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which they made a pastry known as "sour dough." The Shoshones liked 

 fish, a food which the Crows and the Blackfeet despised and would eat 

 only when facing starvation. A branch of the Shoshones called Tukua- 

 rika, but dubbed "sheep-eaters" by the whites, actually dwelt in Yellow 

 stone Park in the northern, eastern, and southern parts. They were a 

 timid people, small in stature and lacking in brains and initiative. They 

 were often seen in the park in the early days. 



A fourth nation of Indians, who probably saw more of the park than 

 any others in the early days, were the Bannocks. These lived to the west 

 of the park in what is now Idaho. These Bannocks were a peaceful 

 tribe who crossed the Yellowstone every summer to get to the buffalo 

 country. They feared this crossing and preferred to keep out of the 

 domain of the Evil Spirit, but their fear of the Blackfeet and the Crows 

 was even greater. Consequently the Bannocks braved the Yellowstone 

 each summer to avoid fights and to get their supply of dried buffalo 

 meat. 



Another Indian episode that figures prominently in Yellowstone an 

 nals is the memorable flight of Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce Indians 

 across the park in 1877. The Nez Perces, so named by the early French 

 traders because this tribe pierced their noses and wore nose rings, lived 

 in western Idaho and eastern Oregon, well outside the Yellowstone ter 

 ritory. They were discovered by the Lewis and Clark Expedition and 

 made friends with the white man at once. Missionaries and traders and 

 trappers lived among them, converting the Nez Perces to Christianity. 

 One of these converts was Chief Joseph, an Indian of remarkable ability, 

 integrity, and intelligence. He eventually became chief of the tribe. 



The Nez Perces, by a series of treaties, ceded the white settlers im 

 portant tracts of farming land within their hunting grounds. Much of 

 this was done on the advice of Chief Joseph, contrary to the wishes of 

 other and older counselors of the tribe, who viewed with great alarm the 

 encroachment on the Nez Perce lands. Finally in 1877, when a gold 

 rush caused miners to settle in the heart of the Nez Perce lands regard 

 less of treaty rights, the young braves of the tribe revolted and several 

 white men were slain. The fighting was against the counsel of Chief 

 Joseph, who urged patience and peace; but once the white men were 

 killed he realized that the government would demand vengeance upon 

 his tribe. This was the beginning of one of the most memorable Indian 

 wars in American history. 



Chief Joseph decided that the only chance for his tribe was flight to 

 Canada. Accordingly, incumbered by women, children, and the tribe's 

 belongings, he led the Nez Perces out of the Wallowa Valley in eastern 

 Oregon, across Idaho, into the fastnesses of Yellowstone, across the 

 park, and almost across Montana, fighting all the way, until within thirty 



