By saying that he will fight no more forever, chief joseph accepted what fate?

In 1877, Chief Joseph formally surrendered to U.S. troops after he and his tribe, the Nez Perce, fought and outmaneuvered their enemies during a three-month-long, 1,400-mile retreat along the West in hopes of reaching Canada.

  • Author:

    Biography.com Editors

  • Updated:

    May 19, 2020

    Original:

    Oct 2, 2014

Photo: MPI/Getty Images

In 1877, Chief Joseph formally surrendered to U.S. troops after he and his tribe, the Nez Perce, fought and outmaneuvered their enemies during a three-month-long, 1,400-mile retreat along the West in hopes of reaching Canada.

Geronimo. Cochise. Sitting Bull. Red Cloud. Crazy Horse. Chief Joseph. Out of the great Native American chiefs and warriors who represented bravery, leadership, strength, and military skill, Chief Joseph was known for his heart.

On October 5, 1877, his speech, as he surrendered to General Howard, immortalized him in American history forever: 

"I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. Toohoolhoolzote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say, 'Yes' or 'No.' He who led the young men [Olikut] is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are — perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. 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."

Chief Joseph never got to return to his homeland as was promised. Still, despite seeing his tribesmen die of disease and at the hands of the white man, he never gave up being the conscience of his people. He never gave up hope that one day, Native Americans would achieve freedom and equality. 

In 1904, Chief Joseph died, according to his doctor, of a broken heart.

By

Biography.com Editors

Biography.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content.

Unpublished letters and diaries by eyewitnesses, interviews with decedents, an intimate knowledge of the country enrich this narrative of the heroic Nez Perce Indian War waged in 1877 against relocation.

The result is a well documented chronicle offering new perspective on prewar Indian-white relations, United States government pressures and nontreaty rebellions, the five battles, subjection and surrender, and on the character of the leaders on both sides.

“From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever,” Chief Joseph said in surrender. But as a guardian and protector of his people he at last succeeded in bringing back the remaining members of his tribe to their beloved valley.

Calling Professor Beal’s book, “definitive, but not final,” Herman J. Deutsch, professor emeritus of American history at Washington State University, writes in the foreword: “Joseph and his band remain an example and inspiration to those who today are seeking recognition as human beings, equal in the sight of God and therefore entitled to like status among men. Those who recognize that such aspirations must not for long remain unfulfilled can derive from Nez Perce history examples of the consequences of policies conceived in ignorance and colored with disdain of the culture and way of life of minority peoples. ...A world surfeited with deceptive success stories can ill afford to forget a people and their leader who attained their true moral stature as they were facing their doom.”

Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce peoples surrenders to U.S. General Nelson A. Miles in the Bear Paw mountains of Montana, declaring, “Hear me, my chiefs: My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”

Earlier in the year, the U.S. government broke a land treaty with the Nez Perce, forcing the group out of their homeland in Wallowa Valley in the Northwest for relocation in Idaho. In the midst of their journey, Chief Joseph learned that three young Nez Perce warriors, had killed a band of white settlers. Fearing retaliation by the U.S. Army, the chief began one of the great retreats in American military history.

For more than three months, Chief Joseph led fewer than 300 Nez Perce Indians toward the Canadian border, covering a distance of more than 1,000 miles as the Nez Perce outmaneuvered and battled more than 2,000 pursuing U.S. soldiers. During the long retreat, he treated prisoners humanely and won the admiration of whites by purchasing supplies along the way rather than stealing them. Finally, only 40 miles short of his Canadian goal, Chief Joseph was cornered by the U.S. Army, and his people were forcibly relocated to a barren reservation in Indian Territory.

What did Chief Joseph fight for?

In 1873, Chief Joseph negotiated with the federal government to ensure that his people could stay on their land in the Wallowa Valley as stipulated in 1855 and 1863 land treaties with the U.S. government.

What did Chief Joseph want quizlet?

What were Chief Joseph's goals when presenting his speech? Peace between the settlers and the Native Americans, and to return peacefully to the Wallowa Valley.