Battle of Bear Paw - Surrender

Surrender

Howard suggested that Captain John and Old George, two Nez Perce men accompanying him, be used to induce Joseph to surrender. Each of the two men had a daughter among the besieged Nez Perce. The next morning, October 5, at 8 a.m. all firing ceased and the two Nez Perce crossed into Joseph’s lines. They apparently promised that none of the Nez Perce would be executed, they would be given blankets and food, and would be taken back to the Lapwai reservation in Idaho. With these assurances, Joseph advocated surrender and White Bird concurred. The two Nez Perce returned to the army lines with an oral message from Joseph which was translated as follows:

"Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told me before I have in my heart. I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. Tu-hul-hul-sote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led the young men is dead. It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food; no one knows where they are – perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever."

Joseph's message, often called a speech, is frequently cited as one of the greatest American speeches. Arthur “Ad” Chapman, the translator of Joseph’s message, was also the man who had fired at a Nez Perce truce party before the Battle of White Bird Canyon nearly four months earlier, thus setting off a war which might have been avoidable.

Joseph, Tom Hill, his interpreter, and several other Nez Perce then met with Howard, Miles, and Chapman between the lines. Joseph indicated that he surrendered only his own band and that others would make their own decisions. He later said that “General Miles said to me in plain words, ‘If you come out and give up your arms, I will spare your lives and send you to your reservation.” At ll:00 a.m. the surrender negotiations were completed and Joseph returned to his lines. In mid to late afternoon Joseph appeared for the formal surrender, mounted on a black pony with a Mexican saddle and flanked by five warriors on foot. According to Lt. Charles Eskine Scott Wood, who left an account of the surrender, Joseph’s gray woolen shawl showed the marks of four or five bullets and his forehead and wrist had been scratched by bullets. Joseph dismounted and offered General Howard, who he knew personally, his Winchester rifle. Howard motioned for him to give the rifle to Miles. The soldiers then escorted Joseph to the rear. Lt. Wood said Joseph was “in great distress” over the fate of his daughter who had become separated from him early in the battle.

With Joseph’s surrender, Nez Perce began to come up out of the rifle pits and surrender their arms to the soldiers. White Bird and about 50 followers, however, slipped through the army lines and continued on to Canada, joining other Nez Perce who had escaped earlier during the battle and siege. General Howard considered White Bird’s escape a violation of the surrender agreement. Yellow Wolf, a Nez Perce warrior, later responded, “The surrender was just for those who did no longer want to fight. Joseph spoke only for his own band.”

The total number of Nez Perce who surrendered or were captured was 431, including 79 men, 178 women, and 174 children. Estimates of the number of Nez Perce who escaped to Canada vary, but one estimate was 233, including 140 men and boys and 93 women and girls, including Joseph’s daughter. Forty-five Nez Perce were reported to have been captured en route to Canada and at least five – possibly as many as 34 – were killed by Assiniboine and Gros Ventre who had been encouraged by Miles to “fight” any Nez Perce who escaped. By contrast, some of the Nez Perce were aided by Cree who were in the area. The Nez Perce who successfully reached Canada were hospitably received by Sitting Bull, although reported by Canadian authorities to be in pitiful condition.

The scout Chapman reported that the soldiers had captured 1,531 horses in the battle. The Cheyenne and Lakota scouts took 300 horses as payment for their services. About 700 were, by order of General Miles, to be returned to the Nez Perce the next spring, but that return of the horses never occurred. Most of the other Nez Perce property was said to have been burned in a warehouse fire at Fort Keogh.