**GENERAL MANAGEMENT PLAN**\
September 1997

for

**Nez Perce National Historical Park**\
and\
**Big Hole National Battlefield**

Asotin and Okanogan Counties, Washington\
Wallowa County, Oregon\
Nez Perce, Idaho, Lewis, Clearwater and Clark Counties, Idaho\
Park County, Wyoming\
Blaine, Yellowstone and Beaverhead Counties, Montana

Prepared by\
U.S. Department of the Interior\
National Park Service

Recommended:

Frank Walker

Superintendent, Nez Perce National Historical Park September 23, 1997

Concurred:

William C. Walters

Deputy Field Director, Pacific West Area September 23, 1997

Approved:

John Reynolds

Field Director, Pacific West Area September 23, 1997

**PREFACE**

The drumbeat, the heartbeat, of the Nez Perce people has echoed across
the forests, rivers and canyons of the homeland for a very, very long
time. It continues to be heard today \-- loud and clear and stronger
than ever. The reverberations are felt at pow wows and basketball games,
at rodeos and horse shows, on the fire line, in the classroom, in the
huckleberry patches and fishing places and camas digging grounds, in
beadwork and cornhusk and artistry in many forms.

Once heard it is hard to forget. It carries messages for those who would
listen \-- messages of hope and despair, of deception and triumph, of
pain and guilt, laughter and joy. It speaks to us as human beings \--
where we have been and where we are going. And it helps define us as a
nation.

While the words in the following document are managerial and
administrative by nature, they are driven by the realization that Nez
Perce National Historical Park is a park about a people for all people.
It is not one place, but many. It is not one story, but a multitude of
them. It is not one viewpoint, but many more than one. It is often
controversial and emotional. This document acknowledges all of these
things and does its best to set a course for the future.

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  **INTRODUCTION**

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Almost as soon as Nez Perce National Historical Park was established in
1965, it became obvious that many more than the original 24 sites were
needed to portray a more complete story of the Nez Perce people.
Twenty-seven years later, 14 sites in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and
Montana were added to the park.

The process of evaluating these new sites reinvigorated park supporters.
Nez Perce National Historical Park had evolved into a model for working
in partnership with public and private agencies, organizations, and
individuals to achieve its goals. Unlike \"traditional\" parks, there
was very little land base; the park was managed and operated through
collaborative processes, relying on cooperative agreements, memorandums
of understanding, and other unconventional means for protecting and
interpreting resources owned by others. Support for this innovative
approach came from many individuals of diverse backgrounds, and the
legislation adding the new sites passed by a wide margin in 1992.

This *General Management Plan* for Nez Perce National Historical Park
provides focus and direction to guide resource management, general
development, and park administration for the next 15 to 20 years. The
plan is a confirmation and endorsement of the successes that have
already been accomplished, and a renewed commitment to continue
operation in a similar mode for the foreseeable future.

This document contains information that applies to the entire park,
including its purpose and significance, desired future, and interpretive
themes. A plan for the overall management of the park is presented,
followed by specific information on how each site will be managed.

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ** WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OTHERS**

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

The success of Nez Perce National Historical Park has been, and will
continue to be, based on strong partnerships. Input from tribes,
partners, park neighbors, and the general public was actively sought in
the planning process from the outset. This *General Management Plan*
reflects that input and acknowledges the very real possibility of
additional partnerships in the future.

A newsletter announcing the general management planning process and
presenting purpose, significance, and interpretive themes for the park
was mailed to approximately 1,600 addresses on the park mailing list.
Public meetings were held in 21 communities in Idaho, Washington,
Oregon, and Montana in January and February 1995. These scoping meetings
were attended by over 350 individuals, and 85 mail back comment forms
were received. The summarized scoping results and a desired future
developed by the full team were made available to the public in a second
newsletter in July 1995.

The 50-page *Alternatives Newsbook* was distributed to the mailing list
in April 1996. The newsbook included a summary of the planning process
to that time, information that had been presented in earlier
newsletters, and a request for comments on the parkwide and
site-specific alternatives. Simultaneously, park management scheduled
informal meetings where feedback on the alternatives was solicited.
Information gathered at these meetings and from the 48 returned mailback
forms was used to select the proposed action.

The National Park Service consulted with the states involved, tribes,
and other federal agencies regarding the presence of sensitive
resources.

Letters with proposed boundary maps were sent to the nearly 250
landowners whose properties were included within the proposed site
boundaries, prior to distribution of the *Draft General Management Plan
/ Environmental Impact Statement,* which was mailed in October, 1996.
During October and November, public meetings were held in 17 communities
in the four-state park area; these were attended by 512 individuals.
There were 646 written comments on the document, from federal, tribal,
state, and local officials, organizations, and individuals. Revisions to
the plan were made based on these comments and on further consultations
with landowners. The revisions were officially published in an
abbreviated *Final Environmental Impact Statement* in August, 1997.

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ** THE PURPOSE OF THE PARK**

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

*The park purpose is why the unit was set aside as part of the national
park system. It provides the most fundamental criterion against which
the appropriateness of all plan recommendations, operational decisions,
and actions can be tested.*

The park purpose is why the unit was set aside as part of the national
park system. It provides the most fundamental criterion against which
the appropriateness of all plan recommendations, operational decisions,
and actions can be tested. These reasons are stated in the park\'s
establishing legislation (see Appendix A). In addition to restating the
laws, the purpose statement also documents the shared assumptions about
the intent of the law.

Nez Perce National Historical Park was established as a unit of the
national park system on May 15, 1965, by Public Law 89-19. The law
specifies the park was created to \"facilitate protection and provide
interpretation of sites in the Nez Perce Country of Idaho that have
exceptional value in commemorating the history of the Nation.\"
Specifically mentioned are sites relating to early Nez Perce culture,
the Lewis and Clark expedition through the area, the fur trade,
missionaries, gold mining, logging, the Nez Perce War of 1877, and
\"such other sites as will depict the role of the Nez Perce country in
the westward expansion of the Nation.\" Sites include historic
buildings, battlefields, missions, landscapes, cemeteries, trails,
archeological sites, and geologic formations important to the Nez Perce
people. A total of 24 sites were established in 1965.

Public Law 102-576 of October 30, 1992, allowed sites to be designated
in Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Wyoming. It specified that 14
additional sites in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Montana should be
included in the park.

On the basis of provisions in the enabling legislation, the purpose of
Nez Perce National Historical Park is to:

-   Facilitate protection and offer interpretation of Nez Perce sites in
    Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Wyoming that have
    exceptional value in commemorating the history of the United States.

-   Preserve and protect tangible resources that document the history of
    the Nez Perce peoples and the significant role of the Nez Perce in
    North American history.

-   Interpret the culture and history of the Nez Perce peoples and
    promote documentation to enhance that interpretation.

-   The legislation provides for certain ways to support the purpose of
    the park, as follows:

-   The National Park Service will consult with the Nez Perce people
    concerning the interpretation of the park and its history.

-   Achieving the protection and interpretation of Nez Perce National
    Historical Park sites can be furthered through a broad range of
    partnerships and cooperative arrangements with states, federal
    agencies, tribes, and local and private entities.

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ** WHY THE PARK IS SIGNIFICANT**

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

The planning team\'s expression of the overarching sentiment behind the
purpose and significance of the park:

*Nez Perce National Historical Park offers for all Americans an
important perspective about our history as a people. It is not the view
from the Gateway Arch looking west; it is a view from a homeland looking
out, witnessing the march of history and change, yet continuing today
and tomorrow to commemorate and celebrate Nez Perce culture and
traditions. It is a park about* **a** *people, for* **all** * people.*

Park significance tells why the park is special \-- why it is so
important that it belongs in the national park system. Statements of
significance clearly define the importance of the park\'s resources as
they relate to the park\'s purpose. Knowing the park\'s significance
helps set resource protection priorities, identify primary park
interpretive themes, and develop desirable visitor experiences.

The park preserves a continuum of at least 11,000 years of Nez Perce
culture. Its archeological record, museum collection, cultural
landscapes, and structures are of national significance. The park
contains historical and cultural landmarks that are of legendary
significance to the Nez Perce people. The Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo)
National Historic Trail commemorates a significant event in the history
of the Nez Perce people.

Nez Perce National Historical Park offers a unique opportunity for
visitors to gain an understanding of present-day Nez Perce culture
within and outside the Nez Perce homeland and to learn about important
events of the past.

Past and present Nez Perce culture were shaped by the geography and the
rich and varied resources of the Nez Perce homeland.

The park includes parts of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
and the Lolo Trail, both of which were used by other cultures. The Nez
Perce country, Nez Perce National Historical Park sites, and other
Native American cultures overlap but also differ in many ways.

The park contains burial sites and sacred sites; it is also a focal
point for current Nez Perce culture and allows for the continued
traditional use of resources. The park honors the rights retained in the
1855 and 1863 treaties and will fully apply all applicable laws,
executive orders, policies, and treaties related to the protection of
cultural properties and sacred sites.

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ** TELLING THE PARK STORIES**

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

The primary park stories, or interpretive themes, are overview
statements that tell visitors about the significance of the park and
cover information that is basic to visitor understanding of the park.
Interpretation is a process of education that is designed to stimulate
curiosity and convey messages to the visiting public. All interpretive
efforts, both media and personal services, should relate to one or more
of the themes, and each should be addressed by some part of the overall
program.

The following three primary interpretive themes have been identified for
Nez Perce National Historical Park. Numerous subthemes and topics will
be identified as the plan is implemented.

-   The Nez Perce people developed a distinct culture through more than
    11,000 years of interaction with the environment and landscape of
    their traditional homeland.

-   The Nez Perce people and their culture have undergone and continue
    to undergo many changes as a direct result of their cooperation and
    conflict with Euro-American culture and the United States
    government.

-   The treaty of 1855, the treaty of 1863, and the war of 1877 had
    severe consequences for the Nez Perce people, and they illustrate
    the difficult historical relationships between the United States and
    the indigenous cultures of North America.

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ** PARK OVERVIEW**

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Because Nez Perce National Historical Park is so widespread
geographically, the parkwide environment is difficult to describe. This
section presents a broad-brush presentation of relevant information
about cultural resources, natural resources, visitor experience, and
facilities for park operation, to provide a better understanding of the
context into which the individual sites fit.

**CULTURAL HISTORY**

The Nez Perce ancestral peoples have occupied the Plateau cultural area
of the Northwest for at least 11,000 years. According to Nez Perce
tradition, the world before humans was inhabited by animals who
possessed human traits. The main animal was Coyote, who at times had
superhuman powers. When a monster who lived near present-day Kamiah
began to consume the animals, Coyote tricked the monster into swallowing
him. While in the monster\'s stomach, Coyote killed the monster and set
the animals free. He then carved the monster into pieces and scattered
the parts throughout the land, where they became the various Native
American tribes. He sprinkled the monster\'s blood about the area, and
from the blood came the Nee-Me-Poo, or Nez Perce, people.

The earliest of the ancestral peoples lived in small groups and family
units. They pursued a big game hunting cultural tradition that included
fishing. By some 5,000 years ago, the basis of the historic Nez Perce
peoples began to take form. Winter villages began to appear in which
people lived in semisubterranean pit houses. Diets reflected an
increasing use of roots and other wild- growing food. About 3,000 years
ago the bow and arrow came into use, but this did not replace the atlatl
(spear thrower) as the weapon of choice for another 1,300 years. By 700
A.D. most Nez Perce lived in villages along the main streams and
tributaries of the Clearwater, Snake, and Salmon Rivers, where fish soon
made up half of their diet.

Sites in Nez Perce National Historical Park that are associated with
legends or that contain evidence of early occupation:

**Spalding,** which contains a site of prehistoric Indian communities
dating back 11,000 years

**Lenore,** which contains an early occupation site dating from about
8,500 years ago

**Weis Rockshelter,** with remains from as early as 8,000 years ago

**Hasotino Village,** where there is evidence of prehistoric and
historic occupation, as well as an important eel fishery site

**Heart of the Monster,** where two basalt outcrops, Heart of the
Monster and the Liver, represent the birthplace of the Nez Perce peoples

**Coyote\'s Fishnet,** which depicts the Bear and the Fishnet of Nez
Perce legend

**Ant and Yellowjacket,** where rock formations symbolize these fighting
insects

**Camas Prairie, Musselshell Meadow, Weippe Prairie and Tolo Lake,**
where camas roots have been gathered for thousands of years

**Buffalo Eddy,** with rock art that encompasses two phases of
petroglyphs and an area of pictographs that date as early as 4,500 years
ago.

**THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION**

The expedition of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark brought the first
white men to Nez Perce Country. The Nez Perce they encountered in
September 1805 were a friendly people who lived in independent villages
along rivers and streams. Each village was governed by a council that
chose and advised a headman. Villages in the same locality were
organized into a band that was represented by a band council composed of
individuals of the various villages, who elected a headman.

Using a similar structure, neighboring bands were organized into
composite bands. Each of the composite bands shared a common background
as well as blood and maritalties. However, there was no head chief or
political group that could speak for all the bands.

Although unity was important, each village and band remained autonomous.
When Lewis and Clark\'s party made contact with the Nez Perce in the
fall of 1805, the legacy of the European had already affected them:
diseases such as smallpox preceded whites to the area. During this
period the Nez Perce had also obtained horses through trade with
neighboring groups. The horse changed the Nez Perce culture by making
buffalo hunting east of the Bitterroot Mountains easier and permitting
contacts and trade with peoples over a wider portion of the region.
Horses flourished in the Plateau area, and large herds were common by
the early 19th century.

Fur traders found the area not long after the Lewis and Clark group
departed the Nez Perce Country in May 1806. In late 1811 Donald
MacKenzie and ten other members of John Jacob Astor\'s Pacific Fur
Company reached the Nez Perce while on their way to establish a trading
post near the mouth of the Columbia River. MacKenzie promised to return
and open a trading post among the Nez Perce. He reappeared in August
1812 and built a small post on the Clearwater River about 5 miles above
present-day Lewiston. However, this fur trading post proved unsuccessful
because the Nez Perce sought to trade food and horses but did not want
to engage in trapping beaver.

Later groups of both American and British fur traders obtained a ready
supply of food and horses from the Nez Perce people in exchange for guns
and other implements. Consequently, the Nez Perce slowly began to value
and rely on the technologies obtained from non-Indians.

Sites in the park that represent contacts with the Lewis and Clark
expedition are the 1805 sites at **Weippe Prairie** and **Canoe Camp**
and the 1806 **Lewis and Clark Long Camp**. The **Lolo Trail** and
**Lolo Pass** units illustrate the Nez Perce use of the horse to hunt
buffalo east of the Bitterroot.

**MISSIONARIES AND MOUNTAIN MEN**

By the 1830s Christian missionaries of various denominations began to
make preparations to establish stations among the Native Americans of
the Northwest. A party of Methodist missionaries led by Jason Lee met
with some Nez Perce in 1834, but this group did not settle among the
tribe. Samuel Parker and Marcus Whitman arrived in the area the next
year under the sponsorship of the American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions, which represented Congregationalists, Presbyterians,
and other denominations.

Parker traveled through Nez Perce country to select mission sites;
Whitman returned to the East. Whitman returned to the Nez Perce in 1836,
accompanied by Henry Spalding and William Gray. They parted company at
the Columbia River, with Spalding remaining in Nez Perce country to
establish a mission near the mouth of Lapwai Creek. The initial
enthusiasm of the Nez Perce for Spalding\'s teachings deteriorated as
the temperamental Spalding used punishments such as whipping to achieve
his ends.

Mountain men like William Craig criticized Spalding. Craig had settled
among the Nez Perce and married a headman\'s daughter. In 1837 William
Gray, who had returned to the East, arrived in Nez Perce country with
several more missionaries. One of these, Asa Smith, opened a mission in
1839 for the Nez Perce along the Clearwater just northwest of
present-day Kamiah. Although Smith remained for only two years, Spalding
continued to live among the Nez Perce.

A rift developed between the Indians who supported Spalding and the
non-Christians, who ignored him. By the 1850s a Nez Perce whom the
whites called Lawyer gradually exerted influence over the Christian Nez
Perce. Lawyer and the \"pro-white\" headmen chose to follow the path
Spalding had taught them. Other headmen and war chiefs such as Looking
Glass, Three Feathers, and Eagle From the Light ignored the Christian
teachings and retained their old practices.

The **Confluence Overlook** (formerly Donald MacKenzie Post) site of Nez
Perce National Historical Park represents early contact with fur
traders.

Sites in the park associated with the missionary period are the **Lapwai
Mission**, where the first Spalding mission was located, **Spalding**,
where Henry Spalding had his second mission, and the associated **Asa
Smith mission**.

**TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT, A TREATY, AND GOLD**

In the meantime, white settlement west of the Cascade Mountains
increased to the point that Washington Territory was established in
1853. The territory included present-day Idaho. Isaac Stevens became the
territorial governor and superintendent of Indian affairs. Hoping to
establish a route for a transcontinental railroad, Stevens sought to
remove the Indians from that passage area and settle them on
reservations. He called a council with a number of native groups from
May 29 to June 11, 1855. Many of the Nez Perce headmen were away hunting
buffalo. Consequently, the Nez Perce headmen who were present chose
Lawyer to represent them. William Craig acted as interpreter.

At the point when Stevens had convinced the Nez Perce to sign a treaty,
Looking Glass and other headmen returned from their hunt to argue
against the proceedings. Since the proposed treaty defined a reservation
that allowed the Nez Perce to keep nearly all of their land, Lawyer
prevailed in the ensuing debate. In turn, each Nez Perce headman signed
the 1855 treaty for his own band or village. The treaty permitted
William Craig to keep his land on the reservation in the Lapwai Valley.
As a result, he became the first permanent white settler in what is now
Idaho.

The 1855 treaty did not end the problems with the growing number of
white settlers, it only led to more troubled times. In 1860, six months
after the United States Senate ratified the 1855 Treaty, Elias Pierce
found gold on Orofino Creek, a tributary of the Clearwater River. A gold
rush to the Nez Perce reservation ensued. A group of prospectors had
established the town of Pierce by December 1860. Succeeding mineral
finds brought thousands of whites to the

reservation.

The location of **Craig\'s Donation Land Claim** forms a site of Nez
Perce National Historical Park.

The **Pierce Courthouse** site symbolizes the area\'s mining history and
the impact of mining on the Nez Perce people.

**CONFLICTS AMONG THE NEZ PERCE**

The resulting conflicts between the miners and the Nez Perce led to a
new council at Lapwai in May 1863 to revise the 1855 treaty. Lawyer and
his headmen followers were the first to arrive at the council. After the
American Commissioners manipulated Lawyer and his followers into
accepting a vastly reduced reservation, a group of anti-Lawyer headmen
arrived, including Old Joseph and White Bird. Those two head men refused
to sign a treaty and left the meeting. Old Joseph returned to his band
in the Wallowa Valley of northeast Oregon. Lawyer and his backers
eventually signed.

This fateful development further divided the Nez Perce peoples between
those whose headmen had signed the treaty and those whose headmen had
refused to sign. By and large, the nontreaty bands lived a life based on
traditional beliefs, while the bands whose headmen had signed the treaty
were converted to Christianity.

Old Chief Joseph died in August 1871, insisting that he had never sold
his homeland. He was moved from his burial site and reinterred in a new
site at the foot of Wallowa Lake in 1926.

The 1870s brought a surge in Christian missionary activity among the
treaty Nez Perce who lived on the reservation. Protestant missionaries
not only served their churches but also acted as Indian agents. Through
their efforts, ancient village sites were abandoned. Bands settled in
new church-village centers and accepted the white man\'s way of life. As
Catholic missionaries arrived to join the Christianizing enterprise,
antagonisms erupted between the Catholic and Protestant factions, partly
aggravated by the fact that Protestants held more power through the
Indian agent positions.

The **Saint Joseph\'s Mission** site of the park exemplifies the period
of increased mission activity.

**PRESSURE TO GO TO THE RESERVATION**

The nontreaty Nez Perce came under increasing pressure from surrounding
white settlement to leave their home lands and move to the reservation.
The younger Chief Joseph, who replaced his father Old Joseph as the
leader of the nontreaty Nez Perce in the Wallowa Valley, faced
escalating pressure from white settlers and Oregon political leaders. A
commission was established in late 1876 to buy Joseph\'s land as a
precursor to relocating all off-reservation nontreaty bands to the
reservation. When Joseph refused to sell, the commissioners ordered all
off-reservation bands to move to the reservation by April 1, 1877.

Along with White Bird and Toohoolhoolzote, who led other nontreaty
bands, Joseph met with Gen. Oliver O. Howard at Fort Lapwai on May 3 for
one last attempt to remain on their land. Howard told them to move to
the reservation by June 14 or be driven there by the army. The nontreaty
headmen chose to move.

**WAR BEGINS**

Toohoolhoolzote, White Bird, and Joseph\'s band met at **Tolo Lake** on
June 2. Angered by the forced move, several young men of White Bird\'s
band decided to take revenge on some white men who had killed some of
their people. As a result of this action and a second raid two days
later, the 1877 Nez Perce War began. An army detachment from Fort Lapwai
under Capt. David Perry encountered the nontreaty Nez Perce on White
Bird Battlefield and was soundly defeated. General Howard met the bands
at Clearwater Battlefield on July 12 but failed to subdue them. Under
the leadership of Looking Glass, the Nez Perce fled over the Lolo Trail
and Lolo Pass to the Big Hole River. Col. John Gibbon surprised them
there in a major encounter on August 9 but failed to halt their flight.
Again General Howard tried to capture the fleeing Nez Perce at Camas
Meadows on August 20 without success.

After several more skirmishes the nontreaty Nez Perce, heading for
refuge in Canada, reached the Bear Paw Mountains of Montana, only a
day\'s travel from the border. Col. Nelson A. Miles\'s forces surprised
them at Bear Paw, and the final battle was fought between September 30
and October 5. White Bird managed to escape to Canada with most of his
band. The remaining nontreaty bands with Joseph surrendered.

Sites in Nez Perce National Historical Park related to the 1877 war are
**Clearwater Battlefield, Fort Lapwai, Dug Bar, Tolo Lake, Looking Glass
Camp, Camas Prairie, White Bird Battlefield, Cottonwood Skirmishes Site,
Lolo Trail, Lolo Pass, Big Hole National Battlefield, Camas Meadows
Battle Sites,** and **Bear Paw Battlefield**.

**JOSEPH\'S BAND SENT TO KANSAS**

Chief Joseph was promised his band would be sent to the Nez Perce
reservation in Idaho to join the mostly Christian bands who had remained
at peace with the whites. Instead, his group of 410 people was sent on
November 23 to a prison camp along the Missouri River about 2 miles
north of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Many of them became ill in the swampy
environment, and many contracted malaria. A total of 21 died before they
were removed to the Quapaw Agency in northeast Indian Territory (present
day Oklahoma) in July 1878.

Some of White Bird\'s band returned to the United States, where they
were captured and sent to join the others in Indian Territory.
Conditions hardly improved for the Joseph Band at the Quapaw Agency.
They were relocated some 180 miles west to the Ponca Agency in June
1879. Here they lived, longing for their homeland, until they were taken
back to the Northwest in May 1885.

**RETURN TO THE NORTHWEST**

Before arriving in the Northwest, the Nez Perce were divided into two
groups. Those who professed to be Christian were sent to the Nez Perce
Reservation at Lapwai, Idaho. The non-Christians, including Joseph, who
num bered 150, were taken to the Colville Reservation in Washington
Territory. Most of those who went to Colville soon settled at Nespelem,
where they continued to live a traditional lifestyle. Joseph died there
on September 21, 1904.

The size of the Nez Perce reservation was reduced several times, notably
by the passage of the Dawes General Allotment Act in 1887 and the Burke
Act of 1906. Schools sought to instill the white culture in Nez Perce
children. Many adult Nez Perce, believing that their own culture was
inferior, sought to adopt white people\'s ways. Others moved to
population centers in search of employment. Still, many of the elders,
through memory and an oral teaching, kept the stories and traditions
alive. By the 1970s a growing interest developed in the Nez Perce
culture.

Today the Nez Perce people take great pride in their heritage. Tribal
governments representing three Nez Perce bands have become highly
professional, and recently enacted federal laws, especially the Indian
Self-Determination Act and the Indian Self-Governance Act, acknowledge
that tribes should have more control over the governmental programs that
affect them. The Nez Perce people manage many successful social and
resource management programs. They are key players in many resource
issues that extend beyond reservation boundaries, such as fisheries
management, wolf reintroduction, and habitat conservation.

Sites in Nez Perce National Historical Park that commemorate the Nez
Perce return to the Northwest are the **Nespelem Camps** and the **Nez
Perce Cemetery** in Washington, as well as **the Northern Idaho Indian
Agency at Lapwai,** Idaho.

*\"Our traditional relationship with the earth was more than just
reverence for the land. It was knowing that every living thing had been
placed here by the Creator and that we were part of a sacred
relationship\...entrusted with the care and protection of our Mother
Earth, we could not stand apart from our environment.\"*\
Elsie Maynard (Nez Perce)

*\"We must remember that the Creator gave us one Mother Earth that
provides food, one air that we breathe for life, one water to nourish
our body, animal, and plant life. We must continue as caretakers of the
earth, or life will surely end soon.\"*\
J. Herman Reuben (Nez Perce)

**NATURAL RESOURCES**

The natural resources of Nez Perce National Historical Park are diverse
and complex. The park sites, scattered throughout four states, are
mostly small pockets of land owned and surrounded by a patchwork of
lands in private, local, state, tribal, and federal ownership. The
people and culture of this park are inextricably tied to the natural
resources in the area; it is impossible to separate them. If the areas
did not contain natural resources \-- salmon, elk, bison, camas,
balsamroot, dogbane, lodgepole pine, grasses, water, minerals, fertile
soil, and others \-- the Nez Perce, the fur trappers, the missionaries,
the pioneers, and the miners would not have come to these areas.
Intimate familiarity with and use of natural resources led to the
development of the Nez Perce culture. Others saw the richness of the
land and came, and with them came additional resource uses. An
understanding of the cultural ties to the natural resources is critical
to the wise management of this park.

**ECOREGIONS**

Nez Perce National Historical Park falls into three basic ecoregions:
the *shortgrass prairies* of

the Palouse Grasslands and Missouri Basin, the *sagebrush steppe* of the
Columbia and Snake River Plateaus, and the *conifer/alpine meadows* of
the Blue Mountains, the Salmon River Mountains, the basins and ranges of
south-western Montana, and the northern Rocky Mountains of Idaho and
Montana (Bailey 1995).

**Shortgrass Prairie**

Shortgrass prairies are characterized by flat or rolling expanses of low
to moderate relief. The elevations of shortgrass prairies in the park
range from less than 1,000 feet to about 3,500 feet These prairies are
dissected by rivers and streams forming canyons and valleys.

Because these regions are relatively dry, they are dominated by
shortgrass species such as wheatgrass, fescue, and bluegrass in the
Palouse area and buffalo, grama, wheatgrass, and needle- grass in the
Missouri Basin. Wildflower species bloom in spring and summer. The Nez
Perce used many of these such as the camas lily as a source of food,
medicine, and fiber.

The Palouse supports an abundance of wildlife. Bald eagles are frequent
visitors to the reaches of the Columbia, Snake, and Clearwater Rivers.
Osprey, red-tailed hawk, and other raptors are common, as are a wide
variety of migratory and resident bird life. Cottontail rabbits, ground
squirrels, coyotes, bobcats, and skunks also abound in these grasslands.

The Missouri Basin was once the home of large herds of bison. Pronghorn
antelope are now the most common large mammal, but deer may be found
along stream channels where brush cover is available. Whitetail
jackrabbits, desert cottontail, ground squirrels, coyotes, and badgers
are common. Hawks are abundant, along with smaller birds such as the
lark bunting, the horned lark, and the meadowlark. Rattlesnakes are also
fairly common.

The Missouri Basin sites of shortgrass prairie are **the Bear Paw
Battlefield** and **Canyon Creek**.

The following sites are in the Palouse Grasslands of the shortgrass
prairie ecoregion:\
**Ant and Yellowjacket, Asa Smith Mission, Camas Prairie, Canoe Camp,
Clearwater Battlefield, Confluence Overlook, Cottonwood Skirmishes,
Coyote\'s Fishnet, Craig Donation Land Claim, Fort Lapwai, Hasotino
Village Site, Heart of the Monster, Lapwai Mission, Lenore, Lewis and
Clark Long Camp, Looking Glass Camp, McBeth Mission, Musselshell Meadow,
Pierce Courthouse, Saint Joseph\'s Mission, Spalding, Tolo Lake, Weippe
Prairie, Weis Rockshelter, White Bird Battlefield**

**Sagebrush Steppe**

Sagebrush steppe is characterized by the plains and tablelands of the
Columbia and Snake River Plateaus. These mid-elevation (3,000 feet)
plateaus include most of the Northwest\'s lava fields and are surrounded
by lava flows that have been folded or faulted into ridges.

The climate on these plateaus is again semiarid and cool. The average
annual precipitation is about 16 inches, with precipitation distributed
fairly evenly from fall to spring. The predominant vegetation is a
variation of sagebrush, shadscale, and short grasses. Stream channels
may support a lush understory of willow and other riparian obligates but
will rapidly graduate to more arid, alkali-tolerant species such as
greasewood, particularly farther from the mountains.

Many wildlife species use these areas as seasonal habitat, particularly
during winter. Larger mammals found in these areas are coyote, pronghorn
antelope, mountain lion, and bobcat. Smaller species include ground
squirrels, deer mouse, and porcupine. Severe winters may force elk and
mule deer from higher elevations to these plateaus. The geography of
this area supports habitat that is important for many species of
migratory waterfowl.

Park sites on the sagebrush steppe are **Camas Meadows, Dug Bar, Buffalo
Eddy, Nez Perce Cemetery, and Nez Perce Campsites**.

**Conifer/Alpine Meadows**

The Idaho Batholith, which forms the Bitterroot Range over which the
Lolo Trail crosses, and the Wallowa and Blue Mountains in eastern
Oregon, are marked with distinctive elevation zones of vegetation. In
the Idaho Batholith and the Blue Mountains, Douglas-fir is the climax
dominant conifer below the subalpine zone. The Bitterroot Range is
dominated by a subalpine belt of mountain hemlock. Below this, western
redcedar and western hemlock dominate, but Douglas-fir, western white
pine, western larch, and western ponderosa pine can be found in
association. Lodgepole pine and grasses are dominant in the
basin-and-range areas. Ponderosa pine is scattered below these areas and
dominates west of the Continental Divide. The lower mountain slopes of
all these areas may graduate from conifer to sagebrush and grass steppe
lands.

Some of the larger mammals in these areas are elk, deer, moose, black
bear, mountain lion, bobcat, beaver, and porcupine. Blue and ruffed
grouse are common game birds.

Severe winters in the higher elevations are usual in these areas. Winter
temperatures frequently drop below 32°F, and summer highs may reach only
70°F. Temperature and snowfall vary greatly with elevation.
Precipitation varies from 20 to 40 inches per year and comes
predominantly in snowfall during the winter months.

Park sites that are in the conifer/alpine meadows ecoregion are **Lolo
Trail and Pass, Lostine Campsite, Old Chief Joseph Gravesite, Joseph
Canyon Viewpoint, and Big Hole National Battlefield**.

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ** INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES**

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

The following existing conditions and challenges relating to
interpretation at Nez Perce National Historical Park were identified at
both public meetings and with the planning staff. They are not in any
priority order.

Telling the complex story of the Nez Perce people would be difficult
under any circumstances, but Nez Perce National Historical Park presents
a special challenge for both visitors and park interpreters. Because the
park\'s 38 sites are dispersed over four states with more than 1,000
highway miles between the two most distant sites, few visitors will ever
visit all 38 sites. Most visitors discover Nez Perce sites as they
travel to and from other destinations.

It is hard for most visitors to put the many pieces together to
understand the history and culture of the Nez Perce people. At this time
the sites in the Clearwater loop offer the best opportunity to gain this
understanding. The newly added sites in Washington and Oregon are being
developed interpretively as a result of this plan. The Montana sites are
remote from the Nez Perce homeland and the cultural roots of the Nez
Perce people, but they provide opportunities to tell much of the story
of the Nez Perce War of 1877.

It is very important that all information be presented accurately,
within it\'s historical context, and with sensitivity to the Nez Perce
people.

The continuum of Nez Perce cultural history should be told, not just the
events of the 1877 war. Visitors should be given insight into the
culture - how it functioned in the past and how it functions today.

The story of the 1877 war should include the events leading up to the
war, the immediate aftermath, the exile story, and the continuing
impacts of these events on the Nez Perce people.

The Nez Perce people feel particular ownership of the materials and
information related to their culture, and they want to be sure these
elements are treated sensitively and correctly. There is a strong desire
to preserve the Nez Perce culture for inheritance by the Nez Perce
children. This was shown in wishes to preserve the language, to collect
oral histories, to collect legends and place names related to geological
features and other locations, and to demonstrate traditional activities
such as digging and preparing camas.

