to chastise them if possible. He told U.S. marshal Isaac L. Gibbs that Gibbs could accompany the troops with his federal warrants if he wanted, but it [p. 302] was not intended to have any prisoners.[3] Howeverand this is another controversythere have been many who have questioned whether Connors soldiers actually tangled with the guilty Indians. The history of the American West and the interactions with the American Indians is one full of violence and depredations on both sides. The manuscript has an interesting, if not sketchy, pedigree. Failing in that, he worked at a variety of odd jobs until the outbreak of the Civil War. Parry tells how the Native American perspective of this history as he learned it from his ancestors has been . Their bodies were discovered by a company of U.S. soldiers led by Captain Frederick T. Dent. He also reported that ten miners en route to the city had been murdered three days before Smith. 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". But many of the troops were frustrated they were there and wanted to be on the front lines of the Civil War. By 1856, European Americans had established their first permanent settlements and farms in Cache Valley, starting at Wellsville, Utah, and gradually moving northward. Reaction to this military campaign was mixed. This bill would take them away. In his account, the cavalry sergeant also provided valuable insights concerning the movement of troops as the attack took shape; he carefully recorded the position of each unit and located the Indian camp and its defenders on a map of the battlefield. [39] In an editorial, the Deseret News expressed concern that the execution would aggravate relations with the Shoshone. The Bear River Massacre is a great first step in that direction that will hopefully open the door to more radical and diverse perspectives within the Native community. Many historians say the biggest reason the Bear River slaying is lost or ignored in history lessons is because its carnage [was] eclipsed by Civil War battles raging at the time, according to Charles S. Peterson, a historian at Utah State University who wrote the foreword on a book called The Shoshoni Frontier and the Bear River Massacre. He said its ironic that it receives so little attention, given that the well-known Native American woman Sacagawea was Shoshone and became famous for having served as a guide to explorers Lewis and Clark across the West earlier in the 19th century. [2] The Bear River Indian camp, located twelve miles north of the Franklin settlement, was in Washington Territory. (ed.) [77], The Smithsonian Institution repatriated two Shoshone human remains, that of a teenage man and a woman who was in her 20s when she was killed, back to the Shoshone people for burial. In the Ruby Valley, they established Fort Ruby and then headed for Salt Lake City. They will also discover the adaptability and determination of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone in their ability to repurpose the site. After his research, Irvine put the document away and thought no more of it until he saw the Chronicle article a year later. 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. "[citation needed] The young Indian man was the son of the local Shoshone chief. A Shoshone tribal history called the massacre a clash of two diverse cultures trying to share the same land, and the Shoshone lost.. [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. Cache Valley, originally called Seuhubeogoi (Shoshone for "Willow Valley"), was the traditional hunting ground for the Northwestern Shoshone. [8] While the fight itself has been occasionally treated in books and periodicals, Sergeant Beachs narrative and map are singularly important for what they add to the known record. Several soldiers had come down with frostbite and other cold-weather problems, so the 3rd volunteers were at only about 2/3 of their strength compared to when they had left Fort Douglas. In 2008, descendants interred these remains at the Sand Creek cemetery, finally burying their dead from 1864uncounted casualties from the Civil War. In 1862, Beach enlisted in Company K, Second California Volunteer Cavalry, and spent the next seven months at Camp Alert near San Francisco learning the basic skills of a soldier. Jonathan Deiss, a military historian based in Washington, compared the slaying of Native Americans in the 1800s to mass shootings in the 21st century. He needs your help to raise $5 million to make it happen. Cavelry Horses were sent back to bring the Infantry across the River as soon as they arrived. It was a free fight every man on his own hook. Idaho State Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office, 2017. Lieutenant [Darwin] Chase and Capt. Beach operated a meat market in St. Louis and later in Salina, Kansas, before moving his family to Washington Territory. Men, women and children. His penmanship is quite legible though flavored with misspellings. Historians said about two dozen U.S. soldiers died at Bear River. [69] [2] The legality of the federal writs was irrelevant, however, to Colonel Connor, commander of the California