Old Chief Joseph was born in 1786 in the Wallowa Valley. In the 1930's money was allocated to develop the gravesite. After 1941, because of WW II, money was not available to sustain the grave. In 1965 the city of Joseph, Or., Jr. Women's League took on the restoration of the gravesite. In 1993 the Park Service became responsible for it's upkeep. There are seven graves at the Monument including Chief Joseph, three members of the McFarland family, Frank & Martha McCully and Yellow Owl whose grave location is unknown. There are others said to be buried there, but those claims have not been verified.