There is interest in the \"real thing,\" the \"actual site,\" and the
desire to know accurately where events took place.

Because of the possibility of vandalism at unprotected sites, sometimes
it may be better not to mark actual sites but to place interpretive
media at a distance.

The sacred character of certain sites was stressed, particularly where
there are burials, and there is a need for interpretation of the
different viewpoints of the Nez Perce people and that of other cultures
regarding the treatment and use of these sites.

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ** RESOURCE PROTECTION CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES**

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

The following existing conditions and challenges relating to resource
protection were identified at public meetings and with the planning
team.

-   Collections and archives should be retained locally rather than
    taken away to museums or universities.

-   There is a desire to get rid of exotic species and noxious weeds,
    returning the land to native or historic vegetation.

-   There is an interest in having studies done of edible and medicinal
    plants, learning how the Nez Perce used plants, and knowing which
    plants are \"culturally sensitive.\"

-   There is an interest in the preservation and interpretation of
    wildlife habitat and in developing watchable wildlife programs.

-   There is encouragement to preserve the aesthetic qualities and the
    historic scene and character, to avoid encroachment, and to keep
    sites \"natural\" and open. The possible commercialization of
    surrounding areas is a concern.

-   Federally listed threatened or endangered species that could occur
    in the park are gray wolf, peregrine falcon, bald eagle, Snake River
    sockeye salmon, chinook salmon, and MacFarlane\'s four o\'clock.
    Additional species that are state-listed threatened or endangered
    species or federal candidate species that could occur in the park
    are California wolverine, swift fox, great gray owl, boreal owl,
    mountain plover, westslope cutthroat trout, bull trout, fluvial
    arctic grayling, pygmy gentian, white-margined knotweed, Lemhi
    beardtongue, stalk-leaved monkeyflower, and candystick.

-   Because most of the sites are in disturbed areas, no impacts on any
    special concern species will be expected to occur. In less disturbed
    areas, surveys will be conducted for special concern species, and
    any mitigation required to avoid impacts on those species will be
    implemented.

-   The spread of exotic and noxious plants is a major natural resource
    issue at all park sites. Species such as yellow starthistle, scotch
    thistle, field bindweed, poison hemlock, and others are rapidly
    outcompeting existing vegetation.

-   High water quality and quantity are major resources of many park
    sites. The Clearwater and Snake Rivers and their tributaries (which
    are adjacent to several park sites) are critical habitat for several
    species of anadromous fish.

-   If wetlands are found in the area of planned development, steps will
    be taken to avoid disturbance or to mitigate any impacts through
    wetland restoration or rehabilitation.

-   The park is designated as a Class II site for air quality. Most of
    the park sites are in rural areas with few sources of air quality
    degradation. However, lumber and paper mill activity near the
    Spalding and Heart of the Monster sites have negatively affected the
    quality of air and visual resources nearby.

-   Most of the park sites are in rural or wild settings that offer an
    opportunity for visitors to experience natural quiet. Others are
    situated along busy highways where the quiet is disrupted by heavy
    traffic.

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ** EXISTING FACILITIES VISITOR USE AND PARK OPERATIONS**

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

**STRUCTURES**

Each year nearly 200,000 visitors come to the two NPS-staffed visitor
centers in Nez Perce National Historical Park: the visitor
center/headquarters facility (13,800 square feet) at the Spalding site,
and another visitor center/headquarters (4,086 square feet) at Big Hole
National Battlefield. There are also five historic structures, and
restrooms located at Spalding. Orientation to the entire park is
available at both visitor centers through the park brochure and the
interpretive staff at the information desks, interpretive shelters at
Heart of the Monster and White Bird Battlefield, and several public and
historic structures associated with the various cooperative sites.

Two non-NPS staffed visitor facilities (Lolo Pass and Blaine County
Museum) offer orientation and interpretation of Nez Perce National
Historical Park sites. Five other park sites (Heart of the Monster,
White Bird, Bear Paw, Canoe Camp, and Pierce Courthouse) offer
non-staffed interpretive opportunities for visitors beyond an
interpretive sign or two.

The remainder of the park sites are pullouts along regional highways,
generally with one large interpretive sign that reveals the site\'s or a
nearby sites\' significance to Nez Perce history. A number of the newly
added sites have yet to be developed interpretively.

The headquarters office for the superintendent and some of the support
staff is in a modular building in the staff parking lot next to the
Spalding visitor center. Some of the support staff and the facility
management specialist have offices in the historic agent\'s residence
east of the Spalding visitor center. An office automation clerk is in
the visitor center building. Cultural resources personnel \-- the museum
curator, a museum technician, and library technician \-- are in the
lower level of the visitor center building.

Spalding Unit staff offices are in the upper level of the Spalding
visitor center. A combined comfort station and maintenance storage shed
is in the picnic area on the Spalding site. The historic Watson\'s Store
contains storefront exhibits. The agency cabin in the picnic area has
been restored to its original appearance. A maintenance facility and a
large storage structure are just north of the Spalding visitor center.

Staging for maintenance work in the White Bird/Upper Clearwater Unit is
done primarily from two small maintenance sheds at the Heart of the
Monster site. A shelter containing fiberglass embedded interpretive
panels overlooks White Bird Battlefield from U.S. Highway 95. There are
also fiberglass embedded interpretive panels in the Heart of the Monster
interpretive shelter. Parkwide, there are 65 wayside exhibits.

Big Hole National Battlefield\'s offices are in the visitor center,
except for maintenance, which has its office in a former park residence.
Part of this residence is also used for curatorial and archives storage.
Maintenance workspace is divided between the visitor center/headquarters
building and the garage of the residence that houses the maintenance
office. There are 9 employee housing units at Big Hole: three seasonal
or volunteer units are in a quadraplex, four are in two duplexes, and
two are single-family houses. There is also a fire-pumper storage
building (162 square feet) at Big Hole National Battlefield.

There is a small picnic facility and a restroom at the Bear Paw
Battlefield site.

The White Bird/Upper Clearwater Unit, Oregon/Washington Unit, and Bear
Paw staff have offices in leased space.

**ROADS AND TRAILS**

Roads, trails, and parking lots owned by the park are limited to the
Spalding, Canoe Camp, Heart of the Monster, White Bird Battlefield, Bear
Paw Battle field, and Big Hole National Battlefield sites. There are
some backcountry roads at White Bird Battlefield, and a wide variety of
roads and trails are associated with the cooperative park sites, such as
the Lolo Trail corridor, the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail,
and the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail.

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ** THE PLAN**

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

**GOALS**

The following goals are based on the information gathered from the
public scoping meetings and written comments. These goals describe the
vision or desired future for Nez Perce National Historical Park as it
will be 20 years from now. They provide the management philosophy and
basic guidance for the park.

**Relationship of the Park to Contemporary Nez Perce Culture**

The National Park Service and the Nez Perce people, working together and
in partnership with others toward common goals, manage Nez Perce
National Historical Park as a place to commemorate and celebrate the
continuum of the Nez Perce culture.

**Interpretation and Visitor Experience**

The Nez Perce story is told from the Nez Perce perspective. It stresses
the complex dynamics in the Nez Perce cultural continuum, as reflected
in today\'s Nez Perce communities and by conflicts between traditional
resource use and modern-day conditions (for example, fishing versus
dams).

The interpretation of the events of 1877 seeks a balanced view, but the
story is told primarily from the Nez Perce perspective. It is presented
within the context of the entire continuum of Nez Perce culture,
including prewar and postwar events and present-day implications. It
includes insight into how the events fit within the spectrum of the
Indian Wars and the nation\'s history.

The interpretation is sensitive to Nez Perce cultural needs.
People-to-people experiences are on Nez Perce terms. Information that
should not be shared is kept confidential. Visitation is controlled to
avoid intrusion on cultural sensitivities and the degradation of
resources.

Visitors come away from each site understanding how it fits into the
overall history. They experience the integrity of the site through
interpretive media where necessary and appropriate. Visitors receive
enough information to be able to treat each site with respect.

**Operations, Management, and Partnerships**

The management and operation of the park maximize the benefits available
through cooperative partnerships. Partners are fully integrated into
park management functions, and they share resources. The management of
the park and Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail are closely
tied together.

A well-staffed, properly trained, well-equipped park management team is
in place, supporting a decentralized, sustainable approach to the
management of park resources and the visitor experience. The team
achieves a well-coordinated management structure that fosters
communication and cooperation with communities and the Nez Perce people.
The park\'s scattered sites are united through interpretation,
communications, and partnerships.

**Land and Resource Protection**

Key elements and sites that are important to the Nez Perce people and
the nation\'s history are preserved for present and future generations.
Resources associated with the continuation of Nez Perce traditional uses
and Nez Perce culture are preserved. Additional significant sites are
being studied for possible inclusion in the park. Resource programs are
cooperative and synergistic.

The Nez Perce people are increasingly involved in resource management.
An extension program provides technical assistance in the protection of
resources and land for parties outside the National Park Service.

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ** IMPLEMENTATION CONCEPTS**

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Implementation concepts describe steps that will be taken parkwide to
achieve the goals or desired future. Specific actions related to
particular sites are included in the site-specific discussion in later
pages.

Nez Perce National Historical Park will continue the existing general
management philosophy and direction, but the rate of progress in
reaching goals will be increased. The appropriate management techniques
will be selected based on individual circumstances. Incremental steps
will be taken to assure resource protection and provide visitor
services.

**Interpretation**

Because visitors have difficulty recognizing that individual sites in
Nez Perce National Historical Park are part of the larger park, many of
the actions related to interpretation and visitor use are designed to
unify the park sites and story.

When visitors first encounter a Nez Perce National Historical Park site,
they will see the NPS arrowhead and the park\'s twin feathers logo. They
will be referred to other locations such as visitor contact facilities
and visitor centers where orientation to the park and additional
information will be available. Site specific interpretive information
would refer to the park as a whole so that visitors could appreciate the
entire story.

The overriding goal of interpretation in the park will be for visitors
to understand the interrelationship of the Nez Perce people and their
homeland. This will include the entire 11,000-year continuum of cultural
history as well as information about the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National
Historic Trail, the 1877 war, and the continuing consequences of that
event.

Interpretive information would be upgraded and corrected. It would be
expanded to encompass the entire Nez Perce cultural continuum rather
than being limited to events of a specific time and place.

The current level of consultation with the community will be maintained.

The park will continue to consult with the Nez Perce people regarding
interpretation.

Recognizing that contemporary Nez Perce lifeways are important
resources, the park will try not to intrude on those lifeways. Cultural
information will be used with sensitivity to Nez Perce cultural
conventions. If visitors ask questions about sensitive areas,
explanations will be given that certain information can not be shared
publicly.

The names of all sites, including those of the newly authorized sites,
will be adjusted to clarify what they are and to include Nez Perce
names.

Sign guidelines will be developed to indicate the presence of the
National Park Service. The NPS

arrowhead and the park logo will be used on signs, which will be placed
so as not to obscure the view. Signs will meet current standards, be of
consistent and pleasing design, and reduce confusion about where the
resource is located.

Modest new development will be needed at some sites for adequate visitor
experience and interpretation: White Bird Battlefield, Traditional
Campsites at the confluence of the Wallowa and Lostine Rivers, Old Chief
Joseph Gravesite, Bear Paw, Canyon Creek, and Nespelem. These actions
may be accomplished in partnership with other agencies and
organizations.

The visitor centers at Spalding and Big Hole will be rehabilitated.
Several overlooks and pullouts will be constructed, a few pullouts might
be relocated, and additional minor visitor facilities will be developed
at several sites. Some historic structures would be adaptively used.

**Partnerships**

More cooperative agreements and other partnership mechanisms will be
developed with agencies, organizations, and individuals, and will be
tended in a focused fashion. The management and operation of Nez Perce
National Historical Park will continue to rely heavily on such
arrangements to protect and interpret resources. Enhancing these
cooperative partnerships will improve the efficiency and effectiveness
of resource protection and increase the availability of quality
visitors\' experiences. The involvement of greater numbers of partners
will improve public support for the park mission, mandates, and
operational needs.

The park will work with partners to develop, update, correct, or expand
memorandums of understanding, cooperative agreements, and other
agreements to reflect current resource conditions and visitor needs.

To take advantage of local resources, the staff of Nez Perce National
Historical Park will continue working with local groups to increase
local appreciation of the park sites and to encourage local people\'s
feelings of ownership of the park and its resources.

Park activities will be coordinated with related observances such as the
Lewis and Clark Bicentennial.

The park will continue to work with local governments on planning or
development issues that could affect park resources.

Nez Perce National Historical Park will continue to encourage and
facilitate the participation of the Nez Perce people in decision-making
regarding park planning, management, and operation.

The park will enhance consultation with the tribes on the history and
interpretation of the park and other matters.

The National Park Service will continue or increase annual meetings
required by existing

agreements with managers and owners of non NPS sites.

The National Park Service will work to clarify public misunderstanding
about the responsibility and authority for the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo)
National Historic Trail, which is administered by Region 1 of the Forest
Service, and the Lolo Trail, which is in the Clearwater and Lolo
National Forests. Since a number of the sites of Nez Perce National
Historical Park are situated along these trails, the park has an active
interest in their management and preservation.

The Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail and the park will be
managed as a unified resource.

The National Park Service and the Forest Service will work together to
improve consistency between the park purpose and standards and the
planning and management of the trails.

To ensure security at all sites of Nez Perce National Historical Park,
the National Park Service will furnish adequate site protection and
security through cooperative agreements, contracts with local law
enforcement agencies, and other mechanisms.

**Boundaries and Land Protection**

As a part of the current planning effort, boundaries for all 38 sites
were identified based on criteria consistent with NPS management policy:

-   to include significant or key natural and cultural resources that
    are central to protecting and fostering public understanding of Nez
    Perce history and culture

-   to provide for visitor services and interpretation

-   to protect park resources critical to fulfilling the park\'s
    purposes, and

-   to address operational and management issues.

Establishing boundaries does not necessarily constitute a proposal to
purchase the land within those boundaries. A variety of land protection
methods are available within the authorized boundaries of the park
units. In addition to fee simple acquisition, scenic, conservation and
access easements might be acquired, or local zoning and cooperative
planning and management can be employed.

For Nez Perce National Historical Park, a fee or partial interest will
be acquired only when there is a willing seller and a willing buyer,
with legislated exceptions. Such acquisition will be reserved for
instances in which other land approaches are not adequate or if capital
improvements by the National Park Service warrant full protection and
authority to manage use.

Specific strategies for protecting the resources will be defined in the
land protection plan, which will be developed upon approval of this
*General Management Plan* and updated periodically.

Should landowners outside the boundaries approved as a part of this plan
decide they want to develop a cooperative agreement or other types of
interest with Nez Perce National Historical Park to protect and
interpret resources located on their property, a mutually acceptable
agreement will be drafted specifying the boundaries of the resource and
what measures will be taken to protect and interpret it. Procedures for
a minor boundary adjustment will be followed, which include notification
of local and state officials and the Congressional delegation, and
publication in the *Federal Register.* When the process is complete, the
agreement will be finalized.

**Surveys, Studies, and Plans for Resource Protection**

Surveys and studies will be conducted as necessary to identify and
protect cultural and natural resources and to amplify and correct the
interpretive story. These studies would be based on clearly thought-out
plans and priorities.

Needed studies include documentary history, oral history, archeology,
collections analysis, and architectural and landscape documentation.

Studies also will be conducted to identify possible additions to the
park. Sites in Oklahoma and Kansas are important to the story of the
period of exile in those states. Sites in Canada are related to the
story of the Nez Perce who escaped the Bear Paw battle. Additional
legislation will be required if park sites are to be added in states not
indicated in the current legislation.

Plans will be developed for managing resources to meet legislated and
partnership requirements such as the Native American Graves Protection
and Repatriation Act and traditional uses.

After an appropriate approach to vegetation control and planting is
determined, plans will be developed for managing vegetation, eliminating
exotic and noxious plants, and reintroducing native species.

**Park Operations and Management**

The National Park Service will retain the current decentralized park
management structure that the park staff established in January 1994.
Depending on specific needs, any or all of the following operational
elements can be applied:

-   enhancing cooperative agreements and contracts

-   developing competitively bid contracts for certain services and
    operations that are not inherently governmental

-   establishing \"friends\" groups

-   working with other organizations that have goals and objectives
    consistent with those of the park, and

-   various other partnership tools

Existing facilities will be rehabilitated or expanded, and modest site
development will be added at some locations to meet operational
requirements.

