CODY, WYOMING—Researchers from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) office in Cody and the Office of the Wyoming State Archaeologist (OWSA) have been looking for evidence of U.S. Army campsites along the Nez Perce National Historic Trail near the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River. In 1877, the U.S. Army pursued the Nez Perce for 1,170 miles, from Wallowa Lake, Oregon, to the Bear Paw Battleground in Montana, where Chief Joseph surrendered. “The archival materials make searching worthwhile because Army officers wrote about where they camped. Over a thousand men from two different departments made camp in approximately the same location, somewhere in this area—that’s what we’re looking for,” AWSA archaeologist Dan Eakin said in a BLM press release. The team, which included members from the U.S. Forest Service, volunteers, and a Nez Perce tribal member, found worn pieces of horseshoes, cartridge cases, a saddle ring, and a square nail. These artifacts are not conclusive evidence that the team found traces of the trail, but it will help them better define it and protect it in the future. To read more about archaeology in the western United States, go to "The Buffalo Chasers."
