Old chief joseph biography
Chief joseph!
Chief Joseph
(1840-1904)
Who Was Chief Joseph?
When the United States attempted to force the Nez Perce to move to a reservation in 1877, Chief Joseph reluctantly agreed.
Old chief joseph biography
Following the killing of a group of white settlers, tensions erupted again, and Chief Joseph tried to lead his people to Canada, in what is considered one of the great retreats in military history.
Early Years
The leader of one band of the Nez Perce people, Chief Joseph was born Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt in 1840 in the Wallowa Valley in what is now Oregon.
His formal Native American name translates to Thunder Rolling Down a Mountain, but he was largely known as Joseph, the same name his father, Joseph the Elder, had taken after being baptized in 1838.
Joseph the Elder's relationship with the whites had been unprecedented.
He'd been one of the early Nez Perce leaders to convert to Christianity, and his influence had gone a long way toward establishing peace with his white neighbors. In 1855, he forged a new