Product Description

This newest volume in Oxford's acclaimed Pivotal Moments series offers an unforgettable portrait of the Nez Perce War of 1877, the last great Indian conflict in American history. It was, as Elliott West shows, a tale of courage and ingenuity, of desperate struggle and shattered hope, of short-sighted government action and a doomed flight to freedom.
To tell the story, West begins with the early history of the Nez Perce and their years of friendly relations with white settlers. In an initial treaty, the Nez Perce were promised a large part of their ancestral homeland, but the discovery of gold led to a stampede of settlement within the Nez Perce land. Numerous injustices at the hands of the US government combined with the settlers' invasion to provoke this most accomodating of tribes to war. West offers a riveting account of what came next: the harrowing flight of 800 Nez Perce, including many women, children and elderly, across 1500 miles of mountainous and difficult terrain. He gives a full reckoning of the campaigns and battles--and the unexpected turns, brilliant stratagems, and grand heroism that occurred along the way. And he brings to life the complex characters from both sides of the conflict, including cavalrymen, officers, politicians, and--at the center of it all--the Nez Perce themselves (the Nimiipuu, "true people"). The book sheds light on the war's legacy, including the near sainthood that was bestowed upon Chief Joseph, whose speech of surrender, "I will fight no more forever," became as celebrated as the Gettysburg Address.
Based on a rich cache of historical documents, from government and military records to contemporary interviews and newspaper reports, The Last Indian War offers a searing portrait of a moment when the American identity--who was and who was not a citizen--was being forged.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #133658 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 432 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780195136753
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. A distinguished scholar of American history makes a significant contribution to Oxford's excellent series Pivotal Moments in American History in this definitive analysis of the United States' 1877 war with the Nez Percé. West (The Contested Plains) integrates a broad spectrum of sources to depict the fate of a people whose history of friendship with the U.S. dated to 1805. The Nez Percé were caught up in the questions posed by the Civil War and the period of expansion that followed: who would be the Americans and what obligations would bind them together? Such questions influenced Idaho and Oregon, where the Nez Percé lived, as much as Massachusetts and Virginia. The 1877 war, the Nez Percé's epic journey to reach the Canadian border, American conquest and Indian exile is the heart of the book, and West tells it brilliantly. No less compelling is his account of the Nez Percé taking up farming and making and selling Indian trinkets, developing their image as beloved losers and negotiating their return home—on white terms, but with honor and integrity upheld. 40 b&w illus., maps. (Apr.)
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From Booklist
*Starred Review* The so-called Nez Perce War of 1877 was one of the most unlikely, heroic, and tragic episodes in the history of the American West. Since encountering and helping to sustain the Lewis and Clark expedition, the several bands of the Nez Perce had maintained harmonious relations with the U.S. government. Then, after the government insisted that all of the bands relocate to a reservation well removed from their homeland, a band led by Chief Joseph resisted, leading the army on a 1,500-mile chase that ended just short of the Canadian border, capturing, in the process, the attention, even sympathy, of the general public. West, a professor of American history at the University of Arkansas, has written a detailed and often moving chronicle of the conflict. He lays the groundwork with an excellent analysis of Nez Perce culture on the eve of their flight. He also asserts provocatively that the effort to relocate the Nez Perce was part of the larger, post–Civil War federal strategy to overcome sectional and ethnic divisions. The highlight of the narrative is the flight of the approximately 800 Nez Perce, including the iconic figures Joseph and Looking Glass, as they strive to battle and break free of their pursuers. This is a superb reexamination of a sad but memorable story. --Jay Freeman

