Chief Joseph was a famous leader of the Nez Perce Indians. He was born in 1839 and died in 1904. Chief Joseph and his people were forced to migrate from their homelands and ended up on the wrong side of the Rocky Mountains during the great migration of Indians across the plains.
Chief Joseph and his family were eventually trapped at Malheur Lake, where he led his tribe to victory over the U.S Army.
Afterwards, Chief Joseph was sent with his band to a reservation in Idaho with no land, no crops, and with only the clothes on their backs. Chief Joseph fought for years against government policy that would prevent any Indian from holding title to land.
The Chief died in 1904 after being beaten by soldiers while resisting relocation for the fourth time
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He finally succumbed to pneumonia, not being able to survive relocation to Oklahoma.
His name has become a symbol of resistance against government overreach, including Native American activists today who name themselves "Josephs." Chief Joseph's story is also part of American history textbooks - one reads: "He refused to surrender his ancestral lands at Little Bighorn."