Old Chief Joseph's Gravesite and Cemetery: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Nez Perce National Historical Park
Regions 8, 9, 10, & 12 Park Cultural Landscapes Program. 2012. Old Chief Joseph's Gravesite and Cemetery: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Nez Perce National Historical Park. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 400180. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. NPS Pacific West Regional Office, San Francisco, California / CRIS-CL Database
Inventory Unit Description: Old Chief Joseph’s Gravesite and Cemetery is a unit of Nez Perce National Historical Park. The park unit is located in the northeast corner of the state of Oregon, in Wallowa County, one mile south of Joseph. The setting of the gravesite and cemetery includes scenic views across Wallowa Lake, the Eagle Cap Wilderness, and an imposing glacial moraine. This stunning location creates a dramatic backdrop for the site that was developed to honor and commemorate individuals buried in the locale as well as Old Chief Joseph who was the chief of the Wallawa Band of the Nez Perce in the mid-1800s. In 1926, the remains of Old Chief Joseph were reinterred at the site, on lands ceded to the federal government by members of the Associated Ditch Companies. In 1989, the site gained recognition when it was individually listed as a National Historic Landmark (NHL) as a result of its association with the Nez Perce War of 1877 and Chief Joseph (Criteria 1 and 2). Today, the gravesite and cemetery is held in trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for the Nez Perce Tribe (NPT) and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR). The National Park Service (NPS) assumed management of the site through a cooperative agreement with the BIA in 1992 and today is one of 38 discontiguous sites within Nez Perce National Historical Park. The site also serves as the beginning point of the congressionally mandated Nez Perce (Nee-ME-Poo) National Historic Trail, and is located on Hells Canyon All American Road. The proposed period of significance for Old Chief Joseph’s Gravesite and Cemetery begins in 1897 with the installation of the first grave marker and extends to 1947 with the last known burial at the site. Significant dates include the year 1926 when the remains of Old Chief Joseph were reinterred at the site after being moved from their original location approximately 40 miles northwest of the Wallowa Lake site. The period between 1938 and 1941 are also significant dates reflecting the years when the Umatilla Civilian Conservation Corps Indian Division (CCC-ID) completed improvement projects at the gravesite and cemetery. Today, Old Chief Joseph’s Gravesite and Cemetery continues to serve as a commemorative site and as an active burial ground. (As an active burial ground burials may continue to take place, although the last interment at the site was in 1947.) It continues to convey the historic character of the site associated with use of the site as a cemetery as well as the reinternment of Old Chief Joseph in 1926 and the work completed by the CCC-ID between 1938 and 1941.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Regions 8, 9, 10, & 12 Park Cultural Landscapes Program
- Date of Issue
- 2012-05-02
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- NEPE , PWR
- Keywords
- Bureau of Indian Affairs, burial, CCC-ID, cemetery, Chief Joseph, commemorative site, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, ethnic heritage - Native American, gravesite, Junior Women's Club, monument, National Historic Landmark, Nez Perce, Nez Perce War of 1877, social history, Umatilla Civilian Conservation Corps Indian Division, Wallawa Band, Wallowa Lake
- Subjects
- NPS.gov Subject Site: Cultural Landscapes , CRIS-CL: 400180: Old Chief Joseph's Gravesite and Cemetery