Bear Paw Battlefield

Updated: February 3, 2026

Bear Paw Battlefield is one of three sites in Montana that are part of Nez Perce National Historical Park. It lies about 16 miles south of Chinook, Montana, along Highway 240, in rolling prairie broken by low hills and coulees.

The battlefield is also the northeastern end of the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail, which follows much of the route taken by the non-treaty Nez Perce bands during the 1877 campaign. The officially designated trail covers more than 1,100 miles from the Wallowa Lake/Joseph area of Oregon through Idaho and across Yellowstone country into Montana, passing over a mix of federal, tribal, state, local, and private lands before ending at Bear Paw.

In June 1877, after war broke out in Idaho, roughly 700-800 Nez Perce men, women, and children spent a long, difficult summer trying to avoid U.S. Army forces as they moved east and then north. They first hoped to reach Crow allies on the plains, and when that plan failed, they turned toward Canada, seeking refuge across the border.

In late September 1877, only a few dozen miles short of the Canadian border, U.S. troops under Colonel Nelson Miles attacked their camp along Snake Creek in the Bear Paw Mountains, beginning the final battle of the Nez Perce Flight. For several days, both sides fought and endured cold, snow, hunger, and exhaustion as they dug rifle pits and held their positions in the broken terrain.

On October 5, 1877, with many leaders killed or wounded and families suffering terribly, Chief Joseph agreed to surrender most of the remaining group to U.S. officers. His surrender is remembered in the famous speech that ends, "From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever." Some Nez Perce, including followers of Chief White Bird, escaped during or after the fighting and made it into Canada, where they joined other Native groups already there.

Today, visitors to Bear Paw Battlefield can walk a self-guided trail, read interpretive signs and markers, and look out over the hills and draws where the battle and siege took place. The site has few modern structures, and its quiet, open setting encourages reflection on the courage, suffering, and difficult decisions faced by the Nez Perce during the 1877 war.

Website: Bear Paw Battlefield

Updated: February 3, 2026