Though there was a back and forth battle, either side sometimes instigating or retaliating, more often than not, it was the forces (whether military or citizen) of the United States that did the majority of the attacking and did so with the most lopsided . Harold Schindler,The Bear River Massacre: New Historical Evidence, inCivil War Saints, ed. [33] After the Indians opened fire, McGarry gave the order "to commence firing and to kill every Indian they could see. In September 2014 I visited the Bear River Massacre Site in the remote and hilly region of South Western Idaho. Chief Sagwitch noted the approach of the American soldiers, saying just before the first shots were fired, Look like there is something up on the ridge up there. Failing in that, he worked at a variety of odd jobs until the outbreak of the Civil War. [11] The foraging and hunting by settlers traveling on the western migration trails also took additional resources away from the Shoshone. [31], Together with about 20 of his people, Chief Bear Hunter was taken prisoner and transported to the soldiers' camp near Providence. By 1840, the family had located in Upson County, Georgia. Instead, they were preparing for a negotiated settlement where the chiefs would be able to talk with officers of the U.S. Army and try to come to an understanding. [38], On December 4, 1862, Connor sent McGarry on another expedition to Cache Valley to recover some stolen livestock from Shoshone. The Bear River Massacre, also called the Battle of Bear River or Massacre at Boa Ogoi, was an attack on a Shoshone encampment by the United States Army that occurred near present-day Preston, Idaho on January 29, 1863. Reid, Kenneth C. The Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation bought about 550 acres of Bear River land in 2018. "[citation needed] The young Indian man was the son of the local Shoshone chief. The Bear River Massacre was seriously bloody, and without equal in American history. [50], The second group was 220 cavalry, led personally by Connor himself with his aides and 50 men each from Companies A, H, K, and M of the 2nd Regiment of Cavalry, California Volunteers, which left on January 25. He reported to the U.S. War Department before the engagement: I have the honor to report that from information received from various sources of the encampment of a large body of Indians on Bear River, in Utah Territory, 140 miles north of this point, who had settlements in this valley to the Beaver Head mines, east of the Rocky Mountains, and being satisfied that they were a part of the same band who had been murdering emigrants on the Overland Mail Route for the last fifteen years, and the principal actors and leaders in the horrid massacres of the past summer, I determined, although the season was unfavorable to an expedition in consequence of the cold weather and deep snow, to chastise them if possible. For example, for years, residents and officials believed Franklin and the area of conflict was part of the Utah Territory. [12] Desperate and starving, the Shoshone attacked farms and cattle ranches for food, not just for revenge but also survival.[13]. The Bear River Massacre was an event that changed the landscape of northern Utah and the fate of the Shoshone people. Both Irvine and Madsen agreed that the document should be made available to scholars and researchers, preferably those in Utah. A Shoshone tribal history called the massacre a clash of two diverse cultures trying to share the same land, and the Shoshone lost.. Small detachments have been leaving for the North for several days. Their descendants became largely integrated into mainstream LDS society. The Californians had been hurt, too: 14 dead, 4 officers and 49 men wounded (of whom 1 officer and 6 men died later), and 75 men with frostbitten feet. In 1864, more than 230 people of Cheyenne and Arapaho people lost their lives in the Sand Creek Massacre. How can you move people in four feet of snow to anywhere you couldnt be followed? Parry said. Perhaps the actions of the soldiers involved in the massacre, including "beat[ing infants] brains out on any hard substance they could find . The Indians condition was such-with the prospect that they would rob mail stations to sustain life. Men, women and children. On Jan. 5, 1863, 10 miners traveling south on the Montana Trail were said to have been murdered by Indians. The war were all the Native Americans were involved but the Utes were the main group and their war leader was the leader of the war. Special Collections had nothing that fell within Irvines sphere of interest, but after some months of dickering, Irvine and I were able to reach a mutually acceptable agreement. At that time, the Cache Valley was the traditional hunting ground for the Northwestern Shoshone.Here, the tribe gathered grain and grass seeds, as well as fished for trout and . [58], At the same time the arrest warrant was issued by Justice Kinney, Chief Sagwitch (named in the warrant) was in Salt Lake City trying to negotiate peace on behalf of the Northwestern Shoshone. BEAR RIVER MASSACRE 83 1. [19], Col. Patrick Edward Connor[20] was put in command of the 3rd California Volunteer Infantry Regiment and ordered to move his men to Utah, to protect the Overland Mail Route and keep peace in the region. [67], There was a large difference between the number of Indians reported killed by Connor and the number counted by the citizens of Franklin, the latter being much larger. Despite settlers' attempts