Old Chief Joseph Cemetery - Nez Perce National Historical Park
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Volcanoguy
N 45° 20.192 W 117° 13.321
11T E 482604 N 5020360
The Nez Perce National Historical Park includes the Old Chief Joseph Cemetery south of Joseph, Oregon.
Waymark Code: WM9JAX
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 08/25/2010
Views: 5
The Old Chief Joseph Cemetery is located about a mile south of Joseph Post Office along the road to Wallowa Lake State Park. The cemetery is about 5 acres in size and contains about dozen graves.
The cemetery is one of 38 sites that make up the Nez Perce National Historical Park. The following is the text of a National Park Service sign the the cemetery entrance.
Born between 1785 and 1790, tiwi-teqis came to be the principal leader of the Wallowa Nez Perce. In 1839 he was baptized and christened “Joseph,” a name he carried for the rest of his life despite later renouncing Christianity. He died in 1871 at the traditional summer camp near the confluence of the Wallowa and Lostine Rivers. The leadership of the band passed to hinmato-wyalahtqit, Young Joseph.
Old Joseph was a key player in the 1855 treaty negotiations. In 1863 he refused to sign the “Steal Treaty” which reduced the 1855 reservation by 90% and ceded all of the Wallowa country to the United States.
After his original grave near the present town of Wallowa was robbed twice, Old Chief Joseph was reburied at this cemetery on September 26, 1926.