Review

"A distinguished scholar of American history makes a significant contribution to Oxford's excellent series Pivotal Moments in American History in this definitive analysis of the United States' 1877 war with the Nez Perce... The 1877 war, the Nez Perce's epic journey to reach the Canadian border, American conquest and Indian exile is the heart of the book, and West tells it brilliantly."--Publishers Weekly starred review
"Elliott West's The Last Indian War illustrates his leadership among western historians... this new volume exhibits West's superb talents as a thoughtful, analytical, and artistic historian at home in the West ... West's book is now the best account we have of the much-discussed Nez Perce War and the role of the Nez Perce leader Joseph in this conflict... But The Last Indian War is much more than another account of the Nez Perce War. If read carefully and thoughtfully, West's benchmark volume will force general and specialist readers to reconfigure American history of the mid-nineteenth century... In short, The Last Indian War is a major work of both revision and narration. Western as well as American historians will find West's volume of first importance in rethinking the mid-nineteenth century. Quite simply, West's premier book is worthy of all the accolades and major prizes it will garner."--Richard W. Etulain, Journal of American History
"Gripping...Skilled storytelling drives an astute examination of a sad, complicated episode."--Kirkus Reviews
"It is fascinating history, well-documented... West follows every step of that journey, stressing how the stark contrast between two cultures cultivated misunderstandings that festered into war. That theme becomes a drumbeat as he scrutinizes every detail of the Nez Perce war, flight, capture and exile."--Tacoma News Tribune
"This is an excellent study of the relations between whites and the Nez Perce tribe, with emphasis on the 1877 war."--True West magazine
"Based on extensive research in archival papers, government reports, and contemporary sources, this well-written book is an excellent place to start in understanding the Nez Perce War and is highly recommended for all libraries."--Library Journal
"Using historical documents, from government and military records to contemporary interviews and newspaper reports, 'The Last Indian War' offers a portrait of emerging American identity - when the idea of who was and who was not a citizen was being forged...Complex characters on both sides of the following battles are brought to life. The book sheds light on the war's legacy, including the near sainthood bestowed upon Chief Joseph."--Lewiston Tribune
"No one writes Western history better than Elliott West. Here he puts the Nez Perce story into the broad context of U.S. national integration while retaining its vivid specificity. A gripping account for both academic and general audiences."--Daniel Walker Howe, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848
"In Elliott West's skilled hands, the plangent tale of Chief Joseph and the great hegira of his people comes to immediate life on the page." --Hampton Sides, author of Blood and Thunder
"Powerful and elegant, informative and highly readable, Elliott West's The Last Indian War is one of the most distinguished works on its subject to appear in 30 years. Its core is a fascinating account of how some 800 Nez Perce outwitted the U.S. Army over a 1500-mile retreat. Indians and white army officers, soldiers, politicians and local settlers-all become flesh and blood, revealing not only West's profound understanding of Indian culture but his ability to put them within the context our national history as it was becoming a modern industrial nation."--Howard R. Lamar, Sterling Professor Emeritus of History, Yale University
"With his extraordinary gifts for conveying the character of the people of the past and for untangling--but never over-simplifying--the most complex of stories, Elliott West uncovers the unifying patterns in the Civil War and the Indian Wars, the Reconstruction of the South and the incorporation of the West."--Patricia Nelson Limerick, Center of the American West, University of Colorado
"No one has ever told the story of the Nez Perce so compellingly and so movingly-and many have told it. Even more impressively, West makes this wry, tragic, and deeply humane volume a window onto the wider changes transforming the United States. His idea of a Greater Reconstruction provides a framework for future histories of the era."--Richard White, Professor of History, Stanford University
"In West's sweeping narrative, the destinies of Nez Perce warriors and American officers entwine as they struggle for mastery of some of the continent's choice land. In the hands of one of our greatest western historians, the last Indian war is no longer an isolated event on the edge of American history, but goes to the heart of the central question of just who was welcome in modern America, and under what terms."--Heather Cox Richardson, author of West From Appomattox
"The Nez Perces never wanted war and their history was embedded in the glorious and forbidding geography of the high country of Idaho and Montana for a millennia. Elliott West, one of the most versatile and distinguished historians of the American West, tells this riveting epic story of land, greed, race, and warfare. All whites are not villains and all Indians are not heroic in this saga; but the tragedy of the pursuit and destruction of Chief Joseph and his people by the relentless logic of war is rooted in a U.S. government policy of conquest and racial dominance that we must still reckon with today. This book will make readers weep and then enrich and haunt their imaginations forever."--David W. Blight, Yale University, author of Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory
"Perceptive and poignant."--The Oregonian

Customer Reviews

A Piercing Account of the Nez Perce
In "The Last Indian War," West has brought his exceptional storytelling skills to a compelling group of nineteenth-century Americans. I was particularly impressed at how he blended political and technological forces from across the country and at times around the world with the Nez Perce tale, demonstrating how they were connected to broader issues of the day rather than treating them like an anachronistic group, as is so often the case in Indian history. By demonstrating the complicated nature of the Nez Perce's existence, and their struggle to retain independence from various Euro-American competitors, West has created a work that will stand not only as an excellent narrative of that society but also a model for other historians of how to tell more complete, overarching cultural stories.

