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Show CHIEF JOSEPH. Chief Joseph of the Noz Perces tribe, who died on Thursday night of last week, was a very great man, though a savage; he wanted to be friendly with the whites and was for many years. But when the Government insisted upon him and his people going upon a reservation, he took the warpath war-path and for three months gave the United States soldiers in the northwest and north as lively live-ly a game as they ever had. He came down through Washington and Oregon, struck and nearly near-ly annihilated Gibbon and his command at Big Hole, Montana, crossed to Lemhi, ovor tremendous tremen-dous mountains, carrying his wounded and his women and children with him, then bent to the northeast, grossed the great range, went around one fort and garrison and broke for British territory. terri-tory. He would have won out, too, but General Miles was notified and by swift work got in his-front, his-front, brought him to bay In the Bear Paw mountains, moun-tains, where Joseph gave final battle, was 'defeated 'de-feated and surrendered. His running battle was fifteen hundred miles long. He wore out General Howard and thirty companies of United States soldiers, nearly made a parallel of tha Custer massacre in his Gibbon's fight, and military men have ever since declared that this performance was one of the most remarkable re-markable In military records, that in generalship, in handling his warriors, and in the skill with which he carried on his long retreat, he was the foremost of Indians and worthy to rank as a great captain anywhere. Since then he has been dreaming dream-ing of a final return to his beautiful valley of Wallola. On Thursday night, as he sat by his camp fire he suddenly fell over dead. His royal heart had ceased to beat, his soul sought its final reservation. He was a poor, unlettered savage, but he was a captain among men all the same. Ho has gone to join King Phillip, Pontiac, Logan, Tecumseh and the rest who, each in his turn, made a heroic stand against civilization and went down in the storm. May the final calm be his, may the pipe of peace never grow cold in his wickiup beyond be-yond the stars. |
