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"In Southern Idaho, Indian women and children were
killed in attacks made by volunteer soldiers." A
citizens committee posted rewards for Indian scalps;
$100 far a buck's, $50 for a squaw's, and $25 for
anything in the shape of an Indian under ten.
Ulysses S. Grant, then president of the United
States conceded the right of Joseph's people to the land
but under pressure from groups both in Oregon and in the
office of Indian Affairs reversed his position and
declared the land open to homesteading. The government
pressed for removal of the tribe from the valley to the
Lapwai reservation.
Joseph, still remembering his father's wish that
the bones of his father and his mother would never be
sold questioned the availability of land suitable for
cultivation.
In the mind of the resident Indian agent there was
no question: "There is not enough to give heads of
families twenty acres apiece."
In spite of this, the commission concluded that the
Lapwai reservation was suitable and concluded their
proceedings with the admonishing that "Unless they come
to Lapwai and settle in a reasonable time they are to be
placed by force upon the reservation.
As a sidelight to the main problem, it is curious
to note that at that time there were fewer than twenty
families lining in the Wallows Valley an they privately
had little use for the land. It has been reported that
the only reason for the steady stream of complaint was
to hurry the government in
purchasing the land from them to secure the reservation.
A minority report was submitted by Wood in which he
stated: "The Government has so far failed to comply with
the treaty of 1855 that none of the Nee Percé are bound
by it. I recommend that although Joseph's band must be
ultimately;. removed, yet until Joseph commits some act
of overt hostility, force shall not be used to put him
upon any reservation."
The minority report was duly read and quickly
forgotten.
Early in 1877 a meeting was held and the four
non-treaty tribes were given one month in which to
gather their belongings, their horses, their cattle and
move onto the reservation. Again dispute broke out,
Tu-hul-hil-sote spoke out vehemently against the orders
of General Howard who had been called in to execute the
removal of the Indians.
"You have no right to compare us, grown men, to
children. Children do not think for themselves. Grown
men do think for themselves. The government at
Washington cannot think for us. The Great Spirit Chief
made the world as it is and as he wanted it, and be made
a part of it for us to live upon. I do not see where
you get authority to say that we shall not live where he
placed us."
The old chief was arrested for his outburst.
Still hoping that a war could be be averted, Joseph
at last agreed to leave the land of his fathers and move
onto the Lapwai reservation, holding that he had not
sold the land, that though he might never live there
again, the land still belonged to his people. And again
General Howard pointed out that they would have one
month make the move and that unless they were upon the
reservation at the end of that month, he would send
troops for them.
In late May, 1877, the four non-treaty tribes began
their march to Lapwai. They were due back on June 14.
Knowing the time was short and not wishing troops should
be sent out against them, they hurriedly gathered up
what was theirs and paid final farewell to the Wallowa
valley as they brought in the herds of cattle and
horses, many of which were left behind, many more were
to be lost in having to forge streams swollen with the
spring thaws. On June 8, the non-treaty tribes
rendezvoused at Rocky Canyon before the final march to
Lapwai.
An undercurrent of bitterness ran like wildfire
through the camp. All the old wrongs were aired and
repeated in variation throughout the night. Revenge was
asked for and only Joseph remained immobile in his
insistence an keeping peace at all cost.
A council was held, unattended by Joseph whose wife
was expecting a child and they lived apart from the
encampment. Even Joseph's brother, Alicut, counseled
war, as strongly as Joseph counseled peace.
On the night of June 13, four warriors of the tribe
led by White Bird could endure the rising tide of
emotion no longer. They left camp and before morning the
war that had been smoldering for so long flamed into
violence. They rode into camp the following, day with
horses and rifles they had taken from the bodies of the
settlers they had killed.
Joseph, who had been gone during this time,
returned to learn of the bloodshed. He had counseled
peace but peace was no longer possible.
General Howard led the cavalry against the Nez
Percé and in the succession of battles, White
Bird Canyon, Cottonwood proceed 1 wood, Camas Meadows,
he learned first hand, the amazing military genius of
this chief of the Nez Percé. He outfought and outwitted
the best of the U. S. Army along a battle line that led
from the banks of the Snake River to within thirty miles
of the Canadian border.
Joseph had watched and learned from the white training
during the years of peace and he deployed his own
troops with the same effectiveness that had subdued
other nations. His few hundred warriors fought greater
odds in every battle and still came out the victor and
handed the army victory without reward. Always he had
women and children to consider and his only thought was
to get them across the Canadian border and into safety.
He led there across the Lobo pass into the
Bitterroot Valley of Montana through the Big Hole and
was forced to double back down through the Yellowstone
to avoid contact with troops moving up from the south,
led by Colonel Miles.
Still hoping to make Canada and safety, Joseph
turned his tribe northward again. The winter was
setting in now and they had little food and clothing
when the snow began to fall.
Within thirty miles of the long-sought after border
and freedom, Joseph built camp. He felt he had a few
days lead on the pursuing forces and posted no guards
nor sent out scouts and later he was to admit to this
mistake. It was here that the final battle occurred in
the shadow of Bear Paw Mountains.
When the battle brake out, Joseph sent riders to
Sitting Bull for aid and he fought a bitter delaying
battle, hoping for reinforcements from the leader of the
Sioux Nation and the hero of the Little Big Horn. The
battle lasted for five days and it was then that it
became evident no aid would come to help them. Joseph,
realizing the futility of further resistance,
surrendered to General Howard on the moaning of October
4 with these wards:
"Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told
me before I have in my heart. I am tired of fighting.
Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead.
Tu-hul-hil-sote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is
the young men who say yes or no. He who led on the young
men is dead. It is cold and we have no blankets little
children are freezing to death. My people, some off
them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets,
no food; no one knows where they are perhaps freezing to
death. I want to have time to look for my children see
how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them
among the dead, Hear me, my chiefs, I am tired; my heart
is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will
fight no more."
White Bird with what remained of his band escaped
during the night across the border, he, whose people had
been responsible for the war, found freedom in Canada.
Of Joseph's family there was left his daughter, a
baby of some five months old, another daughter, Sarah,
was in exile with White Bird. He had lost two wives in
the battle of Big Hole; his brother, Alicut.
The record lists eleven engagements in all, five
being pitched battles of which Joseph lost one, tied
one, and won three. He had marched his people across a
trail that stretched out some 1,800 miles and 75 days.
General Sherman, at the close of the campaign when
the facts were before him had to write: "'Thus has
terminated one of the mast extraordinary Indian Wars of
which there is any records. The Indians throughout had
displayed a courage and skill that elicited universal
praise; they abstained from scalping; let captive women
go free; did not commit indiscriminate murders of
peaceful families (which was usual) and fought with
almost scientific skill, using advance and rear guards,
skirmish lines and field fortifications."
At no time during the battles did Joseph have more
than 350 warriors yet he had fought against some 2000
soldiers: the troops had lost 126 men and 140 wounded
while Joseph had 151 and 88 wounded which did not
include the loss of women and children.
According to the terms of surrender, the Nez Percé
were to be returned to Lapwai as soon as was humanly
possible to do so, which meant the following spring. A
violent uproar protesting this by the whites living near
the reservation prevented action and the tribes were put
on Indian Territory in Oklahoma.
Joseph fought for the return of his people to their
homeland, to Lapwai. In this fight he was aided by
Colonel Miles
who had promised them as much at the surrender, and who
felt the government duty-bound to do so.
Joseph spoke with Senator Graver, who had led the
pressure group which had resulted in President Grant's
reversal of position on the ownership of the Wallow
Valley and who now headed the commission appointed to
investigate Joseph’s claims to him, he said:
“I do not like this
country (the Indian Country). I have seen enough of it
since I have been kept in it. I have lost eighty of my
people and I am afraid of this country. We must all die
if we stay here. When I stopped fighting I surrendered
to Howard and Miles. I wished for peace. At that
surrender we came to an understanding with these two
generals. It was a true understanding. We supposed we
were to be sent to our own country, but we were brought
down here.
“Why do the people in Washington hesitate to
carry out their agreements?”
Grover told him then that his valley was
settled by white men and that he could never return
there to live, asking if there was other lands where he
would like to live. It was his request to have his
people moved to a reservation on the upper Columbia
River. There were then three hundred and eighty three
men, women and children left in the tribe.
It was not until 1885 that the government granted
the Nez Percé
permission to be returned to the Northwest. The
remnants of the tribe were split those of Looking Glass
and White Bird’s bands were returned to Lapwai while
Joseph’s band was sent to the Colville Reservation in
Northern Washington. They settled near the sub-agency
on the Banks of the Nespelem River.
Here he spent his remaining years. He married
twice more in spite of objections by missionaries. To
them he replied:
| “I fought through the war for my
country and these women. You took away my
country: I shall keep my wives.” |
In 1897, Joseph left the
reservation for Washington, D. C. Again white men were
encroaching upon his land. While in Washington he was
invited to participate in the dedication of Grant's tomb
in New York City, which he attended before he returned
gratefully to his home.
Only once was he allowed to return to the Wallowa
Valley, in 1900. He found that his father's grave was
now the property of a rancher, a part of his fields. He
was taken to the spot and found it well kept, he saw it
with tears in his eyes.
His wit and his wisdom are
best expressed in the words of the man himself:
| “Look twice at a two-faced man”: “Cursed
by the hand that scalps the reputation of
the dead”: “The eye tells what the tongue
would hide”: “Fire water courage ends in
trembling fear”: “Big name often stands on
small legs”: “Finest fur may cover toughest
meat”: “When you get the last word with an
echo, you man do so with a squaw”. |
His last funeral rites were
performed in 1905. A granite monument, built with funds
donated by James J. Hill, railroad magnate, was
dedicated at that time and his personal possessions were
distributed among his relatives and the members of his
tribe.
He was reburied at the base of the monument,
facing the East. On the column is his likeness and is
inscribed on one side with the name the White man knew
so well and on the other, Hin-mah-too-yah-kekht—Thunder
Rolling In the Mountains.
At the ceremony, the aged half-blind
Chief Yellow Bull spoke:
| “I am very glad to meet you all here
today, my brothers and sisters and children
and white friends. When the Creator created
us, He put us on this earth, and the flowers
on the earth, and He takes us all in his
arms and keeps us in peace and friendship,
and our friendship and peace will shine
forever. Our people love our old customs.
I am very glad to see our white friends here
attending this ceremony, and it seems like
we all have the same sad feelings and that
fact helps to wipe away my tears and the
loss of our dead chief. “Joseph
is dead, but his words will stand as long as
this monument.”
So be it. |
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