Hear Me, My Chiefs! Nez Perce Legend and History

by Lucullus Virgil McWhorter

Of their earliest origins the Nez Perce know only legendary tales, but even in the story of their beginnings is found evidence of a superior and intelligent people whose religion had developed beyond the most primitive type of worship into one with well-established ethical and moral codes. How these peaceable and prosperous people were oppressed and persecuted, misunderstood, and badgered, beyond endurance and almost beyond honor, yet avoided war until fateful forces pushed them into it, is disclosed in sources made available to McWhorter by his Indian collaborators. It is the Nez Perce War of 1877 which forms the major portion of the book, and, without doubt, here is the most exhaustive and thorough examination of that dramatic struggle, the last great Indian war on this continent. It should be noted that HEAR ME, MY CHIEFS! is not an extension of YELLOW WOLF (the autobiography of one of the last surviving warriors of the Nez Perce War narrated to McWhorter), but a companion volume in which the entire story of the Nez Perce tribe is unfolded in an inclusive work of inestimable value. Few men knew the heart and mind of the Indian so thouroughly as L.V. McWhorter, whose devotion to the Nez Perces did not rest in mere appreciation; but took permanent form by recording, through years of patient questioning, their legends and history. When Lucullus McWhorter died in 1944, the task was completed by his son, assisted by members of the staff of the State College of Washington. This is not just a glorified story of Indians but one which sifts the evidence to find the truth. Wherever words were written concerning the Nez Perces, McWhorter ferreted them out. He contrasted the reminiscences of generals, missionaries, and pioneers with the witness of the Indians, and brought together material accumulated from files of newspapers, old journals, and letters. Written without dullness, for the richness of the material is derived largely from the quoted and clearly beautiful expressions of the Indian friends of McWhorter, HEAR ME, MY CHIEFS! is a book for the historian, and also for the general reader, who will find here the only complete and definitive record of the Nez Perce Indians with the puzzling aspects of the Nez Perce War of 1877 clarified by the Indians themselves.

Genres: American History, History

640 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1952

About the author

1860-1944

Reviews

[Alethea Hammer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not easy to read. The narrative does not flow smoothly. It took me an unusually long time to read it. Nevertheless, I give it 5 stars because it is such an amazing collection of first hand eye witness accounts of the 1877 Nez Perce War from the Nez Perce who survived it and related their recollections to McWhorter. An amateur historian who devoted decades of his life to collecting these accounts and writing this book. He died in 1944 with the book unfinished. Ruth Borden a history professor from the University of Washington organized and edited the unfinished work and completed the unfinished chapters, but remarkably, did not list herself as co author. More than anything else, this is the history of the Nez Perce side of the war as told by the survivors.

[Kurt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of the non-treaty Nez Perces, led by Chief Joseph, White Bird, Toohoolhoolzote, Looking Glass, and Palouse leaders Hahtalekin and Husishusis Kute, has always fascinated me ever since I first heard my father describe their long sorrowful journey to me when I was a young teenager. Since then I have managed to read nearly every book available on the subject (about 15 in all).

Hear Me, My Chiefs is one of the most important of all the books on the subject. The author, L.V. McWhorter, was the first person to actually try to get the story of the Nez Perce War from the Indian point of view. His research and interviews with then living participants of the war revealed numerous errors, exaggerations, and outright lies that had been perpetuated by the white victors and history writers of the time. We owe a debt of gratitude to him for his diligent work and for keeping alive the history of so many people who were so devoted to their own people and their culture -- people who were willing to fight and die for the just cause of simply trying to maintain their superior way of life which their people had lived for generations. Names of great fighters like Wottolen, Rainbow, Five Wounds, Wounded Head, Shore Crossing, Red Moccasin Tops, Swan Necklace, Yellow Wolf, Ollokot, Two Moons, Yellow Bull, Peopeo Tholekt, Lean Elk, and many others are kept alive because of McWhorter's work.

The story of the Nez Perce is, or should be, a cautionary tale for us today. Money-driven interests and politics led to the destruction of an entire people and their way of life. Normally good people who were driven by greed, false senses of duty and obligation, misplaced priorities, and apathy allowed themselves to do the bidding of the powerful interests that wanted Native populations destroyed at any cost. People are the same today as they were then. What happened to the Nez Perces (or to the European Jews or numerous indigenous people worldwide for that matter) can happen again to any group of people that just happens to be in the way of someone's idea of "progress".