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Thunder in the Mountains: Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard, and the Nez Perce War
“Beautifully wrought and impossible to put down, Daniel Sharfstein’s Thunder in the Mountains chronicles with compassion and grace that resonant past we should never forget.”—Brenda Wineapple, author of Ecstatic Confidence, Crisis, and Compromise, 1848–1877
After the Civil War and Reconstruction, a new struggle raged in the Northern Rockies. In the summer of 1877, General Oliver Otis Howard, a champion of African American civil rights, ruthlessly pursued hundreds of Nez Perce families who resisted moving onto a reservation. Standing in his way was Chief Joseph, a young leader who never stopped advocating for Native American sovereignty and equal rights. Thunder in the Mountains is the spellbinding story of two legendary figures and their epic clash of ideas about the meaning of freedom and the role of government in American life.
After the Civil War and Reconstruction, a new struggle raged in the Northern Rockies. In the summer of 1877, General Oliver Otis Howard, a champion of African American civil rights, ruthlessly pursued hundreds of Nez Perce families who resisted moving onto a reservation. Standing in his way was Chief Joseph, a young leader who never stopped advocating for Native American sovereignty and equal rights. Thunder in the Mountains is the spellbinding story of two legendary figures and their epic clash of ideas about the meaning of freedom and the role of government in American life.
639 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 4, 2017
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About the author
Daniel J. Sharfstein
5 books25 followersDaniel J. Sharfstein is a professor of law and history at Vanderbilt University and a 2013 Guggenheim Fellow. His first book, The Invisible Line: A Secret History of Race in America, won the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize for narrative nonfiction. His new book, Thunder in the Mountains: Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard, and the Nez Perce War, is coming out in April. He lives with his family in Nashville, Tennessee.
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December 26, 2021
“Over time, the impact of sharing his story became fully apparent to [Nez Perce warrior] Yellow Wolf. He saw how the summer of 1877 had been remembered – primarily by white settlers and government officials – and connected it to real consequences in the present. ‘Nobody to help us tell our side – the whites told only one side,’ he said to [farmer and amateur historian Lucullus] McWhorter. ‘Told it to please themselves. Told much that it not true. Only his own best deeds, only the worst deeds of the Indians, has the white man told.’ The result, he said in 1931, was that ‘white people, aided by Government, are smothering my Indian rights.’ Thin in his final years, his right shoulder slumping after a horse he had been riding fell and rolled over him, he knew his words, his truth, had continuing power. ‘If people do not like it, I would tell it anyway,’ he said to McWhorter, one old man to another. ‘I am telling my story that all may know why the war we did not want. War is made to take something not your own.’”
- Daniel Sharfstein, Thunder in the Mountains: Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard, and the Nez Perce War
When an author sits down to write a book, I imagine one of the first questions he or she asks, or should ask, is: What is this story about? The question embodies other queries. What am I trying to say? Whose perspective am I trying to convey? What is my point? (Unfortunately, I seldom pause to ask myself this latter question before starting a review. The results, I am aware, often resemble the final five minutes of a drunk’s rambling monologue, just before he passes out. But I digress.).
This seems really obvious and rudimentary, the stuff you are told on the first day of English class. But when you read enough, you stumble across quite a few that ignore this fundamental step. You’ve read these books, I’m sure; they lack a certain specific something, meaning that no matter how good the material, the book never quite coalesces into a forceful whole.
I pondered this as I pondered my lackluster response to Daniel Sharfstein’s Thunder in the Mountains. This was a book I liked, but should have loved. If we’re being honest, I’m probably pretending that I liked it as much as I did. Everything about it screams You should like this, Matt! That my ultimate response does not include any exclamation points gave me pause.
Certainly, you can’t go wrong with the topic. The Nez Perce War of 1877 is one of the great tragedies of the American West, if not all of United States history. The Nez Perce had always been a peaceful and accommodating tribe. The Nez Perce have lived in the Pacific Northwest for thousands of years. They bred horses; they constructed fine bows; and for decades lived in peace with the people of the United States. They – among other Indians – had their chance to snuff out Lewis & Clark, but instead helped them survive. Unfortunately, as happened so often in the post-Civil War West, the Nez Perce were squeezed by successive treaties that greatly circumscribed their traditional lands in portions of present-day Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
Eventually, a confluence of pressures resulted in a flare of violence that sparked a desperate exodus towards Canada. Around 700 Nez Perce men, women, and children, led by various chiefs, including the now-famous Chief Joseph, undertook a 1,400 mile through Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. They fought a series of battles, including a smashing victory at White Bird Canyon; generally out-marched and outfoxed their pursuers, led by the one-armed “Christian General” Oliver Otis Howard; were mostly stopped by Colonel Nelson Miles at Bear Paw Mountain, in Montana, just short of their goal (some Nez Perce escaped to Canada); and were exiled to Indian Territory in Oklahoma, where many, many died.
This is a powerful and melancholy tale of courage and pathos, of mistakes and misunderstandings. It caught the imagination of even contemporary Americans, who turned Joseph into one of the most famous Indians in the world. There were battles, massacres, escapes, and doomed decision-making. And all of it was capped off by Joseph’s alleged valedictory: “From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”
Thunder in the Mountains gets a lot right. It is a handsome volume, gracefully written. At 498 pages of text, it is ambitious in scope. There are times, especially in Sharfstein’s narration of the battles, when the momentum skips ahead at a furious pace. The research is solid, despite the fact that Sharfstein uses trailing phrase citations, which I despise. Really, this is a solid volume in many ways. The recounting of the Battle of the Big Hole, for instance, is quite good:
The problem, though – and yes, despite the rating, I think it’s a problem – takes us back to my initial set of rhetorical questions. Thunder in the Mountains, I think, suffers from a failure to define a viewpoint. It’s not a fatal flaw, but one that definitely frustrated me as I was reading, and left me noticeably disappointed at the end.
To be sure, Sharfstein would likely dispute my criticism. In his prologue, he does, in fact, purport to tell us exactly what he set out to do. Specifically, he wanted to examine the contradictory impulses of General Howard, who had worked hard for freed slaves (and founded Howard University) during Reconstruction, yet apparently had no qualms in running down fleeing Nez Perce Indians, leading to the deaths of women, children, and the elderly.
The U.S. Government’s bipolar treatment of blacks and Indians (legally segregating the one; forcibly integrating the other) is certainly a topic worthy of consideration. However, I don’t think that General Howard is necessarily the right vehicle for a proper inspection. Or at least, Sharfstein never convinces me that he is. Indeed, the argument that he starts to make about Howard is never fully developed. It sort of drifts away, forgotten.
Why does this happen?
Because there’s simply too much going on. There is no focus or structure to the storytelling. Even though this is a long book, there are strange gaps. Sometimes Sharfstein describes battles both tactically and viscerally. He will touch on matters of strategy and casualties. At other times, though, his accounts are more impressionistic, told solely by the participants without any overview. This makes it tough to follow the overall journey of the Nez Perce.
Important incidents – such as the initial murder raids by Nez Perce warriors – are not fully developed, making it hard to establish the true chronology of events. Meanwhile, the reader is distracted by long diversions with little payoff. The most egregious example of this concerns a man named Charles Erskine Scott Wood, an aide to General Howard. Wood’s story is told in exhaustive detail. He is given an entire chapter devoted solely to his trip to Alaska. While interesting (and well-written), it has absolutely nothing – repeat nothing – to do with the story of Joseph and the Nez Perce. I kept waiting for Wood to take center stage, to actually play a role in the pursuit of Joseph. Nope. He was just kind of along for the ride. Yet his experiences are given a full airing, at the expense of other, more pertinent information.
It comes down to this: Chief Joseph is essentially cut out of his own story. I don’t want to be all PC police here, especially since Sharfstein is otherwise sensitive in his portrayal of the Nez Perce. Still, it’s hard to ignore that two white guys get all the play, while Joseph is relegated to a cameo in his own tragedy.
