I Will Fight No More Forever (1975)

When this film was made in 1975 it was almost 100 years since the Nez Perce Indian tribe made its final stand for dignity and pride. That was no longer left to them after they were ordered from their ancestral lands in Eastern Oregon to a reservation in Idaho. I Will Fight No More Forever was their Chief Joseph's immortal words as he was now concerned with simply survival of the Nez Perce tribe and culture.The man charged with delivering this ultimatum which he regarded as distasteful was General Oliver O. Howard for whom Howard University is named after. Howard is played by James Whitmore is a figure of both duty and compassion. But as a soldier duty comes first. His conflict is brought out in many conversations with Sam Elliott playing one of his officers who quite bluntly said he never signed on for duty like this.The film sticks pretty close to the facts as they unfolded in 1877. What the back story of the film is about is that the Nez Perce up to that point had not taken up arms against the whites, preferring to accommodate. When they could no longer do that however, Chief Joseph who had no military experience as such proved to be a resourceful commander, leading his tribe in a defensive retreat that lasted for months.Ned Romero plays a magnificent and proud Chief Joseph who in the end has to bow to reality. This is a fine film, highly recommended about a bitter and distasteful yet heroic incident from the Nez Perce point of view.

The picture is an epic portrait of the historic story about celebrated Chief Joseph (Ned Romero) and his legendary feat leading the Ned Perce tribe on a trek to Canada . Meanwhile , he squares off US cavalry commanded by General Howard (James Withmore and attended by his captain played by Sam Eliott) who leads his army on a wild chase across the plains and mountains in this saga of the old west . Joseph refuses to surrender in this chronicle of a bitter fight between the Ned Perce tribe and the US cavalry in the struggle for the west . The film displays action Western , shootouts , drama and spectacular battles . It's a thoughtful piece for its time that had an original tragic ending . The motion picture was brilliantly directed by Richard T. Heffron . This powerful TV movie will appeal to Indian Western fans.The movie was correctly based on real events . Thus , Chief Joseph (1832-1904) became a skilled military leader ,he won 18 battles in the 1877 war,then led the retreat to Canada,before surrendering. The reality happened when Ned Percé ceded a large part of their territory to the U.S. by treaty and settled on lands in Oregon and Idaho.Joseph's people occupied the ancestral lands of the fertile Wallowa Valley in Oregon.When gold was discovered in Nez Percé county,government agents proposed a new treaty which would remove Joseph's people from their Valley to a reservation in Idaho.He wanted no part of the treaty but in the summer of 1877 General Howard delivered an ultimatum that all must leave the Wallowa within thirty days or be forcibly removed by the cavalry.The Ned Percé tribe has always been friendly with the white men but when the situation developed into armed conflict between his warriors and the soldiers,he decided to fight.After defeating a column sent after them and bringing an angry Howard into the field with a big force, he decided refuge in Canada,as Sitting Bull had done after defeating Custer at the Little Big Horn(1876).So began the epic flight , a fighting march of 1300 miles across US,engaging separate commands of the Army all the way.On 5 October 1877 Joseph and his surviving people were surrounded by fresh troops about thirty miles from the Canadian border.The Indians were exhausted,starving and cold and Joseph surrendered to generals Howard and Miles,delivering his classic speech of the defeated Indian.The Ned Percé were sent to reservation in the Indian territory,now Oklahoma.In 1885 the great chief was sent to Colville reservation in Washington,where he died in 1904,still an exile from his beloved Wallowa Valley.

This is a great rendition of the true story of the noble-yet-futile struggle of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce to retain their independence and tribal life. At one poignant moment, General Howard (in an amazing portrayal by James Whitmore) intones gravely to his Colonel (memorably portrayed by Sam Elliott), "Read Your History." Then, he continues, the weak are always conquered and subjugated by the strong. The colonel retorts that when the strong become immoral, the day will come that they cease to be strong. This was true in 1877, and the parallels between our self-righteous, duplicitous and brutal behavior then and now are frighteningly similar to today's America. Ned Romero does a great job of conveying the nobility, leadership, and tactical brilliance of Chief Joseph. And the native American actors who play the other Nez Perce are uniformly terrific. This excellent movie should not be missed.

This movie is one of my favorites because Chief Joseph is one of my favorite men in history. Here was a man possessed with great intelligence and character. He led his people and suffered great loss. This film shows the inhumanity of man to his fellow man and how one truly great man can rise the the occasion of greatness in the middle of great danger. An excellent film to watch.