The event that prompted Chief Joseph to give his famous speech in the late eighteen hundreds was the forced relocation of his Nez Perce tribe by the U.S. government. In 1877, the Nez Perce were ordered to leave their ancestral lands in Oregon and Idaho and move to a reservation in Kansas. Chief Joseph and his tribe resisted the order and embarked on a 1,500-mile journey to seek refuge in Canada. Along the way, they engaged in several battles with U.S. troops before ultimately surrendering. Chief Joseph's speech, known as "I Will Fight No More Forever," was delivered in 1877 upon his surrender and expressed his anguish over the loss of his people's land and way of life.