While Howard’s and Wood’s biographies are mined for any and all insights, we learn almost nothing about Joseph, and even less about the other chiefs, such as Looking Glass, who played much larger roles in the Nez Perce flight. (As Sharfstein notes, Joseph was not a famed warrior, and was often in camp during battle. Compare him to Yellow Wolf, a stone killer who – years later – could show McWhorter over the battlefields and relate his victories).
Bits and pieces of Nez Perce culture are scattered throughout, yet they never receive a chapter half so thorough as the one given to Wood’s Alaskan excursion. Had the Nez Perce been given center stage – hell, if they’d been given a stage at all – I wouldn’t mind the tangents about Wood, or about Lieutenant James Bradley, a U.S. Cavalryman and budding historian who died fighting the Nez Perce. Here, it feels like peripheral white stories are highlighted at the expense of the Nez Perce. While the sad journey of the Nez Perce from captivity to Oklahoma (where Joseph tirelessly advocated for a return to the Wallowa Valley) is covered in a cursory manner (a saga worthy of its own chapter, if not book), we are given a full accounting of Charles Erskine Scott Wood’s later years, right down to the foods he served at his sumptuous parties.
If Sharfstein had wanted to tell Joseph’s story, he should have concentrated on Joseph. On the other hand, if he wanted to tell the story of General Howard, or Lieutenant Wood, he should have concentrated on them. The attempt to weave all three stories together does not work. He has three strands – each interesting in their own way – that are never combined into something singular and powerful.
This is a book I liked, and enjoyed. However, my lasting takeaway is of unfulfilled promise, because this could have been so much more.
- Daniel Sharfstein, Thunder in the Mountains: Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard, and the Nez Perce War
When an author sits down to write a book, I imagine one of the first questions he or she asks, or should ask, is: What is this story about? The question embodies other queries. What am I trying to say? Whose perspective am I trying to convey? What is my point? (Unfortunately, I seldom pause to ask myself this latter question before starting a review. The results, I am aware, often resemble the final five minutes of a drunk’s rambling monologue, just before he passes out. But I digress.).
This seems really obvious and rudimentary, the stuff you are told on the first day of English class. But when you read enough, you stumble across quite a few that ignore this fundamental step. You’ve read these books, I’m sure; they lack a certain specific something, meaning that no matter how good the material, the book never quite coalesces into a forceful whole.
I pondered this as I pondered my lackluster response to Daniel Sharfstein’s Thunder in the Mountains. This was a book I liked, but should have loved. If we’re being honest, I’m probably pretending that I liked it as much as I did. Everything about it screams You should like this, Matt! That my ultimate response does not include any exclamation points gave me pause.
Certainly, you can’t go wrong with the topic. The Nez Perce War of 1877 is one of the great tragedies of the American West, if not all of United States history. The Nez Perce had always been a peaceful and accommodating tribe. The Nez Perce have lived in the Pacific Northwest for thousands of years. They bred horses; they constructed fine bows; and for decades lived in peace with the people of the United States. They – among other Indians – had their chance to snuff out Lewis & Clark, but instead helped them survive. Unfortunately, as happened so often in the post-Civil War West, the Nez Perce were squeezed by successive treaties that greatly circumscribed their traditional lands in portions of present-day Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
Eventually, a confluence of pressures resulted in a flare of violence that sparked a desperate exodus towards Canada. Around 700 Nez Perce men, women, and children, led by various chiefs, including the now-famous Chief Joseph, undertook a 1,400 mile through Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. They fought a series of battles, including a smashing victory at White Bird Canyon; generally out-marched and outfoxed their pursuers, led by the one-armed “Christian General” Oliver Otis Howard; were mostly stopped by Colonel Nelson Miles at Bear Paw Mountain, in Montana, just short of their goal (some Nez Perce escaped to Canada); and were exiled to Indian Territory in Oklahoma, where many, many died.
This is a powerful and melancholy tale of courage and pathos, of mistakes and misunderstandings. It caught the imagination of even contemporary Americans, who turned Joseph into one of the most famous Indians in the world. There were battles, massacres, escapes, and doomed decision-making. And all of it was capped off by Joseph’s alleged valedictory: “From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”
Thunder in the Mountains gets a lot right. It is a handsome volume, gracefully written. At 498 pages of text, it is ambitious in scope. There are times, especially in Sharfstein’s narration of the battles, when the momentum skips ahead at a furious pace. The research is solid, despite the fact that Sharfstein uses trailing phrase citations, which I despise. Really, this is a solid volume in many ways. The recounting of the Battle of the Big Hole, for instance, is quite good:
Yellow Wolf ran south through the camp toward battle armed only with his war club. Past two warriors – one bleeding from the head, one dying from a bullet in the stomach – he saw a wounded soldier, “crawling like a drunken man.” Yellow Wolf bludgeoned his enemy with such force that the man’s false teeth fell out of his mouth. Now the warrior had an army rifle and a belt full of cartridges. He ran on and saw burning tepees. He knew there were people inside. “I grew hot with anger,” he later said. “It was for the lives of women and children we were fighting. If whipped better to die than go in bondage with freedom gone…”
The problem, though – and yes, despite the rating, I think it’s a problem – takes us back to my initial set of rhetorical questions. Thunder in the Mountains, I think, suffers from a failure to define a viewpoint. It’s not a fatal flaw, but one that definitely frustrated me as I was reading, and left me noticeably disappointed at the end.
To be sure, Sharfstein would likely dispute my criticism. In his prologue, he does, in fact, purport to tell us exactly what he set out to do. Specifically, he wanted to examine the contradictory impulses of General Howard, who had worked hard for freed slaves (and founded Howard University) during Reconstruction, yet apparently had no qualms in running down fleeing Nez Perce Indians, leading to the deaths of women, children, and the elderly.
The U.S. Government’s bipolar treatment of blacks and Indians (legally segregating the one; forcibly integrating the other) is certainly a topic worthy of consideration. However, I don’t think that General Howard is necessarily the right vehicle for a proper inspection. Or at least, Sharfstein never convinces me that he is. Indeed, the argument that he starts to make about Howard is never fully developed. It sort of drifts away, forgotten.
Why does this happen?
Because there’s simply too much going on. There is no focus or structure to the storytelling. Even though this is a long book, there are strange gaps. Sometimes Sharfstein describes battles both tactically and viscerally. He will touch on matters of strategy and casualties. At other times, though, his accounts are more impressionistic, told solely by the participants without any overview. This makes it tough to follow the overall journey of the Nez Perce.
Important incidents – such as the initial murder raids by Nez Perce warriors – are not fully developed, making it hard to establish the true chronology of events. Meanwhile, the reader is distracted by long diversions with little payoff. The most egregious example of this concerns a man named Charles Erskine Scott Wood, an aide to General Howard. Wood’s story is told in exhaustive detail. He is given an entire chapter devoted solely to his trip to Alaska. While interesting (and well-written), it has absolutely nothing – repeat nothing – to do with the story of Joseph and the Nez Perce. I kept waiting for Wood to take center stage, to actually play a role in the pursuit of Joseph. Nope. He was just kind of along for the ride. Yet his experiences are given a full airing, at the expense of other, more pertinent information.
It comes down to this: Chief Joseph is essentially cut out of his own story. I don’t want to be all PC police here, especially since Sharfstein is otherwise sensitive in his portrayal of the Nez Perce. Still, it’s hard to ignore that two white guys get all the play, while Joseph is relegated to a cameo in his own tragedy.
While Howard’s and Wood’s biographies are mined for any and all insights, we learn almost nothing about Joseph, and even less about the other chiefs, such as Looking Glass, who played much larger roles in the Nez Perce flight. (As Sharfstein notes, Joseph was not a famed warrior, and was often in camp during battle. Compare him to Yellow Wolf, a stone killer who – years later – could show McWhorter over the battlefields and relate his victories).
