The massacre of members of the Northwest Band of Shoshone Indians preceded many of the more infamous massacres such as the Sand Creek and Wounded Knee Massacres. It did not get the recognition it deserved as a devastating event for the Shoshone people. The massacre occurred on January 29th, 1863 along the Bear River in what is now southern Idaho. The Civil War was grabbing the headlines and most likely this matter received a paragraph at most in the biggest newspapers, if mentioned at all. The circumstances leading up to the massacre were those which will become all too commonplace in the history of the Native Americans in the United States during the latter half of the nineteenth century. In detailing the history and development of this massacre “facts” from both sides will be presented. In the end as many as 400 tribal members lost their lives.
The
Shoshone were spread out in the area known as the Great Basin, the region was
surrounded by the Wasatch Mountains to the east, the Sierra Nevada to the west,
and the Snake River Plain to the north. The south rim was less distinct and not
worth mentioning. The Great Basin included most of Nevada, half of Utah, and
sections of Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, and California. Cultural similarities existed between the
different bands that spread over the territory but differences in life styles
were also present. The Eastern Shoshone led by Chief Washakie relied
extensively on the use of horses which enabled them to travel to the Wyoming
territory and hunt buffalo more so than other Shoshone bands. Bands living near certain rivers utilized
fish more widely in their diet. Those
living in the area north of the Great Salt Lake had access to wide-ranging
grassy plains; these grasses yielded large amounts of seeds which were
harvested and utilized in the diet providing an important food staple during
the winter months. Other important food
items included berries, roots and small game.
The Great Basin was also the location where the California Trail passed
through with a branch of the Oregon Trail breaking away a short distance from
present day Salt Lake City.
Shoshone
exposure to white emigrants increased in the 1840’s as traffic on the
California and Oregon Trails amplified with the degree of contact related to
distance a particular band lived from the trail. Most of the traffic was just passing by. Eventually trading posts were built and there was limited trade with fur trappers/fur
traders prior to expansion in California.
Initially, the interaction between whites and Indians was friendly. Eventually emigrants headed west to
California and started to settle in the area. In some circumstance’s migration expanded
eastward from California as gold in California became scarcer and new gold mines
opened in the Great Basin area.
In 1847 a large group of Mormons settled
in Utah. This group was led by Brigham
Young from Illinois. They wanted to
escape persecution by settling in the Mexican Territory. Unfortunately, Mexico lost this territory
shortly after settlement and the Mormons were once again in an area under
United States government control.
Additional Mormon emigrants continued to settle in the Utah Territory
and with this, pressure was put on resources utilized by the Shoshone. Heber C. Kimball, a church leader believed in
Mormon “Manifest Destiny” and was known to have said “We won’t pay for
land. Land belongs to Our Father in
Heaven. We expect to plow it and plant
it” (Madsen, 1985). As early as 1849
Brigham Young sent men to chastise the Indians who were stealing and killing
cattle although this was supposed to conflict with his beliefs as outlined in
the Book of Mormon (Madsen, 1985). Over
the course of the next 10 to 15 years Young would rather feed the Indians than
take punitive action. As the best
regions for farming were exploited by white settlers, Indians became more
reliant on being fed by the church community which drained food stores and made
the farmers angrier and more aggressive.
Starvation was the norm for many Indians. Starvation and resentment on the part of the
Shoshone only enhanced their desperation leading to further theft of crops and
cattle by some of the Shoshone as they were in survival mode. In addition to starvation, the natives were
also plagued by diseases such as cholera, measles and small pox.
Patrick
E. Connor was born in 1820 and immigrated to the United States at the age of 12
from Ireland. He initially joined the
army at the age of 18 and often returned to service when not focusing on
entrepreneurial interest. When the Civil
War began, he joined the Union Army while living in California and was made a
Colonel in charge of the 3rd California infantry. Their orders were to protect the mail routes
and telegraph lines in the western territory.
He eventually made his way to Salt Lake City in the Utah Territory where
he ordered his men to build Fort Douglas.
Serving in this capacity left Connor and his men dismayed as they would have
preferred to be fighting traitors in the east.
Plans were made to confront the group of Indians who resided at Bear to
qualm the fears and concerns of the white settlers.
The following is a synopsis of Colonel
Patrick E. Connor’s official report paraphrasing his account of what happened
on January 29th, 1863 at Bear River.
Word was received the Indians responsible for the recent
attack on miners, massacre of emigrants during the past summer and generally
wreaking havoc on the mail system. They were settled for the winter to the
north approximately 140 miles or so away in the area called Bear River. Connor
notified the district marshal of his intent to arrest Chiefs Bear Hunter,
Sagwich and San Pitch at this location but had no intent on taking
prisoners. He was welcome to accompany his
regiment if the marshal wished.
