Wallowa Valley, located within the ancestral homelands of the Joseph Band Nez Perce, was included in the expansive Nez Perce reservation established by the Treaty of 1855. Upon discovery of gold in the region, the U.S. reduced the size of the reservation in 1863. Ordered to Leave Home: The Joseph Band held on until 1877 when, under pressure from increasing White settlement, they were ordered to abandon their homeland. Violent conflicts ensued as the Joseph Band joined other Nez Perce and Palouse bands on a historic 1,170 mile retreat.

Negotiating a Truce: After five months of elusive flight, with his people 40 miles from Canada and freedom, exhausted, freezing and heavily outnumbered, Joseph agreed to a truce on the terms his people be brought back to the Nez Perce Reservation. Joseph proclaimed: “from where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.”

Broken Promises: With promises made by the generals broken, they were sent to Fort Leavenworth and Oklahoma Territory (iyeqispa- hot place). They suffered from climate and malaria until they were allowed to return to the Nez Perce Reservation in Washington, but not the Wallowa Valley. Caption 1: The Treaty of 1863 reduced the size of the reservation by 90 percent. Joseph and the other chiefs whose land was now outside the reservation never signed it and were known thereafter as the non-treaty Nez Perce. Caption 2: Chief Joseph died in September 1904 at Nespelem, W.A. on the Colville Reservation and is buried at Nespelem. Caption 3: Before the treaty negotiations of 1855, the traditional territory of the Joseph Band encompassed much of northeastern Oregon.

Location: West city limits of Enterprise

Sponsors: Oregon Community Foundation

Learn More: Visit Nez Perce Tribe