**IMPLEMENTATION PRIORITIES**

The plan will be implemented incrementally over the next 15 to 20 years.
Because this is a long-term plan, individual actions proposed have been
divided into three priority categories to show the ideal order in which
the actions will be funded and implemented. However, because of the
unique partnership nature of this extended park, it must be noted that
priorities can and will shift to take maximum advantage of partnership
opportunities whenever possible.

**First Priority.** The newly authorized sites will be included in the
park, and current and correct interpretive information will be made
available. This will include developing land protection strategies in a
land protection plan and completing the comprehensive interpretive plan
and a wayside exhibit plan. It also will include developing and
installing interpretive exhibits at existing and authorized park sites.
The cost of these items, in 1997 dollars, is estimated to be
\$1,510,579.

**Second Priority.** Visitor contact facilities will be developed at
Traditional Campsite near Wallowa, Oregon, Bear Paw Battlefield, and
Blaine County Museum in Chinook, Montana, and in the Nespelem,
Washington area. Improved visitor contact facilities at White Bird
Battlefield and Heart of the Monster in Idaho, and Canyon Creek in
Montana will be provided. The National Park Service will assist the city
information center in Laurel, Montana. These items, in 1997 dollars, are
estimated to cost \$10,664,827. During implementation, the need, scale,
and siting for any development will be carefully evaluated and will be
subject to public review.

**Third Priority.** The current visitor facilities at Spalding, Idaho,
and Big Hole National Battlefield in Montana will be rehabilitated or
expanded. Costs, in 1997 dollars, are estimated to be \$5,609,414 for
Spalding and \$2,603,674 for Big Hole.

**Staffing.** Implementation of this plan will require a total of 42.5
additional full-time equivalent positions for staffing, as follows:

  ----------------------------------------------------------- -----------
  Park Support Unit                                           10.0

  Spalding Unit                                               3.0

  Upper Clearwater/White Bird Unit                            7.0

  Oregon/Washington Unit                                      12.5

  Big Hole Battlefield/Montana Unit                           10.0
  ----------------------------------------------------------- -----------

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  **TOURING GUIDE TO THE SITES**

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

When Nez Perce National Historical Park was created in 1965, it
consisted of 24 sites scattered across north central Idaho. Four of the
sites were administered by the National Park Service and the remaining
20 were a mixture of other federal, local, and private sites. In 1992 an
additional 14 sites were added in the adjoining states of Oregon,
Washington, and Montana. Currently, agreements with the property owners
are being worked out to provide for public access to each area. Before
you visit these sites, check with the park staff to make sure that you
do not unwittingly trespass on private property.

Road markers indicate when you are approaching one of the sites. Two
crossed feathers indicate the National Park Service number for the site.
A complete tour of all the sites covers hundreds of miles, so you may
want to tour only segments. Most of the sites are along busy highways,
so be careful as you pull off and on the road.

Managing a park that stretches across four states and hundreds of miles
presents quite a challenge for park administrators. This edition
contains some minor revisions to the original document to reflect
changes which have occurred since the document\'s original release.

**Confluence Overlook\
(Formerly known as Donald MacKenzie's Pacific Fur Trading Post)**

The site now known as the Confluence Overlook is interpreted at a
highway pullout over looking the confluence and valleys of the Snake and
Clearwater Rivers. The pullout is about 8 miles north of Lewiston,
Idaho, on the Lewiston Grade of U.S. Highway 95. The scene is dominated
by a rolling grassy foreground that slopes steeply down to the
Clearwater River, more than a thousand feet below. A sense of the
confluence area and the scale of the surrounding uplands \-- part of the
Nez Perce homeland \-- can be gained from this vantage point. The actual
site of MacKenzie\'s post is on the Clearwater River, about 5 miles
above Lewiston, but is not visible from here. The fur trading post
proved unsuccessful because the Nez Perce wanted to trade food and
horses but were unwilling to engage in trapping beaver.

Management Issues

-   The exact site of the trading post is not known.

-   Except for a sign indicating \"site ahead,\" there is no indication
    that the site is a part of Nez Perce National Historical Park.

Action Plan

-   The existing pullout on U.S. 95 will be used to introduce the park
    and interpret the part of the Nez Perce homeland that is visible
    from the overlook.

-   The site will be renamed \"Confluence Overlook,\" and a memorandum
    of understanding with Idaho Transportation Department (covering sign
    and pullout) will be revised to reflect these changes.

-   Interpretation of MacKenzie will be moved to a site nearer to the
    historic location of the trading post.

**Coyote's Fishnet**

Coyote\'s Fishnet is a legend site along the Clearwater River about 7
miles east of Lewiston, Idaho. Two surface geological features, one on
each side of the river canyon, represent Black Bear and Coyote\'s
Fishnet. At a pullout on U.S. Highway 95 are three large interpretive
signs. One sign identifies this as a Nez Perce village archeological
site over 5,000 years old; another tells the Coyote\'s Fishnet legend.
The third sign is a map of the Clearwater Canyon region with points of
interest identified.

Management Issues

-   The sign does not adequately identify the feature.

-   There are possibilities for the intrusions into the scene from road
    cuts, power lines, and possibly residential development. In
    addition, vegetation could obliterate the features.

-   Trees at the pullout block views of the feature.

Action Items

-   The site will be interpreted in context with other nearby Nez Perce
    legend sites.

-   The sign will be replaced with a less obtrusive wayside exhibit that
    correctly identifies the fishnet feature.

-   The current memorandum of understanding with Idaho Transportation
    Department (covering sign and pullout) will be retained.

-   Surveys for special concern species will be conducted, and any
    mitigation needed to avoid impacts on such species will be
    implemented.

**Ant and Yellowjacket**

Ant and Yellowjacket is a basaltic rock outcrop formation that sits just
above a highway roadcut approximately 9 miles east of Lewiston, Idaho,
on the north side of U.S. Highway 12 near its intersection with U.S.
Highway 95. The formation symbolizes the fighting insects that are
associated with an important Nez Perce legend. There is a pullout with
an interpretive sign between U.S. 12 and the Clearwater River. There is
no direct access to the feature.

Management Issues

-   The sign is placed so that visitors reading it are facing away from
    the rock formation. It could be seen better from the other side of
    the river.

-   There is a dangerous intersection near the pullout.

-   Revising the intersection of U.S. Highways 12 and 95 intersection
    could threaten this feature.

-   Long-term threats also might include housing developments if
    Lewiston continues to grow.

Action Items

-   Additional information will be provided to put site into context of
    other nearby legend sites.

-   A large interpretive sign will be replaced with a less obtrusive
    wayside exhibit properly oriented to the feature.

-   The current memorandum of understanding with Idaho Transportation
    Department (covering sign and pullout) will be retained.

-   Surveys for special concern species will be conducted, and any
    mitigation needed to avoid impacts on such species will be
    implemented.

-   The feature and viewshed will be protected.

**Spalding Site**

The Spalding site is along U.S. Highway 95 approximately 10 miles east
of Lewiston, Idaho, at the confluence of the Clearwater River and Lapwai
Creek. This area contains several different historic resources, the park
headquarters, museum, and visitor center. The land surrounding the
Spalding Site is used for agriculture and residences.

**THE SPALDING VISITOR CENTER**

The Visitor Center, owned and operated by the National Park Service,
sits on an old river terrace. The visitor center has many roles \--
introducing the public to the entire park and park themes, housing park
headquarters including the park support unit and the primary museum
collection, serving as a community polling place, and the location of
cultural events and demonstrations.

**Cultural Resources.** The park\'s primary museum collection, housed in
the visitor center/headquarters building, consists of nearly 150,000
pieces. It is a primary cultural resource, used for research by many Nez
Perce people and scholars from around the world. Climate control,
security, and storage for the collection have been improved over the
years. The greatest need at present is adequate space and staffing to
facilitate maintaining and researching the collection.

**Natural Resources.** The level area now occupied by the parking lot
and visitor center was cultivated at one time. The area has been
intensely disturbed by development. Much of the landscape is groomed
exotics.

**Visitor Experience and Interpretation.** The Spalding visitor center
gives visitors the best opportunity to receive orientation to Nez Perce
culture. There is an exhibit of Nez Perce artifacts, and the film shown
in the auditorium gives a 20-minute introduction to the Nez Perce
cultural continuum. Other exhibits explain elements of traditional Nez
Perce culture.

Visitor information is confusing, and circulation through the primary
space is not obvious. The lobby was designed with an expansive view
toward the river that had the potential to draw visitors toward the
countryside; this was never realized because the upper windows were
blocked for energy efficiency. Visitors are not sure they are supposed
to go through the doors to the separate museum area, where the selection
of Nez Perce artifacts is displayed. The auditorium is awkwardly shaped
and poorly sized.

**Operations and Partnerships.** The National Park Service has
agreements with the Nez Perce Tribe and others to help preserve and
maintain objects and documentation important in the Nez Perce culture.

**THE SPALDING SITE**

Besides the Visitor Center and Park Headquarters, the Spalding site also
features:

-   Watson\'s Store, which began as a trading post in 1911

-   An Indian agency cabin, built in 1862 to implement the reservation
    system the Indian agent\'s residence, also from the reservation
    period

-   Archeological remains of the grist mill, sawmill, and associated
    mill-races, built in 1839 \-- 1840

-   Remnants of the Spalding Mission, where Henry Harmon Spalding and
    his wife Eliza lived and worked after their move to this location in
    1837

-   The arboretum, which was established as part of Spalding Memorial
    State Park in the 1930s

-   Numerous archeological remains, dating from as long ago as 11,000
    years, are found throughout the entire Lapwai Creek delta at its
    confluence with the Clearwater River

-   The Lapwai Mission cemetery is protected, maintained, and
    interpreted through a cooperative agreement among the National Park
    Service, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the Spalding Presbyterian Church
    Board of Trustees.

-   Wayside exhibits in the historic area along Lapwai Creek cover the
    early missionary and Indian Agency periods.

Management Issues

Action Items

-   Better orientation to the site and the entire park is needed.

-   Facilities are inadequate to accommodate park operations, which have
    expanded significantly in response to a geographically expanded
    resource base.

-   There is little or no relationship between the functions of the
    visitor center and activities on the Spalding site itself.

-   Cemeteries and gravesites need to be protected; recreational
    activities in or near historic sites and cemeteries are disruptive
    or inappropriate.

-   An abandoned viaduct across the railroad tracks in the west part of
    the site is visually intrusive and an \"attractive nuisance.\"

-   Visitor facilities are obsolete and undersized.

**Management Zoning.** The following management zones will be
established for Spalding:

The ***natural zone***will include the agricultural fields, the streams,
and the surrounding hills that are in the site, as well as the
Clearwater River, which is adjacent to the site.

The ***historic zone*** will comprise the historic millpond, the
agent\'s house, the arboretum, the Spalding Mission site, the agency log
structure, inactive cemeteries, Watson\'s Store, remnant earthworks, and
an irrigation ditch.

In the ***development zone*** will be the visitor center, headquarters,
maintenance buildings, parking lots, access and circulation roads, the
Camas Prairie Railroad, restrooms, and pumphouse.

The ***special use zone*** will consist of the Spalding residential
area, the Nez Perce Boom Grounds, the Spalding Presbyterian Church,
active cemeteries, and the former Spalding post office. Most of these
lands or structures are situated on other federal, private, or Nez Perce
Reservation land.

Action Plan -- Spalding Visitor Center

-   Orientation will be upgraded to include Nez Perce culture and Nez
    Perce National Historical Park.

-   The visitor experience will be revised to reflect a welcoming \"Nez
    Perce feeling.\"

-   The visitor center building will be expanded to accommodate larger
    gatherings as well as administrative, curatorial, and interpretive
    functions.

-   The information desk will be relocated.

-   Access for visitors with disabilities will be included; the parking
    circle will be redesigned for improved access to the visitor center.

-   Orientation to Spalding and entire park will be offered outside the
    main entry.

-   Indoor cultural demonstrations and craftwork sales will be
    accommodated.

-   A shade structure will be added contiguous to both indoor and
    outdoor demonstration spaces.

Action Plan -- Spalding Site

-   Interpretation of the Spalding site\'s 11,000-year history and
    involvement of Nez Perce people in interpretation will continue.
    Interpretation will emphasize changes made in Nez Perce culture by
    the missionary period. Interpretive media will be updated to be more
    historically accurate. Interpretive trails will be developed from
    the visitor center to the site and through the Spalding site to
    manage delivery of interpretation. Directional signs will be
    improved.

-   Existing cooperative agreements will be retained.

-   A plan will be developed for management of the arboretum. Surveys
    for special concern species will be conducted, and any mitigation
    needed to avoid impacts on such species will be implemented. A
    vegetation management plan will be developed, including screening of
    the railroad.

-   Adaptive use of the agent\'s residence and Watson\'s Store will be
    provided for, possibly with leasing arrangements.

-   A site development plan will be implemented, including moving
    parking, restrooms, and picnicking to a more appropriate location
    east of the cemetery, removing the viaduct, and rerouting the road.

**Lapwai Mission**

The site is interpreted by a sign at an unpaved roadside pullout on the
east side of U.S. Highway 95 approximately 12 miles south of Lewiston,
Idaho. Here was the location of the earliest Christian missionary
activity among the Nez Perce. This site interprets the impact that
missionaries such as Henry Spalding had upon these peoples.

Management Issues

The actual site of the mission is not known, only the general location.

Action Plan

-   Interpretation on the site will be improved \-- visitors will be
    told about the entire park, referred to the Spalding visitor center,
    and the interpretive sign will be upgraded.

-   Actual location of the historic site and its ownership will be
    determined. Strategies will be developed to protect the site.

-   The current memorandum of understanding will be continued.

**Fort Lapwai Officer's Quarters and The North Idaho Indian Agency**

The remnants of Fort Lapwai are situated near U.S. Highway 95 in Lapwai,
Idaho. Two sites are listed as part of Nez Perce National Historical
Park: the duplex Officers\' Quarters, built in 1883, and the Northern
Idaho Indian Agency building. Troops were assigned to the Lapwai Valley
in response to the gold rush. The fort was in use from 1862 to 1885. It
was here that General Oliver 0. Howard met with the leaders of Nez Perce
nontreaty bands on May 3, 1877, as they made one last attempt to remain
on their land. The Northern Idaho Indian Agency, originally located at
Spalding, was relocated to Fort Lapwai in 1904. Fort Lapwai was
converted into a government Indian school and then into a tuberculosis
sanitorium with a hospital, boys\' and girls\' dormitories, and a
school. Fort Lapwai is held in trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA) for the Nez Perce Tribe.

The agency building is owned by the Lapwai School District. The
officers\' quarters building has been stabilized and is vacant. The
parade ground is also intact, as are some of the stables. Because of the
parade ground, the site has a campus-like atmosphere.

Management Issues

-   The interpretive signs are old and inaccurate.

-   The ownership of the officers\' quarters building is uncertain.

-   One wayside is two blocks away.

Action Plan

-   Interpretation will be corrected and updated.

-   The story of agency and military will be told more completely.

-   Way-finding directional signs will be placed on U.S. 95.

-   The Park Service will offer technical assistance for the adaptive
    reuse of the officers\' quarters and will work with the Bureau of
    Indian Affairs, Nez Perce Tribe, and Lapwai School District to
    facilitate preservation of the buildings and parade ground.

**Craig Donation Land Claim**

At a pullout on the west side of U.S. Highway 95, about 8 miles south of
Lapwai, Idaho, interpretive signs identify the area of the Craig
Donation Land Claim as the first place in Idaho where a white settler
obtained title to a farm through the Oregon Donation Land Act.

William Craig, a mountain man, interpreter, a friend of the Nez Perce
and husband of a Nez Perce woman, was the only white person to have
official permission from the Nez Perce to live on the reservation.

Management Issues

-   The site is next to a noisy highway; access is dangerous.

-   There is potential for development all around the area, including
    possible widening of U.S. Highway 95.

-   The boundaries of the original land donation have not been
    determined.

-   Interpretation is incomplete.

Action Items

-   Information on park signs will be upgraded.

-   Interpretive emphasis will include both the land donation and
    Craig\'s relationship with the Nez Perce.

-   Historic boundary and present ownership of original land donation
    will be determined.

-   The memorandum of understanding will be retained.

**St. Joseph's Mission**

Saint Joseph\'s Mission (also called Slickpoo Mission) is a semi-active
Roman Catholic church that was built in 1874 in the former community of
Slickpoo, Idaho. The church and grounds (about 0.33 acre) are owned by
Saint Joseph\'s Mission Historical Society, a private nonprofit group.
The mission is surrounded by neatly maintained shade trees, a lawn,
ornamental shrubs, and residences. The scene is an enclave and oasis in
an otherwise open, rolling agricultural landscape. The nearby cemetery,
an important resource, is not included in the boundaries of Nez Perce
National Historical Park. This site exemplifies the renewed missionary
activity among the Nez Perce that began in the 1870s and the
factionalism among missionary groups in this period.

