Customer Reviews

Let Me Be Free: The Nez Perce Tragedy

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Originally subtitled "the U.S. Army's War Against Seven Hundred Nez Perce Men,Women, and Children," this moving history documents the brutal persecution of a small Northwestern tribe. Western historian David lavender never hides his sympathy in this powerful chronicle of Chief Joseph's "flight toward freedom" in 1877 to avoid reservation life. This is a really sad story filled with overlooked possibilities for compromise, understanding, and tolerance. Lavender considers the Nex Perce War the final betrayal of a long and once-promising relationship between white explorers, fur trappers, Christian missionairies, and the tribe. Chief Old Joseph, father of the more famous Chief Joseph, even converted to Christianity for both spiritual and practical reasons. Peaceful coexistence and friendship with the new settlers was his policy. Greed, cultural intolerance, and racial hatred eventually doomed those possibilities for Nez Perce. Although Chief Joseph developed a reputation as an Indian Napeleon for his brilliant fighting tactics, Lavender emphasizes that Chief Joseph continually sought to avoid war. Chief Joseph's simple hope was to have a reservation that would allow his people to live in their traditional land and stay close to his father's grave in Wallowa Valley, Oregon. The United States military commanders of that time, however, demanded the tribe move. This compelling account of the Nez Perce's failed 1700 mile exodus to join Sitting Bull in Canada captures the cruelty, mindlessness, and viciousness of 19th century America's expansionist policies. Chief Joseph's eloquent words, especially when surrending after a blizzard just a few miles south of the Canadian border, accents the pain and injustice.

I am a huge David Lavender fan and when I found this work on Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce tribe I was quite interested to read it. Lavender's works are noted for their rich attention to detail, pithiness and eloquence. But pithy this work is not.

What sets the Nez Perce apart in Western history is their amazing war with the US Army, over 1,700 miles of mountain terrain, where they defeated the Army's efforts at every turn until their final capture 40 miles south of the Canadian border. Initially ordered to report to a reservation, this was an extraordinary bid for freedom. Their war is one of those David and Goliath, against-all-odds stories that all Americans love where the underdog not only beats his antagonist but whips him mercilessly. Without this event, the Nez Perce would have been a small, non-descript mountain tribe, barely a footnote in US history, quietly eliminated by Manifest Destiny and local settler avarice. It is this, their amazing flight for freedom, which everyone wants to know about and that everyone identifies with. It is this, their amazing strength of character, which everyone understands when we hear the words Nez Pierce.

For the author then to spend 250 pages of a 349 page book on the 70 years of tribal history that preceded this event is quite disappointing. Tribal history, no matter how engaging, is not why people buy this book. We buy this book to learn more about the actions of a truly admirable people who refused to go quietly into banishment for the outrageous crime of simply being Native American.

Unless you are looking for the complete history of the Nez Perce interface with migrating Americans, you may find yourself frustrated with this work. The author simply takes too long, 70% of the book, to get to the point, the significant backbone of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce people. But if you do stick with it you will get to know a most remarkable man and a fine, indigenous American people who will earn your deep and abiding respect.

