The Nez Perces
head is broad, his perceptive faculties large, his head well formed, his voice musical and sympathetic, and his expression usually calm and sedate; when animated, marked and magnetic. His younger brother [Ollicut] in whose ability he evidently confides—putting him forward much of the time as his advocate—is two inches taller than himself, equally well formed, quite as animated, and perhaps more impassioned in speech, though possibly inferior in judgment."
Joseph came into the chieftainship at a critical period in the history of his tribe. In the early seventies white settlers became so numerous and persistent in their claims to rich portions of the Wallowa Valley, and pressed upon Washington their desire for the expulsion of the Indians with such political force, that in 1873 a commission was sent into the valley to arrange with the Indians for their removal. But, contrary to the expectations of the Vociferous Few who had brought about the agitation, the Commission decided in favor of the Indian claim to the Wallowa Valley; the Commissioner of Indian Affairs approved their finding, the Secretary of the Interior endorsed it, and the President of the United States made this order:
"It is hereby ordered that the tract of country above described be withheld from entry and settle-
