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19-473: The trail approximates the route followed by a band of 750 Nez Perce warriors and civilians, including women, children, and elders, as they tried to resist U.S. Army efforts to confine them within federal reservation lands in Idaho. The Nez Perce were parties to the 1855 Treaty of Walla Walla with the U.S. Government , but in 1877 were being forced to give up more land than had originally been demanded, in violation of

38-604: A name honoring George Washington instead. The bill was thus amended with the name Washington , though not without some debate, and passed in the House on February 10, passed in the Senate on March 2, and signed by President Millard Fillmore on the same day. The argument against naming the territory Washington came from Representative Alexander Evans of Maryland, who countered that there were no states named Washington, but multiple counties, cities, and towns were named such and so could be

57-519: A small portion of present-day Ravalli County, Montana were annexed to the Washington Territory. The southeastern tip of the territory (in present-day Wyoming) was sent to Nebraska Territory on March 2, 1861. In 1863, the area of Washington Territory east of the Snake River and the 117th meridian was reorganized as part of the newly created Idaho Territory , leaving the territory within

76-694: A territory of the US where they could continue their traditional lifestyle; finally, trying to escape to Canada. Beginning near Wallowa Lake in eastern Oregon, the Nez Perce headed east into Idaho. After the Battle of White Bird Canyon they crossed Lolo Pass into Montana and fought a major battle at what is now known as Big Hole National Battlefield . After that, the Nez Perce continued traveling south and east, back into Idaho and then into Wyoming entering Yellowstone National Park near West Yellowstone, Montana . The tribe left

95-404: Is widely credited with leading the Nez Perce on this journey. He served as a camp supervisor and guardian, who was entrusted with handling the logistics of camp and travel, and taking care of the women and children. At the time of the surrender, Chief Joseph was the most prominent surviving leader among the group; he decided it was time to surrender. A few members of the tribe did reach Canada, but

114-605: The constitutional relationship between the people living on the Nez Perce , Umatilla , and Yakama reservations; it was one of the earliest treaties obtained in the Pacific Northwest. Washington Territory 's first governor Isaac I. Stevens secured this treaty, allowing larger portions of the land to be given to the two largest and most powerful tribes: Yakama and Nez Perce; these reservations encompassed most of their traditional hunting grounds. The smaller tribes moved to

133-496: The current boundaries of Washington State, which was admitted to the Union on November 11, 1889, as the 42nd U.S. state. Prior to statehood, multiple settlements in the territory were contending for the title of capital. Among the top contenders for the title, besides Olympia, were Steilacoom , Vancouver , Port Townsend , and Ellensburg , which was devastated in a major fire shortly before statehood. Even after Olympia had been chosen as

152-512: The first delegate to U.S. Congress. The original boundaries of the territory included all of the present day State of Washington , as well as northern Idaho and Montana west of the continental divide . On the admission of the State of Oregon to the union in 1859, the eastern portions of the Oregon Territory, including southern Idaho, portions of Wyoming west of the continental divide, and

171-549: The forest lands were managed by the federal government, but Yellowstone National Park was created 5 years before the Nez Perce journey. The trail also passes through privately owned property and it is best advised to obtain permission to enter these areas from local landowners. Little of the trail is actually a foot trail although much of the journey can be closely followed by roads. Attempts are underway to continue to preserve right of way to allow greater access for visitors. The Chief Joseph Trail Ride takes place annually and follows

190-623: The historic trail. Treaty of Walla Walla The Walla Walla Council (1855) was a meeting in the Pacific Northwest between the United States and sovereign tribal nations of the Cayuse , Nez Perce , Umatilla , Walla Walla , and Yakama . The council occurred on May 29 – June 11; the treaties signed at this council on June 9 were ratified by the U.S. Senate four years later in 1859 . These treaties codified

209-577: The park crossing Sylvan Pass and followed the Clarks Fork River back into Montana. From there the Nez Perce headed almost straight north for Canada and almost made it. The Nez Perce were near starvation and exhaustion after fighting their last battle north of the Bear Paw Mountains , less than 40 miles (64 km) from the Canada–US border, when they surrendered to U.S. authorities. Chief Joseph

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228-467: The proposal was sent to the federal government. The bill to establish the territory, H.R. 348, was reported in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representative Charles E. Stuart on January 25, 1853. Representative Richard H. Stanton argued that the proposed name—the Territory of Columbia —might be confused for the country's capital's Territory of Columbia (now District of Columbia ), and suggested

247-753: The regions of the Oregon Territory north of the Columbia River in 1851–1852. A group of prominent settlers from the Cowlitz and Puget Sound regions met on November 25, 1852, at the " Monticello Convention " in present-day Longview , to draft a petition to the United States Congress calling for a separate territory north of the Columbia River. After gaining approval from the Oregon territorial government,

266-457: The smaller of the three reservations. Stevens was able to acquire forty-five thousand square miles (120,000 km ) of land. The United States government later violated these treaties , first by failing to pay the agreed sum for the ceded land, and later by reducing the Nez Perce reservation by 90% and forcibly removing the Nez Perce from their lands affirmed by the 1855 treaty. Washington Territory The Territory of Washington

285-406: The source of confusion itself. Evans felt that the proposed new territory's name should reflect local native terminology. He stated it would be more appropriate to give the territory "some beautiful Indian name." The decision was contrary to the wishes of residents, and local papers reported mixed feeling from citizens, though the general reception of the renaming was positive. Isaac Stevens , who

304-399: The treaty. Attempting to escape across the border to Canada, where the U.S. Army had no authority, they fought numerous engagements with the 7th Cavalry in the summer of 1877. Their maneuvers evolved as their objectives changed. First, they were fleeing some episodes of violence that erupted during their initial relocation to a smaller reservation; next, trying to evade the 7th Cavalry and reach

323-421: The vast majority were relocated to Kansas and Oklahoma for eight years before being allowed to relocate to the reservation in Idaho, nearer their ancestral home. The trail passes through numerous National Park Service managed areas, National Forests , and Bureau of Land Management Public Lands. While Oregon was already a state, the other three states the trail now passes through were still territories. None of

342-709: Was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington . It was created from the portion of the Oregon Territory north of the lower Columbia River and north of the 46th parallel east of the Columbia. At its largest extent, it also included the entirety of modern Idaho and parts of Montana and Wyoming , before attaining its final boundaries in 1863. Agitation in favor of self-government developed in

361-453: Was appointed the territory's first governor, declared Olympia to be the territorial capital. Stevens was also integral in the drafting and negotiation of treaties with native bands in the Washington Territory. A territorial legislature was elected and first met in February 1854, and the territorial supreme court issued its first decision later in the year. Columbia Lancaster was elected as

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