October 5, 1877 - Chief Joseph Surrenders

Chief Joseph

Joseph was a chief of the Nez Perce, which was a Native American tribe of the Wallowa Valley in Northwest Oregon. Joseph continued his father’s efforts to secure the land of Nez Perce. Chief Joseph, known to his people, the Nez Perce, as “Thunder Traveling to the Loftier Mountain Heights,” tried to resist the takeover by white settlers of Nez Perce territory in 1877. Chief Joseph led his people to Canada due to the United States forcing them to relocate. [i]

In 1877, the United States ordered the Nez Perce to leave their reservation in Oregon. They refused to leave. This started Chief Joseph’s journey from Idaho and Montana to Canada. During this journey Joseph the Nez Perce and the white settlers fought for five days. The Nez Perce won several victories against a U.S. force. Chief Joseph and his people reached the Bear Paw Mountains of Montana by the fall of 1877. As they arrived, they were too exhausted and starved to continue to fight. This led Chief Joseph to surrender to his enemy. He created one of the greatest speeches in American history. [ii]

In one of the greatest speeches in American history, Chief Joseph surrendered to the U.S government on, October 5, 1877. This speech tells Americans how his people weren’t taken care of on the reservation, and that they would have been abandoned after being forced off their reservation. The speech that Chief Joseph had announced was to tell everyone that he was surrendering with his people. He was not afraid of what people would have to say about this speech. According to Chief Joseph, he said,

"Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told me before, I have it in my heart. I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed; Looking Glass is dead, Too-hul-hul-sote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led on the young men is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets; the little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are, perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever." Chief Joseph did not want his people to suffer any longer and that is why he said this speech. Understanding the significance of being a real leader to his people, he chose to surrender. According to what Joseph has done, “this was considered one of the greatest retreats in military history."[iii]

Following his surrender, Chief Joseph and his people were escorted first to Kansas, and then to Oklahoma. Joseph spent years pleading his people’s case and meeting the President Rutherford Hayes in 1879. In 1885, he and many others were allowed to return back to the Northwest. Chief Joseph did not live too long after this. Chief Joseph died on September 21, 1904. [iv]

- Kara R. and Tiffany C.


[i] "Chief Joseph biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. 01 Oct. 2013 <http://www.biography.com/people/chief-joseph-9358227>.


[ii] [ii]"Chief Joseph surrenders." History.com. A&E Television Networks. 01 Oct. 2013 <http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/chief-joseph-surrenders>.


[iii] "Chief Joseph's Surrender Speech at Bears Paw Battle October 5, 1877." Chief Joseph's Surrender Speech at Bears Paw Battle October 5, 1877. 01 Oct. 2013 <http://www.nezperce.com/npedu11.html>.


[iv] "Chief Joseph biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. 01 Oct. 2013 <http://www.biography.com/people/chief-joseph-9358227>.

October 3, 1920 - the first American Professional Football Association game was played

Historical Marker at Triangle Park [9]

The American Professional Football Association was organized in Canton, Ohio on Sept. 17, 1920.[1] Fourteen teams belonged to the APFA in the 1920 season. Carl Storck, the owner of the Dayton Triangles, founded the team in 1916 and was one of the founding fathers of the APFA. He “served as a league executive for 21 years and as its president from 1939 to 1941.”[2]

The Dayton Triangles and Columbus Panhandles played the first APFA game on October 3, 1920. The Panhandles, who were originally formed in 1901, were a charter team of the APFA in 1920. The other team, the Dayton Triangles, named after the industrial triangle of factories where some players worked, won the game with a score of 14-0.[3] The game’s first score was a Dayton touchdown, the Triangles' Louis Partlow scored and George Kinderdine of the Triangles kicked the first extra point of the game.[4] Dayton's own Francis Bacon, a running back, scored the other touchdown. By 1927, the Triangles were the last of the five Ohio teams in the original APFA still playing a full season. None of the Triangles’ players joined the new team, which moved to New York years later, and only five of them continued their football careers. As for the Panhandles, they were disbanded and reconstituted as the Columbus Tigers in 1923, before folding after the 1926 season.[5]

Dayton Triangles Team Emblem [10]

Organized professional sports were new and exciting. The APFA brought action and competition to the public as did Major League Baseball. These new professional sports leagues gave individual towns and communities a chance to show team spirit and support their favorite teams. These teams became a source of pride for citizens while also giving the teams a fan base. Also, the rise of professional sports gave the working class a desire to play recreational sports, inadvertently exercising and improving their health.[6] Progressive reformers, recognizing the benefits of exercise, pushed for shorter work days, partly to allow more time for recreational sports. [7] From 1920-1940, the Great Depression and World War II shaped health and human services. Without health insurance, many people depended on charities for health care. Playing sports and exercising were free ways to stay fit and healthy.[8] Just as Americans want to have better food, better prices and better living conditions, they also want to have the better team. The teams of the APFA brought competition to the communities of those cities and states who had APFA teams. Football brings people together not only because of the teammate bond, but also because fans bond over their team, over their rivalries, and over their love for the sport.

- Frank F. and Kenneth F.



1. Braunwart, Bob, and Bob Carroll. "Pro Football Reasearch." Pro Football Reasearch Oct. 3. www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/03-02-059.pdf (accessed September 25, 2013).

2. Goodman, Rebecca. "Ohio moments." Moments in Canton on October 3rd. www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/10/03/loc_ohiodate1003.html‎ (accessed September 25, 2013).

3. "Ohio Moments."

4. "Ohio moments."

5. "Ohio moments."

6. "Public Health History Timeline." Southeast Public Health Training Center. http://www.sphtc.org/timeline/timeline.html (accessed October 1, 2013).

7. Hoffman Phd, Beatrix. "Heslth Care Reform." Health Care Reform in The U.S. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1447696/ (accessed October 1, 2013).

8. "Public Health History Timeline

9. "Site of First NFL Game." Site of First Game in the NFL. http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMB90D_Site_of_First_Game_in_the_NFL (accessed September 25, 2013).

10. "Remarkable Ohio." Remarkable Ohio.” http://www.remarkableohio.org/HistoricalMarker.aspx?historicalMarkerId=1066 (accessed September 26, 2013).