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A punitive government, which was
determined to subdue in soul and spirit
the proud Nez Perce, had Chief Joseph and his people sent to Fort
Leavenworth as
prisoners of war following Joseph's surrender at the Bear Paw Battle.
What followed, was an American Tragedy from which
America can take little solace or pride. On November 23, 1877, the Nez
Perce arrived at Fort Leavenworth where they would remain until the
following summer. There in the squalor of a malaria-infested camp, over
21 of the Nez Perce patriots would die of malaria as a callous
government stood idly by. Indignation by some government officials
began to turn humanitarian wheels slowly. In July of 1878, the
Department of the Interior requested the War Department to deliver the
prisoners to its jurisdiction. A short time later, the Nez Perce were
loaded on a train and taken to Baxter Springs. By October, 47 more Nez
Perce had died. From there, the Nez Perce were relocated to Fort Oakland, on the original Tonkawa
Reserve in Northern Oklahoma. In time, men of conscience became
aroused
in part through the
efforts of Chief Joseph, and the Nez Perce were returned to Idaho and
Washington.In May, 1883, the War Department approved a proposal by the
Indian Bureau to return 29 Nez Perce to Idaho. By 1884, the number of
survivors had dwindled to 282 from the original number of 431 who had
surrendered with Joseph. Finally, in the spring of 1885, the surviving
Nez Perce prisoners were returned to Idaho and Colville. Joseph was not
allowed to return to his beloved Idaho and continued to be treated as a
prisoner of war and instead was sent to Colville along with many other
Non-Christian Nez Perce. From Colville, Joseph, as a Political Prisoner
of War, would continue his struggle for justice for his people and the
return of their ancestral lands until his death on September 21,1904.
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