Bits and pieces of Nez Perce culture are scattered throughout, yet they never receive a chapter half so thorough as the one given to Wood’s Alaskan excursion. Had the Nez Perce been given center stage – hell, if they’d been given a stage at all – I wouldn’t mind the tangents about Wood, or about Lieutenant James Bradley, a U.S. Cavalryman and budding historian who died fighting the Nez Perce. Here, it feels like peripheral white stories are highlighted at the expense of the Nez Perce. While the sad journey of the Nez Perce from captivity to Oklahoma (where Joseph tirelessly advocated for a return to the Wallowa Valley) is covered in a cursory manner (a saga worthy of its own chapter, if not book), we are given a full accounting of Charles Erskine Scott Wood’s later years, right down to the foods he served at his sumptuous parties.
If Sharfstein had wanted to tell Joseph’s story, he should have concentrated on Joseph. On the other hand, if he wanted to tell the story of General Howard, or Lieutenant Wood, he should have concentrated on them. The attempt to weave all three stories together does not work. He has three strands – each interesting in their own way – that are never combined into something singular and powerful.
This is a book I liked, and enjoyed. However, my lasting takeaway is of unfulfilled promise, because this could have been so much more.
January 24, 2020
I will be thinking about these two men for a long time. Chief Joseph and Oliver Otis Howard. Each had life goals of protecting their people, but had an appreciation for the rights of others and tried, within the limited social remedies of their time and place, to rectify inequities imposed on others. At a minimum, they allowed their own thinking to be informed by a farther reach than the usual assumptions and prejudices of their day.
However, as leaders in the right time at the right place, these two found themselves at the front lines at the time of conflict, having their own nations pushed up against their backs. The nations were propelled by warriors who wanted action, had enough waiting around and were ready to get it done. Behind and underneath the nations were families, ancestors, traditions, cultures, and faith. Somewhere in all of it was the desire for home and safety, and money, success and absolute power. And the result of that violent meeting of nations was absolute tragedy for one, and a tragically mistaken assumption of superiority by the other. Both with unexpected consequences down to this very day, and which will continue to unroll through the years. . . .
This has become a new research topic for me, so there will be many more books like this to read, on both sides of this conflict. The author's writing is well researched and is clean and clear. I will look for more of Daniel Sharfstein's other books.
4 stars. Nope. 5 stars for re-readable because we need to - re-read this and learn from it.
However, as leaders in the right time at the right place, these two found themselves at the front lines at the time of conflict, having their own nations pushed up against their backs. The nations were propelled by warriors who wanted action, had enough waiting around and were ready to get it done. Behind and underneath the nations were families, ancestors, traditions, cultures, and faith. Somewhere in all of it was the desire for home and safety, and money, success and absolute power. And the result of that violent meeting of nations was absolute tragedy for one, and a tragically mistaken assumption of superiority by the other. Both with unexpected consequences down to this very day, and which will continue to unroll through the years. . . .
This has become a new research topic for me, so there will be many more books like this to read, on both sides of this conflict. The author's writing is well researched and is clean and clear. I will look for more of Daniel Sharfstein's other books.
4 stars. Nope. 5 stars for re-readable because we need to - re-read this and learn from it.
October 19, 2023
Dear husband and I finally finished this on our recent drive out to Tucson. This is a LONG but very good book. If you are a fan of History, especially history of the American West, this is a well-written biographical history of these two very different men, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce and the "Christian General" General Oliver Otis Howard, of Civil War-, Reconstruction Era- and later Howard University-fame and the time they came together. We enjoyed listening to it, but I would have enjoyed reading it even more as there were often times I wanted to go back and check things which with an audiobook, are well-nigh impossible without entirely disrupting the flow of the story. I rarely like audiobooks for anything complicated, but sometimes compromise is necessary to share the book with Dh.
When he was still in the USAF and we lived in Washington state (circa '96-'98), we visited Chief Joseph's grave as a family. It was in a very desolate part of the state, and I have never forgotten it. Considering Joseph's lifelong plea to return to his beautiful, beloved Wallowa Valley, his death and burial in such a forsaken place seemed the final twist of the knife.
Although the title of the book leads you to believe the book is limited to the Chief Joseph and General Howard's relationship during the Nez Perce War during 1877, the book actually continues on long after that relating what happens to both men as well as a number of others critical to the overall story.
Fascinating and highly recommended.
When he was still in the USAF and we lived in Washington state (circa '96-'98), we visited Chief Joseph's grave as a family. It was in a very desolate part of the state, and I have never forgotten it. Considering Joseph's lifelong plea to return to his beautiful, beloved Wallowa Valley, his death and burial in such a forsaken place seemed the final twist of the knife.
Although the title of the book leads you to believe the book is limited to the Chief Joseph and General Howard's relationship during the Nez Perce War during 1877, the book actually continues on long after that relating what happens to both men as well as a number of others critical to the overall story.
Fascinating and highly recommended.
July 5, 2017
Daniel J. Sharfstein's new book, Thunder in the Mountains, offers an engrossing, full-blooded account of the Nez Perce War and its protagonists. Sharfstein's book evokes this most intriguing of Indian conflicts with narrative verve, recounting the Nez Perce's epic journey across the West, its constant, improbable victories over pursuing American troops, the infighting and indecision among its chiefs and its ultimate downfall. Yet more than that, Sharfstein provides a fascinating treatment of his protagonists: Oliver O. Howard, the Civil War general, Freedman's Bureau director and civil rights advocate who found his idealism eroding into imperialist war-making, which Sharfstein grandly (but not unfairly) conceives as a metaphor for America's loss of racial enlightenment in the post-Civil War era; and Chief Joseph, who became a stand-in for the doomed but noble Native American, who fought the white as long as he could then grudgingly assimilated into white culture. A grand historical tragedy cast in epic style.
October 26, 2022
Having read at least 20 books on the subject of the Nez Perce people and the associated war of 1877, I feel like I am getting close to being an expert on the subject. Yet every new book on the subject, like this one, still manages to enlighten me further.
This book focuses on the major players in the war, especially General Oliver Otis Howard and Heinmot Tooyalatkekt, aka Chief Joseph. With lots of details about their backgrounds and their beliefs, I feel like I came to be more understanding of what drove both of them – not that I needed much more to increase my understanding and sympathy for Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce side of the story.
I would not recommend this book to someone who is generally unfamiliar with the associated history, but for people (like me) who are acquainted with it, this is a very good book – very well researched and very well presented. It definitely reflects a lot of the author's own judgments, opinions, and insights, however – which is perfectly appropriate by my standards.
Another major character that is much more fully illustrated in this book than any other I have read is Howard's aide, Charles Erskine Scott Wood. More than anyone else, he is the person responsible for transcribing and publicizing Chief Joseph's famous surrender speech ("... from where the sun now stands I shall fight no more forever").
After the war Wood became a successful lawyer, but he never stopped advocating for the less fortunate and especially for the non-treaty Nez Perce people who had been treated so cruelly and unfairly by the U.S. Government.
Sixty-five years after the war, Wood, in speeches to large audiences, kept returning to Chief Joseph and the 1877 war to secure his audience's awe and attention:
Because of this book, Charles Erskine Scott Wood, like Heinmot Tooyalatkekt, will now be a name that I will associate with the virtues of integrity and compassion.
This book focuses on the major players in the war, especially General Oliver Otis Howard and Heinmot Tooyalatkekt, aka Chief Joseph. With lots of details about their backgrounds and their beliefs, I feel like I came to be more understanding of what drove both of them – not that I needed much more to increase my understanding and sympathy for Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce side of the story.
I would not recommend this book to someone who is generally unfamiliar with the associated history, but for people (like me) who are acquainted with it, this is a very good book – very well researched and very well presented. It definitely reflects a lot of the author's own judgments, opinions, and insights, however – which is perfectly appropriate by my standards.
Another major character that is much more fully illustrated in this book than any other I have read is Howard's aide, Charles Erskine Scott Wood. More than anyone else, he is the person responsible for transcribing and publicizing Chief Joseph's famous surrender speech ("... from where the sun now stands I shall fight no more forever").
