The Nez Perce Chief Who Refused To Surrender 40 Miles From Canada — Then Slipped Past The Army And Escaped

October 5: The Final Morning

On the morning of October 5, two treaty Nez Perce men who had been accompanying Howard’s column entered the camp at Bear Paw.

Their names were Captain John and Old George, and they came as intermediaries — nimíipuu themselves, from the bands that had signed the 1863 treaty and accepted the Lapwai Reservation.

They brought the army’s terms to White Bird and Joseph, the two remaining hereditary leaders in camp.

The message, as the NPS Bear Paw Battlefield account describes it: the leaders will not be killed.