Attack on Looking Glass camp

Looking Glass camp attack
	; The Looking Glass camp was located near the Clearwater, near the present-day town of Kooskia.
Date	July 1, 1877
Location	Idaho County, Idaho, United States46°7′57″N 115°56′53″W / 46.13250°N 115.94806°W
Result	Inconclusive
Belligerents
United States	Nez Perce
Commanders and leaders
Captain Stephen Girard Whipple	Looking Glass
Units involved
67 soldiers ; 20 civilian volunteers	around 20 warriors ; about 120 women, children and elderly
Casualties and losses
None	1 killed (and 2 accidentally killed) ; 3 or 4 injured
	class=notpageimage\| Location within the United States Attack on Looking Glass camp (Idaho)

The Attack on Looking Glass Camp was a military attack carried out on July 1, 1877 as part of the Nez Perce War by Captain Stephen G. Whipple of the United States Army on the village of the Native American chief Looking Glass, located near the Clearwater River, near the present-day town of Kooskia. Glass had refused to join the other Nez Perce factions hostile to the Americans, so General Oliver Otis Howard, relying on reports that Glass posed a threat, gave the order to arrest him and his group.

When the Americans arrived, Looking Glass told them they were living in peace and asked them to leave, but a shot fired by one of the civilian volunteers accompanying the soldiers precipitated the confrontation. Surprised by the attack, the Amerindians fled their village and took refuge in the surrounding hills. The soldiers then ransacked the camp, capturing nearly 700 horses and taking them back to Mount Idaho.

Although Looking Glass's camp was destroyed, the mission was a failure for the Americans, since Whipple was unable to capture the group of Native Americans. Moreover, Looking Glass, furious at the way he had been treated by the Americans, chose to join the other groups of hostile Nez-Percés, complicating the American army's task.