After the war Wood became a successful lawyer, but he never stopped advocating for the less fortunate and especially for the non-treaty Nez Perce people who had been treated so cruelly and unfairly by the U.S. Government.
Sixty-five years after the war, Wood, in speeches to large audiences, kept returning to Chief Joseph and the 1877 war to secure his audience's awe and attention:
It was Joseph, after all, who had awakened his political sensibility. "In my youth, as an army officer," Wood wrote, "I chased and killed Indians driven to revolt by the oppressions of that vague thing called, 'The Government.' I saw that Nationalism and Patriotism were used to narrow the human sympathy, inflame the hate—and blind the vision of the people [...] I left the Army and entered law and found that the law was not the servant of justice and the protector of liberty, but was the protector of property and that there was one law for the rich, another for the poor."
His encounter with Joseph set him on a path that led directly to his commitment to restoring the promise of a government that served every American, and not just the "powerful capitalists and 'captains of industry.'"
Because of this book, Charles Erskine Scott Wood, like Heinmot Tooyalatkekt, will now be a name that I will associate with the virtues of integrity and compassion.
April 11, 2021
This is a historic work of nonfiction set in the post-civil war era where the American army and General Oliver Otis Howard attempted to conquer the area of the western Rockies which was inhabited by a nomadic tribe of American Indians known as Nez Perce. The tribe had several warrior chiefs, but the one most remembered, and the one who used every conceivable method to save the land of his forbears for his sons and daughters was Chief Joseph.
The land area occupied by the Nez Perce was N.E. Oregon, S.E. Washington, and West Central Idaho. The army was sent in to relocate the Indians onto a government reservation where the ultimate goal was to transform them into Christian farmers. The clash in 1877 resulted in the ruthless, brutal, and inhumane confrontation of two civilizations where a 2,000 man army pursued 800 Indians more than 1,200 miles all over the bleak harsh Northwest territory through many deadly battles and skirmishes. As the Nez Perce neared the Canadian border, they found themselves starving and freezing with a lack of sufficient clothes and supplies, and their population largely decimated. A few continued on into Canada, but in order to save what remained of the old people and women and children of the tribe, Chief Joseph surrendered. The tribe spent 8 years on a desolate reservation in Oklahoma but was subsequently moved to Washington state.
In the years pursuant to the Nez Perce Wars Chief Joseph attained much celebrity and made many trips to Washington D.C. to further the Indian's claim to their homeland or even just their beloved Wallowa Valley. His requests were denied.
Quote: Yellow Wolf: "War is made to take something not your own."
General Howard had been an abolitionist and gained much notoriety in his post-civil war reconstruction efforts. He believed strongly in God's plan for liberty and equality. He was very active in the "Freedman's Bureau", and founded the college named for him, Howard University. I was baffled as to why a very religious abolitionist would have such a devout desire to help the ex-slaves, and such an apathetic attitude toward American Indians.
I believed the book to be well researched given that author Daniel Sharfstein is a professor of law and history at Vanderbilt University. I am a great lover of American Indian History. A minority group that was the victim of American genocide and never given a leg up following their decimation. The white European's Manifest Destiny began the American Indian's Holocaust. I learned a lot from this book, which has paralleled every American Indian story I have ever read, which are many. My all-time favorite in this category was
but also include:
American Indians who have tried to defend their people have wound up a travesty like Leonard Peltier
by Peter Matthiessen, one of my favorite authors.
The land area occupied by the Nez Perce was N.E. Oregon, S.E. Washington, and West Central Idaho. The army was sent in to relocate the Indians onto a government reservation where the ultimate goal was to transform them into Christian farmers. The clash in 1877 resulted in the ruthless, brutal, and inhumane confrontation of two civilizations where a 2,000 man army pursued 800 Indians more than 1,200 miles all over the bleak harsh Northwest territory through many deadly battles and skirmishes. As the Nez Perce neared the Canadian border, they found themselves starving and freezing with a lack of sufficient clothes and supplies, and their population largely decimated. A few continued on into Canada, but in order to save what remained of the old people and women and children of the tribe, Chief Joseph surrendered. The tribe spent 8 years on a desolate reservation in Oklahoma but was subsequently moved to Washington state.
In the years pursuant to the Nez Perce Wars Chief Joseph attained much celebrity and made many trips to Washington D.C. to further the Indian's claim to their homeland or even just their beloved Wallowa Valley. His requests were denied.
Quote: Yellow Wolf: "War is made to take something not your own."
General Howard had been an abolitionist and gained much notoriety in his post-civil war reconstruction efforts. He believed strongly in God's plan for liberty and equality. He was very active in the "Freedman's Bureau", and founded the college named for him, Howard University. I was baffled as to why a very religious abolitionist would have such a devout desire to help the ex-slaves, and such an apathetic attitude toward American Indians.
I believed the book to be well researched given that author Daniel Sharfstein is a professor of law and history at Vanderbilt University. I am a great lover of American Indian History. A minority group that was the victim of American genocide and never given a leg up following their decimation. The white European's Manifest Destiny began the American Indian's Holocaust. I learned a lot from this book, which has paralleled every American Indian story I have ever read, which are many. My all-time favorite in this category was
but also include:
American Indians who have tried to defend their people have wound up a travesty like Leonard Peltier
by Peter Matthiessen, one of my favorite authors.
August 13, 2018
This book is more about the men involved in the in the Nez Perce War than the conflict and epic trek of the tribe under Chief Joseph. It is still a good read on the plight of the Nez Perce in the Pacific Northwest.
August 11, 2017
The beginning and last third of the book were fantastic, especially the deep analysis of Chief Joseph's remarkable advocacy for the legal rights of his people. The middle part, which is basically a play-by-play of the long flight of the Nez Perce, dragged a bit and didn't add as much to the standard accounts of the Nez Perce War.
August 10, 2018
Pros: This is a very well written book. It is easy to read and enjoyable.
Cons: It almost reads more as a historical novel as compared to a history. I don't know how much of the narrative comes from quotes made after the fact, there isn't enough documentation to tell, but a lot of the book feels as if the author is taking historical liberties in telling the story. There are too many places where the author writes things such as "the women were back at the camp tending to their children and thinking about the risks the men were taking." While it is likely true, it is projecting on to the subjects. In many cases, he tells us what specific people were thinking/feeling at specific junctures in the narrative. Now it is possible that this battle has been well enough documented that he can make those statements, but I honestly do not know.
If you are looking for a good read on this subject, this is a great book. I WANT to feel comfortable with the history accuracy, but I'm not. I trust the overall narrative, but its the details that I question.
Cons: It almost reads more as a historical novel as compared to a history. I don't know how much of the narrative comes from quotes made after the fact, there isn't enough documentation to tell, but a lot of the book feels as if the author is taking historical liberties in telling the story. There are too many places where the author writes things such as "the women were back at the camp tending to their children and thinking about the risks the men were taking." While it is likely true, it is projecting on to the subjects. In many cases, he tells us what specific people were thinking/feeling at specific junctures in the narrative. Now it is possible that this battle has been well enough documented that he can make those statements, but I honestly do not know.
If you are looking for a good read on this subject, this is a great book. I WANT to feel comfortable with the history accuracy, but I'm not. I trust the overall narrative, but its the details that I question.
December 23, 2018
This book by Daniel Sharfstein is well researched and written. The author has a writing style that makes the subject engaging and read less like a history rescitation and more like a story. The subtitle of "Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard and the Nez Perce War" is an accurate description of the book although a good deal of the book also deals with Charles Erskine Scott Wood and the role he played in the conflict. It deals with both reality and the politics of the conflict and the aftermath.
I purchased this book because I have an interest in the Nez Perce War having spent time in the Kamiah region of Idaho and also my interest in native american history. This is the first book by the author that I have read.
I recommend this book for anyone who has an interest in the Nez Perce War.
