Journal of Cortez Modrables

August 25, 1877

The bands captured a recently discharged soldier named Irwin. He knows some Ni-mi-pu signs, but when he discovered that I spoke English, he became very talkative. He was surprised to find a white man among the Ni-mi-pu, and seemed to want to make a good impression on me in hopes that this might keep him from being killed. I learned much about the army from him, including where their forts are located. This information might be very useful, so I’m noting them here:

Fort Ellis is in the Gallatin River Valley, just east of the town of Bozeman. This is the fort where Irwin was stationed, and he told me that there are many soldiers there, both cavalry and infantry.

Fort Shaw is on the Sun River, west of the Missouri River near the east side of the Rocky Mountains. Irwin didn’t know how many soldiers were at Fort Shaw, but he had heard that some were sent to Fort Missoula to stop the Nez Perce in the Bitterroot Valley. These may be the very soldiers who attacked the bands in the Big Hole Valley!

The Crow Agency is on the Yellowstone River near where it leaves the mountains. There are some soldiers there, and some of the Crow warriors and scouts work for the army. I wonder if Looking Glass knows of the Crow Agency.

Fort Custer is on the Stinking Water River about fifty miles east of Yellowstone Park. Irwin didn’t know much about it.

Fort Keogh is on the Yellowstone River well east of the mountains. Irwin said that there are many soldiers there and that they are sometimes transported by riverboat.

Fort Hawley is on the Missouri River, west of the mouth of the Musselshell River.

Another thing that Irwin mentioned, which the chiefs might not understand, is that the forts have telegraph lines. Messages can be sent, and orders given in minutes. Each town also has a telegraph station, so messengers can ride to many other places where orders can be sent.

Cortez found Irwin’s information very disturbing. If military forts were scattered throughout the prairie, each with hundreds of soldiers, the buffalo country obviously would not give the non-treaty bands the peace and freedom they sought. What was even more worrisome to him was what Irwin had said about Crow warriors and scouts working for the soldiers at the Crow Agency. The promises made by some Crow chiefs to Looking Glass must be pretty weak if Crow warriors and scouts were helping the soldiers fight the non-treaty bands. The Ni-mi-pu hadn’t found any friends among the tribes that they had encountered since the trouble started.

Cortez’s conversations with the former soldier disturbed him personally, as well. Irwin and he were about the same age, and they both had white skin. If Cortez hadn’t been adopted by the Ni-mi-pu but, instead, had become a soldier, could he be trying to kill Indians? If Irwin had been at the Big Hole attack, could Cortez have been talking with him or hating him? The soldiers who leered at his naked wife and then shot her for sport were much like Irwin. Cortez wondered what made men do such terrible things. The soldiers and civilian volunteers obviously had been ordered to kill not just warriors, but women, children, and old people without weapons. He also wondered how he would feel if he were ordered to kill people whom he didn’t want to kill. Ni-mi-pu warriors only killed people whom they individually wanted to kill. Cortez could think of no case during this terrible trouble in which a warrior was ordered to kill when he didn’t want to.

Cortez decided that he didn’t like Irwin despite the man’s friendliness. The soyapo talked to save his skin, regardless of the consequences for others. When Irwin told the bands that there were more sightseers down the Yellowstone, he was hoping that providing this information would avert his own torture or even death. The shaman thought that Irwin might have told him about the army posts for the same reason.

Cortez passed Irwin’s information, along with his own opinions, on to White Bird. Then, while he had White Bird’s attention, he also told the chief of a plan that he had been considering—laid it out in carefully worded Sahaptin: “Yellowstone Park has much wild and very rugged country. The Ni-mi-pu can travel through and live off this kind of country, unlike Howard’s army, with its cannons and many wagons carrying food and other white men’s necessities. If the chiefs were to select a place where the main camp would be safe from the soldiers, most of the warriors and scouts could then turn back—surround and trap Howard’s army where they couldn’t fight their way out. Supply trains could be captured by the warriors before they reached the army. When Howard saw that his army could be destroyed, or his soldiers starve, he might accept a truce. If he refused a truce, the non-treaty bands could hold the soldiers in the park until the winter freezes them out. The bitter winter weather would frighten the soldiers. The civilian volunteers would leave, and soldiers would desert. In this plan, the warriors had only to stop the supplies, not fight the army. Replacement soldiers from the forts could be blocked in the canyons by only a few warriors, never reaching Howard.” Cortez paused while White Bird let these words form images.

