Daily List

Today in History, October 5th

On October 5, 1877, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce surrendered in Montana's Bear Paw Mountains. Plus the Dalton Gang's end and the first James Bond film.

By Grant Oster October 5, 2026 3 min read Sources checked

Published October 5, 2026

October 5 is best known for 1877, when Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph surrendered to the U.S. Army in Montana’s Bear Paw Mountains, ending a long fighting retreat toward Canada. The date also saw the Dalton Gang shot down in Coffeyville, Kansas, in 1892 and the death of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs in 2011.

The big story: Chief Joseph surrenders (1877)

Earlier in 1877 the U.S. government broke a treaty with the Nez Perce and ordered them off their Wallowa Valley homeland in the Northwest and onto a reservation in Idaho. On the way, word came that three young warriors had killed a group of white settlers. Expecting the Army to retaliate, Chief Joseph and other leaders led their people on a run for the Canadian border. For more than three months, fewer than 300 Nez Perce covered more than 1,000 miles, outmaneuvering and fighting more than 2,000 pursuing soldiers. Joseph won some grudging respect from white observers along the way: he treated prisoners decently and paid for supplies instead of seizing them. The Army finally trapped the group in the Bear Paw Mountains of Montana, roughly 40 miles from Canada. On October 5, 1877, Joseph surrendered to Gen. Nelson A. Miles, saying he would “fight no more forever.” Military historians rank the trek among the great retreats in American history. The reward for surrender was grim: his people were moved to a barren reservation in Indian Territory.

More events on October 5

Year	What happened
1775	George Washington told Congress about an intercepted letter from Army surgeon general Benjamin Church to British commander Thomas Gage, uncovering espionage by one of his own top officers.
1813	William Henry Harrison’s U.S. army defeated British troops and Tecumseh’s Native allies at the Battle of the Thames in present-day Ontario.
1892	The Dalton Gang tried to rob two banks at once in Coffeyville, Kansas. Townspeople fought back, and every gang member but Emmett Dalton was killed.
1930	A British airship crashed near Beauvais, France, and most of the people aboard died.
1947	Harry Truman gave the first televised presidential address from the White House, urging Americans to save grain for hungry Europe.
1962	Dr. No, the first James Bond film, premiered, with Sean Connery as 007.
1969	Monty Python’s Flying Circus debuted on the BBC.
1970	PBS began broadcasting in the U.S.
1986	A cargo plane was shot down over Nicaragua and its crewman Eugene Hasenfus was captured, a first thread in unraveling the Iran-Contra affair.
1989	The Dalai Lama was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent campaign against Chinese rule in Tibet.
2011	Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple, died at age 56.
2017	The New York Times published its investigation into Harvey Weinstein, helping set off the #MeToo movement.

Born on October 5

1882: Robert Goddard, physicist often called the father of modern rocketry, born in Worcester, Massachusetts.
1936: Václav Havel, Czech playwright and dissident who became president of Czechoslovakia and then the Czech Republic, born in Prague.
1975: Kate Winslet, Oscar-winning actor known for Titanic, born in Reading, England.