to appease the Native Americans, the Indians killed nearly the entire migrant party and drove off their livestock. The survivors reported that the attacking warriors took four Van Ornum children captive. The settlers also claimed the number of surviving women and children to be much fewer than what Connor claimed. The morning of November 29 th, 1864, the Chiefs Black Kettle, White Antelope, One Eye, Yellow Wolf, Big Man, Bear Man, War Bonnet, Spotted . They will also discover the adaptability and determination of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone in their ability to repurpose the site. Their spirits are still here, and we are still here., The 15,000 American Indians shoved aside by Jamestowns settlers. Lieutenant Marcus A. Reno came across the mutilated bodies of six of the Van Ornums. [citation needed]. On page 53, Parry includes (and critiques) the text of a plaque that still stands in Franklin County monument site that reads, "Attacks by the Indians on the peaceful inhabitants of this vicinity led to the final battle here . The Shoshones were once a nation that had 17,000 people that included several bands that stretched across parts of Nevada, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. In 1835, a revolt began in the Mexican province of Texas. Recently discovered evidence, while it resolves neither of those debates, does address a more fundamental aspect of the encounter that ultimately claimed the lives of twenty-three soldiers and nearly three hundred American Indians: that is, Bear River began as a battle, but it most certainly degenerated into a massacre. [1917]. William Leake Beach was born in August 1832 in Abbeville County, South Carolina, the son of Chauncey and Huldah Beach. Some 150 Shoshones survived, according to tribal historians. The willow and sagebrush in the valley helped protect them from the wind and snow of winter blizzards and the Big River, or Boa Ogoi as the Shoshones called it, had an abundance of fish, plus the area was rich with wild game. 1870 Soldiers massacre sleeping camp of Native Americans Declaring he did not care whether or not it was the rebellious band of Native Americans he had been searching for, Major Eugene Baker. Others were not able to escape. [42] Before they returned, the other five men were attacked by Shoshone, who killed John Henry Smith of Walla Walla and some horses. On 29 January 1863 Colonel Patrick Edward Connor and about 200 California Volunteers attacked a Northwestern Shoshoni winter village located at the confluence of Beaver Creek and Bear River, twelve miles west and north of the . [16] Four Shoshone warriors were captured and held for ransom, although they did not appear related to the theft. The rage-filled slaughter left bodies scattered across the ground, left to be picked away by wildlife and buried, to the point that, in the decades since, farmers would uncover human remains by plowing their fields (via KUER ). He also owned a large collection of California memorabilia, which was put up for sale after his death in 1996. Within a few days, the Shoshone retaliated by killing a couple of young men of the Merrill family gathering wood in the nearby canyon. The Bear River Massacre, also known as the Battle of Bear River and Massacre at Boa Ogoi, occurred January 29, 1863. In the long term, Mormon settlers eventually moved to Cache Valley as well. [2] The Bear River Indian camp, located twelve miles north of the Franklin settlement, was in Washington Territory. Colonel Patrick Edward Connor and about 200 California Volunteer Troops swooped down on a Northwestern Shoshone winter village located at the Beaver Creek and Bear River crossing in the Cache Valley . A correspondent for the Sacramento Union reported, "The Prophet (Brigham Young) had told Sagwitch the Mormon people had suffered enough from the Shoshoni of Cache Valley and that if more blood were spilled, the Mormons might just "pitch in" and help the troops. The artillery never arrived as they got caught in a snow drift sixmi (9.7km) from the Shoshone encampment.[54]. A firing squad executed the captives and dumped their bodies into the Bear River. A granddaughter of massacre survivor Pisappih or Red Oquirrh (aka Yeager Timbimboo, born circa 1848, died 1937), Mae heard and felt the painful stories from her grandfather. While the incidents took place in proximity, the administrative centers dealing with them were more than 1,000mi (1,600km) apart, so it was difficult to integrate reports. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990. Robert Thornley, an English immigrant and first resident of Summit Creek, defended the young Indian and testified for him. Ever since the 1863 massacre, the land where the massacre happened has been privately owned. See Shoshoni Body counts vary widely in these histories, but typi- Frontier, 8, 20-24. . He ordered several regiments to be raised from the population of California to help protect mail routes and the communications lines of the West. [3] Report of Col. P. Edward Connor, Third California Infantry, commanding District of Utah, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1897), 185. According to Irvine, he obtained the four pages from the estate of Richard Harville, a prominent Californian and a descendant of Joseph Russ, an early 1850s overland pioneer to Humboldt County who became fabulously wealthy as a landowner and rancher. On January 29, 1863, the U.S. Army attacked and killed 250 to 500 Shoshone people