When the chief nodded that he had the picture, Cortez went on. “While the people waited for a truce, they could gather food and prepare lodges for winter. Forcing Howard to a truce here in the wilderness would be a far better plan than trying to run away from the army, replenished by troops from the many forts, in the open buffalo country.” Cortez paused again before adding for emphasis, “It is a long way to Grandmother’s Land.”

The following morning White Bird convened a council to present Cortez’s plan to all the chiefs. Later, Cortez asked White Bird what the other chiefs of the plan thought of the plan. The chief replied that he had met with the other chiefs, but they had immediately started arguing about which direction to take out of Yellowstone Park. They didn’t seem to consider the shaman’s plan to be important enough to stop arguing.

Cortez reminded White Bird that his plan was not to leave the park, but to trap Howard’s army in the rugged wild park country and cut off their supplies until Howard made a truce.

White Bird asked, “Simahichen Tim, do you really think that the one-armed general and the chiefs over him would keep a truce that would allow the non-treaty bands to go free?”

Cortez replied to White Bird, “I can’t speak for another man, but I think that Howard’s army must be tired of this chase. The scouts tell us that the soldiers’ boots are worn out and they sleep without blankets. Their food is poor, and they can’t live off the land. Once we leave this place and go onto the prairie, the armies from the forts will be fresh and well-fed. They would be able to chase the people into a trap and defeat us before we reach Grandmother’s Land.” While White Bird gave more thought to the shaman’s words, Cortez added, “I could write the truce words on paper so that One Arm would have to honor what he signed.”

Journal of Cortez Modrables

August 27, 1877

The main band continues to move at a leisurely pace along a pleasant stream in this open plateau country. There is very good grazing for the horse herd, and the scouts are able to find plentiful elk and deer for the people. The women are gathering roots and berries as we move. I feel that the non-treaty band could live well in this country without going on to the buffalo country. Howard’s army, on the other hand, would starve without wagons and pack trains loaded with flour and dried meat.

The chiefs held council again, so Cortez again asked White Bird if the other chiefs had considered the plan to stay in the park and trap Howard’s army and force a truce. White Bird said that he had only talked with Joseph about it, and Joseph didn’t favor any aggression toward the army. Joseph’s approach was still to find a peaceful way to end the trouble and go back home. White Bird said that the chiefs were still listening to the captive, Shively, about the best route to take to the buffalo country. He didn’t think that it would be good to talk about any plan to trap Howard that Shively might hear about and find a way to warn Howard.

Cortez learned that Looking Glass and a couple of his warriors had left the main band to go and talk with the Crows. White Bird had warned Looking Glass about what Cortez had learned from Irwin regarding the forts with soldiers and also about soldiers are stationed at the Crow Agency.

Cortez grew restless with the slow movement of the main band, so he retrieved Silu Silu from the horse herd and rode out to scout this area for himself. The hillside where the pony climbed from the valley floor broadened into a sloping plateau that then climbed eastward toward the rugged mountains. There were many places along this open plateau where scouts could watch for Howard’s army. If it came up the valley, the scouts could watch without being seen. By keeping the people high on this plateau, the army wouldn’t catch them sleeping in their lodges again.

The shaman turned Silu Silu upslope toward the crest of the rugged mountains. The closer to the ridge they got, the more difficult the travel—climbing through rocky patches; but it would be even more difficult for Howard’s army, Cortez thought. He then scouted along this western slope below the rocky crest, looking for a place where a travois could pass between canyon walls. He didn’t find one.