I purchased this book because I have an interest in the Nez Perce War having spent time in the Kamiah region of Idaho and also my interest in native american history. This is the first book by the author that I have read.
I recommend this book for anyone who has an interest in the Nez Perce War.
September 5, 2017
This is near the top of my favorites list. I was just transported to another era, albeit an emotionally charged, and unbelievably sad one. Although this book was titled to be about Chief Joseph (I've been a huge fan since childhood), Oliver Otis Howard (and his self-absorbed idealism...and hypocritical pursuits), and the Nez Perce War - I surprisingly got lost in the sections about 4 other characters in the story.
I tried to post pictures for the following, but I am technologically illiterate - sorry.
The first to capture my rapt attention was Ollokot, Chief Joseph's younger brother. Chapter 10, titled Split Rocks, brought him into such perfect perspective that I could hear his pleas and see his mannerisms as he passionately defended the land rights of indians. He questioned why the government couldn't treat all Americans with the same rules and equality, frustrated and moving from one audience to the next. This obviously fell on more-than-deaf-ears, and his angst bled through the pages. I was very moved and read the chapter several times. Joseph made many moving speeches, but Ollokot's passionate delivery seemed to move me far more.
Second was Joseph's Nephew, Yellow Wolf, whose retelling of the war from his own perspective in a book by Lucullus Virgil McWhorter seemed to be a large source of information for this book, since many of the battles were from his perspective. I just wanted to hug the young man for having to endure all that upheaval.
Third was Charles Erskine Scott Wood, a young military aide to Howard, who later became an attorney, artist, writer, and social activist. I could relate to him for many reasons. I think he grabbed my heart and attention during a reflection about life on the trail:
This was particularly amusing because early in his western travels, he spent ALL his money on fancy clothes to always look like a perfect gentleman and soldier. Also amusing because in the passages leading up to this, the rest of the soldiers were miserable and wanting to quit and go home. Interestingly, Erskine was reveling in the "freedom" of life on the move, just like the indians they (the army) were pursuing to move to a reservation.
Also, in the 1920's, he later wrote, "I chased and killed Indians driven to revolt by the oppressions of that vague thing called, 'The Government'...I saw that 'Nationalism', and 'Patriotism' were used to narrow the human sympathy, inflame the hate - and blind the vision of the people."
Lastly, Peopeo Tholekt, a Nez Perce warrior under Chief Looking Glass. Maybe it was his picture posted in the center of the book, but all his passages were impacted by the sad, desperation evident in his photo.
I tried to post pictures for the following, but I am technologically illiterate - sorry.
The first to capture my rapt attention was Ollokot, Chief Joseph's younger brother. Chapter 10, titled Split Rocks, brought him into such perfect perspective that I could hear his pleas and see his mannerisms as he passionately defended the land rights of indians. He questioned why the government couldn't treat all Americans with the same rules and equality, frustrated and moving from one audience to the next. This obviously fell on more-than-deaf-ears, and his angst bled through the pages. I was very moved and read the chapter several times. Joseph made many moving speeches, but Ollokot's passionate delivery seemed to move me far more.
"I talk with heart. I want to show you my heart."-Ollokot
Second was Joseph's Nephew, Yellow Wolf, whose retelling of the war from his own perspective in a book by Lucullus Virgil McWhorter seemed to be a large source of information for this book, since many of the battles were from his perspective. I just wanted to hug the young man for having to endure all that upheaval.
Third was Charles Erskine Scott Wood, a young military aide to Howard, who later became an attorney, artist, writer, and social activist. I could relate to him for many reasons. I think he grabbed my heart and attention during a reflection about life on the trail:
"Wood wrote that he reveled in the privations of the trail, his long beard and matted hair, his riding pants 'out at the knees and fringed at the bottoms...the wreck of a white slouch wilted on my head and a tattered blouse fluttering on my back.' He was 'naked and careless as becomes banditti of the frontier,' he enthused, 'more artistically and picturesquely ragged than any other officer.' He felt less like an aide to a brigadier general than a lieutenant to the Italian guerrilla leader - and hero of a popular opera-'Fra Diavolo.' He expected, hoped even, that the campaign would last through Christmas."
This was particularly amusing because early in his western travels, he spent ALL his money on fancy clothes to always look like a perfect gentleman and soldier. Also amusing because in the passages leading up to this, the rest of the soldiers were miserable and wanting to quit and go home. Interestingly, Erskine was reveling in the "freedom" of life on the move, just like the indians they (the army) were pursuing to move to a reservation.
Also, in the 1920's, he later wrote, "I chased and killed Indians driven to revolt by the oppressions of that vague thing called, 'The Government'...I saw that 'Nationalism', and 'Patriotism' were used to narrow the human sympathy, inflame the hate - and blind the vision of the people."
[Yep]
Lastly, Peopeo Tholekt, a Nez Perce warrior under Chief Looking Glass. Maybe it was his picture posted in the center of the book, but all his passages were impacted by the sad, desperation evident in his photo.
September 10, 2017
The author has done an excellent job in recreating what took place when the government decided to relocate the Nez Perce Tribe. He first gives you back ground on General Howard on some of his failures after the Civil War when he was in charge of reconstruction. Because of those in the East he was sent to command the North Pacific which would put him in direct line with this Tribe and with Chief Joseph. What we learned in school so many years ago is nothing to what you will gather in this book. The author takes you through each character which at first seems long, but he has a point because there comes a time when they all will come together. From the first time, General Howard meets Chief Joseph he is amassed that he and his brother speak and understand English so well. Later when they are making their arguments to the General about the rules of a man needing to be followed it is like the General and his men around him don’t understand what they are talking about. After years of living together finally, an Indian is killed by a settler mainly because he is scared and the General does nothing after they had brought an Indian from their tribe who was guilty of a crime. The Chief wanted the white man punished by the same rules as the man from his tribe, but nothing happened to the settler. When he was killed Chief Joseph said it could have been stopped if you would have followed same rules for the white man. Then the General came back and wanted to move the Tribe in order to ease tension. Chief Joseph said no, move the white for his Tribe had been there for many, many, years and even helped Lewi and Clark. President Jefferson thanked his grandfather and so not only is his tribe tied to this land but tied to the country. The General, of course, said no and from June of 1877 to Oct 1877 he led them in a series of battles until finally surrendering. The Nez Perce were finally sent to what now is Oklahoma, and after years of going to Washington, Chief Joseph was finally able to get the Tribe moved back to the Northwest even though it was not their original land. You also see the General Sherman had a lot to do with how the Native American’s were treated so poorly. Over all a good book. I got this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com
May 2, 2017
For me, no account of the tragic, brutal Native American chapter of our history compares with Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. But this book reveals an intriguing other side to Oliver Otis Howard, the Union general, staunch abolitionist and defender of African American rights, founder of historically black Howard University -- and dogged but largely inept pursuer of Indian genocide. You know how this book will end for all involved, and it's sad to see proud warrior Chief Joseph reduced to an Americanized propaganda tool in his final years. And also bizarre that, while Howard ruined and/or ended the lives of thousands of Native Americans, the whole ordeal merits one short paragraph in his extensive memoirs.
August 9, 2018
For an abolitionist who was a founder of Howard University and the head of the Freedmen's Bureau to be in charge of the military campaign against the Nez Perce Indians is a sad irony. For a former Civil War general whose military skills were less than high level, personal bravery aside, to make a hash of the campaign was not surprising.
Sharfstein gives a full account of the war as seen through the lives of its two leaders--Otis Howard and Chief Joseph. His book is never less than eloquent. It is also immeasurably sad. The result was never really in doubt despite the early military failures of Howard's command. Largely innocent people died on both sides. The war serves as a dismal case study of the forces that led to their deaths.
Sharfstein gives a full account of the war as seen through the lives of its two leaders--Otis Howard and Chief Joseph. His book is never less than eloquent. It is also immeasurably sad. The result was never really in doubt despite the early military failures of Howard's command. Largely innocent people died on both sides. The war serves as a dismal case study of the forces that led to their deaths.
