Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 May 1878 — The Nez Perces. [ARTICLE]

The Nez Perces.

Chief Joseph and his tribe of Nez Perce Indians, now prisoners of war at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., have sent to the President, through Gen. Saxton, of the army, an application to be released and transferred back to their old agency in Oregon. They claim that their war against the United States was provoked, and that it was conducted on their part according to the rules of civilized warfare. They recall the fact that they took no scalps; that they buried the dead that fell into their hands according to civilized mode; that they treated their prisoners with generosity, and that they did nothing except defend themselves against the military, and when they surrendered it was unconditional, and with the intention of remaining forever the peaceful subjects of their oonquerors. The petition was discussed at

a late Cabinet meeting and favorably considered. It was the original intention to locate Chief Joseph and his men in the Indian Territory, but the Senate btruck oat of the Indian Appropriation bill file provision for their removal. Secretary McCrary intends to tempt some of the Nez Perce young men away from their tribe by offering to educate them at Hampton University, Virginia.