Journal of Cortez Modrables

September 1, 1877

The people rested this day while the horse herd grazed on the lush grass. Hunters brought in several elk and a buffalo calf. The people seem to feel happy again, despite the hardships and losses of loved ones. I’m always amazed at how resilient the Nez Perce people are. A little rest and some fresh meat usually bring out smiles.

Cortez had an opportunity to talk with Lean Elk about his plan to trap Howard’s army in this valley and try to force him into a truce. The chief promised to think about it, but he doubted that the other chiefs would consent to the idea. Lean Elk asked, “How could we trust Howard or his chiefs to keep a truce that was forced on him?”

Cortez answered, “I can’t speak for Howard, but I know that there are army forts in the buffalo country where soldiers can be sent after us should we leave this wilderness without a truce.”

“The chiefs will talk and decide,” Lean Elk said, ending the conversation.

The bands are still camped on the high plateau. They are getting fed and rested and the horse herd is doing the same.

Lean Elk and the captured miner, Shively, rode up to the mountain crest today. Shively pointed out the way to the buffalo country. Later the chiefs held council, but Cortez wasn’t told what was decided.

The weather turned bad. It was raining hard. Cortez was glad that the ever faithful Welweyas had kept his lodge dry and gathered dry firewood.

Sometime during that night Shively had left the camp. He had built his own brush shelter, and no one guarded it. He used the heavy rain storm to hide his tracks. The chiefs weren’t concerned. If he met up with Howard’s scouts, he would probably tell them where we were, but they would find us anyway.

The next afternoon, some of the scouts were surprised by Bannock scouts who must have been working for Howard. The scouts exchanged some gunshots and left before there was a real battle. No one was hit by the bullets. Most of the main camp moved farther up the plateau, but some warriors stayed at the old camp to guard against raids.

The chiefs started moving the main camp up and over the mountain range and on toward the buffalo country. Apparently, they had rejected Cortez’s plans to trap Howard. The climb was very rough, but there was no sense of urgency, so the people were able to pick their way over the rocks and through the deadfalls.

It took another day to move over the crest. From there they could see the buffalo country as a tan-colored sea off in the distance and thousands of feet below. The trail leading down off this mountain range, called the Absaroka, would be extremely difficult. Some of the gulches ended at cliffs, and some narrow clefts were filled with rock debris and logs. The scouts moved on ahead, trying to find the best route.

Journal of Cortez Modrables

September 8, 1877

The chiefs met in council last night. Looking Glass and his warriors returned from meeting with the Crows. The Crow chiefs, who had promised Looking Glass that the Crow would help the Nez Perce fight the army, now told him that they could not help. In fact, they told the Ni-mi-pu chief to move as rapidly as possible through the Crow country and on to Grandmother’s Land.

Cortez again asked White Bird if the chiefs had talked about his suggested plan of trapping Howard’s army in the mountains, cutting them off from supply wagons and mule trains. White Bird replied that the chiefs were set on going to Grandmother’s Land, especially after learning that the non-treaty bands wouldn’t be welcome to stay with the Crows. The chiefs would not consider risking the people’s well-being on words of truce with the one-armed general. Cortez felt that the chiefs, even White Bird, put little value in the opinions of a white shaman.

The bands had traveled several miles downward in a southeasterly direction when the chiefs ordered the people to mill around with their horses and travois to confuse Howard’s scouts as to which direction the bands had taken down the mountains. They then took a northwesterly turn along the east face of the mountains, traveling to a narrow gulch leading down to the valley that Shively called Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone. This was the most difficult stretch that the band had experienced since leaving the Salmon River in Idaho, and the chiefs kept them moving down and into the valley until dark. The defile in the gulch was so narrow in places that a person could touch both sides of the cliff walls at the same time.

