Chief Joseph

Lawyer acted without authority from our band. He had no right to sell the Wallowa country.

We had good white friends who advised us against taking the war path. My friend and brother, Mr. Chapman, told us just how the war would end.

You might as well expect rivers to run backwards as any man born free to be contented penned up.

If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian he can live in peace.

We gave up some of our country to the white men, thinking that then we could have peace. We were mistaken. The white man would not let us alone.

I know that my race must change.

I saw that the war could not be prevented. The time had passed.

For a short time we lived quietly. But this could not last. White men had found gold in the mountains around the land of winding water.

Let me be a free man - free to travel, free to stop, free to work.