Battle of Canyon Creek - The Battle

The Battle

The Yellowstone River, above and below the mouth of Clark’s Fork, is bounded on the north bank by cliffs about 400 feet (120 mts) high. The one passage through the cliffs was Canyon Creek. Following the creek upstream through open country, about five miles from the Yellowstone the cliffs close in on either side and the creek splits into three forks, each running through a canyon only a few hundred feet wide with smaller side canyons. The canyons are separated by steep flat-topped ridges 300 to 500 feet (100 to 160 mts) high. The narrow canyons are about six miles (10 km) long and lead to open prairie above. It was among these multiple canyons and the ridges surmounting them that the battle would take place.

The Nez Perce camped September 12 near the entrance to the narrow canyons of Canyon Creek. On the morning of September 13, many of the warriors were raiding ranches for supplies and horses up and down the Yellowstone River when they suddenly became aware that Sturgis was nearby. They had not expected him to catch them so quickly. Sturgis’ men were exhausted and anticipated a rest after they crossed the Yellowstone River on the morning of September 13, but Crow scouts reported the Nez Perce were moving up Canyon Creek six miles away. Seeing an opportunity, Sturgis sent Major Lewis Merrill and his battalion ahead atop a long ridge to head off the Nez Perce traversing the shallow canyon below. Benteen’s battalion followed, while Sturgis stationed himself with the rear guard. Merrill was halted on the ridge by a scattering of rifle shots from Nez Perce warriors. In the words of his civilian scout, Stanton G. Fisher, Merrill’s battalion dismounted and deployed “instead of charging which they should have done.” According to Yellow Wolf, a single Nez Perce, Teeto Hoonod, held up the advance for a crucial ten minutes, firing 40 well-aimed shots at the cavalry from behind a rock. The caution of the soldiers was perhaps due to the formidable reputation of the Nez Perce for military prowess and marksmanship. Gale-force winds impacted marksmanship, a factor explaining low casualties on both sides.

When Sturgis arrived at the battleground, he perceived that his troops still had the possibility of capturing the Nez Perce horse herd. He sent Captain Benteen and his men on a swing to the left to plug the exits from the canyon and trap the women, children, and horses. Merrill was told to advance into the canyon to threaten the rear of the Nez Perce column, but he was held up by an increasing number of Nez Perce warriors firing at long distance at his soldiers. He succeeded only in capturing a few horses. Benteen also ran into opposition and was unable to head off the horse herd, the Nez Perce occupying high ground and firing at the soldiers. A rearguard of the Nez Perce held off the soldiers until nightfall. Most of their horse herd and their women and children reached the plains and continued north.

Fisher, among others, was “disgusted” with Sturgis’ cautious management of the fight. Fisher was further disgusted when he returned to camp and found that the Crow scouts had stolen his pack animals, clothing, and bedding.