Lavender was one of our greatest and classic historians of the American West. Nez Perce historian Alvin Josephy states that, “Let Me Be Free is a very moving and well-researched book.”

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Product Description

A history of the heroic 1,700-mile journey of the Nez Perce across Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana toward sanctuary in Canada describes Nez Perce culture, their battles with whites, and the tragic surrender of Chief Joseph. 15,000 first printing. National ad/promo.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1844134 in Books
• Published on: 1999-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 403 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Despite a long, unstinting friendship with whites dating from the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1805, the Nez Perce later fared no better than other Native American tribes. Once nomads of a vast area where Idaho, Oregon and Washington converge, the Nez Perce were stripped of most of their land by treacherous politicians and economic interests under the so-called thief treaty of 1863. Lavender ( The Way to the Western Sea ) vividly traces the history of this tragic and illegal land grab from the arrival of Christian missionaries, like Marcus Whitman, to the capture of Chief Joseph's dissident band in 1877 following a long, bloody chase by U.S. troops. The author largely succeeds in demythologizing Chief Joseph, who reached heroic stature among compassionateused in next review whites of the era. While at timesper original overinterpretingwhat is this word? LEN documentary evidenceok? "account" ends sentence , Lavender has nevertheless created a readable, informative account . History Book Club main selection.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
One of the great historians of the American West, author of the highly acclaimed The Way to the Western Sea ( LJ 12/88) and the classic Bent's Fort (1954), here draws on his studies of the fur trade to recount the history of the Nez Perce. Following such formidable predecessors as Merrill D. Beal's exciting "I Will Fight No More Forever" (1963) and Alvin M. Josephy Jr.'s authoritative The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest (1965), Lavender meets the challenge of comparison in an excellent narrative history grounded on documentary and interpretive sources. He covers events from the tribe's generous welcome of Lewis and Clark in 1805 through their increasing alarm over hordes of permanent settlers to the tragic surrender of Chief Joseph to General Nelson Miles in 1877. Each chapter reads smoothly and makes an exciting sequel to its predecessor. Historians familiar with the controversy over Chief Joseph will find Lavender's contribution to the debate interesting. Highly recommended for general readers and specialists. History Book Club selection.
- Margaret W. Norton, Fenwick H.S., Oak Park, Ill.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Lavender, a prolific historian of the West (The Way to the Western Sea, 1988, etc.), offers a tragic tale of a Native American tribe's loss of its land, culture, and identity. The 1877 flight of the Nez Perc‚ is one of the most famous and mournful episodes in the long history of Indian disenfranchisement. For three and a half months and 1700 miles, they managed to elude General O.O. Howard in an escape from their Pacific Northwest homelands, only to be overtaken a mere two days' ride from safety in Canada. During that time, white Americans came to admire the tribe's Chief Joseph as a master orator and military tactician who continually managed to outfox his pursuers. Here, Lavender sees the flight of the Nez Perc‚ as the culmination of the tribe's more than 75 years of encounters with whites, including Lewis and Clark, British and American fur traders, missionaries, miners, farmers, Indian agents, and federal troops. In the process, the Nez Perc‚ were buffeted by outside forces--horses, guns, diseases, material goods they badly wanted but could scarcely afford--that filled them with doubt about their traditional guardian spirits (wayakins). Yet, Lavender says, the major mistake this peaceful, much put-upon people made was to believe the US government's promise that treaties guaranteed their right to the land of their fathers. As sympathetic as Lavender is to the Nez Perc‚, though, he is careful not to make exaggerated claims for them. For instance, he shows that General Howard invented Chief Joseph's skill as a wily military genius in order to excuse the general's own bumbling pursuit of the tribe. A powerful lament for a tribe that illustrates, as Lavender says, ``the infinite sadness of a race's defeat and death.'' (Sixteen pages of b&w photographs.) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Customer Reviews

Historic Betrayals and Avoidable Human Suffering
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.

Disappointing
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.

More on the Nez Perce tribe than Chief Joseph's flight
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.