Volunteers at Camp Douglas. . Their bodies were discovered by a company of U.S. soldiers led by Captain Frederick T. Dent. Yet few have ever heard of it. [16] Four Shoshone warriors were captured and held for ransom, although they did not appear related to the theft. The death toll, historians say, exceeded some of the countrys most horrific Indian slayings, including the 1864 slaying at Colorados Sand Creek, where 130 Cheyennes were killed. On Jan. 5, 1863, 10 miners traveling south on the Montana Trail were said to have been murdered by Indians. [35] Finally, Chief Bear Hunter signaled surrender by climbing a foothill and waving a flag of truce. Small detachments have been leaving for the North for several days. Jasperson wrote, I turned around and counted them back and counted just the same.. 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. [22], Several incidents in the summer and fall of 1862 led to the battle between Bear Hunter and Col. Connor. [8], The establishment of the California and Oregon Trails, as well as the founding of Salt Lake City in 1847, brought the Shoshone people into regular contact with white colonists moving westward. Beshup Timbimboo, also known as Frank Timbimboo Warner, the 2-year-old massacre survivor with seven wounds, became one of the first Native Americans to be sent out as a proselytizing missionary. Nonetheless, a jury of locals convicted him and hanged him for stealing the horse. 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. [38], On December 4, 1862, Connor sent McGarry on another expedition to Cache Valley to recover some stolen livestock from Shoshone. Before the remains were lowered into the . Most of the firearms that the Shoshone had at the time of the attack had been captured in minor skirmishes, traded from fur trappers, white settlers, and other Native American tribal groups, or simply antiques that had been handed down from one generation to another over the years. Most of the remaining members of the Northwestern band of Shoshone built farms and homesteads under LDS Church sponsorship. Perhaps the actions of the soldiers involved in the massacre, including "beat[ing infants] brains out on any hard substance they could find . Then he put it down and walked away. 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 . They answered 'maybe the Toquashes will be killed too," but not waiting for the third horse to be loaded, they quickly jumped upon their horses and led the three horses away, disappearing in the distance. Its our place where our old people died, said Rios Pacheco, a tribal elder, said speaking in Shoshone in a video produced about the slaying. He also charted the course of the river at the time of the engagement and pinpointed the soldiers ford across the Bear. 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 . Due to the weather conditions and deep snow, it took time for Connor to organize his soldiers into a battle line. In the long term, Mormon settlers eventually moved to Cache Valley as well. 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. Only three hundred started on the expedition. [75] Connor campaigned against Native Americans in the West for the remainder of the U.S. Civil War, leading the Powder River Expedition against the Sioux and Cheyenne. [17] Neither Lincoln nor the U.S. War Department quite trusted the Mormons of the Utah Territory to remain loyal to the Union, despite their leader Young's telegrams and assurances. sen's claim that the Bear River Massacre was the largest comp., Records of California Men in the War of the in the Far West. [36] McGarry instructed Bear Hunter to send his people to bring back the white boy. The fight lasted more than 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[.]. Bear River Massacre In the early spring of 1862, Utah Territorial Superintendent of Indian Affairs, James Duane Doty, spent four days in Cache Valley and reported: "The Indians have been in great numbers, in a starving and destitute condition. William Hull, the settler who was assisting the Shoshone, noted later: we had two of the three horses loaded, having put three bushels on each horsewhen I looked up and saw the Soldiers approaching from the south. About the Project. How can you move people in four feet of snow to anywhere you couldnt be followed? Parry said. "[38] Bear Hunter complained to the settlers in Cache Valley, arguing they should have helped him against the soldiers. The hills around the Valley are about six hundred feet high with two feet of snow on them. The Bear River Massacre was an event that changed the landscape of northern Utah and the fate of the Shoshone people. Some jumped into the river and were shot attempting to cross some mounted their ponies and attempted to run the gauntlet in different directions but were shot on the wing while others ran down the River (on a narrow strip of ice that gifted the shores) to a small island and a thicket of willows below where they foung [found] a very unwelcome reception by a few of the boys who were waiting the approach of straglers. [51] As a part of the deception, the cavalry were to travel at night while the infantry moved during the day. "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. Wikipedia. To add an RSC website shortcut to your home screen, open the website in the Safari browser. 