As they were entering the territory of the Park, another party was on the point of leaving it after a tour of about two weeks. This party was composed of the following persons, most of whom were from Radersburg, Montana: George F. Cowan and wife, Frank and Ida Carpenter, brother and sister of Mrs. Cowan, Charles Mann, William Dingee, Albert Oldham, A. J. Arnold, and a Mr. Meyers. They had formed a permanent camp in the Lower Geyser Basin, where the Fountain Hotel now stands, and from that point had made daily short excursions to the various localities of interest. They all visited the geyser basins and some of the party crossed to the Lake and Cañon of the Yellowstone. They must have been seen by Sherman's party, for they were directly in his route. The party had completed their tour of the Park, August 23d, and had arranged to set out for home early on the following morning. In order to understand the unfortunate turn which the affairs of these two tourist parties were about to take, it will be necessary to explain, in briefest outline, the cause and previous incidents of one of the most remarkable Indian campaigns in our history. From the time of Lewis and Clark, the Nez Percé Indians had dwelt in what are now the States of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Their territory extended from the Salmon River on the south to the Pelouse River on the north, and from the Bitter Root Mountains westward into the present States of Idaho and Washington. In 1855, they ceded to the United States a part of their territory, and the principal chiefs located in the several portions of the remainder. In 1860, gold was discovered on the reservation and the usual gold rush followed. The danger of a conflict with the Indians became so great that a temporary arrangement, pending action by the government, was made between them and their Indian agent, opening a portion of the reservation "to the whites in common with the Indians for mining purposes." But the settlers did not stop with these concessions. In defiance of law, they built the town of Lewiston on the reservation, and gave other proofs of their project for permanent occupancy. It soon became necessary for the government to take some decisive step, and this was accomplished in 1863 by a new treaty in which the Indians relinquished three of their most important valleys, the Wallowa, the Alpowai, and the Salmon River. The treaty, however, was far from receiving the general assent of all the chiefs. A formidable faction, headed by Chiefs Joseph, Looking Glass, Big Thunder, White Bird, and others, refused to be bound by it, and were henceforth referred to in official reports as the "Non-treaty Nez Percés." For a time the authorities made no effort to enforce the new treaty, and the Indians were "tacitly permitted to roam" over their ancient hunting-grounds.