Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Indians was born in 1840 near the Oregon-Washington boarder. He was the first-born child of Khap-khap-on-imi and Tu-eka-kas, chief of the Nez Perce Wallowa tribe. As a youth Young Joseph as he was called grew up closely with his younger brother Ollokot, who would later become an inseparable companion. At an early age Joseph and Ollokot were sent to a Protestant missionary in Lapurai to learn about Christianity and the Bible. Young Joseph enjoyed learning, but his education was cut short by violent acts on the part of a band of young Nez Perce who looted and pillaged the Missionary. This act made his father have to sever all ties with the whites and retreat to living how they had before. At the age of ten Young Joseph went on a vision quest to seek his waykin, or spirit helper. It was on this vision quest where he received his tribal name: Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekht, which means "Thunder-rolling-in-the-mountains".
In the spring of 1855 Young Joseph traveled with his father to the Walla Walla Valley Council to learn from the other elders. Not long after retuning home from the council Old Joseph (Tu-eka-kas) learned that whites had discovered gold in Yakima territory. Miners rushed to the territory and reports of them stealing Indians" horses, raping their women, and killing the men began to spread to other tribes. Thus began the Plateau Indian War, which split the Indian nations into several different factions. The Nez Perce agreed to help the whites by scouting the lad of the other tribes. After the war the senate agreed to sign the "Walla Walla Treaty" of 1859, which allowed the Nez Perce to keep their land, and prohibited whites from going on their reservation. With the signing of the treaty Young Joseph believed that everything was all right and that they would not be bothered by white settlers any more. .
In the spring of 1860 Joseph traveled to the Lapwai community, where he first met his future wife Ta-ma-al-we-non-my.