Hailey+D.


 * What is your //general// belief about who or what is most responsible for causing the conflict?**

I think that the United States forces were the biggest problem because they sent soldiers and settlers over from the East to the Salmon River. The U.S. soldiers were very greedy and wanted to get all the gold. The problem was that the Nez Perce weren't going to let the U.S. walk all over them. The settlers wanted to get the gold before anyone else did, so the traveled over to the Salmon River to get as much as they could. [Lambert and Clark]

**What is the relevant background information (i.e. who, what, when, where)?**

The Nez Perce Indians, Chief Joseph and the United States forces where all involved in the Nez Perce retreat. It happened in 1839 and lasted until 1925. It took place in Western Idaho and in Montana. The conflict between the U.S. forces and the Nez Perce was that there was gold in the Salmon River and that was near where the Nez Perce were. The U.S. forces moved in and started taking over what the Indians had already started and the Nez Perce didn't like that. The fact that there was gold and back then everyone wanted gold, so there were a lot of people from the East. [Kershner]

**What were 3 factors that helped cause the conflict (politics, economics, geography, history)?**

The government made a decision to send the U.S. forces to the Salmon River and they didn't think about what it would harm or disturb the Indians in the area. Everyone in the East and the Midwest wanted all the gold. Gold was a big deal back then, so everyone from the East went to the West. The gold was in the Salmon which is located in Northwestern Idaho and some of Montana. I think that the Nez Perce Indians were peaceful and didn't want to harm anyone until the pioneers came and started to take over. [Loveless]

**Explain why one factor is more important than the others.**

When the gold was along the Salmon River in the present day Idaho, U.S. forces moved in to dislodge the peaceful gold, they also disturbed the Nez Perce Indians. Small groups of Nez Perce people moved. Chief Joseph and his band fled towards Canada. Joseph assumed leadership of the Wallowa band of Nez Perce Indians. Nez Perce were important to the Plateau tribe, whose traditional homelands were in Southeast Washington, Northwest Oregon, and Western Indians. [Lambert and Clark] Nez Perce Indians were once the largest tribe in the Western United States. The Nez Perce land was cut to 138,000 acres after the treaties brought by the union army were enforced. About 17,000,000 acres of Nez Perce were left. [Kittelson]

**How could the conflict have been avoided?**

If the the President had not sent over all the U.S. forces then the Nez Perce would not have been frozen and hungry. The Nez Perce were peaceful and never wanted war, the government was the one who started it.


 * What sources of information have you used? **

Encyclopedia: Kershner,Jim."Chief Joseph". __Histor Link__ The State of Washington. April 07, 2009. historylink.org/indect.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file

Website: Kittelson, Adam "Nez Perce " __Nez Perce Indians__ May 19, 2009 [|www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/northerican/nez_perce.html]

Newspaper: Loveless,Matt "Rendezvous with the Past" __Rendezvous with the Past__ May 15,2009 KLEW. Fisher Communication, Inc. Idaho 5-20-09 [|www.klew.com/news/local/45054677.html]

Book: Lambert, Dale and Clark,Dustin "Washington- a state of Contrasts, Volume 2" East Wenatchee, __Washington Directed Media, Inc.__ 2008 page 220 and 221