The Battle of the Big Hole unfolded in a lush river valley that had changed little since the morning of August 9, 1877, a place familiar to the Nez Perce and known as 'icku-mcelélikpe. Exhausted and believing they could rest there safely for several days, the Nez Perce camped in the valley until Col. John Gibbon launched a pre-dawn surprise attack, killing between 60 and 90 Nez Perce men, women and children. Nez Perce warriors regrouped, counterattacked, and besieged Gibbon's men in a pine thicket while their families escaped. The army suffered 31 soldiers killed and 39 wounded. Although the Nez Perce staved off disaster, the battle made clear that their safety was still in question, and the Big Hole National Battlefield remains a cemetery for the men, women, and children killed there and should be accorded the respect of a burial ground.