were fee, and the Indians concentrated upon stampeding them northward. This enabled the raiders to control the loose stock. In spite of all the shouting, several men thought they heard "the great voice of Looking Glass" booming out orders . Bullets were flying about and some of them struck the wagons, but only one man was hit, and his wound was slight. Darkness, noise, and surprise compounded the confusion, but the cavalry officers and men quickly dressed and mounted.

General Howard ordered a strong force to be organized in order to pursue the raiders and recover the stock. Within moments, three companies of cavalry were assembled. By dawn, nearly a hundred horsemen were galloping northward in pursuit of the raiders, who had several miles' head start. In total about half of the horses belonging to the Virginia City volunteers were missing. It is recorded that the volunteers received $150 per head from the government for their mounts .

The Battle of Camas Meadows

Several warriors continued driving the mules on to camp, and others deployed themselves in a thin skirmish line across the middle of the meadow eight miles north of Camp Callaway. A lava escarpment ten feet high formed a southern boundary five hundred yards from the Nez Perce position. This barrier stopped the progress of the cavalry and some of the troopers dismounted and also formed a skirmish line .

The distance between these lines was too great for effective marksmanship, and when a shot struck lieutenant Benson in the hip it was discovered that the Indians in the meadow were serving as a decoy

Decoy

A decoy is usually a person, device or event meant as a distraction, to conceal what an individual or a group might be looking for. Decoys have been used for centuries most notably in game hunting, but also in wartime and in the committing or resolving of crimes.-Duck decoy:The term duck decoy may...

, while others had been creeping forward on both flanks to enfilade the troops. Hence, Sanford ordered a bugler to call a retreat. The retreat of those cavalrymen whose horses had been taken to the rear was an occasion of great excitement and confusion. In the confusion, Captord Norwood's company drifted so far to the east that the other units lost track of him. They continued retreating another mile or so, where they met General Howard advancing with his reserves.

Howard took command and extended his lines as far east as possible and continued to move forward. By mid-afternoon Horward came upon Norwood and his men crouching in their lava rock rifle pits located a few rods apart along the top and on the edges of a series of ridges that enclosed a protected area for their horses.

Conclusion

Norwood stated that obedience to Sanford's order to continue retreating would have imperiled his company. So he elected to seek cover upon the converging ridges and make his stand. The Nez Perce sharpshooters pressed his position for four hours but could not dislodge him. Yellow Wolf implied that the warriors raided the siege on their own volition. He said,
Whereupon, these remarkable warriors withdrew from the battlefield and returned to their tribal camp without any fear of being followed. Their voluntary withdrawal is evidence that Norwood's position was strong, a fact duly noted and recognized by Howard .

Yellow Wolf stated that "no indian was badly hurt, only one or two just grazed by bullets" . Wottolen was wounded in the side, and Tholekt's head was creased.