Myles Moylan was a United States Army officer with an extensive military career, which included the battle of Gettysburg, and the battle of the Little Bighorn.
The Battle of Bear Paw was the final engagement of the Nez Perce War of 1877. Following the breakout of war in Idaho, approximately 800 nimíipuu (Nez Perce) spent a long and arduous summer fleeing U.S. Army troops first toward Crow allies and then toward refuge in Canada. After the skirmishes at Canyon Creek, the nimíipuu arrived at C'aynnim Alikinwaaspa (Place of the Manure Fire, now known as the Bear Paw Battlefield), a mere forty miles short of the Canadian border. Following a five-day battle and siege, the nimíipuu ceased fighting at Bear Paw on October 5th, 1877, in which Chief Joseph gave his immortal speech: "From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."
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FOR DOCUMENTS Author, Description or "Title" of item, date. Collection name, collection number, box, folder. University of Idaho Library Special Collections and Archives, Moscow, ID.
Letter, August 16, 1878, of Capt. Moylan, 7th U.S. Cavalry, Camp J.G. Sturgis, D.T., to Lt. E.A. Garlington, Adjutant, 7th Cavalry, reporting on action with Nez Perce Indians on Snake Creek near Bear Paw Mountain, M.T.; and individual troop histories of Troops A, D, and K in the campaign. Transcribed from regimental records.