Chief Joseph's Own Story / Bookcrop (ePub)

"Chief Joseph's Own story...only from it can we know the man, his intelligence and humane feeling...I have never read of a military leader who surpassed him." -Fairfield Times (Fairfield, Montana), March 14, 1927

"Chief Joseph's Own Story deals with the Indian history of Oregon and northern Idaho." -Evening Herald (Klamath Falls, Oregon), Dec. 30, 1926

"Chief Joseph's story was the same old story of white aggression...fought unceasingly to have the remnants of his tribe returned from Kansas...in 1879 he made his passionate plea for justice." -News-Democrat (Paducah, Ky.), Feb. 21, 1926

"Chief Joseph's own story of his war against the oppressors of his race is an extraordinary narrative-the Redman's side of a futile and bloody struggle...the greatest ever made by an Indian chief, and brings upon him the title of 'The Red Napoleon.'" -Indian School Journal, 1907

Why is Nez Perce Chief Joseph considered both one of the greatest tactical military leaders (earning him the name "The Red Napoleon") and also one of the greatest humanitarians and peacemakers for his passionate, principled resistance to his tribe's forced removal.

Find out from Chief Joseph's own words why he became so highly regarded, as he eloquently tells his people's story as originally published in 1879 in his book titled "Chief Joseph's Own Story," reprinted here.

Chief Joseph, Young Joseph, or Joseph the Younger (March 3, 1840 - September 21, 1904), was a leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa) band of Nez Perce, a Native American tribe of the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States, in the latter half of the 19th century.

In introducing his book, Chief Joseph states:

"My friends, I have been asked to show you my heart. I am glad to have a chance to do so. I want the white people to understand my people. Some of you think an Indian is like a wild animal. This is a great mistake. I will tell you all about our people, and then you can judge whether an Indian is a man or not. I believe much trouble and blood would be saved if we opened our hearts more. I will tell in you my way how the Indian sees things."

Chief Joseph led his band of Nez Perce during the most tumultuous period in their history, when they were forcibly removed by the United States federal government from their ancestral lands in the Wallowa Valley of northeastern Oregon onto a significantly reduced reservation in the Idaho Territory. A series of violent encounters with white settlers in the spring of 1877 culminated in those Nez Perce who resisted removal, including Joseph's band and an allied band of the Palouse tribe, to flee the United States in an attempt to reach political asylum alongside the Lakota people, who had sought refuge in Canada under the leadership of Sitting Bull.

At least 700 men, women, and children led by Joseph and other Nez Perce chiefs were pursued by the U.S. Army under General Oliver O. Howard in a 1,170-mile (1,900 km) fighting retreat known as the Nez Perce War. The skill with which the Nez Perce fought and the manner in which they conducted themselves in the face of incredible adversity earned them widespread admiration from their military opponents and the American public, and coverage of the war in U.S. newspapers led to popular recognition of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce.