Joseph, Chief (1840?-1904), was a Nez Perce chief. He became famous for a retreat he led through Idaho and Montana in 1877.
In June 1877, war broke out between bands of Nez Perce and United States troops. The fighting began shortly after government officials ordered the Nez Perce to move from their homeland in the Wallowa Valley of Oregon to a reservation in Idaho. The government wanted the land opened to white settlers. Reluctantly, Joseph’s band joined the fighting.
Joseph’s forces won several battles, but he realized that they could not defeat the Army. He ordered a retreat to Canada, where he hoped to join forces with Sioux warriors who had fled there. Joseph conducted the retreat with great skill, fighting off the troops and leading a group of women, children, and old men about 1,700 miles (2,700 kilometers). In October 1877, he finally surrendered about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the U.S.-Canadian border. In 1878, the government sent Joseph and his people to the Indian Territory in Oklahoma. After about 1885, he lived on the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington. He died on Sept. 21, 1904. A monument marks his grave in Nespelem, Washington.