Management Issues

-   The former community and nearby Nez Perce sites are not adequately
    interpreted and not fully documented.

-   There is potential for the site to be sold.

-   Restrooms accessible to the disabled are needed at the site.

Action Items

-   Current interpretive materials will be revised to cover the entire
    complex of sites at this location.

-   Arrangements to preserve resources will continue.

-   Saint Joseph\'s Mission Historical Society will continue to provide
    access and interpretation.

-   Preservation of structures will be ensured and encroachment will be
    prevented. A strategy will be developed for long-term protection of
    the site.

-   Consider future opportunities to work on additional protection for
    the nearby cemetery.

**Cottonwood Skirmishes**

The Cottonwood Skirmishes Site is interpreted at a 1-acre highway rest
stop that is about 2 miles south of Cottonwood, Idaho, on the east side
of U.S. Highway 95. This site consists of state interpretive signs and a
cast concrete marker, a chamber of commerce orientation sign, and a few
picnic tables. The skirmish sites associated with the Nez Perce War of
1877 are on private lands, mostly in agricultural use, near the
community of Cottonwood.

Management Issues

-   The relationships between the sign and events is unclear.

-   Some of the wording on the sign is inappropriate.

-   There is no map to indicate where the events occurred.

Action Plan

-   Interpretation will be improved. Brochures will be created and
    special tours will be offered. Cooperative agreements will be
    developed to protect sites of important events. If a more
    appropriate site is found, interpretation will be moved.

-   Sites where events happened will be marked.

-   The Park Service will work with the Idaho Transportation Department
    and others to upgrade the present location to a full-service rest
    area.

-   Strategies will be developed to protect features and viewsheds.

**Weis Rockshelter**

Weis Rockshelter is an archeological site that was inhabited by Nez
Perce peoples for more than 8,000 years. It is named for the amateur
archeologists who excavated and then backfilled it in 1962. The
artifacts they unearthed are stored at the University of Idaho.

The site is about 8 miles south of Cottonwood, Idaho, along the Graves
Creek road, 7 miles west and south of U.S. Highway 95. The few wide
portions of this narrow canyon are used tor ranching structures and
facilities.

Management Issues

-   The site is difficult to find.

-   The wayside exhibit is irrelevant and inaccurate; understanding what
    the site is about is difficult.

-   The area is overgrown and in need of maintenance.

-   The archeology related to the area is outdated; analysis of the
    collection and notes is needed.

Action Plans

-   Directional signs will be improved, interpretive information will be
    corrected, the sign at Cottonwood rest area will possibly be
    removed, and interpretation of the continuum will be included (for
    example, the route from Camas Prairie to the Salmon River).

-   The Park Service will work with the Keuterville Highway District to
    protect the site.

-   The pullout will be revised to remove cars from the resource and
    allow visitors to appreciate the site more.

-   Artifacts from excavations will be restudied.

-   Strategies will be developed to protect the viewshed and road from
    encroachment.

**Camas Prairie**

Camas Prairie is interpreted at a highway pullout on the north side of
U.S. Highway 95, about 6 miles south of Grangeville, Idaho. This large
prairie was a Nez Perce gathering place where camas roots were harvested
for thousands of years. Several nontreaty bands gathered at Tolo Lake in
early June 1877 in anticipation of moving to the Nez Perce reservation.
In response to the forced move and other hostile actions, several young
Nez Perce people took actions that precipitated the 1877 Nez Perce War.

Management Issues

-   The pullout is used as a truck stop; there is traffic noise from
    U.S. 95; other distractions include houses in the foreground and a
    dumpster for residential use.

-   The sign does not give visitors a sense of the size of Camas
    Prairie, nor does it give information about the presence of camas or
    biological information.

-   Visitors are confused by the presence of a stock pond visible
    directly ahead of the sign, thinking it is Tolo Lake.

Action Plans

-   Ownership of the viewshed will be determined, interpretation will be
    revised, and agreements will be developed as needed.

-   The pullout will be redesigned so that large vehicles will not block
    the view.

-   A strong preservation message concerning camas will be incorporated
    into the site interpretation.

**White Bird Battlefield**

The first battle of the Nez Perce War was fought at White Bird
Battlefield on June 17, 1877. The battlefield is about 15 miles south of
Grangeville, Idaho, between U.S. Highway 95 and the old White Bird
Grade, approximately 0.5 miles from the town of White Bird, Idaho.

The site is approximately 1,245 acres of sloping topography that retains
much of the appearance it probably had in 1877. The surrounding land is
used for agriculture. There are excellent views across the battlefield,
with minor intrusions from ranch and residential structures and
associated features such as roads and fences. There are archeological
sites and a few abandoned homestead remnants. There is a cultural
landscape report for a homestead site that occupied the same location as
a Nez Perce village along White Bird Creek.

There is an interpretive shelter on U.S. High way 95 that overlooks the
battlefield. Exhibit panels inside the shelter describe events leading
up to the battle and the U.S. Army and Nez Perce perspectives of what
happened. An interpretive trail leads visitors onto the battlefield from
the road along White Bird Creek.

The Old White Bird Grade runs on the east side of the battlefield, and
U.S. Highway 95 runs on the west side. The old grade is maintained as an
alternate route. The battlefield boundaries, established in 1965,
included approximately 1,900 acres. The NPS owns approximately 1,245
acres and holds scenic easements on 655 acres more. A few parcels of
land within the boundary are owned by either the State of Idaho or by
private landowners.

Management Issues

-   Members of the local community have unfulfilled expectations about
    the development of this site.

-   The interpretive shelter is on a busy, noisy highway.

-   Vegetation and grazing need better management.

-   The interpretation emphasize the battle; the Nez Perce cultural
    continuum is not interpreted.

**Management Zoning**

The following are the management zones for White Bird Battlefield:

The ***historic zone*** will include the actual battlefield site. It
will be delineated by White Bird Creek to the southeast, the park
boundary that is parallel and just east of U.S. 95, the auto tour route
and park boundary to the west, and Poe Saddle to the north.

The ***development zone*** will cover the pullout and interpretive
shelter and the signs adjacent to U.S. 95, the auto tour route,
interpretive trail and site for new visitor facility.

Action Items

-   The \"auto tour\" will be continued.

-   The Park Service will improve the interpretive trail and pedestrian
    access.

-   The Nez Perce cultural continuum will be interpreted, a vegetation
    management plan will be upgraded, and the Park Service will conduct
    detailed documentation and assessment of natural and cultural
    resources.

-   The highway overlook will be made into a \"portal\" introducing
    visitors to the park as a whole and the entire Nez Perce story and
    will be redeveloped to reduce noise. A staffed visitor contact
    facility will be added, and guided interpretation will be offered.
    (The site and scope for visitor facilities has not yet been
    determined; detailed planning will be provided with full public
    involvement.)

-   Additional agreements and easements will be pursued to expand
    protection of scenic values.

**Clearwater Battlefield**

The Clearwater Battlefield is interpreted at a roadside pullout on the
west side of Idaho Highway 13, approximately 2 miles south of Stites,
Idaho. The battle site itself is located on private property, making it
inaccessible to the public. The battlefield is associated with the 1877
Nez Perce War. In pursuit of the Nez Perce, General Howard met the
nontreaty bands at Clearwater Battlefield on July 12, but he failed to
subdue them.

During the Nez Perce War of 1877, most of the army movements of the
Clearwater Battle occurred on a broad plateau immediately east and
southeast of Stites. Much of the battle area is now cultivated. The Nez
Perce occupied the ravines, which are uncultivated land. The stone rifle
pits and barricades raised by the Nez Perce are still present in a
collapsed state, as is the smoking lodge used by the old men at various
stages of the fighting. At least one Nez Perce burial reportedly
occurred on the site. A sense of the large size of the battlefield has
been retained through modern agricultural use. The Nez Perce village
site across the Clearwater River from the present interpretive pullout
is used for agriculture.

The view of the Nez Perce campsite across the Clearwater River is
obstructed by vegetation, and none of the battlefield is visible from
the sign. Visitors will understand the battle better if they are
directed to an interpretive site where the battlefield is visible.

Clearwater Battlefield retains much of its integrity and merits
protection comparable to that afforded other battlefield sites in the
park. The National Park Service will attempt to provide protection and
interpretation of the site by working with the landowners through
agreements or through acquisition by easement or fee simple purchase on
a willing seller-basis.

Management Issues

-   The small pullout is on a heavily used highway.

-   Visitors cannot see the battlefield from the wayside sign.

-   The sign does not interpret the village or the battle appropriately.

-   Nothing brings visitors to the actual battlefield.

Action Items

-   New research (such as information about the village) will be
    incorporated into interpretation, and introductory sign text will be
    moved to a more appropriate location.

-   The Park Service will continue working with landowners to protect
    and interpret the village and battle site.

**Heart of the Monster**

Heart of the Monster, a rock formation said to represent the heart of a
monster in an important Nez Perce legend is located in East Kamiah. The
site is approximately 53 acres of NPS-owned land 2 miles upstream from a
bridge across the Clearwater River in Kamiah, Idaho.

This site was a major prehistoric and historic Nez Perce crossing point
of the Clearwater River. The nontreaty Nez Perce forded the Clearwater
at this location during the 1877 war.

An interpretive shelter with two exhibits offers an audio program to
give background information on the role of legends in Nez Perce culture
and tell a part of the \"Coyote and the Monster\" legend in Nez Perce
and in English. A short trail leads to the Heart of the Monster
formation, where a small semicircle of seating is available to listen to
the audio program there.

The site has been designated by the state of Idaho as a \"watchable
wildlife\" site.

The site is well signed and easy to find. There is a paved entrance loop
with parking for eight cars. Available visitor facilities include
restrooms, a bulletin board with park information, a water fountain,
picnic tables, the interpretive shelter, and two short trails, one to
the interpretive shelter and a loop trail that goes out to the Heart of
the Monster formation.

The surrounding land is used for a mixture of agricultural, residential,
and small commercial concerns. The 325-unit RV park, just across the
highway from the site, is one of the largest private campgrounds in
Idaho. Its expansion, together with the construction of a motel and
residential housing in recent years, has encroached near the eastern
part of the site.

The Kamiah community has expressed an interest in developing a walking
path from Kamiah to the site. The path will run between the boundary and
U.S. Highway 12.

Management Issues

-   The cultural information beyond the legend is not interpreted.

-   Legends may not be reported accurately.

-   U.S. Highway 12 may be relocated to straighten a curve.

-   There is no orientation and nothing to attract visitors or to
    acquaint them with the entire park.

**Management Zoning.** The following management zones will be
established for Heart of the Monster:

The ***historic zone*** will contain the Nez Perce legendary geologic
features the \"Heart of the Monster\" and the \"Liver of the Monster,\"
along with the interpretive trail and the semicircle of seating.

In the ***development zone*** will be a paved entrance loop with parking
for 8 vehicles, a restroom, a bulletin board with park information,
picnic tables, and the interpretive shelter.

Action Items

-   The diversity of interpretive information will be increased on the
    basis of nearby resources.

-   A visitor contact facility will be added.

-   Surrounding scenic values will be protected.

-   Agreements will be developed with local law enforcement agencies to
    have them patrol the site.

-   Visitor information and site map signs will be revised.

-   Programs will be developed to increase community \"ownership\" of
    the site.

-   A vegetation management plan will be developed as will site plans to
    protect the viewshed and shoreline.

-   The Park Service will work with the Idaho Transportation Department
    on the road realignment and with the community on realignment of the
    walking path.

**Asa Smith Mission and Lewis and Clark Long Camp**

The combined Asa Smith Mission and Lewis and Clark Long Camp sites are
interpreted by signs at a pullout on U.S. Highway 12, approximately 1
mile east of Kamiah, Idaho. The actual Asa Smith Mission and Lewis and
Clark Long Camp sites are approximately 2 miles downstream along the
Clearwater River on property occupied by a privately owned logging mill.

Management Issues

-   The interpretive signs are in the wrong location, as well as in an
    unattractive \"sign garden\".

-   The information on the signs is in accurate.

Action Items

-   The Park Service will work with the Idaho Transportation Department
    to correct the wording on the signs and move them to the correct
    location. Cultural resource documentation will be finished.

-   The Park Service will work with landowners to conduct research.

**Canoe Camp**

Canoe Camp is adjacent to the Clearwater River, approximately 4 miles
west of Orofino, Idaho, along U.S. Highway 12. At this site the Lewis
and Clark expedition, aided by the Nez Perce, built five canoes in
September 1805. The National Park Service conducted an extensive
archeological survey of the area in 1989 \-- 1991. There are residences
to the west, commercial development across the highway to the south, and
a large fish hatchery across the Clearwater River to the north. The
National Park Service owns, manages, and maintains this 2.65-acre site,
which was completely rehabilitated in 1993.

Management Issues

-   The view is dominated by Dworshak Dam and the hatchery.

-   Across the highway are businesses with large, colorful signs.

-   Heavy traffic on U.S. 12 causes noise intrusion.

**Management Zoning.** The following management zones will be
established for Canoe Camp:

The ***historic zone*** will include most of the 2.65-acre site. This is
the area where the Nez Perce helped the Lewis and Clark Expedition build
five canoes in September 1805. The 0.25-mile interpretive trail, the
wayside exhibits, the full-size reproduction of a canoe like those built
for the expedition, and the picnic benches are components of this area.

The ***development zone*** is made up of the 16-car parking lot and the
entrance road.

Action Items

-   The Park Service will work with local groups to participate in the
    Lewis and Clark Bicentennial and to increase local appreciation of
    the site.

-   An orientation wayside will be installed.

-   The time capsule monument will be removed or refurbished.

-   Vegetative screening will be developed and maintained to separate
    the site from external developments.

**Lenore**

Lenore interpretive signs are located in a highway rest area on the
north side of U.S. Highway 12 about 25 miles east of Lewiston, Idaho.
This archeological site contains evidence of early occupation by
ancestral Nez Perce dating from about 8,500 years ago. For perhaps
10,000 years the Lenore site was inhabited by Nez Perce and their
ancestors. At least part of it was excavated archaeologically. It lies
in a highly maintained state rest area with mowed lawns, pruned trees,
and roadways with curbs and gutter and ample parking. The landscape
visible from the riverbanks gives one a sense of the natural landform
and early conditions.

The area is a popular access point to the Clearwater River for fishing,
boating, and other aquatic activities.

Management Activities

The site merits more interpretation than a single sign.

Action Items

-   The interpretive panel will be up dated and corrected.

-   Visitors will be told about the entire park and referred to the
    Spalding visitor center.

-   The Park Service will work with the state to develop the site as an
    orientation site with additional interpretation of Nez Perce village
    life and fishing. The current memorandum of understanding will be
    revised.

-   Strategies will be developed for preservation of the site and its
    cultural resources

**Weippe Prairie**

Weippe Prairie is a swath of camas prairie trending northwest to
southeast. The town of Weippe is situated within this swath along Idaho
Highway 11. The site is a traditional gathering place where the Nez
Perce harvested camas root, socialized, and worshiped for thousands of
years. Lewis and Clark made their first contact with the Nez Perce at
this site in 1805. This national historic landmark is also associated
with the 1877 Nez Perce War; the nontreaty bands held a council on this
prairie following the Clearwater Battle.

The roadside sign just west of Weippe introduces you to the area. The
visitor must follow the directions to the actual meeting place where
signs tell the story of Clark\'s encounter with the Nez Perce. Although
the exact meeting site is on private property, it is easily visible from
the signs.

Management Issues

-   Directions to \"actual site\" are confusing.

-   Interpretive signs focus on Lewis and Clark, downplaying the
    long-term Nez Perce use and the assistance the Nez Perce gave to
    Lewis and Clark.

-   Further cooperative agreements are needed for the maintenance of the
    sign at the meeting site.

Action Items

-   Interpretation will be expanded beyond Lewis and Clark\'s meeting
    the Nez Perce to include the story of the Nez Perce continuum.

-   Directional signs to the site will be improved.

-   Research will be conducted to identify critical resources.

**Pierce Courthouse**

The Pierce Courthouse, first public building in Idaho, is one block off
Main Street (Idaho Highway 11) in Pierce, Idaho. A wayside exhibit
summarizes the impact of gold mining on the Nez Perce. Eight panels
inside the court house detail the area\'s history. Mining led to the
reduction of the Nez Perce reservation through the treaty of 1863.

