, 1889-11-14
CHIEF JOSEPH.

Chtef Joseph ID remarkably nne
specimen Of man. He is fully six
feet in his moccasins and weighs
about 200 pounds. He wears
neatly fitting suit of navy blue, with
United States brass buttons orna-
menting the coat. A light blue silk
handkerchief, tied in bow at the
collar of blue flannel shirt, was
the only bit of bright color about
him. His features are very fine and
denote decided character; his fore
head is broad and high, slightly
sloping from pair of heavy beet
ling eyebrows, above pair of pierc-
Ing black eyes. His hair, black and
straight, is remarkably fine for an
Indians, and Ia glossy without any
bears grease. He wears 1t brushed
high from his forehead, the long
ends being worked into two short
braids, which fall In front of each
ear. Ills hands and feet are small
and well shaped; of the former he
is very proud, and spends much
time in manicuring thom.
His His skin is Of fight COP.
per color, and in the sunlight
takes on a beautiful reddish hue.
He is certainly very preposeesing
Indian.
In the course of conversation
held through Mr.. Chapman, the old
fellow said:
az am about 40 years old, and live
on the Colville reservation with Ill
of my band. | am very sorry did
not see Senator Dawes, / wanted to
ask him to give us ii school on the
Nespelem. Our young boys must
learn to read and write.
81 can not talk or understand
English; ] don't know why, but l
can't get 1t through my ears; 1 want
to, but because did not learn when
l was young | have to sit here In
this room and am not able to under
stand a word you say.
81 am very anxious to get my
people to live in houses, and they
want to live that way also. My peo-
pie are not lazy, but they don't know
how to work, and there Is no one to
teach them or show them how"
Joseph then entered into a long
| TRADE on the late. Indian agent at
his reservation.
"For two years." he said, tive
have had logs cut by our young men,
lying by the government mill wait.
ing for them to be sawed into lum-
ber, so that we could build houses,
but the agent would do nothing
for us.
"This thing of feeding, feeding all
the time is not the way to help us
We want to learn to work and how
to live Give us a chance and u start
apd wa will pet lOuU
"I have written often to my great
friend General Gibbon. I tel
him that / want to live like
the white man, but ] can not
work with my fingers unles:
II have some one to show mt
how. Mr.. Cole, the new agent
seems to take some interest In us
He has been with as only two
months but he has already begun t.
cut some Of our logs"
He also said that he did not thinl
the government understood how tt
get along with the Indians.
"We were all right In 1885," hi
said, "when we Were In our owl
country, and all we asked was to bt
let alone. Then we were told thu
reservation system was the bes
thing for US; and again we wer'
driven from them, and are now told
when there are few of us left, tina
we must each take 160 acres of lane
and work II, and are not even taugh
how.
"My people are all dying of, ant
II IL the fault of the agents who d,
not show us how to live. When
went to the Indian territory, m
hand uulnhar~,d over A thOll8and
and look at them now.n
Chief Joseph's mind Is ofa super
ior order; he IL very bright, and Ia.
good idea of bLsiness. He Is origi
! nal II anything; It was he WI who .