The Bear River Massacre And The Making Of History

Explores how a pivotal event in U.S. history-the killing of nearly 300 Shoshoni men, women, and children in 1863-has been contested, forgotten, and remembered.

A history of the Bear River Massacre by the current Chief of the Northwestern Shoshone Band.

Distributed by the University of Nebraska Press for Caxton Press Although it has been largely ignored by historians, it was the war waged against the Shoshoni tribe that opened the book on Indian massacres in the West. The Shoshoni were victims of a bloodbath more extreme than that at Wounded Knee, and more deadly than the more famous slaughter at Sand Creek.

*Includes pictures *Includes contemporary accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading From the "Trail of Tears" to Wounded Knee and Little Bighorn, the narrative of American history is incomplete without the inclusion of the Native Americans that lived on the continent before European settlers arrived in the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the first contact between natives and settlers, tribes like the Sioux, Cherokee, and Navajo have both fascinated and perplexed outsiders with their history, language, and culture. The Shoshone are still remembered for their assistance, especially Sacagawea, and they maintained contact with Americans throughout the 19th century, but unfortunately, the cooperation gave way to conflict as white settlers began to move westward and enter onto lands occupied by the Shoshone. In 1862, California officials sent the Third California Volunteer Infantry under the command of Colonel Patrick Connor to construct a fort (Fort Douglas) in the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains above Salt Lake City, in an effort to keep lines of communication open so pioneers would not be hesitant about settling in the region. Meanwhile, Shoshone Chief Bear Hunter (Wirasuap) led his band on raids against mining camps and Mormon settlements. In January 1863, Colonel Connor led 300 volunteers out of the newly completed Fort Douglas through 140 miles of bitter cold to reach Chief Bear Hunter's camp on the eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake, culminating in what would become known as the Bear River Massacre at Preston, Idaho. During the fighting, Connor's men trapped and killed an estimated 350-500 Northwestern Shoshone, including women, children, and the elderly. According to William Hull, a local settler sent to look for survivors, "After killing most of the men and many of the children, they raped and assaulted the women. In some cases, soldiers held the feet of infants by the heel and beat their brains out on any hard substance they could find. Women who resisted the soldiers were shot and killed. Never will I forget the scene, dead bodies were everywhere. I counted eight deep in one place and in several places they were three to five deep; all in all we counted nearly four hundred; two-thirds of this number being women and children. We found two Indian women alive whose thighs had been broken by the bullets. Two little boys and one little girl about three years of age were still living. The little girl was badly wounded, having eight flesh wounds in her body." This would be the highest number of fatalities suffered by the Shoshone at the hands of the U.S. military, but the fighting was far from over. Capitalizing on their victory, which effectively ended what had been widely reported as "Wirasuap's War Path," the federal government approved an open claim on the most hospitable lands of the Great Basin, leaving the Shoshone with the understanding that their lands would soon be lost to white ranchers, farmers, and prospectors. The Shoshone would continue to oppose American soldiers during the "Snake War," a reference to Americans' collective term for the Northern Paiute, Bannock, and Western Shoshone bands living along the Snake River in Oregon, Nevada, California, and Idaho Territory, but most of the Shoshone's resistance ended by 1865. By the time the Shoshone had been relegated to reservation life, there were fewer than 5,000 members left. The Bear River Massacre: The History and Legacy of the U.S. Army's Most Notorious Attack on the Shoshone in the Pacific Northwest looks at the chain of events that led to one of the most notorious attacks of the 19th century on the frontier. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Bear River Massacre like never before.

Utah presents a paradox in women’s history as a state founded by deeply religious pioneers who supported polygamy but also a place that offered women early suffrage and encouraged education and leadership. Remarkable Utah Women tells the stories of seventeen strong and determined women who broke through the social, cultural, and political barriers of their times. The women in these pages include Emmeline B. Wells, who served as president of both the Mormon Relief Society and the Woman Suffrage Association of Utah; the Bassett sisters, who ran with Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch; and Reva Beck Bosone, a US congresswoman and the state’s first female judge. The second edition features new biographies of historian Helen Papanikolas, who meticulously researched Utah’s immigrant communities; Mae Timbimboo Parry, who collected and shared the history of her Northwestern Shoshone people and brought to light the horrors of the Bear River Massacre; and Barbara Toomer, an activist who organized daring protests to demand a more accessible world for people with disabilities. Each of these women demonstrated an independence of spirit that still has the power to inspire us today. Read about their extraordinary lives and outsized personalities in this captivating collection that tells the story of Utah through the voices and legacies of indomitable women.

A comparative history of the relocation and removal of indigenous societies in the Greater American Southwest during the mid-nineteenth century Lost Worlds of 1863: Relocation and Removal of American Indians in the Central Rockies and the Greater Southwest offers a unique comparative narrative approach to the diaspora experiences of the Apaches, O’odham and Yaqui in Arizona and Sonora, the Navajo and Yavapai in Arizona, the Shoshone of Utah, the Utes of Colorado, the Northern Paiutes of Nevada and California, and other indigenous communities in the region. Focusing on the events of the year 1863, W. Dirk Raat provides an in-depth examination of the mid-nineteenth century genocide and devastation of the American Indian. Addressing the loss of both the identity and the sacred landscape of indigenous peoples, the author compares various kinds of relocation between different indigenous groups ranging from the removal and assimilation policies of the United States government regarding the Navajo and Paiute people, to the outright massacre and extermination of the Bear River Shoshone. The book is organized around detailed individual case studies that include extensive histories of the pre-contact, Spanish, and Mexican worlds that created the context for the pivotal events of 1863. This important volume: Narrates the history of Indian communities such as the Yavapai, Apache, O'odham, and Navajo both before and after 1863 Addresses how the American Indian has been able to survive genocide, and in some cases thrive in the present day Discusses topics including Indian slavery and Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, the Yaqui deportation, Apache prisoners of war, and Great Basin tribal politics Explores Indian ceremonial rites and belief systems to illustrate the relationship between sacred landscapes and personal identity Features sub-chapters on topics such as the Hopi-Navajo land controversy and Native American boarding schools Includes numerous maps and illustrations, contextualizing the content for readers Lost Worlds of 1863: Relocation and Removal of American Indians in the Central Rockies and the Greater Southwest is essential reading for academics, students, and general readers with interest in Western history, Native American history, and the history of Indian-White relations in the United States and Mexico.