3. In 1835, a revolt began in the Mexican province of Texas. Beachs first-person assertion of at least 280 Shoshoni deaths lends additional support to Madsens claim that the Bear River Massacre was the largest in the Far West. Connor set forth from Fort Douglas with nearly three hundred men, mostly cavalry, late in January 1863. For example, for years, residents and officials believed Franklin and the area of conflict was part of the Utah Territory. Here, one of America's most brutal and violent massacres of Native Americans occurred. The event in question occurred when, on January 29, 1863, volunteer soldiers under Colonel Patrick Edward Connor attacked a Shoshoni camp on the Bear River, killing nearly three hundred men, women, and children. 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. [6] The manuscript was written in ink on a large sheet of letter paper folded in half to provide four pages measuring 19.3 cm by 30.6 cm. Local history recorded the Shoshone's name as Pugweenee. [73], Chief Sagwitch and many members of his band allied with the Mormons. Approaching Bear River: Historic, Geomorphic, and Archaeological Investigations at the Bear River Massacre National Historic Landmark. Robert Thornley, an English immigrant and first resident of Summit Creek, defended the young Indian and testified for him. "[34] A skirmish between the Shoshone and the U.S. Army lasted about two hours after the Shoshone established a defensible position in the canyon. [11] The foraging and hunting by settlers traveling on the western migration trails also took additional resources away from the Shoshone. They brought blankets and hay to the church meetinghouse to protect the other soldiers from the cold. On Jan. 29, 1863, Connors unit of almost 300 infantry and cavalry came down a frozen, wintry bluff into the Shoshones winter camp. Within a few days, the Shoshone retaliated by killing a couple of young men of the Merrill family gathering wood in the nearby canyon. [66], The death toll was large, but some Shoshone survived. Daughters of Utah Pioneers erected this first monument to what was known as the Bear River Battle. The tribe, which now has a population of about 560, plans to build an interpretive center to honor the history and those lost at Bear River. The Indians condition was such-with the prospect that they would rob mail stations to sustain life. James Noble's harrowing discovery on the banks of the Forrest River in 1926 helped uncover a trail of slaughter across WA's east Kimberley and continues to haunt his descendants by Ciaran. In 1918, Sagwitch's son Be-shup, Frank Timbimboo Warner, said, "[H]alf of those present got away," and 156 were killed. 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 . See Brig. But when a spiritual leader told of a dream where Indians were killed by soldiers on horseback, about 50 left and went to another site. They intend to erect a monument in memory of the massacre's victims. [9] Fortunately, none of Beachs wounds seems to have penetrated beyond the coat; officially the sergeant was listed among the men hospitalized with frostbitten feet. 2. Hi ghway i ^ -J- on 91 BS f not for publication Vicinity Rani da (^hiflrl state code TD county Franklin code 041 ZIP OOde 83237 3, Classification Ownership of Property ^private K_ public-local [4] Beach traced the warriors retreat on the map with a series of lowercase i symbols. [4] In the past, the belief was that the warriors had been cut off from their herd of ponies. [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. May 21, 2017 - Explore Tedi Wixom's board "Indian massacres mid 1800's", followed by 213 people on Pinterest. . 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. Despite a diligent search by his son through his fathers papers, this important historical document could not be located. The artillery never arrived as they got caught in a snow drift sixmi (9.7km) from the Shoshone encampment.[54]. John R. Gillis (Princeton, NJ: Prince- They wholesale massacred the tribe, Darren Parry said. Cavelry four companies afterwards scattered over the field. He also owned a large collection of California memorabilia, which was put up for sale after his death in 1996. [citation needed], Col. Connor met up with Hoyt that evening as well, with orders to begin moving at about 1:00am the next morning for a surprise attack, but an attempt to get a local settler to act as a scout for the immediate area led the actual advance to wait until 3:00am. W. L. Beach. These incidents were related to broad struggles between indigenous peoples and European-American settlers over almost the entire United States west of the Mississippi River. Battle of Bear River 2, Location street & number city, town n,,c Prr > . 