They left Fort Douglas 4 days prior to the event with 220
California volunteers. The group was
divided into one larger and one smaller group; the smaller group was to lead so
if detected, would be perceived as less threatening. Men were mounted on horses and had several
small cannons in tow. Conditions were
harsh and temperatures bitter but the men focused on the mission and no
complaints were to be heard. The regiment
set camp the night before the encounter approximately 10 miles from the Indian encampment. The plan called for the small group to depart
around 2:00 in the morning with the larger group to follow an hour later, to engage
the Indians at sunrise.
The men were ordered to surround the camp and
attack. Battle ensued as the Indians
awoke and vacated their lodges. Claims
were made by some of the men that the Indians were waving the scalps of white
women trying to antagonize the soldiers.
They had the upper hand initially so the troops were required to change
tactics. At this point some of the
Indians started to flee and we were able to shoot them while they were swimming
in the icy water. The battle lasted for
almost 4 hours, until 10:00 in the morning.
The men experienced further suffering due the cold, wet conditions but
still didn’t complain.
His
best estimate was they were up against 300 heavily armed warriors with ample
amounts of ammunition. In the end, he
believed they killed 224 including Chiefs Bear Hunter, Sagwich and Leight. Connor was unable to make an accurate count
because of the need to get his wounded men to more hospitable conditions. He
was sure some of them would have mobility issues the rest of their lives due to
frostbite. They left the remaining 160
or so women and children with a small amount of provisions (Connor, 1863).
Shoshone
Oral Historian - Mae Timbimboo’s Version of the Bear River Massacre
The land along the Bear River was a desirable location to
spend the winter as it was centrally located in the Shoshone territory and it
had a natural depression, willows and other vegetation which provided natural
protection from the wind or storms. It
also had natural hot springs which served as a water source during the cold
conditions. Early in January 1863 a
gathering of thousands of Shoshone people met to participate in the Warm Dance,
a common occurrence to give thanks and appeal to the Creator for warmer
conditions. Games, winter sports and other
methods of having fun occurred. At its
conclusion many of the visiting guest departed.
The
arrival of the soldiers was expected by the Indian people. Tin Dup had a dream
on January 27, 1863 which predicted the tragedy. He shared his dream and as a
result left the following day with close to 40 tribal members. It is also said
that Chief Sagwich was warned by an acquaintance that settlers in the area were
working with Colonel Conner to fix things once and for all. Sagwich was aware of the problems being
caused by a small group of Indians. The
stories told in the native history specifically name those responsible, Indians
whom were not a part of the Northwest band and were not present at Bear River
(Parry, 2019).
On the morning of January 29, 1863 Chief
Sagwich arose early as he usually did.
He exited his lodge and observed an approaching haze. He knew the steam
was rising off the horses and soldiers.
He called for all those sleeping to wake up and gather their weapons.
They grabbed what was available; bow and arrow, tomahawks and a few
rifles. Sagwich gave orders not to shoot
first hoping Conner would ask for those responsible to be turned over. This did
not happen. The soldiers attacked
without notification of their intentions shooting all; men, women, children and
babies. Indians tried to escape by
jumping in the river and heading for cover.
Some hid under the river bank in hopes of staying safe. The story noted that one woman hiding under
the bank was forced to kill her crying baby so as not to give away their
location. The snow was covered in
blood. Chief Bear Hunter suffered the
most, perhaps of any Native American of all time. He was shot, kicked, tortured
and finally finished by a glowing hot bayonet driven from ear to ear. He never cried out. Chief Sagwich managed to escape, contrary to
Colonel Connor’s report on events. Word
of the massacre prompted the church to send 3 men from Franklin, a nearby town,
to evaluate the site. By their count and
report, 400 Indians were dead. It is
thought that perhaps Conner’s count was only of men? If accurate, this massacre would be the
largest to have ever occurred in the United States.
Colonel Conner went on to be promoted and
was regarded as a hero. In ensuing years
Connor’s instructions to his troops regarding encounters with Indians
was to “kill every Indian over 12 years old” (Parry, 2019).
The Bear River Massacre wasn’t the first
tragedy to strike the Indians of this country and certainly wasn’t to be the
last. The massacre served as an example
of recurring events that Native Americans were subjected to by the Euro-Americans. Commonly Native Americans were asked to give
up their resources, usually made ill by disease, eventually blamed for taking a
stand, forced to move and then the cycle repeats. The belief in Manifest Destiny in this
situation even crossed religious/moral obligations as the Mormon colonists
disregarded their “values” to attain their objective. The Shoshone, who survived the massacre
dispersed to find places where they could begin again. Many of the Shoshone
people such as Chief Sagwich joined the Church of Latter-Day Saints. For the most part this didn’t enhance the
quality of life for those who agreed to assimilate and often they were once
again forced from their land.
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