Background
Joseph was born in the Wallowa Valley of northeastern Oregon.
Joseph was born in the Wallowa Valley of northeastern Oregon.
In 1871, upon the death of his father, he assumed leadership of the nontreaty Nez Percé. White settlers coveted the traditional homeland of these Native Americans, and Joseph, seeking confirmation of Nez Percé territorial rights, met with Federal commissioners to discuss a spurious treaty in which the Indians had supposedly ceded their land to the U. S. government. Despite the obvious fraudulence of the old treaty, President Ulysses S. Grant opened the Nez Percé lands to settlement and ordered the Native Americans onto reservations. White settlers moved onto the land and committed atrocities against the Indians. Against his will, Joseph was forced by his tribesmen to fight. Pressed hard by Gen. Oliver Otis Howard's forces, Joseph was convinced that he could not win and began a lengthy withdrawal toward Canada. Pursued by Howard and harassed by many small detachments, Joseph fled toward Canada and thrilled the nation, whose sympathies were with the Native Americans. During the fall of 1877 Joseph led his 500 followers into Montana. In the fighting he showed rare military genius and great humanity; he refused to make war on women and children, bought his supplies when possible, and allowed no mutilation of bodies. On October 1, as the Nez Percé paused to rest at the Bear Paw Mountains just 30 miles from Canada, they were surprised by Col. N. A. Miles with approximately 600 soldiers. With only 87 warriors, Joseph chose to fight. He would not abandon the children, the women, and the aged. After a 5-day siege, however, he said to Miles and his followers: "It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. .. . Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. " The 431 remaining Nez Percé were taken to Kansas and subsequently to the Indian Territory (Oklahoma). There so many of them sickened and died that an aroused American public demanded action. Chief Joseph was moved to Colville Reservation in Washington, along with 150 of his followers; the others were returned to Oregon. Joseph made many pleas to be returned to his tribal homeland, but he died on September 21, 1904, and was buried on the Colville Reservation.
Joseph a Nez Percé chief, fought to preserve his homeland and did much to awaken the conscience of America to the plight of Native Americans.
There is a statue of Young Chief Joseph in Enterprise, Oregon and also there is a wall-mounted quote by Joseph in The American Adventure in the World Showcase pavilion of Walt Disney World's Epcot. In his honor there are Chief Joseph Pass in Montana, The city of Joseph, Oregon, home of "Chief Joseph Days" festival. Also Joseph Canyon, in northern Wallowa County, Oregon, and southern Asotin County, Washington
Joseph Creek, on the Oregon–Washington border were named after him.
Chief Joseph Scenic Byway in Wyoming, Chief Joseph Dam on the Columbia River in Washington, the second-largest hydroelectric power producer in the U. S. and the only dam in the Northwest named after an American Indian.
Quotations:
"If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace. .. .. Treat all men alike. Give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow. All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers. The Earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it. .. .. .. Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade. .. .where I choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to think and talk and act for myself, and I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty. "
"We do not want churches because they will teach us to quarrel about God. We do not want to learn that. We may quarrel with men sometimes about things on this earth, but we never quarrel about the Great Spirit. We do not want to learn that. "
"Suppose a white man should come to me and say, "Joseph, I like your horses. I want to buy them. " I say to him, "No, my horses suit me; I will not sell them. " Then he goes to my neighbor and says to him, "Joseph has some good horses. I want to buy them, but he refuses to sell. " My neighbor answers, "Pay me the money and I will sell you Joseph's horses. " The white man returns to me and says, "Joseph, I have bought your horses and you must let me have them. " If we sold our lands to the government, this is the way they bought them. "
"Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think and act for myself — and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty. "
"The country was made without lines of demarcation, and it is no man's business to divide it. .. Do not misunderstand me, but understand me fully with reference to my affection for the land. I never said the land was mine to do with it as I chose. The one who has the right to dispose of it is the one who created it. I claim a right to live on my land and accord you the privilege to live on yours. "
"I am tired of talk that comes to nothing It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and all the broken promises. There has been too much talking by men who had no right to talk. It does not require many words to speak the truth. "
"I am ready to talk today. I have been in a great many councils, but I am no wiser. We are all sprung from a woman, although we are unlike in many things. We can not be made over again. You are as you were made, and as you were made you can remain. We are just as we were made by the Great Spirit, and you can not change us ; then why should children of one mother and one father quarrel ? — why should one try to cheat the other ? I do not believe that the Great Spirit Chief gave one kind of men the right to tell another kind of men what they must do. "
Joseph was 6 feet tall, was amicable but firm, and spoke with amazing eloquence.
Chief Joseph was twice married and he had one daughter.
