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Rather than allow his people to be forcibly relocated from Northeast Oregon to Idaho, in the 1870s he attempted to escape with them to Canada. His 300 braves heroically fought off the U.S. army of 2000 for 1400 miles. This was extensively covered by the Eastern press, and in an age when Indians were not held in high regard, people started rooting for them and Joseph became the hero of the whole affair. It didn’t hurt that he was very literate and quotable.
Finally, 40 miles from Canada, greatly outnumbered and surrounded by artillery, he had to surrender, and he gave this famous speech:
"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."
Because of his hero status, he wasn’t severely punished.
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