Chased by the US Army from June to October of 1877, the Nez Perce tried to reach Canada from their homeland in the Inland Northwest.

With their women, elders, children, and livestock, they left their valley northeast of the Wallowa Mountains, crossed the Snake River in flood, navigated the many mountains and valleys of the northern Rocky Mountains, encountered tourists in five-year-old Yellowstone National Park, avoided the federal troops by descending into the canyon of Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River, and fled north across the Great Plains. The Nez Perce surrendered in north-central Montana, only 40 miles from the Canadian border.

Their route crossed a variety of plutonic, volcanic, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks from most periods of Earth history, from 2.7 billion years ago to 600,000 years ago. These rocks not only formed on and near the North American continent, but also include exotic terranes from across the Pacific Ocean; they record at least four episodes of mountain building.

Speaker Dr. Robert Carson to present.