JOSEPH, Ore. — In 1877, Chief Joseph and his band of Nez Perce Indians were forced to abandon their beloved Wallowa Valley in a trek that turned into a war with the U.S. Cavalry and ended with their surrender 1,500 miles away, near the Canadian border.
Delivering one of the most heartbreaking surrender speeches in history, Chief Joseph said: "I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever."
Joseph's band was exiled to reservations in Oklahoma, Washington and Idaho.
More than a century later, the Nez Perce are again engaged in a fight -- this time a legal dispute over building 11 upscale homes on 62 acres on a grassy ridge near a Nez Perce cemetery that includes the grave of Chief Joseph's father, Old Chief Joseph.
The grave is on a 5-acre site that serves as the trailhead for a National Historic Trail that follows the route taken by Joseph's band of Nez Perce during their running battles with the Cavalry.
Because the subdivision is on a site closely tied to the tribe's history, fighting the development is a top priority for the Nez Perce, said tribal secretary Jake Whiteplume.
"Remembering what our ancestors went through will help keep us going" in the legal fight, he said. "That was our homeland. We have that teaching in us today. We still remember."
The Nez Perce and two other Northwest tribes have filed a legal challenge to the proposed housing development with the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners. The tribes argue the whole ridge is a site of cultural significance and a national historic treasure.
The commissioners are scheduled to decide the issue at a hearing on Monday.
Developers of the proposed project reject Nez Perce assertions that some of their ancestors may be buried beneath the site. The developers point out there is already a 7-acre buffer zone separating the privately held 62 acres and the cemetery.
The developers also say the construction project would bring much-needed jobs to this corner of eastern Oregon, hard-hit by the demise of the timber industry.
"This is a simple land-use issue, and to compare this site to the war in 1877, and the atrocities that took place, is not fair to the owners," said Rahn Hostetter, an attorney for developer K & B Limited Family Partnership.
The land was appraised at $1.8 million if it can be subdivided; if not, it is worth about $1 million, Hostetter said.
