"The first white men of your people who came to our country were named Lewis and Clark. They also brought many things our people had never seen. They talked straight and our people gave them a great feast, as proof that their hearts were friendly. These men were very kind. They made presents to our chiefs and our people made presents to them. We had a great many horses, of which we gave them what they needed, and they gave us guns and tobacco in return. All the Nez Perces made friends with Lewis and Clark, and agreed to let them pass through their country, and never to make war on white men. This promise the Nez Perces have never broken. No white man can accuse them of bad faith and speak with a straight tongue. It has always been the pride of the Nez Perces that they were the friends of the white men." Chief Joseph's father was also a chief, and called Joseph. It seems that this name was given to him by Rev. Mr. Spaulding, who was associated with Dr. Marcus Whitman, and at one time a missionary to the lower Nez Perces. A strange man was old Joseph, a sturdy, strong-built man with a will of iron and a foresight that never failed him, save when he welcomed the Americans to his country. He had some strange notions, too, one of which was that "no man owned any part of the earth, and a man could not sell what he did not own." He seems to have been an aboriginal Henry George in his idea that ownership in land should be limited to occupancy. In 1855 Governor Stevens and Rev. Mr. Spaulding invited all the Nez Perces to a treaty council. Old Joseph was present, and when Mr. Spaulding urged him to sign the treaty, he answered, "Why do you ask me to sign away my country? It is your business to talk to us about spirit matters, and not to talk to us about parting with our land." When Governor Stevens also urged him to sign the treaty he refused, saying, "I will not sign your paper; you go where you please, so do I; you are not a child. I am no child; I can think for myself. No man can think for me. I have no other home than this. I will not give it up to any man. My people would have no home. Take away your paper, I will not touch it with my hand!" Old Joseph was as firm as a rock and would never sign way his rights to Wallowa (Winding Water), claiming that it had always belonged to his people and their title should be perpetuated. He even went so far as to enclose the entire tract with poles firmly planted in the ground, and said, "Inside this boundary is the home of my people. The white man may take the land outside. Within this boundary all our people were born. It circles around the graves of our fathers, and we will never give up these graves to any man."