Bone Necklace, by author Julia Sullivan

Bone Necklace was inspired by the Nez Perce War of 1877, which was described in a contemporaneous newspaper account as “a gigantic blunder and a crime.” The U.S. Army field commander, General Oliver “Uh Oh” Howard, had promised to make “short work” of the Nez Perce. Instead, for four months, he pursued them across 1,100 miles of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, only to be humiliated in the end. The Weekly Kansas Chief called the Nez Perce leader, Chief Joseph, the “Red Napoleon,” and the name stuck. Nobody was more surprised by Chief Joseph’s military genius than he was. His own people had never viewed him as a war chief. He would have done anything to avoid the war that made him famous. The final engagement of the war took place in the Bears Paw Mountains in October 1877. The Nez Perce horse herd was captured, making it impossible for the embattled tribe to move children, elders, and sick or injured family members the final thirty miles to the Canadian border and safety. Chief Joseph finally surrendered, famously saying, “From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”