The courthouse sits on a grassy lot in a small mountain town surrounded
on three sides by residential development. The 20\' x 40\' log building
with board and batten veneer was rehabilitated in 1990. Although its
original context may no longer exist, it is situated among a number of
other suitably scaled mining town structures. The building is open on
request and on summer weekends.

The staff and volunteers of the adjacent Pierce Historical Society
Logging Museum operate the courthouse building under a long-standing
cooperative agreement with Idaho State Historical Society. The contract
provides for maintenance and interpretation.

Management Issues

-   There is no tie-in with other sites of Nez Perce National Historical
    Park except in the park brochure.

-   The site is hard to find because of its location off Main Street.

-   The site offers an opportunity to tell about the effects of logging
    on the Nez Perce homeland.

-   Some of the interpretive exhibits in the courthouse need repair.

Action Plans

-   The Park Service will coordinate with the Idaho State Historical
    Society and Pierce Historical Society to upgrade interpretation.

-   Efforts will be made to get the Idaho Transportation Department sign
    removed or replaced with a directional sign.

-   The Park Service will continue to provide technical assistance with
    preservation as needed, and agreements will be retained.

**Lolo Trail and Pass**

Lolo Trail is about 100 miles long, roughly from Weippe to beyond Lolo
Pass (which is on the Idaho-Montana border). From Lolo, Montana, to a
few miles west of Lolo Pass, the trail closely follows U.S. Highway 12.
It then follows the high mountain ridges north of the highway for more
than 80 miles, eventually descending to the Weippe Prairie near Weippe,
Idaho. The corridor of this trail and pass contain significant
ethnographic, archeological, and historic resources associated with Nez
Perce use during buffalo hunts as well as during the Nez Perce War of
1877. In addition, Lewis and Clark followed this pathway during their
expedition. Recreational opportunities, natural quiet, and high air
quality are important resources along this trail. Wildlife is also
abundant.

The Lolo Trail is a national historic landmark. It encompasses the Nez
Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail and the Lewis and Clark
National Historic Trail. Known as the Buffalo Trail in ancient times,
this trail was used by the Nez Perce and the U.S. Cavalry in the 1877
war. The Lolo Motorway, closely paralleling the Buffalo Trail, was built
by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Although much of the
area has been maintained as pristine forest, from higher viewpoints
along the trail corridor evidence of clearcuts and other timbering
activities are obvious.

The Clearwater National Forest manages the historic trails. A Forest
Service Visitor Center and rest area on the Idaho/Montana border at Lolo
Pass serves as the central information station for the area.

Management Issues

-   There is no cooperative agreement with the Lolo National Forest in
    Montana.

-   Interpretation at the Lolo Pass visitor center could be expanded to
    make the public aware of Nez Perce National Historical Park.

-   Logging takes place in this area.

-   Signs along the trail are sometimes intrusive.

Action Items

-   Efforts will be made to ensure consistency in NPS and Forest Service
    interpretation.

-   Interpretation at Lolo Pass will be expanded to orient visitors to
    the entire park.

-   The Park Service will work with the Forest Service to manage and
    preserve resources, and support preservation/protection alternatives
    in forest plans.

-   Agreements will be developed with Lolo National Forest

**Buffalo Eddy**

The Buffalo Eddy site consists of two groups of rock outcroppings on
both sides of the Snake River approximately 20 miles south of Lewiston,
Idaho. On either side of an eddy formed by a series of sharp bends in
the Snake River are densely grouped clusters of petroglyphs and a few
pictographs. This rock art contains hundreds of distinct images
associated with early Nez Perce people. These images date from as early
as 4,500 years ago. Some potentially historic ranching features on the
Idaho side of the Snake River set a scene of the rural West. This is a
level area along the deep, narrow canyon of the Snake River, so there
probably are other archeological resources in the area. Except for the
road and a limited number of other visual intrusions (powerlines,
fences, a small building), the viewshed is uninterrupted from ridge to
ridge.

The park is working with Asotin County and private land owners on issues
related to the road.

Management Issues

-   No agreements are in place for either side of the river.

-   Vandalism of the resources has occurred, and there is no NPS
    protection.

-   Access to the site is increasing on the Washington side by road and
    on the Idaho side by boat.

-   The National Park Service does not do any interpretation of this
    site.

-   Homes are encroaching on the Washington side.

-   Asotin County plans to move and widen the road adjacent to the site

-   On the Idaho side, there is a potential for the eventual sale and
    development of the active ranching operation.

Action Items

-   The National Park Service will continue working with landowners on
    both sides of the river to protect the critical viewshed and
    resources, and to prevent visitor interference with ranching
    operations.

-   Interpretive materials will be developed for owners and river users.

-   Wayside exhibits will be added on the Idaho side.

-   The National Park Service will provide interpretive training for
    tour boat guides.

-   Under a cooperative agreement with the landowner, a seasonal
    employee will be stationed at the site for interpretation (this
    could require upgrading utilities to the onsite cabin).

**Camas Meadows Battle Site**

Camas Meadows Battle Sites in southeastern Idaho consist of Gen. Oliver
O. Howard\'s Camp Calloway and about 3 miles away, Capt. Randolph B.
Norwood\'s encounter site. These two skirmish sites, which are
associated with the 1877 Nez Perce War, represent yet another
unsuccessful attempt by General Howard to capture the fleeing Nez Perce.

At a rest stop on I-15 at Dubois, Idaho, an interpretive sign, \"Nez
Perce War,\" briefly summarizes the events of the 1877 war in this area.
Access is over 25 miles of seasonal unpaved road east of Interstate
Highway 15. Both sites are difficult to find.

A half-mile dirt track through the sagebrush from remote,
gravel-surfaced County Road A-2 leads to Captain Norwood\'s encounter
site. There is one large interpretive sign. The concrete monument at the
site summarizes the 1877 war and gives a detailed account of the Camas
Meadows battle. A small parking area accommodates three to four cars. On
the slightly elevated ridges on either side of the parking area are
stacked stone barricades a foot or so high. Some of these have obviously
been constructed recently, but several seem to be authentic. There are
no modern structures in view, and visitors can get a sense of what the
siege might have been like.

To get to General Howard\'s camp, visitors must hike across cattle
pastures on private property from a privately owned gated ranch road.
The campsite is marked by a white gravestone inscribed \"Bernard A.
Brooks, Michigan, Trumpeter 1 U.S. Cav., August 20, 1877.\" Stone rifle
pits also are found at General Howard\'s Camp on the elevated ridges.
Very little development is visible to interrupt the feeling of the
historic scene. Both sites are remote and the horizon lines are far
away; visitors can get the feeling of the monumental effort it will take
to cross the country on horse back or on foot.

The general area is uncultivated grazing land interspersed with volcanic
rock outcroppings and sage. This site is in the traditional area of the
Shoshone Bannock Tribes. The Idaho State Lands Department owns
Norwood\'s encounter site. Howard\'s camp is on private land. There is
much local interest in their preservation but concern about whether
attention should be attracted to them.

Management Issues

-   There is limited protection for the extant features from the 1877
    war.

-   The sites might best be interpreted from a different location.

Action Items

-   The Park Service will develop interpretation at the I-15 rest area
    to introduce visitors to the concepts of Nez Perce National
    Historical Park, and will continue working with the Forest Service
    on use and interpretation of the Nez Perce (Nee Me-Poo) National
    Historic Trail.

-   Communication with the Shoshone Bannock Tribes will continue.

-   The Park Service will develop a cultural landscape report, and
    develop cooperative agreements for resource protection

**Hasontino**

Hasotino Village archeological site, once the largest village along the
Snake River, was occupied until the end of the 19th century. The site is
on a broad, sloping plain overlooking the east bank of the Snake River,
just upriver from its confluence with the Clearwater. It is adjacent to
the developed part of Hell\'s Gate State Park. There is little visual
evidence of the large village and eel fishery that was once here. The
Nez Perce name for the site is *Hesutiin* (pronounced He-soo teen). A
small display in the Hell\'s Gate State Park Visitor Center describes
early occupation of the site.

Management Issues

-   The National Park Service does not have any cooperative agreements
    with the Idaho State Parks or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

-   There is a potential for vandalism or wear and tear from visitors to
    the state park.

-   High voltage power lines crossing the site detract somewhat from the
    scene.

Action Plans

-   A cooperative agreement will be developed with the U.S. Army Corps
    of Engineers and Hell\'s Gate State Park to include strategies for
    preservation of the site and its cultural resources.

-   An interpretive strategy will be developed that includes strong
    preservation messages.

**Looking Glass' Campsite**

The Looking Glass Camp is interpreted at a sign on the north side of the
Middle Fork of the Clearwater River off U.S. Highway 12, 3 miles east of
Kooskia, Idaho. A small U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fish hatchery
occupies the village site, across the river, where the U.S. Army
attacked the Looking Glass Band during the 1877 Nez Perce War. The
University of Idaho excavated parts of the site in 1993; the collection
is currently stored at the university. The site has been altered by the
construction of roads, the fish hatchery, and other modern
modifications. Most of the surrounding land is heavily forested,
interspersed with occasional residences. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service operates the Kooskia Fish Hatchery and an interpretive trail
which leads through part of the original settlement.

Management Issues

-   The narrow pullout is on a noisy, heavily used highway.

-   The sign interpretation available does not include the story of the
    Nez Perce continuum.

-   There is nothing to draw visitors to the actual site of the camp.

Action Items

-   The Park Service will work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
    through an agreement on trail development and interpretation,
    helping to expand interpretation to include the Nez Perce continuum.

-   Efforts will be made to preserve the viewshed and remnants of the
    occupational site.

-   The Park Service will continue working with local citizens on a
    visitor information center at the junction of U.S. 12 and Idaho 13.

**Tolo Lake**

Tolo Lake, a shallow lake covering about 35 acres, is the largest
natural water body on the Camas Prairie. It is a natural lake that has
been enhanced to provide habitat for fish and waterfowl. The lake, 6
miles west of Grangeville, Idaho, is accessible via several unpaved
section roads from U.S. Highway 95.

The Nez Perce name for Tolo Lake is Tepahlewam (Split Rocks). The lake,
which is just east of Rocky Canyon, is an ancient rendezvous site the
Nez Perce used for gathering foods such as camas root and for meeting
with neighboring bands. Rocky Canyon was part of a transportation
network in the area, connecting with the Salmon River and Snake River
drainages. Take Highway 95 south out of Grangeville, Idaho, to the
second road to the right past the Grangeville Country Club.

Several nontreaty bands gathered here on June 2, 1877, in preparation
for moving to the Nez Perce reservation. Angered by the forced move,
several young Nez Perce decided to take revenge on some white men who
had killed some of their people. As a result of this action and a second
raid two days later, the 1877 Nez Perce War began. There is no
interpretation at the site, but more than half of the interpretive sign
for Camas Prairie is occupied by discussion of Tolo Lake\'s connection
to the beginning of the war.

Significant remains of Pleistocene mammoth and prehistoric bison were
excavated from the lake in 1994. To date, there has been no evidence of
direct association of ancient humans with these remains. After the
excavation was completed, the lake was allowed to return to its normal
size.

Although wheat fields have replaced the camas meadows, Tolo Lake and its
vicinity remain otherwise largely unencumbered by development. The
sweeping perspectives across the high prairies retain a clear sense of
the historic and prehistoric landscape.

The site is owned by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and is
surrounded by privately owned agricultural land. The National Park
Service has a cooperative agreement with Idaho Department of Fish and
Game to work cooperatively to include Nez Perce interpretation as part
of any site planning and development activities. The manager of the
White Bird Unit also has worked with the state and with citizens
regarding the interpretation of the paleontological finds.

Management Issues

-   No interpretation is offered at this site.

-   The site has significant connections to the 1877 war, but also to
    the Nez Perce continuum.

-   There are concerns about local traffic.

Action Items

-   Interpretive materials and waysides will be developed to include a
    full range of events and resources, including camas prairie and
    canyon transportation corridor.

-   The Park Service will offer technical assistance to interested local
    groups.

-   The Park Service will promote preservation of a wider area of
    prairie and canyon.

-   The Park Service will support traditional uses by the Nez Perce
    people and cooperate with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and
    others to prevent encroachment on the site and retain the status quo
    for site development.

-   The cooperative agreement with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game
    will be retained.

**Big Hole National Battlefield**

Big Hole National Battlefield is 10 miles west of Wisdom, Montana, on
Montana Highway 43. The Nez Perce were camped in this area in 1877 when
they were attacked by Col. John Gibbon\'s troops. The 655-acre unit of
the National Park System is managed by the National Park Service. Two
self-guiding trails lead from the lower parking area to the location of
the Nez Perce camp and the seige area where U.S. soldiers were pinned
down during the second half of the battle. Another self-guiding trail
leads to a site on the hill overlooking the scene where a prolonged
battle took place. The U.S. Army brought a 12-pound mountain howitzer.
After the army fired two rounds into the village, Nez Perce warriors
subdued the howitzer detachment and captured and dismantled the
howitzer.

The Big Hole Battlefield Visitor Center interprets the Big Hole Battle
and the War of 1877. Wayside exhibits, trail guide booklets, and
battlefield markers supply details of the battle on the battlefield.

The National Battlefield, which is surrounded by ranching operations and
the Beaverhead National Forest, retains much of the character of 1877
when Col. John Gibbon\'s forces attacked the Nez Perce at their camp
next to the Big Hole River. The few visual intrusions are the National
Park Service visitor center and housing, and a single light-colored
ranch outbuilding in the distance. This area is traditionally used by
the Flathead, the Kootenai-Salish, and many other Native American
tribes.

Land use in the vicinity is cattle ranching. The National Park Service
does not have title to the subsurface minerals under some of the
national battlefield; this could be a potential threat.

As an addition to the 655 acres now in federal ownership, 355 acres
along the east boundary are being appraised for NPS acquisition in
cooperation with the landowner. NPS visitor and operational facilities
on the battlefield are a Visitor Center, five residential structures
(providing ten living units), a water treatment plant, a picnic area,
interpretive trails, and parking lots. There are minor roads for
internal circulation.

As a separate unit of the National Park System, Big Hole receives
administrative support and management oversight from Nez Perce National
Historical Park headquarters in Spalding, Idaho. The battlefield is a
site along the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail, and the
National Park Service works closely with the Forest Service in managing
and interpreting associated resources.

Management Issues

-   The exhibits and slide presentation are outdated and inadequate.

-   There is insufficient interpretive space.

-   The trails are not accessible to visitors with disabilities.

-   There is an existing non-NPS water right.

-   The use of cavalry hats and feathers as symbols may be offensive.

**Management Zoning**

The following management zones will be established for Big Hole National
Battlefield:

The ***historic zone*** will cover the battlefield and will include the
siege area, the howitzer capture site, the Nez Perce camp, and a section
of the Nez Perce (Nee-Me Poo) National Historic Trail.

Lands in the ***development zone*** will be those used for nonhistoric
park development and intensive use. The developments in this zone serve
the needs of park management and park visitors. When the battlefield was
enlarged in 1963, the top of Ruby Bench was added to be used for the
developed area. It contains the entrance road, the visitor center, the
employees\' residence, the sewage lagoons, and the access road to the
battle area parking lot. The battle area road and the lower parking lot
will also be in this zone.

The ***special use zone*** encompasses the irrigation facilities used by
the owners of private water rights. Although the National Park Service
owns the land, the deeds reserve the private use of four irrigation
ditches and the right of access to maintain and repair them. Three
ditches are on the slope of Ruby Bench, which includes a service road.
The vehicles of the water rights owners traverse this special use zone
to maintain the ditches. The ditches on the northeast and southeast
corners of the battlefield do not have service roads. Each ditch has a
different combination of rights claimants.

Action Items

-   The visitor center will be rehabilitated on the basis of functional
    analysis, and displays will be expanded.

-   Curatorial and maintenance space will be expanded.

-   A monument for the Nez Perce will be established.

-   A visitor circulation plan will be developed and implemented.

-   The lower parking lot will be redesigned to minimize visual impact.

-   The housing and parking intrusions will be mitigated through
    redesign, realignment, and screening.

-   The historic scene will be retained, and the viewshed north and
    south of the site will be preserved.

-   The Park Service will facilitate understanding of the entire park
    and nearby sites.

-   Trail interpretive media will be rethought and redesigned, to
    replace the hats and feathers.

-   Artifacts from the archeological survey will be incorporated into
    exhibits.

-   The Park Service will continue strong ties with the Forest Service.

-   Shoshone-Bannock and Flathead Tribes will be consulted about their
    traditional uses in the area.

-   Land acquisition of 355 acres will be completed.

-   Surveys for special concern species will be conducted, and any
    mitigation needed to avoid impacts on such species will be
    implemented.