January 13, 2018
This is a well researched parallel biography of Chief Joseph the inspirational leader of the Nez Perce in the American Northwest and the man chiefly responsible for trying to force the Nez Perce onto a reservation. Chief Joseph fights him both militarily and politically and ultimately loses. With regard to Mr. Howard it goes back to his Civil War service (he loses an arm), his time working for the Freedman's Bureau after the war, his Native American campaigns and his later life. It also follows Chief Joseph celebrity on the east coast late in his life. A wonderfully informative book.
February 21, 2025
I’ve been reading quiet a few of these books lately. Not sure there was anything wrong with it. It was about the Soldier and Native but like the last one I wanted a little bit more from the Native perspective. Still, these are important historical accounts that need to be explored and discussed. And I would have to research in outside sources but there was several inaccuracies about Nez Perce culture. Never once to recall reading it was Natives who hunted Buffalo to near extinction and even if the did hunt beaver to near extinction was because white men paid for the pelts. Still the work as whole is worth a review but I would not use it as my only source to understand this part of American history.
May 10, 2025
Very interesting background to the tragic story of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce people. I assume it may have to do with the availability of historical documents, but it feels like the filling out of the background doesn't give enough information on the Nez Perce.
The background info is very detailed in the first half of the book, which my nwrdy self-enjoyed even if it may seem as rabbit trails for many. In the second half of the book, after the Nez Perce flee Oregon, the information becomes much faster paced and doesn't seem to pause on anything. I would have liked a more detailed look at the dynamics of the Nez Perce.
So, while I enjoyed the deep dive into the period, there are some gaps that keep me from giving it a five.
The background info is very detailed in the first half of the book, which my nwrdy self-enjoyed even if it may seem as rabbit trails for many. In the second half of the book, after the Nez Perce flee Oregon, the information becomes much faster paced and doesn't seem to pause on anything. I would have liked a more detailed look at the dynamics of the Nez Perce.
So, while I enjoyed the deep dive into the period, there are some gaps that keep me from giving it a five.
July 29, 2024
This book is packed full of several different views of the Nez Perce war. It started slow and at times trailed off into some unexpected areas following different characters in the book that was not what I expected. All in all it was a good read.
August 25, 2025
Deep dive into post-Reconstruction era of US-Native American relations in the West and how the US rationalized and executed its policies of getting Natives onto reservations—specifically the case of the Nez Perce in the Wallowa valley in NE Oregon. Tells the stories of those at the forefront of executing the policies for the US as well as the Wallowa Nez Perce who were the recipients of such (often) brutal policies.
July 6, 2017
Most of us during our time in school in history class heard of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Indians. If you read one of the many books written about his tragic march towards the Canadian border with hundreds of women, children, and elderly in the dead of winter you may think there isn't a reason to read another book. This book will change that perception.
As Joseph has been probably been the figure used to represent the sad plight of the Indians. While Cochise, Geronimo, and Sitting Bull were known for their fierceness; Chief Joseph was looked at more sympathetically. This perception is not diminished in Thunder in the Mountains.
What is different is a much more in-depth look at General Oliver O. Howard and his life leading up to Chief Joseph and for over 30 years after the campaign. Howard and Joseph are followed from their births to death and I believe Howard may be perceived as having almost a sad a life as Joseph.
Many other players such as Grant, Sherman, Miles, and a lesser known, but most interesting Erskine Wood play major roles. I thought it was ironic that as the book ends a ninety-year old Wood is trying to remove an old Japanese friend from the horrendous Japanese internment camps. Hopefully, our country will learn from the marvelous Winston Churchill quote "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
As Joseph has been probably been the figure used to represent the sad plight of the Indians. While Cochise, Geronimo, and Sitting Bull were known for their fierceness; Chief Joseph was looked at more sympathetically. This perception is not diminished in Thunder in the Mountains.
What is different is a much more in-depth look at General Oliver O. Howard and his life leading up to Chief Joseph and for over 30 years after the campaign. Howard and Joseph are followed from their births to death and I believe Howard may be perceived as having almost a sad a life as Joseph.
Many other players such as Grant, Sherman, Miles, and a lesser known, but most interesting Erskine Wood play major roles. I thought it was ironic that as the book ends a ninety-year old Wood is trying to remove an old Japanese friend from the horrendous Japanese internment camps. Hopefully, our country will learn from the marvelous Winston Churchill quote "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
May 12, 2021
Viewed from any angle this is a tragic story. Historically it is a reoccurring phenomenon: Natives pushed onto a reservations, forced to assimilate. Relocated when resources become coveted. Cheated. Lied to. Treated as sub-human.
All people fear what they do not understand.
I was impressed by Chief Joseph's ability to compare and relate his tribe to the frontier people. Both cultures relied on the same fruitful earth. Back then frontier folks ate what they could hunt or grow, or squeeze out of a milk cow. But behind the line of frontier folk was a machine called Progress, with cogs and wheels and a rumbling engine so fierce that to this day it shakes the very foundations of our world.
The double tongues still talk the same. Dole out injustices faster than a fellow can count, right off the assembly line, all in the name of prosperity.
We are so far advanced that we've passed up the stuff that really matters. Things like clean water, natural food and medicine, fresh air, family and friendships.
The double tongues keep us divided. They keep us tame with handouts. They gave humanity great gifts each came with great promises: nuclear energy, innumerous possessions, perpetual war, the McDonaldization of society, and Rockefeller medicine. And they are still indoctrinating our children. Teaching them the greedy corporate ways of the machine world.
All people fear what they do not understand.
I was impressed by Chief Joseph's ability to compare and relate his tribe to the frontier people. Both cultures relied on the same fruitful earth. Back then frontier folks ate what they could hunt or grow, or squeeze out of a milk cow. But behind the line of frontier folk was a machine called Progress, with cogs and wheels and a rumbling engine so fierce that to this day it shakes the very foundations of our world.
The double tongues still talk the same. Dole out injustices faster than a fellow can count, right off the assembly line, all in the name of prosperity.
We are so far advanced that we've passed up the stuff that really matters. Things like clean water, natural food and medicine, fresh air, family and friendships.
The double tongues keep us divided. They keep us tame with handouts. They gave humanity great gifts each came with great promises: nuclear energy, innumerous possessions, perpetual war, the McDonaldization of society, and Rockefeller medicine. And they are still indoctrinating our children. Teaching them the greedy corporate ways of the machine world.
July 12, 2018
A very compelling portrait of the principal actors in the Nez Perce War, with deep context and background on Westward expansion, the nation's duplicitous and failed Indian policy, the Reconstruction South and the nature of life and warfare in the frontier days of the Pacific Northwest.
The scale of the Nez Perce War is very human--essentially a chase over several thousand miles of rough terrain involving less than two thousand people, the vast majority non-combatants. There were only a few real "battles" in the Western sense of the word (and one of them was a massacre of sleeping women and children perpetrated by the U.S. Army), and the number of casualties from the resettlement of Joseph's band to Oklahoma far outstripped the casualties in wartime.
Of specific interest to the reader: the history of Charles Erskine Scott Wood, the very real ways in which Joseph and the Nez Perce operated on different prior assumptions about basic reality that made it largely impossible for the U.S. government to ever treat with them in any manner approaching good faith, and the book's surprising depth on the nation's slide into Empire with Cuba and the Philippines.
Thorough and enjoyable.
The scale of the Nez Perce War is very human--essentially a chase over several thousand miles of rough terrain involving less than two thousand people, the vast majority non-combatants. There were only a few real "battles" in the Western sense of the word (and one of them was a massacre of sleeping women and children perpetrated by the U.S. Army), and the number of casualties from the resettlement of Joseph's band to Oklahoma far outstripped the casualties in wartime.
