Chief Joseph and the Nez Perces: A Photographic History

Chief Joseph And The Nez Perces is a beautiful photographic history documenting the epic journey of the Nez Perces made in flight from the army from June to October of 1877. The role of the respected Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph is explored with care and precision throughout the time of the Nez Perces' flight. The authors have presented only photographs of the areas travelled and frequented by the Nez Perces without reminders of modernity, so the land is presented as closely as possible to the landscape known by the Nez Perces of 1877. Tracing the route of the Nez Perces with a color coded map of the area helps explain their tortuous crossing and recrossing of the mountainous area through the main passes. The brief book is divided into three main sections: prologue, flight , and epilogue, with a helpful bibliography of related works. There is no doubt that the star feature of this history is the stellar color photographs, including a beautiful golden sweep of vista of the Bear Paw Battlefield, in Nez Perce National Historical Park, south of Chinook, Montana, and many more. There is also no doubt of the tragic heart of the tale, for Chief Joseph himself, though he worked tirelessly to reinstate his people in their homeland after the surrender, was never allowed to return to the Nez Perce Reservation in the Northwest. This blatant violation of the terms of surrender is blamed upon the army's high command, Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Philip H. Sheridan, who"ignored the surrender terms as if they had never existed (page ix)." Chief Joseph And The Nez Perces is a beautiful and moving picture account of a sorrowful bloody history.Nancy Lorraine, Reviewer