First off, contrary to earlier reviewers, this book has NOTHING to do with the Lewis and Clark expedition. Out of the 350 pages in the book, they might be mentioned a half dozen times and one might want to get Lavender's "The Way to the Western Sea," if interested on Meriweather and William's trip.
Instead, "Let me Be Free," is on the Nez Perce tribe which lived in Oregon's Wallowa Valley until it was forced from the land in the 1860's. This is a great book if the reader is interested in a century's worth of history about the tribe but I'd suggest something else if the intent on reading this is solely learning about Chief Joseph's tragic flight from the US military in 1877.
I originally got into Lavender's works after reading his fantastic book, "Bents' Fort" which is about the trading family of William Bent in SE Colorado. I had no interest in the subject but was recommended the book and I fell fully immersed into it because of Lavender's detailed writing-style and ability to create real identities to the historical characters instead of just giving names and dates. He has the same writing style in "Let Me Be Free," and will never shy from a unimportant but lighthearted side story. The writing is anything but dry.
The first half of LMBF is on how the tribe lived and existed, its neighbors, and its relations with the first whites to reach Oregon. Lavender has a contentious understanding of the western Native American tribes and writes in a fair and unbiased reader-friendly style and includes the correct names and terms the Nez Perce (Nimipu) used.
The last 100 pages cover Chief Joseph's (Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kehht's) flight and includes a fantastic map in the front for the reader to follow the tribe along on its failed march to freedom.
The book fails to get five stars from me because I was most interested in the Nez Perce march and it just took too long to finally reach that subject in the book. It reminded me of "Undaunted Courage," (Ambrose's book on Meriweather Lewis) where there is no much buildup to the expedition that once the reader finally reaches it in the book, it falls a bit flat. However, if anyone is interested on the Nez Perce tribe itself, you won't find a better book. Any Western Oregon historians would also immensely enjoy this work.

At the outset let me state that if you are looking to learn about the Nez Perce or Nimi'ipuu (the currently official tribal spelling was previously spelled Nee-Me-Poo, while Lavender used Nimipu in "Let Me Be Free") you are much better off reading other older, more reliable and valid books. If you can obtain a copy of "The Nez Perce Indians" (Garland Publishing Co.: 1974), a compilation of documents about the Nez Perce submitted to the Indian Claims Commission, is one of the most authoritative books on the Nez Perce available. While "Noon-Nee-Me-Poo" (1973) written by Alan Slickpoo Sr. (a tribal member/historian) and published by the Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho, is, in my opinion the best place to start, it is fairly difficult to acquire. Hence, I would strongly recommend Alvin M. Josephy Jr.'s "The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest" (1965; 1997), which is currently available through Amazon. Lucullus Virgil Mcwhorter's "Yellow Wolf - His Own Story" (1930; 2007), also available from Amazon, is less rigorous than Josephy's book, but is an outstanding, highly readable biographical account. Lastly, also available from Amazon, there is the more "romantic," less reliable historical (fictionalized) novel "From Where the Sun Now Stands" (1962; 2000) by Will Henry (pen name for Henry Wilson Allen) that is very easy to read, far more interesting than this book, "Let Me Be Free," and will present the basic story for you.

That said, I am now going to write a fairly "academic/intellectual" review of David Lavender's "Let Me Be Free: The Nez Perce Tragedy," that will most likely rile those who really like the book. But I strongly feel that a "honest" review must be made. I have read and researched the Nez Perce for over 25 years, spending time at all of the locations discussed in the book, including several treks through the Wallowa mountains in Oregon. I have also taught courses on the Nez Perce and much of the "history" included in this book. As such, I can only speculate that the University of Oklahoma Press keeps this book in publication because it sells well, and because David Lavender is a two time Pulitzer Prize nominee and a respected historian. However, if "Let Me Be Free: The Nez Perce Tragedy" is an example of what is passing for history today, we as a society, in my opinion, are loosing all sense of history. I would be embarrassed to cite this book in any paper I wrote. I have not kept current on books published since 1991, which is why I bought this book, due to health reasons. Finding the book recommended on an Amazon list, recognizing Lavender's name, and deciding to look into what has been written about the Nez Perce (I will use the commonly used name for them in my review) since 1991, I decided that "Let Me Be Free: The Nez Perce Tragedy" would be a good place to start. Unfortunately, I found the tomb to be so difficult to palate that it has taken me weeks of sporadic reading to finish the book. Why? Because, as indicated in the title of my review, "Let Me Be Free" is riddled with sophistry (misleading, cleaver reasoning that is a fallacious argument), innuendos (hints or sly remarks, usually that are derogatory and/or insulting), stereotypes (fixed or conventional notions or conceptualizations broadly accepted as fully accurate or truthful), and hypothesizing (presenting unproven or unprovable notions, concepts, or theories). Perhaps more disturbing for me while reading this book was knowing that other readers, who have not spent time reading other materials about the Nez Perce, would be "attracted" to "Let Me Be Free" for the very same reasons I found it problematic.