Of specific interest to the reader: the history of Charles Erskine Scott Wood, the very real ways in which Joseph and the Nez Perce operated on different prior assumptions about basic reality that made it largely impossible for the U.S. government to ever treat with them in any manner approaching good faith, and the book's surprising depth on the nation's slide into Empire with Cuba and the Philippines.
Thorough and enjoyable.
Read
August 21, 2022This book was really hard to get in to - the first third was a not hugely gripping history of folks I hadn’t heard of. I’m glad I stuck with it though - it ended up as a fascinating story of the Nez Perce and autocracy.
So the beginning of the book makes Gen Howard (of Howard University) a hero. By the middle you hate him and by the end… eh. Throughout, it’s just real sad how things spiraled out of control. There were “good” and “bad,” but then there were no good guys for a while.
“If we die in battle it is good. It is good to die for your rights and your county.” - yellow wolf, fighting against the Americans taking his land
After losing the war, when Joseph spoke in Washington, wow. Freedom was his message, but he was just seen as a savage for entertainment. The thought of Indians claiming equal rights seemed absurd.
“War is made to take something not your own.” - Chief Joseph
So the beginning of the book makes Gen Howard (of Howard University) a hero. By the middle you hate him and by the end… eh. Throughout, it’s just real sad how things spiraled out of control. There were “good” and “bad,” but then there were no good guys for a while.
“If we die in battle it is good. It is good to die for your rights and your county.” - yellow wolf, fighting against the Americans taking his land
After losing the war, when Joseph spoke in Washington, wow. Freedom was his message, but he was just seen as a savage for entertainment. The thought of Indians claiming equal rights seemed absurd.
“War is made to take something not your own.” - Chief Joseph
September 12, 2020
Sharfstein spent a lot of time focusing on the officers around Howard more than around him. Which makes a lot of sense considering that while he spent a lot of time trying to make the general out to be someone decent and worth following, Oliver Otis Howard was an arrogant, racist, whiny and extremely poor army officer. Everything he did was based on how he thought he appeared to others and by trying to force everyone to fit his definition of "Christian Ideals."Which if someone didn't, then he believed them to be less than human and not worth respect or honesty. When he was given orders that didn't immediately work out, he bawled at his superiors to abandon his duties and berated his soldiers for "sins" such as drinking, while he let his officers run around rutting and stealing. He tries to portray Howard as a great champion of racial rights, then ends up proving that to be a lie.
He basically lagged behind the Nez Perce throughout the pursuit right up until the surrender, then expected to be given full credit for everything happened when most of the time, other officers were the ones actually doing anything. He was (rightfully) disliked by his troops and expected to float through life on the notoriety of his work with the Freedman's Bureau. Despite the fact that he had been tried for corruption and theft for it.
The author's writings of Chief Joseph on the other had were much more instructive and comprehensive, based off off research and testimonials from people who knew him. Though they don't take up too much of the book.
Sharfstein spends much more time idolizing people like Charles Erskine Wood, even to the point of idolizing him so much that he'll spend nearly and entire chapter listing all of the items that Wood's greed and hungers drove him to acquire, both as far as items and women, that he loses the point he was trying to make.
I don't think I'll be in the market for any more of his books. His grasp of history is less than comprehensive and could even be described as revisionist. This includes claims that are blatantly untrue such as that the Native Americans hunted beavers and the buffalo nearly to extinction in less than ten years. Even the most Walt Disney version of history doesn't support that.
Basically, I think this book is best described as drivel, if not literary diarrhea.
He basically lagged behind the Nez Perce throughout the pursuit right up until the surrender, then expected to be given full credit for everything happened when most of the time, other officers were the ones actually doing anything. He was (rightfully) disliked by his troops and expected to float through life on the notoriety of his work with the Freedman's Bureau. Despite the fact that he had been tried for corruption and theft for it.
The author's writings of Chief Joseph on the other had were much more instructive and comprehensive, based off off research and testimonials from people who knew him. Though they don't take up too much of the book.
Sharfstein spends much more time idolizing people like Charles Erskine Wood, even to the point of idolizing him so much that he'll spend nearly and entire chapter listing all of the items that Wood's greed and hungers drove him to acquire, both as far as items and women, that he loses the point he was trying to make.
I don't think I'll be in the market for any more of his books. His grasp of history is less than comprehensive and could even be described as revisionist. This includes claims that are blatantly untrue such as that the Native Americans hunted beavers and the buffalo nearly to extinction in less than ten years. Even the most Walt Disney version of history doesn't support that.
Basically, I think this book is best described as drivel, if not literary diarrhea.
October 16, 2021
A relatively thorough account of Howard's attempt to arrest Joseph's band of Nez Perce in their flight for freedom. However, the author spends entirely too much time defending Howard, as well as praising the man for his Reconstruction efforts after the Civil War. As for defense of his leadership, Howard's record speaks for itself -- more failures (Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Freedman's Bureau) than successes (Cochise Treaty and Nez Perce War). The "successes" being very questionable even, with credit more deserving for Thomas Jeffords and Nelson Miles, respectively.
And as for Howard's efforts during Reconstruction, I just felt that those would be better reviewed in a Civil War and/or Reconstruction book, rather than in a book supposed to be about Howard's interactions with the Nez Perce and the war he helped prompt.
That said, I understand (perhaps more than most reviewers) that the 1870's were a different time, that societal concerns were often unique to that era, that the various philosophies concerning how to deal with our fellow man -- and which races/religions/groups -- mattered most, and that technological advancements were quickly transpiring. I dare say there were so many different aspects to consider that being a historian must often be the most daunting of endeavors. Sure, you can research and, perhaps, eventually even understand it all. But now you have to try and summarize it to others devoid of your comprehensive knowledge. To present it in a concise, yet collective way that educates without bogging down or being revisionist.
The author here is a fine writer. I found much of this book to be repetitive and often unrelated to the subject, but the writing itself always quite good. The part of the book relating directly to its title, namely the relationship between Howard and Joseph, and their interactions before, during, and after the Nez Perce War, I found to be both fascinating and educational. Well worth the read.
And as for Howard's efforts during Reconstruction, I just felt that those would be better reviewed in a Civil War and/or Reconstruction book, rather than in a book supposed to be about Howard's interactions with the Nez Perce and the war he helped prompt.
That said, I understand (perhaps more than most reviewers) that the 1870's were a different time, that societal concerns were often unique to that era, that the various philosophies concerning how to deal with our fellow man -- and which races/religions/groups -- mattered most, and that technological advancements were quickly transpiring. I dare say there were so many different aspects to consider that being a historian must often be the most daunting of endeavors. Sure, you can research and, perhaps, eventually even understand it all. But now you have to try and summarize it to others devoid of your comprehensive knowledge. To present it in a concise, yet collective way that educates without bogging down or being revisionist.
The author here is a fine writer. I found much of this book to be repetitive and often unrelated to the subject, but the writing itself always quite good. The part of the book relating directly to its title, namely the relationship between Howard and Joseph, and their interactions before, during, and after the Nez Perce War, I found to be both fascinating and educational. Well worth the read.
February 13, 2024
If you are interested in Oliver Howard, Chief Joseph, or the Nez Perce War, this book will certainly appeal to you. Sharfstein writes with great clarity and historical precision. It's a book that blends together stories in a way that shows the multiple perspectives and angles of historical moments. Rather than having a straightforward historical interpretation, Sharfstein shows how complicated the Nez Perce War was as a moment in both Native and American history. This is the overarching story of how Chief Joseph stood as a representative for his people to Howard, who was representing at least one aspect of the American government's perspective.
I initially picked up the book for consideration for a class on western US history. Unfortunately, I do not see the book as a good choice for that context because of how in depth it can be on some issues. This is not a knock on Sharfstein's impressive work! Rather, it is my own explanation.
The only reason that I didn't give this a full five stars is because the depth seemed almost overwhelming at times. There were sections that seemed as though they could have been more concise. In some ways, it seemed like more than one book all rolled into one. While this creates an admirable comprehensive look, it seems a bit challenging for readers to follow. There are some iconic bits of information that the average reader can latch onto (Howard in the Civil War, Reconstruction, William T. Sherman, Chief Joseph, Sitting Bull, etc.), but it can be a bit of a "forest for the trees" overall.
