Show GREAT CHIEF JOSEPH A I 1 NOBLE al AND LOVED ameeti VAN CAH INDIAN lla DIED OP OF A I 1 HEART pathetic tate tale of governments cro bro ken promises ills ilia ancestors welcomed lewis anil and clark in their western explorations C J MANCHARD tho the most picturesque character of tho the western frontier passed awny away last year when chief joseph of tho the nez perces or as they know him in mut too yah lat lat thunder traveling over the mountains folded his blanket about him and passed beyond the tha great divider the members of his tribe all of whom were singularly devoted to him and tho the privileged few of the white while race who knew him intimately believe tint that this great leader perhaps tho the greatest indian leader of the period died of homesickness and heartache to know chief josepa was to have revealed to td you a glimpse into a vanished past there was a loftiness and dignity mingled with a charming in his manner and ana a tender pathos in lil It th unit lt utile 3 on forget the indian and recall the old hebrew kilebrew prophets of the tha days ot of tho the captivity ol 01 1 er r t AS s tho chief and historian of hla tribe josephs plea pica for the nez perces forces has often been heard in washington in its deep sense of eternal righteousness and of the deadly wrong suffered at the hands of the white man in its smothered me hie and in its hopeful longing for the coming coining of justice and bitter bettor times for the tribe it was tho the most powerful and pathetic appeal ever made by an aa indian from fioro the viewpoint of close association with tho the red man his bis faults aro magnified and his virtues forgotten from the viewpoint of tho reader of cooper and other romantic writers on andl indian an topics his bis vices are arc obscured and his bis virtues unduly exaggerated judged from the impartial standpoint of a rather long acquaintance which chic h contains meetings in camp and city in tho the writers opinion chief joseph was the finest type of tho the red man this country will ever know ile ho died of homesickness and that dat statement will provoke no sceptical smile from one who knows the indian character tho the earth that contains the ashes of an indians tend dead Is sapid and hallowed the longing in an aft indians heart beart for tle land of his hh birth lilath is as strong as that which turns our wandering footsteps back to the old homp hoine when rate fate in the shape of an inking government forcibly wrests irom him tho the land of his bis fathers his bla rief though repressed and concealed Is as pol poignant gnant as aa our own would be it we were so treated loved home odthe of the arhe I 1 recall oae one expression of josephs in this connection sly my father la Is burled in wallowa gallowa valley I 1 lovo that land more than all the rest of the world A man who would not love hla his fathers fathera gravo grave Is worse than a wild animal have you ever been in wallowa gallowa Wal lowa that beautiful valley of vinding waters it Is americas switzerland its ita lofty mountains rear their heads so BO fah h that a mantle rests there all tho the year round their feet aro are la in takes lakes which rival Li lucerne lamerne merne down the steep slopes through narrow walled canyons which tho the sunlight never enters tho the streams come coma rushing like cataracts in their cold ripples tho the gamey trout lurks exper expectant tant eager to give battle for his fc when the angler tempts him to tho the hook in the autumn the salmon in countless numbers leap the waterfalls and aro are caught and dried by the indians for winter food on tho the fo forested rosted slopes in shadowy ravines and oyer over the rolling hills tho aper and alk the caribou the grizzly and the cinnamon and the wary mount aln sheep abound it Is a gamo game paradise with rich pastures for ponies it was in this valley that tho the grandfather of chief joseph welcomed tho the daring explorers lewla lewis and dark clark speaking of them joseph said they talked litra leht and our people made thern them a great feast all the nez perces made frit nils with avith lewis and clark claris and agreed to let them pass through tho the country and never to make war on white men and this promise the nez perces forces have bavo never broken no white man van can accuse them of bad faith and speak with a straight tongue it has always been the pride of tho the nez bercea that they were the friends of tho the white men encroachments Encroach ments of tile the white men it was not to be expected that the indian would be allowed to remain forever unmolested la in the possession of this beautiful when the western fever broke out settlers ramo at first in small numbers and tho the valley being large lame all lived in peace pc ace but it could not last there came A day when by means of presents and fair promises a portion of the band signed a treaty dividing their lands josephs father refused to sign away his birthright birth right and withdrew his band from the council in another council was held A chief named lawyer with authority of a part of tho the tribe sold nearly all of tho the nez perces country including tho the valley the latter was the particular property of josephs own people its boundaries for years had bad been marked by poles had never been disputed tho the old chief said bald inside Is the homo home of my people tho white man sony may take tho the land outside in side tho the boundary all our people were born it circles around tho the graves ot of our fathers and wo we never give up their graves to any roan man in spite ot of the treaty tho the indians indiana remained in unmolested possession for eight years when tho the white men began to encroach upon tho the boundaries the conditions threatened to become so reous and tho the government Gove asked for a treaty council joseph owing to his fathers ago age and blindness represented his people ito ho refused to remove to tho the agency in idaho and give up the valley so BO tho the council came to naught from that hat time on the white settlers rare constant offense to the indians they stole etolo their horses drove off od their cattle and branded the calves and then claimed them it speaks well for tho the strong hand joseph held over bla leople and for his desire for peace hat the indians acro patient so long finally joseph was notified by general 7 4 I 1 I 1 gj A ja 1 1 12 mn M aa e cliplef AND BY OF TRIBE howard that it was was the purpose of tho the Govern government mint to remove the nez perces to the reer reservation as they had sold cold their land to tho the government incontrovertible indian logic joseph always denied such a sale ila ha said suppose a man should como come to mo me and say joseph I 1 like your horses and want to buy them I 1 say to him no my horses suit me I 1 will not sell them then ho he goes to my neighbor and says to him joseph has some good horses I 1 want to buy them but he refuses to sell my neigh answers tay pay me ino the money and I 1 will sell you josephs horses the white man returns to roe me and says joseph doseph I 1 have bought your horses and you must let me have them 1 it if we sold bold ou our r land to the government this Is the way it was waa bought on column 6 this page great chief joseph in tho the war which followed joseph led his little baud band as aa only a great general could lead them but tho the nez perces never had a chanco chance to win via joseph surrendered to general miles allies and for years tho the tribe was moved back bach and forth over tho the country regardless of promises mado when they surrendered after ono one of josephs visits to washington where bo be met the president the cabinet officers and numerous congressmen ho he remarked they rill all say they ore are my friends and that I 1 shall have justice but while their mouths all talk right I 1 do not understand why nothing is done for my people I 1 have heard beard talk and talk but nothing Is done words do not pay for my dead people they do not pay for my country overrun I 1 by y white men it makes my heart sick when I 1 remember all the good words and all the broken promises you might as well expect the river to run backward is as that any man inan who was born barn free should bo be contented when penned up and dented denied liberty to go where ho pleases pathetic plea forr for freedom oh ob lot let me bo be a freo free danl man free to travel free to stop free to work free to trade where I 1 chose free to choose my own teachers free to follow the religion of my lathers fathers tree free to think and talk and act for myself an and d I 1 w will III obey b cy L very every law or submit to the penalty ty gradually as the years passed away joseph grew to understand the hopelessness of achieving his hearts desire a return to wallowa gallowa Wal lowa though ho be never ceased to make his plea for justice when the end came a year ago helas he ans surrounded by tho the remnant of his band who stood beside his deathbed in silent grief erlet on the of september last those these same devoted members of the tribe stood around the grave of joseph and ils listened to the funeral address delivered by his successor and friend on this occasion it a monument was unveiled a most unusual indian carem ceremony |