Journal of Cortez Modrables

September 11, 1877

The band is moving well down the valley of Clark’s Fork. The people are glad to be in buffalo country. We crossed from the Territory of Wyoming into Montana Territory. We must now completely traverse Montana from south to north to reach Grandmother’s Land.

Once again, the non-treaty bands found that no former friends, including the Montana Territory Crows, were going to help them fight the army. The Crows might even attack the non-treaty bands if the army ordered them to do so. It seemed that all the tribes had come to consider the non-treaty Ni-mi-pu as bad Indians. First it was the reservation Nez Perce, then their Salish old friends and relatives, followed by the Lemhi Shoshones, and lastly the Crows, who had promised Chief Looking Glass to help fight their enemies only a few years ago. The Bannocks had long been tribal enemies, so they couldn’t be blamed for trying get whatever they could from Nez Perce troubles. To reach British North America, the people must still cross the lands of the Assiniboine. Would they welcome the non-treaty bands or also turn on the bands in flight? Then there were the Blackfeet—always Ni-mi-pu enemies. Would the bands meet them even after crossing over the border?

Then, once in Grandmother’s Land, would Sitting Bull and his Sioux see the non-treaty bands as allies or as a troublesome people? Looking Glass and some of his warriors had fought against the Sioux with the Crow. Would this be remembered by the Sitting Bull’s Sioux? All these thoughts worried the shaman as he sat by the fire writing in his journal.

Journal of Cortez Modrables

September 14, 1877

We heard this morning, as we broke camp and continued our way up the valley, that some of our warriors had attacked travelers and a small settlement in the Yellowstone Valley. Several white men were killed, and some warriors and scouts had taken a stage coach for a joy ride. This senseless killing and stealing make us no friends.

The bands reached the end of the valley and began traveling more rapidly over the rolling hills. The army, likewise, would travel much faster here on the prairie, perhaps diminishing the distance between them. Three warriors were wounded, none seriously, in a running battle with soldiers and Bannock scouts. Yellow Wolf was wounded by a bullet through his scalp, but the wound was healing without treatment.

Cortez felt that he wanted to put all the troubles behind him. His thoughts turned back to the peaceful happy days of his adolescence with the Ni-mi-pu of the Salmon River Valley, but he realized that they were gone forever. His ebullience gave way to more somber thoughts. My Nez Perce brother is dead. My beloved wife is dead. Both were innocent victims of the trouble created by red- as well as white-skinned people. Rachel’s only mistake was to love me. Was that a mistake, or was it her destiny? Asking this caused a wave of guilt to sweep over him. Could I have spared Rachel’s life by leaving White Bird’s band and staying on the Lapwai Reservation, or in the Bitterroot Valley, as Rachel had urged? Could I have spared Samuel’s life if I had urged him more compellingly to give up the ways of a warrior and hunter and join his father and mother on the reservation? How much have I contributed to all this trouble, or failed to end it?” Silu Silu listened to these melancholy questions, but kept to his smooth gallop across the silent prairie, leaving the main band behind them.

That night the bands camped in the Musselshell River Valley. The grass had cured over the summer and was not the lush green that Cortez remembered. The river was shallow and sluggish. It didn’t taste sweet as he remembered. Warriors and scouts who had remained to guard the back trail in the Yellowstone Valley joined the main band, bringing more stories of raids and killings. One older warrior was killed by Crow scouts.

As the main band traveled onward from Judith Gap, they came upon a camp of Crows drying buffalo meat. The warriors were angry at all Crows for helping the soldiers and breaking their promise to join the non-treaty bands in fighting the soldiers. The warriors wanted to kill the Crows, but the chiefs said that these Crows were not enemies. So, they just took some of the meat, but most of their horses.