encamped at the Bear River, near present-day Preston, Idaho, in what was later named the Bear River Massacre. "[41], The final catalyst for Connor's expedition was a Shoshone attack on a group of eight miners on the Montana Trail. When the soldiers appeared shortly after daybreak on January 27 [sic], the Shoshonis were waiting in their defenses. At one point decades ago, landowners said they tried to plow the land for farming but too often found human remains believed to be those of Indians. [6], So impressed were the trappers by the region that they recommended to Brigham Young that he consider the valley as a location for his settlement of Mormon pioneers. Other accounts tell of soldiers ransacking the Indian stores for food and souvenirs and killing and raping women. To him, she said, that would have been a sign of cowardice.. George A. Smith, in the official Journal History of the LDS Church, wrote: It is said that Col. Connor is determined to exterminate the Indians who have been killing the Emigrants on the route to the Gold Mines in Washington Territory. His company participated in several later Indian campaigns, including the attack at Bear River and a fight near Fort Ruby in which fifty-three Goshiute were killed. Jeter Downs needs to play to develop. [24], During the summer of 1859, a settler company of about 19 people from Michigan was traveling on the Oregon Trail near Fort Hall when they were attacked at night by people they assumed were local Shoshone. Jonathan Deiss, a military historian based in Washington, compared the slaying of Native Americans in the 1800s to mass shootings in the 21st century. They destroyed 70 lodges and quantities of provisions, seized 175 Indian horses, and captured 160 women and children, who were left in the wrecked village with a store of food. But critics have questioned whether the warrants could legally be served, since the chiefs were no longer within the courts jurisdiction. Some historians have overlooked these incidents because they occurred near the ill-defined boundary of two different territories: those of Washington and Utah. From his map, historians learn for the first time that some of the Shoshonis broke from the fortified ravine on horseback. He sent the historian a photocopy and so opened a sporadic correspondence and telephone dialogue that would continue over the span of some eighteen months. The Mountain Meadows Massacre This was a massacre where the Malitia and the Piutes worked together to kill a passing group of poineers from Arkansas. [27][28] As a direct result of this attack, the Army established a military fort near the present location of Boise, Idaho, along the migrant trail. Daves Hot Chicken will have you begging for more, and maybe for mercy, Josiah Gray finishes April with a flourish as Nats avoid a series sweep, The Shoshoni Frontier and the Bear River Massacre. [55] Among the rations issued to the soldiers during the campaign was a ration of whiskey held in a canteen; several soldiers noted that this whiskey froze solid on the night before the attack. By mid-morning the fighting had ended. The Bear River Massacre of 1863 near whats now Preston, Idaho, left roughly 350 members of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation dead, making it the bloodiest and most deadly slaying of Native Americans by the U.S. military, according to historians and tribal leaders. . Beachs map covers the fourth page. Cache Valley, originally called Seuhubeogoi (Shoshone for "Willow Valley"), was the traditional hunting ground for the Northwestern Shoshone. But the colonel didnt ask for the men before his soldiers started to fire. Connor also wanted to keep the word of his expedition secret, making a surprise attack upon the Shoshone when he arrived. [62] Bear Hunter was killed, with some later reporting that he had been among those casting bullets; Madsen described the possibility as "doubtful". And the death count was nearly double the roughly 150 Sioux killed at Wounded Knee in South Dakota, four days after Christmas in 1890. My List. They had come within 2mi (3km) of the central Shoshone winter encampment north of Franklin. Midst the roar of guns and sharp report of Pistols could be heard the cry for quarters but their was no quarters that day. Most of the stories told about the Bear River Massacre exclude Shoshone voices, said Darren Parry at a U lecture in the days leading up to the event's 160th anniversary. Although he determined that Joseph Russ had been alive when the regiment was organized in 1861, he could find no connection between the pioneer and the soldier to indicate how the manuscript had come into Russs possession. Several members of the company were killed by gunfire. Harold Schindler Controversy has dogged the Bear River Massacre from the first. In the early dawn hours, screams, gun smoke, and the feverish sounds of a . The survivors took refuge along the Portneuf River, where they hid among the bullrushes and willow trees. That he had been a participant at Bear River and had drawn a map of the battlefield was a surprise to his descendants. Season 3 Episode 7 | 26m 47s |. After his research, Irvine put the document away and thought no more of it until he saw the Chronicle article a year later. The Indians had very few rifles, according to Darren Parry. The Shoshone received nine bushels of wheat in three sacks. In the early morning cold of January 29, 1863, between 270 and 400 Shoshone men, women, and children were killed by the