**Canyon Creek**

Canyon Creek is the site of a skirmish in the continuing flight of the
nontreaty Nez Perce during the 1877 war. After emerging from Yellowstone
National Park, the Nez Perce went north toward Canada. Just north of the
Yellowstone River they fought a series of successful rear guard actions.
Their success delayed the pursuing army troops and permitted the flight
toward Canada to continue.

The site, which is 8 miles north of Laurel, Montana, can be reached by
the Buffalo Trail Road. It is marked at a roadside pullout with a stone
monument and bronze plaque erected by the Yellowstone Historical
Society. The battlefield site occupies a vast open ground accentuated by
the monumental proportions of Horse Cache Butte and adjacent rim-rock
landforms that form the entrance and sides of Canyon Creek Canyon. The
battlefield is largely unaltered; it visually evokes a strong feeling of
its 1877 past, when it consisted of undulating grassy sage-covered
ridges and plains.

Management Issues

-   The visitor experience at the pullout is poor; the area is littered
    with broken glass and other trash.

-   There is no way for visitors to understand the events that took
    place here.

-   The message on the plaque does not reflect NPS or Nez Perce views.

-   The importance of this site needs to be scaled relative to the
    entire story.

-   The land, in checkerboard private and state ownership, is now in
    agricultural use, but there is potential for quick conversion to
    subdivisions.

-   Vandalism is a concern.

-   There is much local interest in the site.

-   The \"friends\" group has money and a deadline for using it.

Action Items

-   The Park Service will help the Friends of Canyon Creek with
    development of accurate, appropriate interpretation at the current
    location.

-   The Park Service will formally consult with the Crow Tribe about
    interpretation.

-   The viewshed and resources will be inventoried and strategies will
    be developed to protect viewsheds.

-   A park/Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail portal will be
    developed in Laurel with Friends of Canyon Creek, Laurel Chamber of
    Commerce, and other partners.

**Bear Paw Battlefield**

Bear Paw Battlefield, a national historic landmark, is about 16 miles
south of Chinook, Montana, along Cleveland Road (County Highway 240).
This battlefield is the site of the attack upon, siege, and eventual
surrender of the nontreaty Nez Perce at the end of their 1877 flight.
The White Bird Band succeeded in escaping to Canada, but after Chief
Joseph\'s surrender, the rest of the Nez Perce were exiled first to
Kansas and later to Oklahoma.

The locations of events that occurred during the 1877 attack, siege, and
surrender form the primary historical resources of the site, as well as
a landscape that remains relatively undeveloped.

A self-guiding trail guide is available that has text keyed to numbered
stops along the trail. An NPS ranger and a seasonal interpreter are
assigned to the site. Ranger guided walks are available in summer.

The Blaine County Museum in Chinook, Montana, has devoted one of its
exhibit rooms to the Bear Paw Battle. A sophisticated 20-minute
audiovisual presentation on the war of 1877 is also available in the
museum\'s auditorium.

Management Issues

-   Many of the interpretive waysides need repair or text revision.

-   There is a \"mixed bag\" of facilities and signs, and the trails are
    not up to standards.

-   \"Social trails\" cause degradation of resources.

-   The site\'s resources have not been adequately inventoried.

-   There is exotic and changing vegetation.

-   There is potential for oil and gas development in the area.

The following management zones will be established for Bear Paw
Battlefield:

The ***historic zone*** will be the actual battlefield site where
General Miles\'s troops charged on the first day of the battle and the
siege positions of the next five days (headquarters, field hospital,
rifle pits, Napoleon and Hotchkiss gun sites, and troop locations). It
also will incorporate the Nez Perce Village site, the warriors\'
defensive positions, and the retreat route of some of the Nez Perce
during the opening engagement.

The ***development zone*** will be occupied by a parking lot, an
interpretive trail, the wayside exhibits, picnic tables and shelter, the
wind-sheltered benches, the pit toilet and a visitor facility.

Action Items

-   Visitor facilities and operational support will be provided at the
    battle field. (Detailed planning will be provided with full public
    involvement.) Ranger presence onsite will be increased.

-   Resource impacts from \"social trails\" will be reduced and
    strategies developed to protect the viewshed and resources outside
    current boundaries.

-   The Park Service will conduct resource surveys. A vegetation and
    resource management plan will be developed.

-   Existing cooperative agreements will be continued, and consultation
    with Fort Belknap tribes also continued.

-   The Park Service and the Blaine County Museum will cooperate in
    having the museum serve as interim visitor center.

-   The site will be used as a portal to expand on Nez Perce culture,
    the park, and the Nez Perce (Nee-Me Poo) National Historic Trail.
    The aftermath of the events at Bear Paw will be added to the
    interpretive program.

-   The NPS role in partnership with the museum will be increased
    through technical assistance.

**Dug Bar**

The Dug Bar site is in Hell\'s Canyon National Recreation Area and on
the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail. The site is
accessible via a poorly maintained single lane dirt road 25 miles long
or by the Snake River. This is the traditional crossing site where the
Chief Joseph band forded immediately before the 1877 Nez Perce War.
Although they did not know it at the time, this treacherous crossing was
the band\'s final farewell to their homeland. There are important
archeological resources along the river; the Forest Service has
conducted extensive archeological surveys.

The flat bench above the river contains historical ranching structures
dating from the early 20th century. A primitive airstrip, hayfields, a
boat ramp, primitive campsites, and a cluster of ranch buildings are
prominent features in the immediate Dug Bar landscape. In summer an
abundance of jetboat traffic passes the site. The distant views are
intact except for a power line with wood pylons, which is visible where
it crosses the river downstream from the site.

The winding 25-mile drive into Dug Bar follows the Imnaha River, the
traditional route between summer camps in the Wallowa and winter camps
along the Imnaha and Snake Rivers. The 5-mile hiking and horse trail
offers an opportunity to experience the landscape as the Nez Perce did.
Visitors coming to the site by boat also see many riparian areas that
were used by the Nez Perce. Recreational activities available at Dug Bar
are hiking, horseback riding, boating, fishing, camping, and hunting.

The site is in Hell\'s Canyon National Recreation Area and thereby is
afforded all the protections of federal ownership and management. A
memorandum of understanding between the Forest Service and the National
Park Service has been completed that allows for comanagement of the Dug
Bar site.

Management Issues

-   Most visitors to this site are interested in recreation, not
    cultural resources.

-   The heaviest access is by jetboat.

-   There is potential for upgrading the road to the site, which might
    increase visitation.

-   The possible development of a through-link of the Snake River Trail
    could increase use.

Action Items

The Park Service will work with and encourage the Forest Service to:

-   Maintain and sign the trail.

-   Keep the road in current condition to keep use at present level and
    avoid resource damage.

-   Maintain trail integrity.

-   Upgrade signs on the site.

-   Maintain the site (within the national recreation area) as a
    cultural and natural resource site.

-   Explore the possibility of a job-share seasonal interpretive
    position or create a Student Conservation Association interpretive
    position.

-   The Park Service will also work with tour operators and other
    agencies on interpretation of stories of cultural resources and
    resource protection, including the Nez Perce perspective.

**Joseph Canyon Viewpoint**

The Joseph Canyon Viewpoint is at a highway pullout along Oregon High
way 3. The pullout is approximately 30 miles north of Enterprise. Oregon
and 11 miles south of the Oregon-Washington line.

The privately owned Joseph Canyon is an example of the canyon-bottomland
environment where the Nez Perce people lived in winter. Archeological
potential is high in the canyon bottom. Some old ranch buildings visible
in the canyon bottom may be historic. Future archeological inventory and
documentation is recommended.

Surrounding stands of timber are primary candidates for harvest, since
this area is not affected by the salmon recovery program. Joseph Creek
is designated a wild and scenic river.

The pullout is owned by the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. There is a
right of way across the site held by the Oregon Department of
Transportation. The site is on the designated and signed Nez Perce
(Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail. The far viewshed and the canyon
bottom, which are privately owned, are used for grazing.

Management Issues

-   There are no restrooms at this heavily used rest stop.

-   There is potential for timber harvesting in this area.

-   The bottom of the canyon and much of the viewpoint are privately
    owned.

Action Items

-   The Park Service will continue to work with the Forest Service to
    install new interpretive panels.

-   The Park Service will develop agreements with public agencies and
    private landowners to protect the viewshed.

-   Agencies will work in partnership to enhance the site. The overlook
    and wayside sign will be placed slightly below the brow of the hill
    to remove them from highway noise; restrooms will be added.

**Old Chief Joseph's Gravesite**

The Old Chief Joseph Gravesite is a 5.1-acre cemetery on the west side
of Oregon Highway 82, just north of Wallowa Lake and 1 mile south of
Joseph, Oregon. Old Chief Joseph was reinterred at this site in 1926.
The beautiful scenic view encompasses Wallowa Lake, the Eagle Cap
Wilderness, and an imposing glacial moraine.

The cemetery, a national historic landmark, is sacred and sensitive for
the Nez Perce people. Old Chief Joseph\'s grave is marked by a tall
stone marker bearing the legend, \"To The Memory of Old Chief Joseph,
Died 1870.\" The cemetery is separated from the highway by a cobble wall
and gateposts built by the Umatilla Tribal Civilian Conservation Corps
(CCC) in 1938 \-- 1940.

A path cuts through the cemetery giving access to the popular swimming
and fishing area at the dam and water diversion flume at the outlet of
Wallowa Lake. The highway is busy, and the pull out for parking is quite
narrow and just over the crest of a hill in the road. The lake, a
reservoir for irrigation water, is also a recreational attraction.
Several residences are across the highway from the site, and other
residential sites have been platted to the northwest.

The cemetery is held in trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the
Umatilla and Nez Perce Tribes. The land is now administered by Nez Perce
National Historical Park under the direction of the tribes. Adjacent
lands are owned privately and by a consortium of irrigation companies.
For protection of the resource, it is necessary that the 8-acre parcel
north of the cemetery be acquired.

Management Issues

-   Traffic on the highway is heavy and parking is inadequate.

-   The Nez Perce people do not want the site to be \"manicured,\" but
    visitors need to be educated about their reasons for this.

-   There is concern about people trampling unmarked graves.

-   Visitors are confused about which Chief Joseph is buried here.

Action Items

-   The tribes will decide visitation levels and timing, and appropriate
    activities for this sacred site.

-   Methods will be developed to preserve the landscape between the
    cemetery and lake.

-   Visitors will be discouraged from using the cemetery as a shortcut
    to the dam.

-   The Park Service will cooperate with the county and Oregon
    Department of Transportation to analyze parking issues and options
    or the potential for moving parking, and improving access for tribal
    elders and visitors with disabilities.

-   The site may be seasonally staffed.

-   The Park Service will cooperate with others to preserve the setting
    and the wildlife corridor.

-   Surveys for special concern species will be conducted; any
    mitigation needed to avoid impacts on such species will be
    implemented.

-   The 8 acre buffer zone will be acquired.

**Lostine Campsite**

The Lostine Campsite represents a traditional Nez Perce home site and
fishery at the historic junction of the Lostine and Wallowa Rivers. It
is about 12 miles northwest of Enterprise, Oregon, just off Oregon
Highway 82. This location epitomizes the long-term occupation of the
Wallowa Valley by the Nez Perce people.

The valley floor and hillsides contain a significant number of
archeological remains; no archeological studies have been done in the
direct area of concern. The valley landscape is predominantly
agricultural, with grazing and cultivation on the flat bottom and
grazing on the slopes away from the river. Local ranching and
agriculture affect the vista in a relatively minor way. Some power
lines, communications structures, and roads intrude slightly on the
vista. In the southern view is a forested ridge, backed by the
snowcapped peaks of the Wallowa Mountains.

Management Issues

-   The foreground viewshed potentially could be threatened by
    development, the far viewshed by logging.

-   The emphasis should be on the Nez Perce continuum, including the
    events of 1877.

Action Items

-   The Park Service will continue cooperating with local citizens and a
    nonprofit group and will work with landowners to identify and
    protect wayside viewshed and riparian and wildlife areas.

-   The Park Service will negotiate a cooperative agreement to install a
    way side exhibit on the Minam grade to interpret Wallowa Valley
    cultural stories.

-   Research will be facilitated to identify information about cultural
    resources and Wallowa Valley locations that will be shared among the
    Nez Perce Bands.

-   Strategies will be developed to protect the site and viewshed.

-   The Park Service is participating in developing an interpretive
    facility in the Wallowa area and will work with partners on
    operations and maintenance.

**Nez Perce Cemetery (Nespelem)**

The Nez Perce Cemetery is an active, traditional Nez Perce cemetery. It
occupies about 5 acres in Nespelem, Washington about 16 miles north of
Coulee Dam on Washington Highway 155. The cemetery, has an association
with the return of the Joseph Band from exile in Oklahoma. The site is
administered by the Colville Confederated Tribes, with special attention
from the Joseph Band of the Nez Perce. There are no visitor facilities
and visitation is discouraged due to the extreme sensitivity of this
cemetery.

This private cemetery holds the remains of many Nez Perce, including
members of the Joseph Band and members allotted/enrolled on the Umatilla
and Nez Perce Reservations. It is the primary active cemetery for the
Joseph Band, holding the remains of participants in the Nez Perce War of
1877, including the younger Chief Joseph and Yellow Wolf. A 1905
monument has been placed on Chief Joseph\'s gravesite. A number of
historic grave markers date from throughout the 20th century. There are
many unmarked graves.

Only the Joseph Band, through the Colville Confederated Tribes, can
decide what, if anything, should be done at this very sacred and
sensitive site.

Management Issues

-   Visitors are sent to this sensitive site by other agencies.

-   The program presented by the Bureau of Reclamation at the visitor
    center in Coulee Dam is inaccurate.

Action Items

-   Working closely with the Joseph Band through the Colville
    Confederated Tribes, the Park Service will review wording on the
    Washington Department of Transportation sign in Nespelem.

-   The Park Service will also work more closely with NPS at Lake
    Roosevelt National Recreation Area and with the Bureau of
    Reclamation to facilitate revision of interpretation at Coulee Dam.

-   All decisions about management of the cemetery will be made by the
    Joseph Band through the Colville Confederated Tribes. The Park
    Service will assist on management issues only if requested.

-   Visitation to the cemetery will not be encouraged.

-   Interpretation will be offered at a location other than this
    cemetery.

-   The Joseph Band will work with Coulee Dam and Nespelem city
    officials to implement tribal desires for the area, especially
    regarding tourism.

**Nez Perce Campsites (Nespelem)**

The two Nez Perce campsites, also known as Nespelem Camps, have been
identified as the last homesites of Chief Joseph the Younger on the
Colville Reservation. The \"last summer campsite\" occupies 10 acres of
a gently sloping field bordered on the east by Nespelem Creek,
approximately 15 miles north of the town of Coulee Dam, Washington, just
west of Washington Highway 155. The \"last winter campsite\" consists of
a small flat (about 5 acres) approximately 5 miles northwest of
Nespelem, along the east bank of the Columbia River along a dirt road
near the mouth of Nespelem Creek. It is thought that the Joseph Band may
have instead moved around within the reservation frequently, depending
on the forage needs of their livestock. There is no interpretive media
at either of the campsite locations, and neither location is identified.

The cultural landscape in the Nespelem area is full of historic and more
current structures that portray the continuing culture of the Joseph
Band\'s stay on the Colville Reservation. Nearly all developments in the
area are significant cultural landmarks of some type or another. The old
Joseph Band Longhouse near Nespelem Creek and slightly down stream from
the cemetery may be more illustrative than the two campsites are. Modem
developments such as the bank, the community center, the current long
house, the pow-wow grounds, and current Joseph Band homes, which sit on
the grounds of the old encampment, illustrate the cultural continuum
through the present.

Land in these sites is privately owned or owned by the tribe and by the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Management Issues

-   The landscape of the winter camp site has lost much of its integrity
    because the Columbia River has been impounded by the Chief Joseph
    Dam, so that the campsite is now along or under a lake rather than
    beside a free-flowing river.

-   There is nothing that visually ties Chief Joseph\'s band to these
    areas.

-   The location of the sites is ambiguous, and probably much that was
    used by the Joseph Band is under water.

Action Items

-   Ownership will be identified.

-   Artifact removal and other research that was done before the area
    was flooded will be reevaluated.

-   The Park Service will offer interpretation at an alternative site.

-   The Joseph Band will work with Coulee Dam and Nespelem city
    officials to implement tribal desires for the area, especially
    regarding tourism.

-   The Park Service will participate in developing an interpretive
    facility in the Nespelem area and will work with tribal partners on
    operations and maintenance.