In Lavender's first endnote for Chapter 19, Evasions, the author overtly elucidates his sophism: "My elaborations are assumptions based on the Indians' war psychology. Nothing else satisfactorily explains the Indians' roundabout march during the early days of the flight." The historical fact is, we will never be able to "accurately" document any explanations for the actions taken by those who never bothered to explain their actions. A less overt, but inflammatory and stereotyping example can be found in the next to the last paragraph of Chapter 13, A Touch Of Gold: "Many Nez Perces profited also. A few mined. More acted as tenders to the growing number of pack strings that carried supplies to the scattered camps. The greatest number took up farming, as Spalding had tried so hard to get them to do twenty years earlier. They learned something of a cash economy, using gold dust and minted coins to purchase white-style clothing, blankets, household implements, and prepared foodstuffs. They also learned to drink liquor, many of them with the unquenchable thirst that is characteristic of Indian alcoholics." Most readers will gloss over these statements without giving it a second thought. Yet did all Nez Perce fall into one or more of these categories? No! Other histories clearly show that many Nez Perce remained as isolated from the non-allied tribal nations as they could, and maintained their own cultural ways. More to the point, were these really "profits" for the Nez Perce, or were they "profits" as non-Nez Perce would like to conceptualize them as being? Lavender is cleverly relying on readers stereotypes to validate his conclusions, that many other historians (and non-historians) would argue are false. Lavender's ultimate spin relies upon the stereotype of the "drunken Indian," one that is accepted as "truth" by most everyone--Indian and non-Indian alike. Ironically, Lavender admits elsewhere in "Let Me Be Free" that "drinking" was limited to a small number of Nez Perce, and that (Chief) Joseph (I use his commonly used English name, not his Nez Perce name, so readers of this review will know who I am talking about) in particular, did not drink alcohol.

In Chapter 13, A Touch Of Gold, one can also "see" (albeit, they must be willing to read the words and not the stereotypes) examples of Lavender's innuendos. In describing the (Wallowan) Nez Perce during the winter of 1859-60, Lavender resorts to idyllic and romantic descriptions that hold within their deeper context, derogatory and demeaning "hints" or remarks: "...Young warriors searched for round, unshatterable stones they would wrap in rawhide and attach to handles as war clubs. They made magical whistles from the hollow bones of cranes. They practiced war, riding concealed like buffalo hunters on the sides of their horses...." Note that everything describes the Nez Perce as "war-like" people; or, more subtly, preparing for war. Outside of "paintings" I have not seen or read about hunters riding on the side of a horse to hunt buffaloes; indeed, such an act would be incredibly difficult and irrationally dangerous. Also note that the whistles were allegedly "magical whistles," not just whistles. (Lavender doesn't even bother to elaborate on how the whistles are magical. Maybe, because he wants the reader to use their imagination or stereotypes to self-explain). Other examples of Lavender's innuendos can be found in his choice of words. Nez Perce men are usually called warriors, combatants or some other "loaded" word rather than men. When Lavender is generalizing, or not trying to "positively" portray the Nez Perce, he utilizes many terms varying from "non-treaty Nez Perce" to "mobile red village;" although he also uses generic words like "Indian" and "enemy" as well. Yet, when Lavender want the reader to empathize, or he is trying to pen a "positive" portrayal, he uses the word "Nimipu" (as spelled by Lavender) to refer to the Nez Perces. Similarly, in describing criminal acts, white women were "...repeatedly raped--a common form of dominance and revenge...," while "Indian [Note: not Nez Perce or Nimipu ] women were violated;..." Of course one could find evidence to argue that rape was not "a common form of dominance and revenge," but I don't have the time to locate it. The point here is, Lavender's innuendos attach different emotional images to a criminal act that are dependent, based on Lavender's writing, on the perpetrator's "race." That is, white women are "raped," Indian (and by implication, specifically Nez Perce) women are "violated." While the two words are implied to mean the same thing, they elicit nearly diametric emotional images when read.

