Who’s buried in Tiwiteqis’ tomb?

The story of Old Chief Joseph’s final resting place is complicated and distressing

Story and photos by Ellen Morris Bishop

There is a sacred and storied burial ground at the foot of Wallowa Lake. A sturdy stone fence marks its entry; a somber monument its focal point. This is the burial — or rather, reburial — place of Tiwiteqis. Tiwiteqis (Old Chief Joseph) was the father of the more famed Hinmatóowyalahtq’it (Young Chief Joseph), who led the Nez Perce Walwama band on its strategic retreat toward Canada in 1877. The father is equally deserving of homage as the son.

Tiwiteqis was born about 1790 and led the Walwama (Wallowa) band until his death in 1871. His name translates to “senior warrior.” He was one of the first Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) baptized into the Christian faith by Henry Spalding at the Lapwai Mission in the late 1830s. He reluctantly made his mark on (signed) the treaty of 1855, which reduced the lands of the Nez Perce from 14 million acres to 7.5 million but left most of his band’s territory in Indian possession, with whites excluded except by tribal permission. But he did not sign the Treaty of 1863 (sometimes called the “Thief Treaty”), which reduced Nez Perce lands by 90%, forming the basis for the present Lapwai Reservation.

Tiwiteqis passed away in 1871 at the Walwama camp near the confluence of the Lostine and Wallowa Rivers. He had become blind and increasingly infirm with age. His last words to his son, Hinmatóowyalahtq’it (Young Chief Joseph,) as quoted in an April 1879 article in the North American Review, were:

… Always remember that your father never sold his country. You must stop your ears whenever you are asked to sign a treaty selling your home. A few years more, and white men will be all around you. They have their eyes on this land. My son, never forget my dying words. This country holds your father’s body. Never sell the bones of your father and your mother.

How Tiwiteqis was buried and then arrived at his resting place at the foot of the Wallowa Lake is a complicated and distressing story. The Nez Perce Walwama band buried him with great honor on a hilltop northeast of the town of Wallowa. His clothed body was wrapped in a buckskin shroud, then a blanket and then a buffalo robe. A good horse was sacrificed and laid across the grave. When the McAlexander family settled on land that included the lower gravesite in 1876, they protected it with a fence and always plowed around it. A bell that would clang softly in the breeze hung over the grave.

But Tiwitequis’ grave was desecrated by vandalism. In 1874 or 1875 George Morrison, a minister’s son from Cove, stole the bell. In 1879 or 1880 Jerrard Cochran and L. Pfefferle, (a traveling dentist) dug up the grave on a moonlit night, taking the wrappings off the body, and hurriedly recovered the grave. Then, in the final, most egregious act, Pfefferle dug up the grave again and took the skull to display in his office.

Although McAlexander continued to plow around Tiwiteqis’ pillaged gravesite, he was tiring of the practice and suggested to several local people, including local historian John Horner, that the remains be moved elsewhere.

In 1925, Horner, along with several Nez Perce, suggested a reburial in the vicinity of the ancestral “Indian burial grounds” on the terminal moraine at Wallowa Lake. (This area includes much of today’s Iwetemlaykin State Reserve.) Francis McFarland, a descendant of Tiwiteqis, organized the Nez Perce. The Enterprise and Joseph Commercial Clubs publicized the event. They hoped not only to rebury the remains of Tiwiteqis, but also to eventually return the body of his famous son, Hinmatóowyalahtq’it (Young Chief Joseph) to Wallowa County, where he would be reinterred next to his father. They envisioned a bonanza from visiting tourists.

But Young Chief Joseph had already been buried and then reburied on the Colville Reservation at Nespelem, Washington where he had died in 1904. In 1905, at the insistence of nonIndians, the Washington Historical Society ordered a stone monument, and, with great pomp and circumstance, reburied Hinmatóowyalahtq’it’s (Young Chief Joseph’s) remains at the Nez Perce cemetery in Nespelem just a few yards from his original burial. His body remains there today.

After the Nez Perce gave permission to exhume Tiwiteqis’ body for reburial, Horner, and four other Commercial Club members removed Tiwiteqis’ remains from its hillside tomb on August 27, 1926. They found there was no skull, which authenticated the grave’s identity. Horner laid the bones and other burial items in a box and covered it with a black cloth.

The reburial ceremony occurred on Sept. 26, 1926. More than 100 Nez Perce led the procession. Some rode in motorcars. But many rode horses loaned to them by local farmers and ranchers.

The box containing Tiwiteqis’ remains was carried on a travois (a Nez Perce Yah-Kosh) pulled by a gentle horse led by Francis McFarland. James Al-la-kat, the grandson of Tiwiteqis, rode directly behind the Yah-Kosh. The mourners who followed included veterans of the 1877 Nez Perce conflict. The Record Chieftain newspaper estimated that 4,500 people watched the Nez Perce ceremony.

The tribal members wailed loudly as their procession made its way to the new gravesite. After songs and chants, the Nez Perce men and women filed past the grave site. At the close of this ceremony, the box was placed in a niche at the bottom of the marker and sealed with cement.

The Nez Perce served a beef barbeque with the meat provided by local ranchers and shared the food with the assembled multitude of whites. It seemed for that day, at least, the acrimony and tension of the 1870s and later had vanished.

14th Annual Chief Joseph Days Ranch Rodeo

June 30 & July 1st

Lost dog? Here’s who to contact:

KWVR — 541-426-4577

Sheriff’s Office — 541-426-3131

Wallowa County Humane Society — 541-263-0336 Wallowa County Chieftain — 541-426-4567 (to get it posted on their Facebook page)

Message from the Wallowa County Humane Society: Put ID on your pet when you’re here visiting! www.wallowacountyhumanesociety.org

A great place to get some exercise with your four-legged friend is the Iwetemlaykin State Heritage Site near Joseph. Dogs are welcome on leash on the mile of trails. Restroom, garbage cans and mutt mitts are available.

Double Arrow Vet Clinic 541-426-4470 Enterprise Animal Hospital 541-426-3331

Wallowa County Humane Society 119 East Main Street Enterprise, OR 97828