Battle of Camas Creek The Battle of Camas Creek , August 20 , 1877 , was an raid by the Nez Perce Indians on a U . S . Army encampment and a subsequent battle during the Nez Perce War The Nez Perce defeated three companies of U . S . cavalry and continued their fighting retreat to escape the U . S . Army . Background . After sustaining heavy casualties at the Battle of the Big Hole on August 9 – 10 , the Nez Perce proceeded southward though Montana , crossed into Idaho again at Bannock Pass , and descended into the valley of the Lemhi River . The Nez Perce were aware that the U . S . army was pursuing them and , to confound the army , they took a circuitous route less familiar to them than their usual direct route to the Montana Great Plains . During this section of their retreat , their guide and the leader of their march was a half - Nez Perce , half - French man of several names , the most common being Poker Joe . The White settlers in the Lemhi Valley had been warned that the Nez Perce might be coming their way and most of them had fled to the town of Lemhi . The pursuer of the Nez Perce , General O . O . Howard did not follow the Nez Perce directly , but rather took a shorter route across southern Montana hoping to intercept them near Yellowstone National Park . Howard had 310 soldiers plus a varying number of civilian volunteers , usually several dozen , and Indian scouts , primarily Bannock s , but also some Nez Perce friendly to the U . S . Howard detached 50 men , including Indian scouts , under Lt . George R . Bacon to rush ahead and guard Red Rock Pass , thus hoping to catch the Nez Perce between his and Bacon ' s soldiers . Howard was coming under severe criticism for his failure to defeat the Nez Perce during a campaign that had now lasted two months . The Nez Perce pursued by Howard probably numbered , after their losses at the Big Hole battle , about 700 persons with less than 200 warriors . Birch Creek . The death of many Nez Perce women and children at the Big Hole Battle caused a thirst for revenge among the young warriors of the Nez Perce and their leaders were not able to restrain them . On August 12 , the Nez Perce killed five ranchers on Horse Prairie , Montana . On August 13 , after crossing into Idaho over Bannock Pass , the Nez Perce encountered a stockade full of White settlers at Junction . Leaders Looking Glass and White Bird met with the settlers and expressed their friendship for the settlers . However , two days later , the Nez Perce on Birch Creek encountered a caravan of eight covered wagons and eight men . The initial contact was friendly , but after the Indians demanded and were served whiskey the situation became ugly and five of the Whites were killed . One White escaped and two Chinese were released . One Nez Perce was killed , apparently in a drunken brawl with another warrior . The leaders poured the remainder of the whiskey on the ground and burned the wagons . Race to Camas Meadows . From Birch Creek the Nez Perce turned eastward and headed toward Henrys Lake . Howard ’ s route paralleled them to the north in Montana on the other side of the Continental Divide . Howard ’ s plan was to cross into Idaho via the Monida Pass ( the present route of Interstate Highway 15 ) and intercept the Nez Perce at Camas Creek near Dubois , Idaho . On August 17 , Howard was overtaken by 39 Virginia City volunteers under the command of James E . Callaway , who joined Howard ' s cavalry . That same day , Captain Randolph Norwood and fifty fresh cavalry men , designated as Company 4 of the Second Infantry , also overtook Howard ' s command . Howard expended all energy to intercept the Nez Perce near Camas Creek . He was a day late . Bannock Indian scouts , ahead of Howard ' s cavalry , observed the Nez Perce rear guard cross the road toward Camas Meadows . Chief Buffalo Horn , one of Howard ' s scouts , obtained a view of their camp . On August 18 , the Nez Perce camped at Camas Meadows 15 miles to Howard ' s east in a meadow bisected by Spring and Camas creeks . The Nez Perce name for their camp was " Kamisnim Takin " , meaning " camas meadows " . Howard marched to Camas Meadows on August 19 . The Nez Perce had departed earlier that day , continuing eastwear . Howard set up camp there that night , calling it Camp Callaway , and took “ great pains ” to “ cover the camp with pickets in every direction . ” The Raid . The exceptional precautions Howard had taken for the protection of Camp Callaway were observed by Nez Perce scouts . Upon returning to their own camp , they reported what they had seen to the chiefs . They decided to carry out a raid with the objective of putting Howard ' s cavalry on foot . The numbers of the raiders is disputed , although it was at least 28 and possibly many more . The chiefs did not envision a battle . Yellow Wolf described the movements of the band : About 4 : 00 a . m . , several Nez Perce dismounted and crept among the picketed horses to cut them loose . Then two things happened simultaneously . As the mounted column approached the soldier ’ s camp , a sentry shouted , " Who goes there ? " At the same moment , a foot scout named Otskai accidentally discharged his gun in the midst of the camp . Thus , an alarm was sounded from two places before many horses had been released from their picket lines . However , two hundred mules were free and the Indians concentrated upon stampeding them northward . This enabled the raiders to control the loose stock . In spite of all the shouting , several men thought they heard " the great voice of Looking Glass " booming out orders . Bullets were flying about and some of them struck the wagons , but only one soldier was hit , and his wound was slight . Darkness , noise , and surprise compounded the confusion , but the cavalry officers and men quickly dressed and mounted . General Howard ordered a strong force organized in order to pursue the raiders and recover the stock . Within minutes , three companies of cavalry were assembled . By dawn , nearly 150 horsemen were galloping northward in pursuit of the raiders , who had several miles ' head start . In addition to the mules , about 20 horses belonging to the Virginia City volunteers were missing . It was reported that the volunteers received $ 150 per head from the government in compensation for their lost mounts . A newspaper reporter described the raid : The Battle of Camas Meadows . Under the command of Major Sanford , the cavalry companies of Captains Carr , Jackson , and Norwood , numbering about 150 men , set off at dawn in pursuit of the Nez Perce and the stolen mules . The rear guard of the Nez Perce detected them and set up an ambush eight miles north of Camp Callaway . Several warriors continued driving the mules on to camp , and others deployed among hillocks of black lava and broken terrain dotted with Aspen trees and sagebrush . A few Nez Perce deployed in a thin skirmish line in a grassy meadow about a half mile wide . The meadow was bordered on the opposite side by a lava ridge 18 feet high and 500 to 600 feet long . Sanford and his three companies took up positions behind the ridge and dismounted to return long - distance fire from the Nez Perce . The distance between these lines was too great for effective marksmanship , but when a shot struck Lt . Benson in the hip the soldiers discovered that the Indians in the meadow were serving as a decoy , while others had been creeping forward on both flanks to enfilade the troops . Hence , Sanford ordered a bugler to call a retreat . The retreat of the cavalrymen whose horses had been taken to the rear was an occasion of excitement and confusion . Captain Randolph Norwood with 50 men , however , declined to obey immediately the order to retreat , but instead backtracked slowly to a strong position where he was forced by the encircling Nez Perce to halt , establish defensive positions , and fight it out . The other two companies had abandoned him . For the next two to four hours the two sides sniped at each other . Meanwhile , Howard received word via messenger that the cavalry companies were in trouble and sallied forth from Camp Callaway with reinforcements . He found the two retreating cavalry companies . Captain Sandford professed ignorance as to the location and fate of Captain Norwood . Howard pushed forward and , mid - afternoon , came upon Norwood and his men crouching in their lava rock rifle pits located a few rods apart along the top and on the edges of a series of ridges that enclosed a protected area for their horses . The Indians melted away and the battle was over . Norwood had one man dead , two mortally wounded and six to nine wounded . Yellow Wolf stated that " no Indian was badly hurt , only one or two just grazed by bullets " . Wottolen was wounded in the side , and Tholekt ' s head was creased . Aftermath . The Nez Perce were disappointed that the spoils of their raid had been mostly mules , but the loss crippled Howard ’ s mobility . Howard had failed to defeat the Nez Perce on several occasions and now , after the battle , he failed to pursue them aggressively . A journalist thought that was for the best . “ I candidly think Joseph could whip our cavalry and cannot blame General Howard for not giving him battle . ” On the evening after the battle , Howard was reinforced by 280 infantry under Captain Marcus Miller . Two days later , August 22 , 50 Bannocks , under the leadership of Buffalo Horn , rode into the camp . They were a “ gorgeous set of warriors , hair dyed … decorated with … sleigh bells and feathers ” and wearing buckskin and brightly colored blankets . They had been promised all the Nez Perce horses they could capture . ” An unusually talented White scout , Stanton G . Fisher , and the Bannocks explored ahead . Howard followed slowly , so slowly that Buffalo Head and many of the Bannocks quit the army in disgust and went home and Fisher commented , “ Uncle Sam ’ s boys are too slow for this business . ” After learning that the Nez Perce had crossed into the wilderness of Yellowstone National Park , Howard called a halt to the chase and rested for several days at Henrys Lake . Howard ’ s troops were tired , having marched for 26 days averaging 20 miles a day . The Nez Perce , burdened with wounded , women , children , and elderly had gone faster and further but , in the words of a journalist , they had the “ faculty of stealing fresh horses from the settlers . " Meanwhile , Howard ’ s superior General Philip Sheridan was collecting more than one thousand experienced soldiers and Indian scouts from many tribes to defeat the Nez Perce when they emerged from Yellowstone .