Yellow Wolf, 1855-1935

Yellow Wolf was born in the Wallowa Valley. A young warrior at the time of the Nez Perce War, he took part in every major battle and was wounded five separate times. For his contributions in the war, Yellow Wolf was given the rank of Chief. He chose not to surrender with Chief Joseph, his uncle, after the Bear Paw battle, and subsequently spent two years in Canada before returning to Idaho, at which time he was arrested and sent to the Indian Territory of Oklahoma. When he returned to the Colville Reservation in Washington State, he supplemented his income by picking hops in the Yakama Valley. It was on one of these annual trips that he encountered L. V. McWhorter for the first time, who published a book recording his experiences, Yellow Wolf: His Own Story.

Yellow Wolf was married twice, to Pe-Tol-Von-nan-Ick (Helen) and I-O-To-ton-My (Ayatootonmi), and had 9 children, only one of whom survived into adulthood. At his death in 1935, Yellow Wolf was buried on the reservation next to Chief Joseph.