We’re pleased that Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter, like so many of the other history-loving residents of the Inland Northwest, apparently holds Young Chief Joseph in very high esteem.

Gov. Otter so intensely values the famous Nez Perce leader’s legacy, in fact, that he feels compelled to intercede as Oregon lawmakers prepare to approve placing a statue of Joseph in one of two statuary positions the state has inside the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

As reported by AP, Otter has written to Oregon Governor Kate Brown asking that the Beaver State reconsider Joseph’s selection, which appears imminent as the state’s legislative session heads into the home stretch.

Before the arrival of Otter’s surprising letter — in which he argues “a close examination of history” could show Chief Joseph has “a more significant historical tie to Idaho than any other state in our region” — hardly anyone expected the selection to undergo challenge from the political establishment at this stage. Earlier, the proposal to swap Oregon’s two current statues was publicly vetted and voted upon by a state commission charged with the assignment. That portion of the process began in last year’s final quarter and was completed by early March. By then, it appeared state lawmakers were in the position of merely signing off on the commission’s conclusion that Chief Joseph and suffragist Abigail Scott Duniway were the best choices among 10 historic individuals originally considered.

Now Idaho’s Otter has shaken us from our complacency. We Oregonians are being awfully presumptuous in claiming the Nez Perce leader for ourselves, the Idaho governor seems to be saying.

It isn’t being reported if Otter ever lays out a point-by-point case for Idaho’s superior historical legitimacy (perhaps as an addendum to his letter?), but it doesn’t require much study of Nez Perce history to realize that this tribe, like nearly all the others on this continent, suffered through numerous and extensive personal hardships for many generations as a direct result of white society’s relentless expansion through their native homelands. Areas of the division within the Nez Perce tribe that span many generations reflect this: such distinctions between members as “treaty” versus “non-treaty”; Christian as opposed to non-convert.

So it’s easy to view as highly ironic, this very act of one state’s governor appealing to a neighboring state’s executive to respect some odd sense of proprietorship over linkage to an Indian chief, real or imagined.

In truth, Chief Joseph spent time in both Idaho and Oregon, but the tale of his last years is one mainly of frustration at being prevented from returning permanently “home” to the Wallowa Valley. He appeared to be offered one opportunity to purchase land here, but it wasn’t really an opportunity because when the time arrived, the locals would have none of it and prevented any sale.

Fortunately for us, the citizens who so long ago blocked Chief Joseph’s repatriation with his beloved Wallowas were in no manner acting on the State of Oregon’s behalf. If they had been, the grasping claims from Idaho’s present-day governor would be able to bear more weight.