By 1873 stock losses by rustling were so great as to force counter measures. The Wyoming Stock Growers Association hired a large force of detectives and inspectors. The movements of every newcomer were watched with suspicious vigilance; blacklists were circulated. The penalties for mis-branding and marking were doubled, and prosecution was swift and vigorous. These hard-hitting policies soon brought the problem under control. Thus ended the major evil of another era, and the rustlers were hustled into that Shangri-la of frontier romance where “happy ghosts,” as Professor Paxson has said, “will endure forever, a happy heritage for the American mind.”[185] By 1880 the hostile human barriers, red and white, had been removed from the way. The West’s unsettled areas were so broken as to destroy the frontier line. Yellowstone was still a wilderness, but it was accessible to man. Chapter XI CHIEF JOSEPH’S TRAIL OF BLOOD The Nez Percé Indians were first encountered in 1805 by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. They were at home in the region of eastern Oregon and western Idaho. The Wallowa Valley, “land of winding water,” was their especial habitat. They referred to themselves as “Nim-i-pu,” “the real people.” The name Nez Percé or “pierced noses” was a French cognomen of doubtful validity. The Nez Percé were not highly centralized in tribal organization. There were several factions, but in the third quarter of the 19th century, Tu-eka-kas, or Old Joseph, as the Reverend Henry H. Spaulding called him, was a ranking chief. The Nez Percé befriended the Lewis and Clark party by taking care of their horses. Thenceforth their policy was one of cooperation and friendship with the white man, combined with a stern insistence upon their rights. Joseph hoped for biracial adjustment. To this end he always befriended the government, but it was understood that his domain should never be invaded. Federal Indian treaties made after 1855 brought white settlers ever closer to the Nez Percé domain. Certain unprincipled Oregon people looked greedily upon the choice lands of Wallowa. As the pressure increased there was neither political will nor honor to curb the aggressors. Hence, the noble Nez Percé, like all red men before them, were thrown on the defensive. Old Joseph sensed the impending issue, and before his death in 1871 he exacted a promise from his son, Young Joseph, that he would never give up Wallowa.[186] Years of increasing pressure brought a full vindication of Old Joseph’s fears and a realization of responsibility to his son. By 1876 the federal government was yielding to local demands for Nez Percé evacuation, and a commission brought in the usual report. The non-treaty Indians had no standing and should be made to conform. They should be required to join the other tribes on the Lapwai Reservation.