The Old Chief Joseph Gravesite, also known as Nez Perce Traditional Site, Wallowa Lake, Chief Joseph Cemetery and Joseph National Indian Cemetery is a Native American cemetery near

Joseph, Oregon Joseph is a city in Wallowa County, Oregon, United States. Originally named Silver Lake and Lake City, the city formally named itself in 1880 for Chief Joseph (1840–1904) of the Nez Perce people. The population was 1,081 at the 2010 census. ...

. The area was also a traditional campsite of the Nez Perce and may be archaeologically significant. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1985, listed as Wallowa Lake Site.. It is a component of the Nez Perce National Historical Park.

Setting

The Old Chief Joseph Gravesite is located at the northern end of Wallowa Lake, on a site with commanding views of the lake and surrounding mountains. It is just south of Oregon Highway 351, from which an unpaved drive enters the property through a gateway in a stone wall. The main feature is a circular earthen platform, lined with a low stone retaining wall. At its center is the memorial marker to Old Chief Joseph, a mortared stone pillar, with a bronze relief of the chief's head on one side. Other features of the property include a flagpole, and the grave of an early white settler of the area.

History

Old Chief Joseph was the mid-19th century leader of the Wallowa band of the Nez Perce tribe, one of several that had refused to sign treaties in the 1850s and 1860s that would have forced them onto reservation land in Idaho. The Wallowa Lake area was part of the homeland of this band, and both Old Chief Joseph and his successor Chief Joseph, were steadfast in their refusal to abandon the land. When Old Joseph died in 1871, he had a traditional burial at the forks of the Lostine and

Wallowa Wallowa may refer to: Places *Wallowa, Oregon *Wallowa County, Oregon *Wallowa Lake *Wallowa Lake State Park *Wallowa Mountains *Wallowa River Other *''Acacia calamifolia'', a shrub or tree *''Acacia euthycarpa'', a shrub or tree * ''The Wallo ...

rivers.Nez Perce National Historic Park
- Old Chief Joseph Gravesite The Wallowa band were famously forced off the land in the Nez Perce War in 1877. In 1886, Old Chief Joseph's grave was desecrated by local property owners and his skull was removed as a souvenir. In 1926, his grave was moved, with permission from the Nez Perce, to this location, and the stone marker was placed. In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration funded work performed by members of the Nez Perce tribe to make a number of improvements, including the stone wall at the highway, and the retaining wall. The cemetery is a sacred place for the Nez Perce people, and is held in trust for them by the United States government.

References

{{authority control 1877 establishments in Oregon Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon Civilian Conservation Corps in Oregon National Historic Landmarks in Oregon National Register of Historic Places in Wallowa County, Oregon Native American cemeteries Nez Perce National Historical Park Nez Perce tribe Protected areas of Wallowa County, Oregon Religious places of the indigenous peoples of North America Cemetery vandalism and desecration Joseph, Oregon

Setting

History

See also

References