Lower Mist Creek Meadow below where Main Nez Perce Camp was located with Saddle Moutain in the Distance
About the Author
Stan Hoggatt is a Nez Perce historian, author, and photographer. He currently teaches Nez Perce history on the Rocky Mountain College Elderhostel staff. Stan's maps depicting the Nez Perce Trail and the routes that the Nez Perce followed as they left Pelican Valley en route to their escape from the forces of General Howard and Colonel Sturgis through the Clarks Fork Canyon were published in November 1998. Stan's photograph of Horace Axtel was featured in 1997 on the inside cover of "Little Bit of Wisdom: Conversations with a Nez Perce Elder" by Horace Axtell and Margo Aragon. A black and white photo presentation, "Nez Perce Trail--A Photo Essay" was published in 1994. In 1994, Stan also published gift cards, "Yellowstone in Perspective," with images of Yellowstone's picturesque landscapes and geysers. On the back of each image is a historical narrative describing the discovery and naming of the feature by members of The Washburn Expedition. The cards were sold throughout Yellowstone Park and by the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming. In 1996, Stan published a website for Western Treasurers at www.nezperce.com featuring Nez Perce photography, essays on Nez Perce history during the 1800s, Discovery Vacations, and featured Montana and Wyoming parks and interpretive centers focusing on Native American history and western settlement. Since publication, the website has received over 850,000 visitors from all over the world.
Stan began researching the routes the Nez Perce followed out of Yellowstone National Park through the Clarks Fork Canyon area in 1993. With the assistance of the Cary family, owners of the Hunter Peak Ranch, and the Dominick family, owners of the 7 D Ranch, Stan was able to ride numerous times over the difficult terrain of Yellowstone National Park and the Shoshone National Forest as he researched the routes followed by the Nez Perce. Stan was also assisted in his research efforts by Lee Whittlesey, Yellowstone Park Archivist, and an associate, Mike Stevens, on a three-day backpack trip from Pelican Valley to Soda Butte. Finally, David Dominick, a historian of Western & Wyoming history, provided invaluable assistance to Stan during a series of interpretive discussions between them. These discussions were key to enabling Stan to find historical documentation clarifying the routes followed by Colonel Sturgis and his men as they headed south for the Stinking Water (Shoshone) River and their return. Later, with historical documentation in hand, Stan along with David Dominick and Bob Edgar, archeologist and owner of Trail Town in Cody, were able to match geographical features with descriptions set out in historical documents. Collectively, they were able to conclude the Nez Perce descended into the Clarks Fork Canyon from Dead Indian Gulch by taking an old game trail that crossed their path near the end of Dead Indian Gulch and before the Gulch empties precipitously into the Canyon. The old game trail descended along the steep slopes of Bald Mountain until it reached the valley floor and the Clarks Fork River below.
Stan's goal was to use original research and historical documentation as a basis for route interpretation, the development of maps, and a manuscript. Stan felt this was essential as most historical work to date had been incomplete and sometimes confusing. Unfortunately, the historical debate over routes followed has detracted from the miraculous achievement of the Nez Perce people in getting through this very rugged and difficult terrain. To do so and to provide sustenance for between 700 and 750 people and nearly 2,500 head of horses is a remarkable achievement. The Nez Perce's ability to use the terrain to their advantage, their destruction and disruption of numerous scouting parties' attempts to communicate between the commands of General Howard and Colonel Sturgis, and their ultimate escape is an amazing achievement. The fact the Nez Perce were able to escape the military web set in motion to destroy them saved their people from certain disaster. Additionally, it spared our nation from another shameful tragedy of government forces attacking innocent women and children--as it had done so often during the Indian Wars and as it had done during the Battle of the Big Hole a month earlier.
