by Rich Wandschneider | Feb 17, 2026 | Ellen Bishop, Imnaha, Indian history, Indian treaties, Lewis and Clark, Minam, Nex Perce history, Nez Perce, Nez Perce Homeland, Nez Perce treaty, Nez Perce Tribe, Wallowa Country, Wallowa County, Wallowa History Center, wallowa homeland, Wallowa Lake, Wallowas
Wondering what it must have been like has been a growing yearning as I’ve lived in this Wallowa Country for 54 years and met old-timers, history keepers, and Natives from the three reservations in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon that have stories and questions about...
by Rich Wandschneider | Dec 31, 2025 | Manifest Destiny, Marcus Whitman, Native Americans, Nespelem, Nex Perce history, Nez Perce
President Trump’s recent outbursts about Somali-Americans and their homeland being “garbage” have been the most xenophobic rants since those a year ago about Haitians eating pets in Illinois. There have been milder explosions about Venezuelans and South Africans and...
by Rich Wandschneider | Oct 13, 2025 | C.E.S. Wood, Chief Joseph, Erskine Wood, Mardi Wood, Nespelem, Nez Perce, O.O. Howard, Thunder in the Mountains
And what a crowd! Many the descendants of the legendary C.E.S. Wood. Readers of Nez Perce history might remember that C.E.S. was aide-de-camp to General O.O. Howard in the Nez Perce War of 1877, and is credited with taking down Chief Joseph’s speech at war’s end at...
by Rich Wandschneider | Sep 23, 2025 | Chief Joseph, Nez Perce, Nez Perce Homeland, Nez Perce treaty, Nez Perce Wallowa Homeland, Wallowa, Wallowa Country, Wallowa County, Wallowa Lake
Last week on Wednesday I got up early, looked at Wallowa Lake’s east moraine and the mountain to the west now called Mount Joseph, and hit the road for an appointment in La Grande. It was a gorgeous day, bright, green with first tinges of browns and yellows. Light...
by Rich Wandschneider | Sep 13, 2025 | Gaza, Indian removal, Israel, Netanyahu, Nez Perce, Nez Perce National Park, Nez Perce War
In 1877, General O.O. Howard gave the Nez Perce 30 days to leave the Wallowa and get themselves to the much-reduced reservation at Lapwai in Idaho. Other “non-treaty” bands on the other side of the Snake River were given the same orders. There were killings of...
by Rich Wandschneider | Aug 9, 2025 | Columbia River, Indian removal, Indian survival, Indian Territory, Indian treaties, John Marshall, Klamath, Nez Perce, Nez Perce Fisheries, Pacific Northwest, salmon, Snake River, Snake River dams, Supreme Court
I just watched the Washington Post’s account of the 15 young tribal members who kayaked the 310-mile length of the Klamath River this summer. They had trained hard, become excellent paddlers, readying themselves as the river was readying itself for them; the river...