**McBeth House**

The McBeth House is located one mile south of the Heart of the Monster
on U.S. Highway 12. It is a small frame building diagonally across the
highway from the First Indian Presbyterian Church. These two buildings
are associated with the increased missionary activity among the Nez
Perce during the 1870s. The McBeth House represents a significant link
to the allotment period. It is owned by the Presbyterian Church.

Management Issues

-   The building is in poor condition.

-   There is no interpretation of the site.

Action Items

The McBeth House was designated as a site toward the end of the general
management planning process. An action plan for its preservation and
interpretation will be developed in cooperation with the Presbyterian
Church and with public involvement.

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ** LEGISLATION**

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Nez Perce National Historical Park\
**1965 Enabling Legislation and 1992 Amendments**

Public Law 89-19, 1965 legislation shown in normal type\
*Public Law 102-576, 1992 amendments shown in italic type*\
~~Deletions from 1965 legislation shown stricken.~~

*AN ACT*

*\
To amend the Act of May 15, 1965, authorizing the Secretary of Interior
to designate the Nez Perce National Historical Park in the State of
Idaho, and for other purposes.\
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,\
Section 1. Short Title\
This Act may be cited as the \"Nez Perce National Historical Park
Additions Act of 1991\"*

AN ACT

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to designate the Nez Perce
National Historical Park in the State of Idaho, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That it is the purpose of this
Act to facilitate protection and provide interpretation of sites in the
Nez Perce Country of Idaho *and in the States of Oregon, Washington,
Montana, and Wyoming* that have exceptional value in commemorating the
history of the Nation

Sec. 2. To implement this purpose the Secretary of Interior may
designate as the Nez Perce National Historical Park various component
sites in Federal and non Federal ownership relating to the early Nez
Perce culture, the Lewis and Clark Expedition through the area, the fur
trade, missionaries, gold mining and logging, the Nez Perce war of 1877,
and such other sites as he finds will depict the role of the Nez Perce
country in the westward expansion of the Nation.

*Sites to be so designated shall include\--*

*(1) Tolo Lake, Idaho;\
(2) Looking Glass\' 1877 Campsite, Idaho;\
(3) Buffalo Eddy, Washington and Idaho;\
(4) Traditional Crossing Near Doug Bar, Oregon and Idaho;\
(5) Camas Meadows Battle Sites, Idaho;\
(6J Joseph Canyon Viewpoint, Oregon;\
(7) Traditional Campsite at the Fork of the Lostine and Wallowa Rivers,
Oregon;\
(8) Burial Site of Chief Joseph the Younger, Washington;\
(9) Nez Perce Campsites, Washington;\
(10) Big Hole National Battlefield, Montana;\
(11) Bear\'s Paw Battleground, Montana;\
(12) Canyon Creek, Montana; and\
(13) Hasotino Village, Idaho;*

*\
each as described in the National Park Service document entitled \'Nez
Perce National Historical Park Additions Study\', dated 1990 and Old
Chief Joseph\'s Gravesite and Cemetery, Oregon, as depicted on the map
entitled \'Nez Perce Additions\', numbered 429-20-018, and dated
September, 1991. Lands added to the Big Hole National Battlefield,
Montana, pursuant to paragraph (10) shall become part of and placed
under the administrative jurisdiction of the Big Hole National
Battlefield, but may be interpreted in accordance with the purposes of
this Act.*

Sec. 3. The Secretary of the Interior may acquire by donation or with
donated funds such lands, or interests therein, and other property which
in his judgment will further the purpose of this Act and he may purchase
with appropriated funds land, or interest therein, required for the
administration of the Nez Perce National Historical Park: ~~Provided,
That he may purchase no more than one thousand five hundred acres in
scenic easements~~ *Lands or interests therein owned by a State or
political subdivision of a State may be acquired under this section only
by donation or exchange. In the case of sites designated as components
of the Nez Perce National Historical Park after November 1, 1991, the
Secretary may not acquire privately owned land or interests in land
without the consent of the owner unless the Secretary finds that\-\--*

*(1) the nature of land use has changed significantly or that the
landowner has demonstrated intent to change the land use significantly
from the condition which existed on the date of the enactment of the Nez
Perce National Historical Park Addition Act of 1991;\
(2) the acquisition by the Secretary of such land or interest in land is
essential to assure its use for purposes set forth in this Act; and\
(3) such lands or interests are located\--\
(A) within an area depicted on Sheet 3, 4, or 5 of the map entitled
\'Nez Perce Additions\', numbered 429-20018, and dated September, 1991,
or\
(B) within the 8-acre parcel of Old Chief Joseph\'s Gravesite and
Cemetery, Oregon, depicted as \'Parcel A\' on Sheet 2 of such map.*

Sec. 4. (a) Indian trust land may be designated by the Secretary of the
Interior for inclusion in the Nez Perce National Historical Park with
the concurrence of the beneficial owner. Sites in Federal ownership
under the administrative jurisdiction of other Government agencies may
likewise be designated by the Secretary of Interior for inclusion in the
Nez Perce National Historical Park with the concurrence of the agency
having administrative responsibility therefor, but such designation
shall effect no transfer of administrative control unless the
administering agency consents thereto. ~~Not more than one thousand
acres overall shall be designated pursuant to the foregoing provisions
of this subsection.~~ The Secretary of Interior may cooperate with the
Nez Perce Tribe or the administering agency, as the case may be, in
research into and interpretation of the significance of any site so
designated and in providing desirable interpretive services and
facilities and other facilities required for public access to and use
and enjoyment of the site and in conservation of the scenic and other
resources thereof.

\(b\) The Secretary of Interior may enter into cooperative agreements
with the owners of property which, under the provisions of this act, may
be designated for inclusion in Nez Perce National Historical Park as
sites in non- federal ownership, and he may assist in the preservation,
renewal, and interpretation of the properties, provided the cooperative
agreements shall contain, but not be limited to, provisions that: (1)
the Secretary has right of access at all reasonable times to all public
portions of the property for the purpose of conducting visitors through
the property and interpreting it to the public, and (2) no changes or
alterations shall be made in the properties, including buildings and
grounds, without the written consent of the Secretary.

Sec. 5. When the Secretary of the Interior determines that he has
acquired title to, or interest in, sufficient properties or determines
that he has entered into appropriate cooperative agreements with owners
of non-Federal properties, or any combination thereof including the
designation of sites already in Federal ownership, he shall by
publication in the Federal Register establish the Nez Perce National
Historical Park and thereafter administer the Federal property under his
administrative jurisdiction in accordance with the Act of August 25,
1916 (39 Stat. 535; 16 U.S.C. 1 et. seq.), as amended and supplemented.

Sec. 6. (a) In order to carry out the purpose of this Act the Secret of
the Interior may contract and make cooperative agreements with the
~~State of Idaho, its~~ *States of Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Montana,
Wyoming, their* political subdivisions or agencies, corporations,
associations, the Nez Perce Tribe, or individuals, to protect, preserve,
maintain, or operate any site, object, or property included within the
Nez Perce National Historical Park, regardless of whether title thereto
is in the United States: Provided, That no contract or cooperative
agreement shall be made or entered into which will obligate the general
fund of the Treasury unless or until Congress has appropriated money for
such purpose.

\(b\) To facilitate the interpretation of the Nez Perce country the
Secretary is authorized to erect and maintain tablets or markers in
accordance with the provisions contained in the Act approved August 21,
1935, entitled \"An Act to provide for the preservation of historic
American sites, buildings, objects, and antiquities of national
significance, and for other purposes\" (49 Stat. 666).

*(c) The Secretary shall consult with officials of the Nez Perce Tribe
on the interpretation of the park and its history.*

Sec. 7. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated the sums of not
more than ~~\$630,000~~ *\$2,130,000* for the acquisition of lands and
interests in land and not more than ~~\$4,100,000~~ *\$9,300,000* for
construction, restoration work, and other improvements at the Nez Perce
National Historical Park under this Act.

Approved May 15, 1965

*Approved October 30, 1992*

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ** PLANNING TEAM MEMBERS**

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| **PREPARERS OF         |                                             |
| DOCUMENT**             |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Jackie W Powell        | Job Captain\                                |
|                        | Denver Service Center, National Park        |
|                        | Service                                     |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Paul Henderson         | former Oregon /Washington Unit\             |
|                        | Manager, Nez Perce National Historical Park |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Marie Marek            | Spalding Unit Manager\                      |
|                        | Nez Perce National Historical Park          |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Steve Durrant          | Landscape Architect, Jones and Jones,\      |
|                        | Architects and Landscape Architects,        |
|                        | Seattle                                     |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Don Kodak              | Interpretive Planner\                       |
|                        | Harpers Ferry Center , National Park        |
|                        | Service                                     |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Clifford Hawkes        | Natural Resource Specialist\                |
|                        | Denver Service Center, National Park        |
|                        | Service                                     |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Berle Clemensen        | Historian and Cultural Resource\            |
|                        | Specialist, Denver Service Center, National |
|                        | Park Service                                |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Laurie Domler          | Community Planner\                          |
|                        | Denver Service Center, National Park        |
|                        | Service                                     |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Howie Thompson         | Technical expert for ecosystem planning,\   |
|                        | Denver Service Center, National Park        |
|                        | Service                                     |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| **PLANNING TEAM**      |                                             |
|                        |                                             |
| **Nez Perce National   |                                             |
| Historical Park**      |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Frank Walker           | Superintendent                              |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Art Hathaway           | former Spalding Unit Manager                |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Mark O\'Neill          | former Upper Clearwater/ White Bird Unit    |
|                        | Manager                                     |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Sue Buchel             | former Montana Unit Manager and\            |
|                        | Superintendent, Big Hole National           |
|                        | Battlefield                                 |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Otis Halfmoon          | Upper Clearwater White Bird Unit Manager    |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Dan Foster             | Natural Resources Specialist                |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Renee Beymer           | former Natural Resource Specialist          |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Mardi Butt             | former Interpretive Specialist Curator      |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Bob Chenoweth          | Curator                                     |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Diane Mallicken        | Park Ranger                                 |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Tim Nitz               | Oregon /Washington Unit Manager             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Kevin Peters           | Park Ranger                                 |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| **Columbia Cascades    |                                             |
| System Support         |                                             |
| Office**               |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Keith Dunbar           | Team Leader, Planning and Partnerships      |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Fry Gasser             | Former Environmental Specialist             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Linda Baker            | Environmental Specialist                    |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Stephanie Toothman     | Team Leader, Cultural Resources             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Frederick York         | Anthropologist                              |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| **Forest Service, U.S. |                                             |
| Department of          |                                             |
| Agriculture, Region 1  |                                             |
| and Clearwater         |                                             |
| National Forest**      |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Allen Pinkham          |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Linda Lilly            |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Ira Jones              |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| **Nez Perce Tribe**    |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Jaime A. Pinkham       |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Allen P. Slickpoo, Sr. |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| **Chief Joseph Band of |                                             |
| Nez Perce, Colville    |                                             |
| Confederated Tribes**  |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Keith \"Soy\"          |                                             |
| Redthunder             |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Albert Andrews         |                                             |
| Redstarr               |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Leroy \"Chas\"         |                                             |
| Williams               |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Charlie Moses, Jr.     |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| **Confederated Tribes  |                                             |
| of the Umatilla Indian |                                             |
| Reservation**          |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| **Board of Trustees**  |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Armand Minthorn        |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Louie Dick, Jr.        |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| **Idaho State          |                                             |
| Historical Society**   |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Larry Jones            |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| **CONTRIBUTORS**       |                                             |
|                        |                                             |
| **Denver Service       |                                             |
| Center, National Park  |                                             |
| Service**              |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Jerry Lorenz           | Project Manager                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Lou Layman             | Writer-Editor                               |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Adrienne Anderson      | Landscape Architect Spalding and Bug Hole   |
|                        | site plans)                                 |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Randy Fong             | Architect (Spalding site plan)              |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Ed Nieto               | Landscape Architect (Big Hole site plan)    |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Ric Alesch             | Project Manager\                            |
|                        | (desired futures workshop facilitator)      |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Sara Bransom           | Quality Leader, Resource Planning           |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Larry Norris           | Quality Leader, Resource Planning           |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Cathy Spude            | Quality Leader, Resource Planning           |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Mike Spratt            | Quality Leader, Resource Planning           |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Bob Welch              | Quality Leader, Landscape Architecture      |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Linda Kelly            | former Job Captain                          |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Jerome A. Greene       | Technical Expert, Resource Planning         |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| **Jones & Jones,       |                                             |
| Architects and         |                                             |
| Landscape Architects,  |                                             |
| Seattle**              |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Keith Larson           | Principal                                   |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Maggi Johnson          | Landscape Architect                         |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Chris Carlson          | Landscape Architect                         |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| **Columbia Cascades    |                                             |
| System Support Office, |                                             |
| National Park          |                                             |
| Service**              |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Frank Sannino          | Cartographer                                |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Rick Wagner            | Chief of Land Resources Program Center      |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Wayne Hill             | Realty Specialist                           |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Cathy Gilbert          | Historical Landscape Architect              |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| **State Historic       |                                             |
| Preservation Offices   |                                             |
| Idaho, Montana,        |                                             |
| Oregon, Washington**   |                                             |
+------------------------+---------------------------------------------+

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  **REFERENCES**

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Catton, Ted\
1996 *Final Draft Report: Nez Perce National Historical Park
Administrative History.* Prepared under contract for the National Park
Service, Seattle. Missoula, MT: National Park Service.

Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture\
1985 *Lolo Trail System: Implementation Guidelines.* Prepared by
Clearwater National Forest, Orofino, ID.

1990 *Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail Comprehensive
Plan,* Missoula, MT.

1995 *Description of the Ecoregions of the United States,* by Robert G.
Bailey. Second edition, revised and expanded from first edition of 1980.
Misc, publication 1391 (rev.) With separate map at 1:7,500,000.
Washington.

Josephy, Alvin M. Jr.\
1979 *The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest.* Lincoln,
NE: University of Nebraska Press.

National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior\
1963 \"Feasibility Report: Nez Perce Country National Historic Sites,
Idaho,\" by Daniel F. Burroughs, Alfred C. Kuehl, John A. Hussey, and
Erwin N. Thompson. Prepared by Western Region. San Francisco.

1968 *A Master Plant for Nez Perce National Historical Park, Idaho.*
Prepared by Western Region. San Francisco.

1969 *Nez Perce Additions: A Study of Alternatives.* Washington.

1972 *Historic Resource Study: Spalding Area Nez Perce National
Historical Park, Idaho,* by Erwin N. Thompson. Prepared by Denver
Service Center. Denver.

1973 *Historic Resource Study: Fort Lapwai Nez Perce National Historical
Park, Idaho,* by Erwin N. Thompson. Prepared by Denver Service Center.
Denver.

1985 *Legislative History for Nez Perce National Historical Park: 88th
Congress through 96th Congress,* by Marilee Cogswell, Cathleen Frank,
and Linda Rhines. Prepared by Pacific Northwest Region. Seattle.

1986 *Land Protection Plant for Nez Perce National Historical Park with
Addendum.* Prepared by Pacific Northwest Region. Seattle.

1987 *Resource Management Plant: Cultural Component: Big Hole National
Battlefield, Montana.* Prepared by Rocky Mountain Region. Denver.

1990 *Historic Landscape Report: Spalding Unit, Nez Perce National
Historical Park, Idaho,* by Cathy A. Gilbert, Gretchen A. Luxenberg, and
Marsha R. Tolon. Prepared by Pacific Northwest Region. Seattle.

1993 *Statement for Management: Nez Perce National Historical Park.*
Prepared by Pacific Northwest Region. Seattle.

1995b *Historic Resource Study: The U.S. A Army and the Nee-Me-Poo
Crisis of 1877: Historic Sites Associated with the Nez Perce Conflict,*
by Jerome A. Greene. Seattle.

1995c \"Resource Management Plan: Nez Perce National Historical Park:
Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.\" Prepared by Pacific Northwest
Region. Seattle.

Raddon, Charles H.\
1995 \"Nez Perce National Historic Trail in the Web of the Lolo Trail
System: Understanding the Role the Lolo Trail System has Played,
Together with Some Proposed Management and Interpretation Goals.\"
Presented at the Nez Perce National Historic Trail Symposium, October
16-18, 1995, Lewiston, ID.

Reed Hansen and Associates\
1995 \"Nez Perce National Historical Park Socioeconomic Inventory.\"
Prepared for the National Park Service as a subconsultant under contract
with Jones & Jones.

University of Idaho\
1995 \"Visitor Services Project: Nez Perce National Historical Park,\"
by Margaret Littlejohn. Summary report prepared for the National Park
Service by Visitor Services Project Western Coordinator, National Park
Service, based at the Cooperative Park Studies Unit, University of
Idaho.