For nearly 70 years, the Nez Perce Indians were friendly to whites, beginning when Lewis and Clark passed through their Northwestern territory en route to the Pacific. But a series of gold rushes in the 1860s led to a treaty dispossessing them of their lands in Oregon’s Wallowa valley and elsewhere and confining them to a reservation in Lapwai, Idaho. In 1877, troops were sent to drive the “non treaty” Nez Perce from the Wallowa area to Lapwai. But the Indians, numbering about 200 warriors and 300 non-combatants under the leadership of Chief Joseph, fled, leading the Army on a 1,300 mile zigzag chase through Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. Though heavily outnumbered, Joseph’s band fought off their pursuers several times. Refused sanctuary by other tribes, they headed for safety in Canada but were cornered — cold, starving and exhausted — 30 miles from the border. There, Chief Joseph made his eloquent surrender speech: “It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death… 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.” Despite a promise they might go to their reservation, Joseph’s band was shipped to Indian Territory (Oklahoma), where many sickened and died. In 1885 some were allowed back to Lapwai, but Joseph, still considered a dangerous influence, was sent to a reservation in Washington state, where he died in 1904.

Tags: Lewis and Clark, Nez Perce Indians, Oregon