Voice of the Old Wolf: Lucullus Virgil McWhorter and the Nez Perce Indians

by Steven Ross Evans, Trevor James Bond (Foreword)

"Voice of the Old Wolf," originally published in 1996, is the only full-length biography of Lucullus V. McWhorter (1860-1944). The Yakima area rancher met and befriended Yakima and Nez Perce warriors in 1903, forming deep relationships and accumulating facts, stories, and perspectives that would otherwise have been irretrievably lost. Adopted as a tribe member, he served as a stirring spokesman for non-treaty bands and captured prominent Nez Perce voices in his classic Western histories, "Yellow Wolf" (1940) and "Hear Me, My Chiefs!" (1952). This edition includes a new foreword describing the vast McWhorter collection.

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evans merits high praise for a book which is successful in many ways. Most importantly, it offered a thorough, finely nuanced depiction of McWhorter’s 30+ year effort to tell the late 19th century history of the Nez Perces Native American nation from their point of view. In accomplishing this the reader is afforded the opportunity to learn about two other related topics. First, how government policies aimed at getting Native Americans to assimilate into White, mainstream society made life very difficult for members of the Nez Perces, as well as other nations of the Pacific Northwest, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Second, how challenging it was for McWhorter to collect the information he wanted in order to write his books. Voice offers a great lesson for wanna be historians of the obstacles one can face in trying to write history.

The author accomplished all of this through an in depth, very well organized review of both primary and secondary sources. The former included McWhorter’s voluminous notes and his extensive correspondence with Nez Perces and others over the course of many years. These are carefully referenced in the text with notes at the end of each chapter. For those wishing to follow up on their own there is a 5 page bibliography at the end of the book.

Through his use of a narrative, largely direct style of prose Evans made the book highly readable. Timely, albeit sometimes lengthy, quotations from McWhorter’s correspondence allowed for points to be well elaborated on. Thirty pages of photographs of many of the people discussed in the book, including McWhorter, and a two page map of Nez Perces Country enhanced my engagement with Voice. When Evans used Nez Perces vocabulary, he was careful to provide a translation in order to ensure that the reader follows what he is trying to communicate.

To his credit over the course of the book the author provided analyses of the relevant history of the Nez Perces, their intra-tribal dynamics, their relationships with Christian missionaries, and their struggles with the Bureau of Indian Affairs from the 1880’s through the 1920’s. Evans also explained important aspects of Nez Perces kinship relationships as well as their spiritual beliefs and practices. Thus, readers who are not familiar with these issues will be able to readily grasp the points Evans wanted to make about McWhorter and his long-standing relationships with these Native Americans.

My only criticism of Voice is that its detail makes it slow going at times. And there are some points towards the end of the book which are redundant.

For those who wish to delve more deeply into late 19th century Nez Perces history I recommend the following: The Nez Perces in the Indian Territory by J. Diane Pearson.

Evans co-wrote another excellent book: Lewis and Clark Among the Nez Perce.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written about my great-great grandfather, so of course I thoroughly enjoyed it! I learned more about the man, the period in Northwest history, and my family.

[Denise DeRocher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great tribute to the genre of Nez Perce history. Steve was a professor and a friend of mine - this was his PhD dissertation, and one of the best I have read!