Lavender's reliance on stereotypes is so resplendent, I could write pages citing examples. However, I feel compelled to cite a few examples. In Chapter 18, Blood For Blood, Lavender injects the following two stereotypes: 1) "Vengeance, any Indian would have agreed, did not have to be confined to the perpetrator of a wrong; even remote associates could be made to pay;" 2), "Like most American Indians, they were prey to their own mercurial emotions. Seldom guiding themselves by long-range considerations, whole villages were given to responding, under stress, as erratically as a flock of quail startled by a falcon." In Chapter 22, Hanging On, Lavender states: "Apparently [Note: author is also conjecturing here], a few of them [Nez Perce] had crept into the compound with the stealth that Indians practice from childhood." Like all stereotypes, there are "grains" of truth in these statements; but for the most part they are images people have been "taught" to believe as "truths" for all members of the group (in this case "Indians," or Nez Perce).

Lavender's clearest example of "hypothesizing" is to be found in Chapter 19, Evasions. While the first sentence of the paragraph overtly makes it clear, I have included the first "hypothesis" about the Nez Perce and how they "might" be thinking: "Conjecture now. The embattled Indians [not Nez Perce] had always seen the volunteer units associated with uniformed soldiers. So they thought at first that Howard's troops were somewhere close by. But he had not appeared when the whites clearly needed him. This must mean the army was not nearby...." As with Lavender's stereotyping, his hypothesizing is too rampant and essentially pointless to edify. Indeed, while Lavender has endnotes, they are sparse and often erratic; he seems to selectively use "sources" that suit his purposes at the moment, even though Lavender may denigrate the reliability or validity of that source at a different point in his story. As such, it frequently is difficult to clearly identify when Lavender is telling us history and when he is telling us his hypothesis about something.

All of this is not to say that "Let Me Be Free: The Nez Perce Tragedy" is a totally useless book. Lavender does present aspects of Nez Perce customs in ways that may help the reader better understand the events and people of the period discussed; although better and more accurate maps would have greatly enhanced the book. Again, as my title suggests, Lavender's writing style, arguments, conjectures, stereotypes, etc., create a story that is most likely appealing to those who do not care for "pure" history and/or have accepted many of the stereotypes about "Indians." If "Let Me Be Free" helps readers to have a better understanding of what Lavender calls "the Nez Perce Tragedy," then I must applaud the book with one caveat: please balance this story with more reliable and valid information from another source; that is, please don't let this be your "knowledge" base for your understanding of the Nez Perce "tragedy" and people.

For me, an interesting, perhaps ironical, aside to "Let Me Be Free," is the fact that throughout the text and notes Lavender is constantly questioning the validity of remarks, comments, or orations attributed to (Chief) Joseph. Yet, in the final chapter, An American Tragedy, Lavender freely uses quotes (without proper notation, I might add) attributed to Joseph. In particular, he quotes a speech Joseph made at Lincoln Hall in Washington, D.C. I don't want to over write this review by quoting the whole speech; rather I wish to point out just one sentence that is pertinent to the author's title: "Let me be a free man--free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade, where I chose, free to choose my own teachers; free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to think and talk and act for myself--and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty." Clearly, Lavender has taken (out of proper context) Joseph's words for his title, "Let Me Be Free." But note that Joseph, according to Lavender's own quote states "Let me be a free man..." Why the omission of words? Why does Lavender rely on words that he overtly questions as being said by Joseph for the title of his book? I will not pretend to know; nor will I conjecture. I only offer this aside as a point of interest for thought or discussion.

Please Note: If this review was not helpful to you, I would appreciate learning the reason(s) so I can improve my reviews. My goal is to provide help to potential buyers, not get into any arguments. So, if you only disagree with my opinion, could you please say so in the comments and not indicate that the review was not helpful. Thanks.