Nez Perce National Historical Park links widely separated sites of deep significance to the Nez Perce, including historic villages, battlefields, and legend sites, reflecting a journey across both time and territory. Firmly connected to homeland, the Nez Perce are a dynamic people who for thousands of years traveled seasonally between the prairies and river valleys, a lifestyle interrupted in 1877 when treaties forced bands from their homes in Oregon and Idaho and war erupted. Today those events are commemorated by the 1,170-mile Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail. Together, the park and the trail tell the story of an encounter between two strong nations, from the 1805 meeting with Lewis and Clark, to the conflicts that led to the 1877 war, to the divisions and healing processes going on today, offering a way to view the shared history of this landscape through a different lens.