U.S. Army near present-day Preston, Idaho." Advertisement Advertisement "The Sand Creek Massacre" by Robert Lindneaux portrays his concept of the assault on the peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho village by the U.S. Army. Site of the Bear River Massacre of January 1863, where U.S. troops killed at least 250 Bannock and Shoshone people--perhaps many more. [56], It is apparent that the Shoshone chiefs were far from ignorant of the potential for conflict with Col. Connor's soldiers, and some minor preparations were made simultaneously. When he found that it was not the Northern California stream, he briefly researched the Connor expedition. If the present expedition copies the doings of the other that preceded it, it will result in catching some friendly Indians, murdering them, and letting the guilty scamps remain undisturbed in their mountain haunts.[46]. . He eventually found his grandmother hiding in a teepee packed with people, according to Mae Parrys writings. After years of skirmishes and food raids on farms and ranches, the United States Army attacked a Shoshone encampment gathered at the confluence of the Bear River and Battle Creek in what was then southeastern Washington Territory, near the present-day city of Preston. The toll would almost certainly have Rebellion, 1861 . The Bear River Massacre, or the Engagement on the Bear River, or the Battle of Bear River, or Massacre at Boa Ogoi, took place in present-day Franklin County, Idaho, on January 29, 1863. [29], Zachias Van Ornum, Alexis' brother, heard from a relative on the Oregon Trail that a small white boy of his missing nephew Reuben's age was being held by a group of Northwestern Shoshone, likely to be in Cache Valley. Chief Sagwitchs 12-year-old son Yeager Timbimboo, whose Shoshone name Da boo zee meant cottontail rabbit became caught in the gunfire and looked for shelter. Darren Parry is the chairman of the Northwest Band Tribal Council of the Shoshone Nation. On Jan. 29, 1863, Connors unit of almost 300 infantry and cavalry came down a frozen, wintry bluff into the Shoshones winter camp. Kenneth L. Alford (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012), 22735. [26], On September 9, 1860, Elijah Utter was leading migrants on the Oregon trail when they were attacked by a group of presumably Bannock and Boise Shoshone. Other band members hid in the willow brush of the Bear River or tried to act as if they were dead. Only three hundred started on the expedition. But Yeager raised his head and found himself looking into the barrel of a soldiers gun. The attention of most of the nation's population was focused on the Civil War in the eastern states. After the massacre, Conner, the colonel who led the attack, told of the bodies on the field in a report he sent to the then-U.S. War Department. In one account of the brutality, Danish immigrant Hans Jasperson in his 1911 autobiography, said he walked among the bodies, counting 493 Shoshone Indians dead, according to a 2008 article in the Salt Lake Tribune. Bear River Massacre site, looking east for the Shoshone camp. His superiors at the United States Department of the Interior did not act on his proposal. In the Ruby Valley, they established Fort Ruby and then headed for Salt Lake City. When across they took a double quick until they arrived at the place they ocupy on the drawing they pitched in California style every man for himself and the Devil for the Indians. Soldiers got Medals of Honor for massacring Native Americans. Yet, Beach confirms the magnitude of the massacre when he cites the enemy loss at two hundred and eighty Kiled. This number would not include those individuals shot while attempting to escape across the river, whose bodies were swept away and could not be counted. The fight lasted four hours and appeared more like a frollick than a fight the wounded cracking jokes with the frozen some frozen so bad that they could not load their guns used them as clubs No distinction was made betwen Officers and Privates each fought where he thought he was most needed. The Bear River Massacre, as it came to be known, was the culmination of tensions in the area and along the Oregon-California Trail between Native American tribes, emigrants and settlers. [8] Most histories of the American West mention the massacres at Sand Creek, Colorado, in 1864; Washita, Indian Territory, in 1868; Marias River in 1870; Camp Grant, Arizona, in 1871; and Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in 1890. Most of this involved mainly gathering foodstuffs from surrounding Mormon settlements in a fashion similar to the incident listed above with the residents of Richmond, Utah. The Shoshone broke camp, fled in advance of the Army troops, and cut the ropes of a ferry at the crossing. In addition to discipline problems among the soldiers, there was a minor "mutiny" among the soldiers where a joint petition by most of the California Volunteers requested to withhold over $30,000 from their paychecks for the sole purpose of instead paying for naval passage to the eastern states, and to "serve their country in shooting traitors instead of eating rations and freezing to death around sage brush fires". According to a 2011 book by the historian Peter Turbet, one of the sources cited by the University . Chased by soldiers with her baby strapped to her back, Anzee Chee a Shoshone woman jumped into the river and hid under an overhang along the bank.
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