8 July 1878: During the spring and early summer of 1878 some 200 Bannocks who had taken to raiding for perceived treaty violations fled pursuing army troops under the command of Gen. O.O. Howard. On 8 July Cpt. Reuben Bernard, with seven companies of cavalry, located the Indians on Birch Creek and Pilot Butte, near present-day Pendleton, Oregon. The Indians were strongly positioned along the bluffs, the slopes of which "were steeper than those of Missionary Ridge," according to General Howard. Nevertheless, Bernard's troopers advanced up the slopes, driving the defenders still higher while taking heavy casualties. The Indians were finally defeated by a two-pronged flank attack that drove them from the field.
See also: Bannock War; Buffalo Horn; Howard, Gen.
Oliver Otis
Further Reading: Brimlow, The Bannock Indian War of
1878; Russell, One Hundred and Three Fights and
Scrimmages
