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nluorar igr nis lonowrrs.as pci1-iec-atidi-reasoferIW;s.ae;dtieck;lraliceezlecygoar.LmHelefthe murdered men swore a vendetta against the whites and took the offensive. White Bird and his band opened war by killing some of the settlers. These avengers rode back to the Nez Perce camp with the scalps of their victims. Joseph was at that time on Salmon river, arranging for the removal of the tribe. White Bird had come out in the open and rode boldly about the valley, proclaiming war.The fierce Too-hul-hul-sote took advantage of the situation. His voice was always for war. When Joseph arrived, he found that he was too late. The whole tribe had declared for war against the government of broken promises.” He made a vigorous protest, but without avail. Finally, when he saw that his people were determined to fight, he determined to lead them, although, in his heart, he was confident that there could be but one result.Howard then took personal command, sending detachments in every direction. The troopers were ordered to strike the Indians wherever found. Joseph was given the command of 400 Nez Perce fighting men.This is the history of the causes of the war with the Nez Perces in 1877. The half a dozen battles in which Joseph's warriors fought against the forces of Howard. Gibbon, Sturgis. Miles and other officers commanding the forces of federal troops, the masterly retirement of Joseph. leading his rapidly diminishing band of warriors, with their women and children in the 1.000 mile retreat from the Big Hole battlefield to the Bear Paw mountains, are well known incidents of history.Chief Joseph II.tosi-ti-populous people, inhabiting the valley of Snake river and extending to the Salmon and Clearwater rivers, west from the Bitter Root mountains. Their men were brave, their women virtuous and their country was one of the finest in all the region. They were superior in many respects to most of the tribes that roved throughout the northwest.Of this people Joseph II. was a worthy chief. Strong, alert, intelligent; albeit, disdainful and haughty at times, he was the idol of his followers. When he led his people out of the valley that had been their home for generations, it was not to give battle to the whites, but to find a new home for the Nez Perces whom he believed had been treacherously dealt with by agents of the federal government and thus wrongly deprived ofIIUWUand iheadi posse home migh ielt 1 try.the valley to which they were strongly ITh and ! able Big Mont were the mind was Perct mark the Jose] Bull,es;»rsgoen[ezne«ddo-ede-tiishisThis Chief Joseph II. of the Nez Perces was the most notable Indian of all the Old West. He was courageous, a master in war and strategy, of noble mind, and more nearly resembled the Cooper type of early Indian romance than any other Indian leader mentioned in history.Twenty-two years ago last October he died, old and heart-broken, on Tongue rivei*. Idaho, where he spent the last unhappy days of his life. General Miles once 6aid of Joseph: He is the whitest Indian I have ever known. When Joseph was told of this remark, he said: General Miles cannot compliment me by calling me white. I could not insult a good Indian worse than by saying he was like a white man. All my life I have told the truth. I cannot say the same of any white man I have ever known.”attached by history and tradition.Battle of the Big HoleThe battles that were staged along the route of the famous march were not of Joseph's seeking: he had not crossed the mountains to fight the whites; but, when it became necessary, he and his warriors fought as Indians had never fought before and have never fought since.In the Battle of the Big Hole in 1877. the Nez Perces proved themselves magnificent fighters, but after different tactics and more valorous than was true of the tribes that the American soldiers had on previous occasions tried conclusions with. They fought as bravely and as fairly as did their white enemies, and they commanded the respect of the veterans numbered among the forces that had been pitted against them.In the first clash of the famous Battle of the Big Hole, the fiftieth anniversary of which will be commemorated in a .couple of months, the Nez Perces were driven back, but they did not scatter and lose their heads; they were led by a master in the art of war. although this was his first encounter with the whites; andgressre.valns.ed.rtaofThe Nez PercesThe Nez Perces were unequalled as warriors among all the Indian tribes of the nation, brave and wary in attack, determined and resourceful in defense, yet they were not in reality a war-making nation. When the white explorers first came to the Rocky mountain region, the Nez Perces were a powerful andgree.acroiVI retrc its COUE less than man long Jose he slt; this, wou marl trea'W Gen feru of I food wea1 renc it w flgh chie sad. willAlfalfa- CWHEN BUYING
Newspaper Details
Bozeman Courier
Bozeman, Montana, US
Fri, May 13, 1927
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Geri L.
NA, 10 Jul 2024
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