U.S. Chief Joseph Reburial Flag Image Photo.
Chief Joseph graveside photograph is unusual in that it records the use of a large 45 star flag at the dedication of a grave marker, but as an awning. Also, the use of a US flag in the dedication ceremony for a Native American Indian. Chief Joseph spent the remaining years on the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington. The agency physician said that he died of a broken heart.
In 1905 the Washington University State Historical Society erected an appropriate monument to mark his resting place in the Nespelem cemetery. A 1905 monument has been placed on Chief Joseph's gravesite. The Old Chief Joseph grave site is the final resting place of Chief Josephs in a cemetery that is a national historic landmark. His grave site is sacred and sensitive for the Nez Perce people.
Old Chief Josephs grave is marked by a tall stone marker bearing the legend, "To the Memory of Old Chief Joseph, Died 1870." The cemetery is separated from the highway by a cobble wall and gateposts built by the Umatilla Tribal Civilian Conservation Corps in 1938-40. The site is located on Oregon Highway 82, one mile south of Joseph, Oregon.
