Chief Joseph: A Biography

by Vanessa Ann Gunther

Overview

This biography offers a chronological presentation of the major events in Nez Perce history and in the life of one of their greatest leaders, Joseph.

Chief Joseph: A Biography explores the world of the Nez Perce Indians from their entrance into the Columbia Plateau through their relations with the expanding United States. It recounts their attempt to accommodate the rapidly changing world around them, and it follows the life of Chief Joseph, one of their greatest peace leaders.

Readers will learn how interactions with Lewis and Clark at the beginning of the 19th century and the subsequent duplicity of white settlers and their government radically changed the Nez Perce way of life—and influenced Joseph's rise. Separating the real Chief Joseph from the myths that have grown around him, the book shows how he shepherded the Nez Perce people through the ordeals that confronted them, including the loss of their land and freedom and the persistent threats to the culture that had guided the Nez Perce for centuries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313379208
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/20/2010
Series:	Greenwood Biographies
Pages:	178
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Vanessa Ann Gunther, PhD, is adjunct professor of history at California State University, Fullerton, CA.

Table of Contents

Series Foreword ix

Introduction xi

Timeline: Events in the Life of Chief Joseph xv

Chapter 1 The Nez Perce World before contact 1

Chapter 2 The Corps of Discovery 23

Chapter 3 The Struggle for the Land 55

Chapter 4 The Flight of the Nez Perce 95

Chapter 5 The End of Nez Perce Independence 137

Important People and Places in the Life of Chief Joseph 161

Bibliography 171

Index 175