Scouts watching the back trail rode into camp with the news that Howard’s army and the soldiers with the Crow and Bannock warriors were still camped in the Musselshell Valley, just resting. The news that the soldiers were days behind was good news, but it caused strife between the chiefs again. Looking Glass argued that Lean Elk was leading the bands too fast. The people needed more time to rest and graze the horse herd. Lean Elk, however, insisted that the bands must continue to move rapidly toward Grandmother’s Land. Looking Glass wanted to please the people, hoping that they would want him to be their leader again. He must have felt disgraced when the council of chiefs made Lean Elk the leader after Looking Glass’s mistakes at Izhkumzizlakik Pah.

Journal of Cortez Modrables

September 23, 1877

About mid-day, the non-treaty bands reached the south bank of the Missouri River after finding a rugged trail down off the crest of the breaks. A large island divides the Missouri into two shallow channels here. I remember Captain La Mar showing me this place on his map of the river. He said that it was called Cow Island, and it was very difficult to get a steamboat past it in late summer. Often riverboats had to offload cargo that was bound for Fort Benton.

Soldiers were seen on Cow Island and there were some buildings, so the chief sent out a few warriors to ford the shallow channel and determine the situation.

The warriors reported that there were only a few soldiers with several civilians, who had built sort of a barricade fort. Both soldiers and civilians seemed frightened, for they had been warned that the non-treaty bands had headed their way. The chiefs ordered the warriors not to fire on the soldiers unless they started shooting first.

Cow Island was the best place to ford the river, and the chiefs had decided that the bands could cross with just horses and travois at this time of year, without building bull boats.

There were no problems fording. While the warriors guarded the soldiers following the chiefs’ directions, the people traveled up a side canyon and looked for a good night camp spot. The chiefs and warriors, seeing stacks of goods that had been freighted out for the soldiers, offered to buy food, but the civilian man in charge had refused to sell. So, with the soldiers under guard, some of the people returned to the river and helped themselves to flour, beans, bacon, coffee, and utensils. Since it was clear that the goods were intended for the army, and the army had started the war against the non-treaty bands, taking the food was seen as justified. Hadn’t the people lost much food and equipment because of the army’s raids? Also, winter was coming on—so taking food that was truly needed provided further justification.

The campsite, with the cooking fires lit, was a happy place. There was much eating and laughing.

The next afternoon, the bands came upon a train of freight wagons drawn by oxen. The warriors attacked. Two white drivers were killed, and the others ran off into the brush. The warriors didn’t bother hunting them out—instead they went through the goods in the wagons. More food and tools were found. Kegs of whiskey were also discovered, but before they could be opened, soldiers and civilian volunteers were seen galloping toward the raided wagon train. The warriors left the whiskey and set fire to the goods, knowing that the soldiers would try to put out the fire and help the drivers. The shaman believed that the arrival of the soldiers was fortunate, for if the warriors had started drinking whiskey, the people’s flight to Grandmother’s Land might have ended on the prairie only a few days from the border.

Chief Looking Glass ordered the people to stop early on this day at a place where there was good water and foraging for the horse herd. Looking Glass had again assumed leadership, arguing that the people and horse herd were tired from travel and need more time to rest. Also, the warriors needed to start hunting buffalo. Lean Elk relinquished leadership after successfully leading the people since the Big Hole Valley attack. The other chiefs seemed to accept this change.

The shaman didn’t think that the bands should slow down, so he asked White Bird for his opinion. White Bird replied, “The bands are days ahead of Howard’s army, and we shouldn’t meet Sitting Bull as an exhausted and starving people.”

Cortez tried to remind his chief that there might be other armies from the forts that wouldn’t be as worn out as Howard’s, but White Bird asked, “What do your wyakin and your dreams or visions have to say, Simahichen Tim?”
Cortez had to answer that the spirits had been quiet.

The people were happy to stop, and the warriors found buffalo, so the bands had fresh meat. After another short day of travel, they could see two low mountains ahead, and the weather began to grow colder. Autumn was coming, and rain clouds could be seen over the prairie.

The people needed to get across the border into Grandmother’s Land and find a safe valley where winter camps could be made, and lodges set up using teepee poles instead of brush. Winter food must be gathered as well. The people must understand that winter in British North America would be long and cold—not like the winters of the Salmon and Snake river valleys of Idaho.

