I Will Fight No More Forever (1975)

Ned Romero plays Chief Joseph, a leader of the Nez Perce, one of the last Indian tribes not relegated to a reservation.

That’s about to change, if the U.S. government has its way.

Twenty years after signing a treaty granting the Nez Perce their ancestral lands on the Oregon-Idaho border forever, Gen. Howard (James Whitmore) arrives with news that President Grant has opened the area to settlers and the tribe is to be moved to a reservation.

And if they don’t agree to move on their own, Howard tells his old friend Chief Joseph that it’ll be his army’s job to make them move.

While the Nez Perce leaders debate their options, a young brave named Wahlitis avenges his father’s death by killing the white rancher who was responsible.

That ignites what Howard and Chief Joseph feared most, an Indian war.

Figuring that they might still be able to avoid annihilation if they flee rather than fight, Chief Joseph begins leading his tribe to Canada in hopes that they can join Sitting Bull and the Sioux and remain free there.

But Howard and the U.S. Army follows on what turns into a months long, 1,100-mile journey during which the Nez Perce repeatedly frustrate efforts to corner them.

Finally, they are cornered, just 40 miles from the Canadian border.

Review:

With hundreds of Westerns made over the decades, it’s rather amazing that no one committed this true story to screen until this TV-film hit the small screen in 1975.

It’s done from a pro-Indian point-of-view. Even Howard and junior officer Capt. Wood (Sam Elliott) disagree with the government policy toward the Nez Perce.

The story drags a bit because of the documentary style approach and the repeated debates between Howard and Wood over treatment of the Indians and military duty.

But it also features some pretty well-done action scenes as the Nez Perce fend off repeated attacks.

And Romero succeeds in making Chief Joseph an admirable figure who realizes continued resistance to the whites will only lead to the decimation of his people.

Directed by:
Richard T. Heffron

Cast:
James Whitmore … Gen. Howard
Ned Romero … Chief Joseph
Sam Elliott … Captain Wood
John Kauffman … Wahlitis
Emilio Delgado … Olloket
Nick Ramus … Rainbow
Linda Redfearn … Toma
Frank Salsedo … White Bird
Vince St. Cyr … Chief Looking Glass
Delry White … Col. Gibbon

Runtime: 100 min.

Memorable lines:

Chief Joseph: “It is easy to pick up the rifle. It it hard to put it down.”

Ollokot to the Indian agent: “We do not want to be white men. We want to be ourselves. We do not want to learn to plow, to make hay, to build fences.”

Chief Joseph to Wahlitis, when he returns to camp boasting of revenge: “The gift you bring is death to our people.”

Capt. Wood: “General, the fact remains that Joseph did show a flag of truce. Everything he’s done shows he wants to keep peace.”
Gen. Howard: “The fat is in the fire, Captain Wood. Messages. Telegrams. There isn’t a settler or politician in the whole northwest who isn’t seeing wild Indians under his bed.”

Gen. Howard: “Would you read your history, Wood? Read your history. The strong always dominate the week. Live and let live. I’m sorry. It isn’t that simple. The earth turns, things change and there’s nothing we can do to stop them. We’re living in the era of the steam engine and the telegraph, and the Indians are still sending smoke signals. Now what are we supposed to do with them?”

Gen. Howard: “You know what? I’ve fought two great men in my lifetime: Robert E. Lee and Chief Joseph. Lee was fighting for the wrong cause, slavery. Joseph’s fighting for freedom. Well, I guess I’m in Lee’s spot now. I’m the general fighting for the wrong cause.”

Linda Redfearn as Toma, Chief Joseph’s wife in I Will Fight No More Forever (1975)