Nez Perce Summer, 1877: The U.S. Army and Nee-Me-Poo Crisis

by Jerome A. Greene

Greene (research historian, National Park Service) recounts the fighting retreat of the nontreaty Nez Perces, including Chief Joseph, across nearly 1,000 miles of Pacific Northwest wilderness. Greene draws from both U.S. Army and Nez Perce sources to explain their circuitous route through Yellowstone National Park and their attempts to seek refuge among the Crow Indians. Twenty-six illustrations and photographs and 16 maps are included. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Genres: History, American History, Military Fiction, Nonfiction

554 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2000

Reviews

[Kurt · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my younger and more vulnerable years a certain college professor of mine gave me some advice that I have been turning over in my head ever since.

"Everyone," he said, "should learn something about everything, and everything about one thing."

I took that advice to heart. I had always, from the time I was a small child, yearned for and actively sought out broad-based knowledge -- the somethings about everything -- but I had not, until a little over 25 years ago, decided upon a specific subject about which I wanted to learn everything. Then I began studying native American history. I was more than enthralled. It was so fascinating. Finally I had discovered a subject that I truly wanted to know everything about.

But it was the specific story of the Nez Perce people that especially caught my attention and my interest. So over the past several years I have managed to become somewhat of an expert on the subject, albeit an amateur one. I have read nearly every book on the subject, and this one is the latest.

Nez Perce Summer, 1877 is certainly the most thorough telling of the story of the 1877 war from the perspective of the U.S. military. Details of military communications, maneuvers, strategies as well as biographical details of military personnel that are not described in any other work abound in this one. It is also one of the best for describing the routes taken by the various military parties and the Indians themselves. It is a very commendable effort.

For my part, however, because my sympathies and my interests lie more closely with the Nez Perce, I found some of the military-related details to be a little excessive, leading me to consider this tome slightly less interesting than some of the other histories I have read on the subject -- purely a matter of personal taste.

[Alethea Hammer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. The only problem I had with it is the footnotes which are all at the back so you need to use two bookmarks.

[Julia Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I consulted Jerome Greene's Nez Perce Summer, 1877, early and often during the many years I spent researching my novel on the Nez Perce War. Thank you, Mr. Greene, for this excellent resource!

[andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is well detailed and always sad and hard for me to read.

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book- very well researched and I spent this summer walking the battlefields with this book!

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book!