Born Spring 1840

Wallowa Valley, present-day Oregon

Died September 21, 1904

Nespelem, Oregon

Leader of the Nimitu (Nez Perce) tribe and famous orator

Chief Joseph. Library of Congress.

"It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. I want time to look for my children, and 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 for ever."

Chief Joseph endures as a symbol of dignity—as a tribal leader who exhausted all efforts to find a peaceful means to secure the homeland of his tribe, and as an eloquent spokesman who won a good measure of public sympathy for the plight of the Nez Perce tribe. His attempts to avoid war...