Chief Joseph

Middle readers (tweens and teens) will be moved by the sad but inspirational life story of Chief Joseph, a Nez Perce leader who chose to fight gross injustice with words, not weapons. When the U.S. government illegally seized his people's land and tried to force hundreds of Nez Perce onto a tiny reservation, a handful of warriors rebelled, killing settlers and triggering the War of 1877. Instead of waging that war against a far superior force, Joseph and the other Nez Perce leaders chose to retreat—a 1,500 mile journey of misery, cold, and death, all the while pursued by five U.S. armies.