Good Morning..."I will fight no more forever"

[Okla-homey]

October 5, 1877: Chief Joseph surrenders

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Chief Joseph

132 years ago today, amid one of the last great attempts to maintain their way of life, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Indians surrenders to U.S. General Nelson A. Miles in the Bear Paw mountains of Montana, declaring, "Hear me, my chiefs: My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."

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Nelson A. Miles

Earlier in the year, the U.S. government broke a treaty with the Nez Perce, forcing the group out of their homeland in Wallowa Valley in the Northwest for relocation in Idaho.

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/791/ttttttttttttttttttttttttttttnezperceqa6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Flag of the modern Nez Perce Nation. It features Cheif Joseph at center, surrounded by an outline of the modern reservation land in Idaho and includes the Clearwater River and the tribe's ancesteral dietary staples of salmon and elk.

In the midst of their journey, Chief Joseph learned that three young Nez Perce warriors, enraged at the loss of their homeland, had massacred a band of white settlers. Fearing retaliation by the U.S. Army, the chief began one of the great retreats in American military history.

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/51/tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttnezpercejb5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Nez Perce men. Confused by whites with a band Chinook people of the farther northwest, the Nez perce didn't actually engage in "nose piercing," but the name applied by French explorers in the 18th century stuck.

For more than three months, Chief Joseph led fewer than 300 Nez Perce Indians toward the Canadian border, covering a distance of more than 1,000 miles as the Nez Perce outmaneuvered and battled more than 2,000 pursuing U.S. soldiers.

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The Nez Perce Trail

During the long retreat, he treated prisoners humanely and won the admiration of whites by purchasing supplies along the way rather than stealing them.

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Nez Perce warrior, c. 1900.

Finally, only 40 miles short of his Canadian goal, Chief Joseph was cornered by the U.S. Army, and his people were forcibly relocated first to a concentration camp established on Ft Leavenworth Kansas where they wintered-over in 1877.

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Army records indicate around 400 men, women and children arrived at Ft. Leavenworth in November of 1877. Almost 100 Nez Perce died that winter at the camp established on the banks of the Missouri River at present day Sherman Army Airfield on Ft Leavenworth.

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Nez Perce baby c.1900.

In the spring of 1878, the Nex Perce survivors were moved first to an areas around modern Tonkawa, Oklahoma, thence to a barren reservation populated by the Quapaw people.

The Nez Perce were eventually relocated and most now reside on tribal lands in Idaho's Snake River Basin. There are smaller bands of Nez Perce living on tribal lands in western Washington near Colville and in Northern Oregon.

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[C&CDean]

Damn whitey.

[olevetonahill]

Ive never understood why they dint just let em go on to Canada.
Wasnt the point to Move em out the way ?
Wouldnt Canada have been Out the way ?

[Okla-homey]

Ive never understood why they dint just let em go on to Canada.
Wasnt the point to Move em out the way ?
Wouldnt Canada have been Out the way ?

You forgot this part "In the midst of their journey, Chief Joseph learned that three young Nez Perce warriors, enraged at the loss of their homeland, had massacred a band of white settlers. "

Methinks at that point, the goal shifted from "getting them out of the way" to "punishment." Moreover, I don't know if the Canucks would have welcomed them. Afterall, they forced Sitting Bull and his Lakota to leave Canada after they refugeed up there.

[olevetonahill]

Naw , Yer post said he was fearing retaliation , So he decided to head fer Canada.
Basicly all the Cav, did was run em to death then Take em to Kansas, Hell that alone shoulda been punishment enough.:D

[Rogue]

Great story, Homey. In Idaho, this is part of our state history we learn in 4th grade while Texans are being indoctrinated about the greatness of Tennessee transplants.

I like the rest of the quote too and it includes some details about the conflict and the journey the Nez Perce took. Chief Joseph was really a pretty democratic leader from the accounts I've read. I'll link a good one that is a short read. General Wm. T. Sherman's words are worth checking out.

Linkage to a PBS story about Chief Joseph (http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/chiefjoseph.htm)


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" or "No." He who led the young men [Olikut] is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets. The little 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 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 forever.

[TMcGee86]

Great quote Rogue. Thanks for posting it.

I mean zero disrespect to the dead, but I can't help it, it reminded me of this and i had to laugh:



Pete 'Dead Meat' Thompson is dead. So is Mo Green, Tataglia, Barzini, the heads of all the five families. It is at moments like these, my dear friends, that we must ask ourselves: "How can this not be part of some larger plan?" Do good men like Dead Meat Thompson just blink out one day like a bad bulb? I mean, one minute you're in bed with a knockout gal... or guy, and the next, you're a compost heap. Doesn't that bother any of you? Because it scares the living **** outta me!
-- Adm. Thomas "Tug" Benson

[Okla-homey]

Naw , Yer post said he was fearing retaliation , So he decided to head fer Canada.
Basicly all the Cav, did was run em to death then Take em to Kansas, Hell that alone shoulda been punishment enough.:D

That winter at Ft. Leavenworth is really a sordid tale. The army actually built one of the world's first concentration camps in the infield of the post race track. The area is low, right in a bend of the Missouri River. The troops put up a fence, complete with deadlines, and told the Nez Perce to stay put -- or else. Fed 'em meagerly on hardtack and spoiled beef and they had to make-do with their own tentage. It so happened, they had a bad winter that year, disease was rampant, and a great number died. Horrible. Just horrible. Srsly.