A Surrender

Chief Joseph is credited with giving a poignant speech on October 5, 1877. His simple but heartfelt words captured the situation faced by all Native Americans when dealing with the U.S. government.

Born about 1840, Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt (“Thunder Rolling From the Mountains”) was given the Christian name “Joseph” after his father. Young Joseph grew up in the Wallowa Valley in present-day Oregon. He was taught to respect the land and to guide his Nez Perce people.

Like many Native Americans, the Nez Perce believed that the earth was their spiritual mother. They didn’t believe a person could own land. To divide, buy, or sell it was impossible. It was like buying parts of the sky or the ocean.

But westward-moving white settlers did believe in owning land. And they didn’t want to share it with Native Americans. They demanded that the U.S. government prevent Native Americans from roaming freely throughout the West. The federal government sent the U.S. army to protect white settlers and restrict the movement of Native Americans. Throughout the 1800s, the United States broke promises and crafted dishonest treaties with many native groups.

The Nez Perce’s traditional homeland was in the Pacific Northwest. It included parts of present-day Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. In 1855 and 1863, the U.S. government and a few Nez Perce leaders signed two treaties. They created reservations out of small sections of Nez Perce land. Most of the Nez Perce homeland was taken away. Even though only some leaders had signed, U.S. officials claimed that the treaty applied to all Nez Perce. As a member of a nonsigning group, Chief Joseph tried unsuccessfully to negotiate for his people to keep their homeland.

Many Native American groups found themselves on the losing side of treaties. Some fought back. In June 1876, Sitting Bull led his Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho allies in an astonishing victory over the U.S. army. He defeated Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer’s 7th Cavalry in the Battle of the Greasy Grass. It is more famously known as the Battle of the Little Bighorn. After that defeat, the U.S. government grew determined to end all Native American resistance in the West.

In May 1877, the non-treaty Nez Perce were given 30 days to get to a reservation at Lapwai in present-day Idaho. The army threatened to use force, if necessary. Chief Joseph and his band of Nez Perce reluctantly set out. As they approached Lapwai, more than 700 Nez Perce from different bands gathered for a final celebration. While they camped, several young men sought to avenge a murder committed by a white man the year before. Their actions set off a series of raids. Young warriors attacked white people. White settlers counterattacked.

Lean Elk, Looking Glass, White Bird, and other Nez Perce leaders decided to resist being forced to live on the reservation. They hoped the Crow Indians would help them. When that failed, they decided to seek aid from Sitting Bull. Sitting Bull had fled to Canada with his people.

The Nez Perce spent the next five months in a race to the border. They traveled more than 1,100 miles from Oregon across Idaho and through Montana. The U.S. army followed, picking fights all the way. Some Nez Perce struck back. At least twice, the army forced the Nez Perce out of their camps. Families fled for their lives, abandoning clothing, blankets, food, and equipment.

Finally, the Nez Perce camped at Bear Paw, only 40 miles from Canada. There, Colonel Nelson A. Miles and his soldiers attacked the camp. About 200 Nez Perce escaped and rode north. Others fled to nearby mountains to hide. A blizzard hit that night. The Nez Perce resisted starting fires because it would reveal to the soldiers where they were.

After a nearly weeklong siege, Chief Joseph ended his people’s flight to freedom. His brother, Ollokot, and several chiefs had been killed. He had no supplies. His band of mostly women, children, and elders could not reach Canada. Through a messenger, Chief Joseph informed Miles, “I am tired of fighting.”

Chief Joseph didn’t speak English. When he surrendered to Miles in October 1877, the men used an interpreter named Arthur Chapman to translate their words. An army officer, C.E.S. Wood, wrote down Joseph’s and Chapman’s words. Three weeks after the meeting, the first printed version of the speech appeared in the Tri-Weekly Tribune of Bismarck, Dakota Territory (present-day North Dakota).

Chief Joseph and about 400 Nez Perce were taken to reservations in Kansas and Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). Chief Joseph later traveled to Washington, D.C., to plead for his people’s return to the Wallowa Valley. In 1884, the Nez Perce moved to a reservation in Washington state.

Government officials had mistakenly believed that Chief Joseph commanded all the Nez Perce. But Chief Joseph was not a warrior. He was the leader and spokesman of one band of the Nez Perce. In talks with U.S. officials, however, Chief Joseph earned the respect of many Americans. He spoke for his people with eloquence and dignity.

“Tell General [Oliver O.] 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. Toohoolhoolzote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes and no. He who led on the young men is dead. It is cold and we have no blankets. The children are freezing to death. My people, some of 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 and see how many I can find. Maybe I can 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 forever.”

— Chief Joseph, surrender to U.S. army, October 5, 1877