Joseph Badger King was born in Ohio in 1823 and endured removal from Ohio to Kansas in 1837. Joseph's father, Louis King, served as a translator for Baptist missionary Jotham Meeker during their first years in Kansas, and his aunt, Jane King, was a respected tribal medicine woman.

During the Civil War, King operated a general store in Ottawa, Kansas, with John Tecumseh (Tauy) Jones. In 1865, he became one of the founding trustees of Ottawa University, a land-grant institution established by the Ottawa Tribe in partnership with Baptist missionaries.

Following the Treaty of 1867, the Ottawas began relocating to Indian Territory in family groups. Chief John Wilson, one of the last to leave Kansas, appointed King as assistant chief to oversee tribal affairs in Indian Territory until his arrival. When Wilson died en route, King succeeded him as chief, and he led the Tribe during their trying first years in Indian Territory.

In his later years, King was the last living Ottawa to have survived the removal journey from Ohio. He was often called upon as a source of tribal history and oral tradition, linking newer generations to the experiences of their ancestors.