Journal of Cortez Modrables

September 28, 1877

While traveling this day I saw Lean Elk and rode up next to him so that we could talk. I learned that he had traveled to Grandmother’s Land with his father by this route. I asked how we would know that we were there. He replied, “From the top of the approaching mountains, one can look north and see across the border. First you will see another big river, called the Milk River because of its color. After crossing that river, one long day’s travel will take us to the border.” He then added, “But to be safe, we should travel north for another day.”

I then asked, “Are there any marks on the ground?”

“I don’t remember any marks on the ground at this place, but I have heard that there are piles of stones at other places.”

With Lean Elk so willing to talk, I asked him more questions: “Are there soldiers in the British land, and are they friendly with the U.S. Army?”

Lean Elk answered, “There are soldiers, but not many, and the Grandmother-Queen tells them not to fight the Indians.”

The next day, the non-treaty bands passed through a low gap between the mountains and camped on the north side. Lean Elk had said that these low mountains were called the Bear Paw.

Looking Glass had the bands stop early again for night camp. The site had no firewood, but there were lots of dry buffalo chips for cooking. Cortez felt restless and wanted to see British North America as Lean Elk had described it, so he told Welweyas to make camp while he rode Silu Silu up the low mountain just east of the campsite.

The shaman could see dark storm clouds moving in from the northwest. This worried him, but they didn’t have far to go. Looking northward he could see a dark streak running more or less east-west about twenty miles away. This, he was sure, was the Milk River. Then the very flat prairie continued northward and faded into the distance. Somewhere in that haze was the people’s goal—Grandmother’s Land.

Cortez let Silu Silu graze in a little park while he walked on up the mountain to a high rocky point. He could see far out to the east and southeast. The sun was shining there through puffs of clouds, making a patchwork of shadows over the prairie sea. Memories from the past flooded into his mind, for he had first walked on that vast prairie with Captain La Mar, searching for herbs that might cure his parents of cholera. Then he had wandered out on the prairie alone until he encountered El Oso, the great grizzly that he had at first called Grandfather. Next, he had met up with Samuel, who had become his brother in every way but blood.

Cortez strained to see the Missouri River Breaks. Somewhere along the southern crest was his little cave, where he had felt safe after being left orphaned and alone. Below that crest was a great stone with a Star of David scratched into its face, and below that star were the graves of his Mama and Papa. Tears welled up in the shaman’s eyes as he remembered those desperately sad days. His throat tightened as he whispered to the prairie, “I was only a boy, and I had to bury the two people who gave me life.”

Through his tears, he saw a cloud moving eastward, letting the sun shine again on the prairie where he visualized his cave and the quarantine camp to have been located. Then, blinking away his tears, Cortez thought he could see something that looked like a dark snake leaving the breaks area. It worried him, and he asked himself, “What is that faint dark steak? It’s just too far away to tell. Could it be just a gully sculpted by water trying to reach the Missouri?”

A light breeze seemed to raise dust from the line, but not from the rest of the prairie. “Could it be a herd of buffalo stampeding?” He longed for his wyakin to tell him if he needed to be concerned. A raven or an eagle could fly over the prairie and tell him what the dark line was. Somehow it looked ominous. The shaman asked the wind, “Could that line be people traveling this way? If the line is made by people and horses, are they red or white? Could the dark line be soldiers?”

Worry hit his gut. Perhaps the spirits had just answered his questions with a warning. A cloud moved to put the dark line in shadow again. Cortez left the mountain crest with fear spoiling the day, not being able identify what the danger he felt might be.

Meanwhile, scouts had found a camp of friendly Assiniboine, and there was visiting back and forth. The Assiniboine were called Walk-Around Sioux by some. They hunted buffalo on both sides of the border. It was good to know that they were not fighting against the Ni-mi-pu like the other tribes encountered since the trouble began.