Hallalhotsoot, also Hal-hal-tlos-tsot or "Lawyer" (c. 1797–1876) was a leader of the Niimíipu (Nez Perce) and among its most famous, after

Chief Joseph ''Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt'' (or ''Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it'' in Americanist orthography), popularly known as Chief Joseph, Young Joseph, or Joseph the Younger (March 3, 1840 – September 21, 1904), was a leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa ...

. He was the son of Twisted Hair, who welcomed and befriended the exhausted

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

in 1805. His mother was a Flathead woman. Lawyer learned the languages of his parents and knew some English. His name appears as early as 1836 in a meeting with

Marcus Whitman Marcus Whitman (September 4, 1802 – November 29, 1847) was an American physician and missionary. In 1836, Marcus Whitman led an overland party by wagon to the West. He and his wife, Narcissa, along with Reverend Henry Spalding and his wife, E ...

, and received the nickname "Lawyer" for his eloquence. He served as a guide for Whitman. After a group of missionaries arrived at Whitman Mission Station in Waiilatpu in 1838, Lawyer taught

Asa Bowen Smith Asa Bowen Smith, also known as A.B. Smith (July 16, 1809 – February 10, 1886), was a Congregational missionary posted in Oregon Country and Hawaii with his wife Sarah Gilbert White Smith. In 1840, Smith wrote the manuscript for the book ''Gramm ...

the Nez Perce language, from which Smith developed a grammar and dictionary entitled ''Grammar of the Language of the Nez Perces Indians''. Two missionary couples— Cushing and Myra Eels and

Elkanah Elkanah ( he, אֱלְקָנָה ''’Ĕlqānā'' " El has purchased") was, according to the First Book of Samuel, the husband of Hannah, and the father of her children including her first, Samuel. Elkanah practiced polygamy; his other wife, ...

and

Mary Richardson Walker Mary Richardson Walker (April 1, 1811 – December 5, 1897) was an American missionary. She was the daughter of Joseph and Charlotte Richardson of West Baldwin, Maine. Both parents were school teachers and valued education for all their children. ...

—were going to be stationed with the

Spokane people The Spokan or Spokane people are a Native American Plateau tribe who inhabit the eastern portion of present-day Washington state and parts of northern Idaho in the United States of America. The current Spokane Indian Reservation is located in ...

. Lawyer helped them learn their language, which was similar to that of the Flatheads. In 1855, he took part in the

Walla Walla Council In American radio, film, television, and video games, walla is a sound effect imitating the murmur of a crowd in the background. A group of actors brought together in the post-production stage of film production to create this murmur is known a ...

and signed the Treaty of Stevens. This obtained for him a reservation to the greater part of his territory, between the

Clearwater Clearwater or Clear Water may refer to: Places Canada * Clear Water Academy, a private Catholic school located in Calgary, Alberta * Clearwater (provincial electoral district), a former provincial electoral district in Alberta * Clearwater, Briti ...

and

Salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

rivers. After gold was discovered in

Pierce Pierce may refer to: Places Canada * Pierce Range, a mountain range on Vancouver Island, British Columbia United States * Pierce, Colorado * Pierce, Idaho * Pierce, Illinois * Pierce, Kentucky * Pierce, Nebraska * Pierce, Texas * Pierce, We ...

in 1860, Lawyer agreed to new cessions of land in the Treaty of 1863, in 1868, which Old Joseph (c.1785–1871) did not accept and considered it a betrayal. Therefore, in 1872, Hallalhotsoot was displaced by

as the only head of the tribe. Lawyer Creek in north central

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

, a tributary of the Clearwater River, is named for him. It carved the deep Lawyer's Canyon, between

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

and Craigmont, and flows east to its mouth at Kamiah. He died in Kamiah and is buried at its Nikesa Cemetery at the Presbyterian church, where he was an elder.

References

Source

External links

Idaho State Historical Society
– Reference Series – Lawyer and the 1863 Nez Perce Treaty

– Idaho Indian Tribes Project – Nez Perce

– Political elements of Nez Perce history during mid-1800s

– Lawyer Canyon, Idaho * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hallalhotsoot 1790s births 1876 deaths 19th-century Native Americans Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Native American leaders Nez Perce people