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The man who became a national celebrity with the name "Chief Joseph" was born in the Wallowa Valley in what is now northeastern Oregon in 1840. He was given the name Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, or Thunder Rolling Down the Mountain, but was widely known as Joseph, or Joseph the Younger, because his father had taken the Christian name Joseph when he was baptized at the Lapwai mission by Henry Spalding in 1838. Chief Joseph led his band of 700 Nez Perce, only 200 of whom were fighting men on a 1,400 mile march that lasted 3 months. His 200 warriors fought over 2,000 Army soldiers in four battles along the way.

They were finally stopped less than 60 miles from the Canadian border, and freedom. By the time he formally surrendered on October 5, 1877, Joseph was widely referred to in the American press as "the Red Napoleon."

It is unlikely, however, that Chief Joseph played as critical a role in the Nez Percé's military feat as his legend suggests. He was never considered a war chief by his people, and even within the Wallowa band, it was Chief Joseph's younger brother, Olikut, (killed during the fighting on their retreat) who led the warriors, while Joseph was responsible for guarding the camp.

Chief Joseph's widely reprinted surrender speech has immortalized him as a military leader in American popular culture:

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.