I would not assign this book for undergraduates. I would, however, encourage anyone interested in western history to read the book. It gives a fascinating glimpse into the events of the northwest in the late 19th century as well as how the "telling" of those events changes over time. I would definitely consider assigning this book for a graduate course in historiography.
I initially picked up the book for consideration for a class on western US history. Unfortunately, I do not see the book as a good choice for that context because of how in depth it can be on some issues. This is not a knock on Sharfstein's impressive work! Rather, it is my own explanation.
The only reason that I didn't give this a full five stars is because the depth seemed almost overwhelming at times. There were sections that seemed as though they could have been more concise. In some ways, it seemed like more than one book all rolled into one. While this creates an admirable comprehensive look, it seems a bit challenging for readers to follow. There are some iconic bits of information that the average reader can latch onto (Howard in the Civil War, Reconstruction, William T. Sherman, Chief Joseph, Sitting Bull, etc.), but it can be a bit of a "forest for the trees" overall.
I would not assign this book for undergraduates. I would, however, encourage anyone interested in western history to read the book. It gives a fascinating glimpse into the events of the northwest in the late 19th century as well as how the "telling" of those events changes over time. I would definitely consider assigning this book for a graduate course in historiography.
November 4, 2017
This book provides a very captivating narrative of the New Perce War and its chief protagonists: General Oliver Howard and Chief Joseph (whose Indian name translated loosely to "Thunder in the Mountains"). After providing quite a bit of interesting background material about these two men, including the story of how Howard University came to be named after the general, it provides almost a day-by-day account of the events that were part of the 1877 war in the Pacific Northwest, one that ended- tragically for the New Perce- just miles from the Canadian border and salvation. The war was not pretty, as atrocities abounded on both sides, and in the end the violence became centered on nothing more than race. It is sad to observe how a man so renown for advocating for the freed slaves after the Civil War could have turned around just a few years later and pursued another disenfranchised minority group with such ruthless resolve. While the bulk of the book is about the 1877 war, it does provide a lot of details about the lives of the Nez Perce after their surrender (which came with Chief Joseph's famous declaration, perhaps inaccurately translated or transcribed- "I will fight no more forever"). My complaints about the book are: 1. the battle maps are at the end of the book and I didn't even know that they were there until I had finished. I would have liked to have seen them included in the chapters that contained the descriptions of the battles. And, 2. too much of the book, for my liking, goes off on tangents, most notably the story of one of Howard's military aides Erksine Wood. Indeed, the reader finds himself in Alaska at one point, as well as a holding center for Japanese immigrants in 1942. In any event, these are minor complaints and I would call the book a big success.
March 25, 2024
A very enjoyable book, with a great deal of detail about the Nez Perce war of 1877 and many of the key players in the conflict.
As telegraphed in the subtitle, the focus is largely on the Army commander, O.O. Howard, and Chief Joseph, who - contrary to popular history - was not a Nez Perce war chief. Howard's aide during the war, C.E.S. Wood, provides the third primary lens for the account. Cavalry commander Nelson Miles makes a number of recurring appearances, as do several other members of the Nez Perce band.
Sharfstein's thesis seems to be that Howard sought equality and citizenship for Indians (and Blacks, while he was head of the Reconstruction Bureau), but with Christianization and assimilation as the precondition. In Sharfstein's account, Joseph recognized the competing bureaucracies of the US Government and sought unsuccessfully to convince them to allow his band of Nez Perce to remain in (and later, return to) Oregon's Wallowa Valley. Wood's role was largely as a storyteller - providing an earlier published account of the campaign sympathetic to Joseph.
I found the battle accounts and descriptions of the Nez Perce journey interesting, but not quite "can't put it down" engaging; Sharfstein's description of Howard and Joseph's post-war activities were different - I took them in almost in a single sitting.
The book left me with a real sense of sadness at how US policy treated Native Americans, repeatedly breaking promise and failing to engage with Native Americans as human beings.
As telegraphed in the subtitle, the focus is largely on the Army commander, O.O. Howard, and Chief Joseph, who - contrary to popular history - was not a Nez Perce war chief. Howard's aide during the war, C.E.S. Wood, provides the third primary lens for the account. Cavalry commander Nelson Miles makes a number of recurring appearances, as do several other members of the Nez Perce band.
Sharfstein's thesis seems to be that Howard sought equality and citizenship for Indians (and Blacks, while he was head of the Reconstruction Bureau), but with Christianization and assimilation as the precondition. In Sharfstein's account, Joseph recognized the competing bureaucracies of the US Government and sought unsuccessfully to convince them to allow his band of Nez Perce to remain in (and later, return to) Oregon's Wallowa Valley. Wood's role was largely as a storyteller - providing an earlier published account of the campaign sympathetic to Joseph.
I found the battle accounts and descriptions of the Nez Perce journey interesting, but not quite "can't put it down" engaging; Sharfstein's description of Howard and Joseph's post-war activities were different - I took them in almost in a single sitting.
The book left me with a real sense of sadness at how US policy treated Native Americans, repeatedly breaking promise and failing to engage with Native Americans as human beings.
July 7, 2018
Having had the privilege and honor to work on the Nez Perce Reservation in Lapwai for many years I was excited with I saw this book displayed at Costco. Anxious to read it as it was described as an authoritative and compassionate history of the Nez Perce War and its main characters Chief Joseph and General Howard. It is listed as “history” by the Library of Congress, but I would disagree, rather I would classify it as “Historical Fiction”. And here is why. So much of the early chapters of this book are written giving the reference as articles from local rural newspapers of the time. Given the anti-Native American climate (and unfortunately still present) of the times I find the bias of these pieces to be glaring and painting a picture of Chief Joseph and his band and other tribes as something they were not. It was gratifying to read more about the other Nez Perce leaders.
The later chapters to provide a more humane and compassionate and authoritative narrative, mostly I believe because of the abundance of government communication and the writings of other researchers available for reference. I was surprised to find that the oral history so important among the Nez Perce (and other tribes) was not given consideration until much later in the book.
Given all that the reader will find a lot of information that will increase their knowledge.
The later chapters to provide a more humane and compassionate and authoritative narrative, mostly I believe because of the abundance of government communication and the writings of other researchers available for reference. I was surprised to find that the oral history so important among the Nez Perce (and other tribes) was not given consideration until much later in the book.
Given all that the reader will find a lot of information that will increase their knowledge.
November 29, 2018
This is an amazing book. For a very long time history has been seen through objective eyes and hearts. In this re-telling, Sharfstein does his best to be subjective. He provides plenty of detail into the lives of not only the two main characters, but their families and adjunct personnel. It feels like a more than fair look at how people lived during this time, and the details make the whole story much more believable.
The indigenous people had a way of life that was not tied to a specific place and yet the American government thought it was best to put them on reservations. This is a huge misunderstanding of how people live, and while it was certainly fine for "Americans" to move about and settle where they wanted, the native population was not allowed to do what seems like one of the basic human rights.
Chief Joseph did his best to be magnanimous through his dealings with the Americans for the benefit of his people. That he was often ignored or misunderstood should not come as a surprise. That we have not learned anything from these lessons and that the treatment of certain people in our country has been perpetuated over the centuries, is a saddening thought.
The indigenous people had a way of life that was not tied to a specific place and yet the American government thought it was best to put them on reservations. This is a huge misunderstanding of how people live, and while it was certainly fine for "Americans" to move about and settle where they wanted, the native population was not allowed to do what seems like one of the basic human rights.
Chief Joseph did his best to be magnanimous through his dealings with the Americans for the benefit of his people. That he was often ignored or misunderstood should not come as a surprise. That we have not learned anything from these lessons and that the treatment of certain people in our country has been perpetuated over the centuries, is a saddening thought.
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