The leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa) band of Nez Perce (or NiimÃipu) during General Oliver O. Howard’s attempt to forcibly remove “non-treaty” Nez Perce from the Wallowa Valley of northeastern Oregon to a reservation in Idaho during the late 1800s. For his principled resistance to the removal, Chief Joseph became renowned as a humanitarian and peacemaker. He was born yesterday in 1840.