Fresh approach to an important story
The tragic story of the flight of the Nez Perce--a people long at peace with the United States--is familiar to most students of Western American history, a coda of deceit and betrayal so typical of relations between Indian peoples and the federal government. Elliott West's "The Last Indian War" recounts, in crisp and accessible prose, that story. But unlike many "popular" historians, he is also interested in more than just rehashing the same narrative for a new generation of readers. West sees the Nez Perce War as emblematic of deeper social and political changes that forever altered the course of the nation from the 1840s-1877, a period West argues should be known as the "Greater Reconstruction." This period saw the extension of the nation to the Pacific, the battle between regions and the increasingly powerful federal government, the spread of information and transportation technology, and most importantly, in West's view, a grappling with the meaning of citizenship and the inclusion of both newly free African-Americans and Indian peoples, the former willingly and the latter reluctantly. West has always been a master at showing the connections of seemingly unconnected events and in this book he uses O.O. Howard, particularly, to show both the issues facing freedmen in the South and Indians in the West as Howard was a crusader for African Americans (leading the freedmen's bureau and founding Howard University) and the officer in charge of capturing Joseph and the Nez Perce. West has written a book that should appeal to both serious scholars, who will find it especially useful for upper-division history classes, and those general readers who enjoy works by writers like Stephen Ambrose and Jeff Shaara.

Putting War in its Cultural Context
While the United States Army's campaign against the Sioux in 1876 has been immortalized by "Custer's Last Stand," the equally significant Nez Perce War of 1877 has received very little attention. There have been a few other books out on this subject, but nothing like the non-stop flow of Custer historiography. In The Last Indian War, Professor Elliott West (University of Arkansas) takes an academic look at the Nez Perce War and does a fine job casting it in a cultural context. Readers expecting a pure military history will be disappointed since only about half the book actually covers the war itself. Instead, the author's intent is to demonstrate how cultural misunderstandings between the United States representatives and the Nez Perce contributed to the deterioration of relations and eventual outbreak of war, as well as making it difficult for each side to understand the other's objectives once fighting did begin. There is a subtle nuance in these pages that greatly adds to our understanding of this conflict, yet without getting bogged down. Furthermore, the author demonstrates balance in not adopting an `all-Whites-are-bad, all-Indians-are-good' attitude or depicting the Nez Perce as noble victims, as they tried to depict themselves after they were defeated.

The Last Indian War consists of 18 chapters, plus footnotes and index, for a total of 397 pages. The author has also included 32 illustrations/photos, a chronology and five maps. Approximately the first third of the book traces the evolution of the Nez Perce and their interactions with White explorers, traders, missionaries, miners, politicians and settlers in the period 1805 to the 1870s. The author makes some good points here, that the Nez Perce were able to deal with Whites as equals to about 1855 and that the relationship established was beneficial to both sides (guns traded for resources). This period of relative equality came to an end in 1860 when gold was discovered on Nez Perce land and the resulting flood of new-comers left the Nez Perce a minority on their own land. The critical moment came with the treaty of 1863, which tried to force the Nez Perce onto reservations, which caused a split between `Treaty' and `Non-Treaty' Nez Perce. Although the author is at pains to point out deceptions and outright lies by Whites about their intentions, he does not spare the Nez Perce either. He points out that earlier, they had not only stood by while Whites took land from neighboring tribes like the Flatheads, but actually contributed scouts to help the US Army suppress their neighbors.

The war breaks out in the middle section of the book and the author covers the entire march from Idaho to Bear Paw Mountain in Montana and the three months of active campaigning. Although he does discuss the US Army, its leaders and its plans, more of the focus is on the Nez Perce. Battles are generally covered in a couple of pages, with adequate detail about casualties, but these descriptions don't include all the details that a military reader or specialist might expect. A big point that the author does make is to deflate the "Chief Joseph was in charge" legend. In fact, leadership of the Nez Perce was rather amorphous and battlefield leadership was often left up to individual warriors. In contrast, West makes the point that the US Army leadership was often deficient at the tactical level but the units had a level of cohesiveness and dedication to mission that the Nez Perce found difficult to comprehend. Amazingly, the Nez Perce apparently believed that when they left Idaho that `the war was over' and they were surprised to find other US Army units attacking them. The author succeeds in demonstrating that not only did cultural misunderstandings contribute to the war, but they made it difficult for each side to actually fight each other. Misconduct on both sides is also addressed: White violations of a flag of truce and Nez Perce murders and rapes committed against civilians.

The final section of the book covers the defeat of the Nez Perce at Bear Paw and the ultimate disposition of the `Non-Treaty' members, as well as Chief Joseph's successful song-and-dance routine to gain national sympathy (actually the author is quite merciless against Joseph). All in all, the Last Indian War does an admirable job putting this war in its cultural context although there were a few issues that were left not fully covered. For example, while the author makes clear that the "Treaty Nez Perce" did not side with those involved in the war and even provided scouts to the US Army to use against their fellows, it's still left a little murky why so many Nez Perce (apparently more than two-thirds) were able to move onto reservations and adapt without violence, while the non-Treaty's couldn't. It is clear that the anti-progressive `Dreamer Movement' among the Nez Perce played a part, but this seems insufficient in itself. Nevertheless, The Last Indian War adds to our understanding of the important Nez Perce War and makes some important observations about conflict between two radically different cultures.