black hawks surrender speech central idea

The journey included several impressive victories against a U.S. Over the course of four long months, Chief Joseph and his 700 followers, a group that included just 200 actual warriors, embarked on a 1,400-mile march toward Canada. Chief Joseph understood there would be brutal repercussions and in an effort to avoid defeat, and most likely his own death, he led his people on what is now widely considered one of the most remarkable retreats in military history. Just before the move, however, warriors from White Bird's band attacked and killed several white settlers. In 1877, recognizing what a war could mean for their people, the chiefs backed down and agreed to the new reservation boundaries. As his father had done before him, Chief Joseph, along with fellow Nez Perce leaders, chiefs Looking Glass and White Bird, balked at the resettlement plan.Īs tensions mounted, the three chiefs sensed that violence was imminent.

Leader of His Peopleįollowing Joseph the Elder's death in 1871, Chief Joseph assumed his father's leadership role as well as the positions he'd staked out for his people. More significantly, he refused to sign off on the boundaries of this 'new' reservation and leave the Wallowa Valley. The irate chief denounced his former American friends and destroyed his Bible. The relationship was soon upended when the United States government took back millions of acres it had promised to Joseph the Elder and his people. After gold was discovered in the Nez Perce territory, white prospectors began to stream onto their lands. In 1855, he forged a new treaty that created a new reservation for the Nez Perce.īut that peace was fragile. He'd been one of the early Nez Perce leaders to convert to Christianity, and his influence had gone a long way toward establishing peace with his white neighbors. Joseph the Elder's relationship with the whites had been unprecedented. His formal Native American name translates to Thunder Rolling Down a Mountain, but he was largely known as Joseph, the same name his father, Joseph the Elder, had taken after being baptized in 1838. The leader of one band of the Nez Perce people, Chief Joseph was born Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt in 1840 in the Wallowa Valley in what is now Oregon.

Following the killing of a group of white settlers, tensions erupted again, and Chief Joseph tried to lead his people to Canada, in what is considered one of the great retreats in military history. When the United States attempted to force the Nez Perce to move to a reservation in 1877, Chief Joseph reluctantly agreed.

Black hawks surrender speech central idea