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. He said the Shoshone intended to "kill every white man they should meet on the north side of the Bear River, till they should be fully avenged. A judge issued a warrant for some of the Shoshone men who were accused of killing him with orders for U.S. Army Col. Patrick E. Connor to effect the arrest of the guilty Indians, according to records from the National Park Service. After the federal troops left with Van Ornum and the young boy, McGarry reported to Col. Connor the boy's rescue "without the loss or scratch of man or horse. Madsens comment points to the fact that, although Bear River has long been considered by those familiar with its details as the largest Indian massacre in the Far West, scholars and writers continue to deny the encounter its rightful place in frontier history. The event was known to them as the Massacre at Boa Ogoi. Intelligence reports had correctly located Bear Hunter's village on Bear River about 140 miles north of Salt Lake City, near present Preston, Idaho. "[41], The final catalyst for Connor's expedition was a Shoshone attack on a group of eight miners on the Montana Trail. In 1990, it was designated as a national historic landmark and Mae Parry and other Shoshones fought for decades to have it be recognized as a massacre and not as a battle, as some historical markers had called it. The California Volunteers suffered most of their direct combat-related casualties during this first assault. The Bear River Battleground was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1990 and renamed the Bear River Massacre Site in 1993. He went to the ravine and escaped into the Bear River near a hot spring, where he floated under some brush until nightfall. By the time of the battle, confrontations between the once-friendly Indians and the settlers and emigrants were common. In an argument about returning some livestock, a White man named John H. Smith was fatally shot. Midst the roar of guns and sharp report of Pistols could be heard the cry for quarters but their was no quarters that day. [33] Zachias Van Ornum claimed the boy was his nephew and took custody, departing to return to Oregon. [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. She went through the boarding school system of the 1920s, which was designed to assimilate Native Americans into the Euro-American culture. It was within a few miles of the Mormon Temple construction site and downtown Great Salt Lake City. According to a 2011 book by the historian Peter Turbet, one of the sources cited by the University . 185 Heber J. Midst the roar of guns and sharp report of Pistols could be herd the cry for quarters but their was no quarters that day. McGarry got his men across the river but had to leave their horses behind. 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. He served three missions. ", "Bear River Massacre Victims Laid to Rest", Jessie L. Bonner, "Tribe marks massacre with burial ground gathering", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bear_River_Massacre&oldid=1149898332. When the Richmond people returned with the advance party, they recovered the body of John Smith and buried him at the Richmond city cemetery. William Beach retired in Seattle, where he died on September 30, 1904. Native American tribes were already being decimated. On January 29, 1863 the U.S. Army Cavalry attacked the Northwestern Band of Shoshone, killing over 400 people and instigating the largest mass murder of Native Americans in the history of the United States. On the battlefield the troops counted 224 bodies, including that of Bear Hunter, and knew that the toll was actually higher. Theres no room with the Nationals. Perhaps one day, Sergeant Beachs map will once again reemerge and hopefully find its way into a public repository where it will be available for all those who wish to further explore this chapter of Utah history. Although the United States was officially neutral, Americans like Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston led a rebellion against Mexican rule,. He recommended that an Indian Reservation be established in Cache Valley to protect essential resources for the Shoshone. My List. The morning of January 29, 1863 a detachment of cavalry and infantry from Camp Douglas near Salt Lake City attacked a Shoshone village on the banks of the Bear River in what is present day Idaho at the confluence of Beaver . Their spirits are still here, and we are still here., The 15,000 American Indians shoved aside by Jamestowns settlers. People became numb to them, Deiss said. 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. Date: January 25, 2021 Author: Rick B 4 Comments. Body counts vary widely in these histories, but typical numbers of Indian fatalities listed in traditional sources are Sand Creek, 150; Washita, 103; Marias River, 173; Camp Grant, 100128; and Wounded Knee, 150200. Other band members hid in the willow brush of the Bear River or tried to act as if they were dead. The cry for quarters fell upon deaf ears as the bloody work continued. Controversy has dogged the Bear River Massacre from the first. After the Civil War started in 1861, President Abraham Lincoln sent regiments from the 3rd Regiment California Volunteer Infantry in the Union Army who were stationed at Fort Douglas near Salt Lake City to help protect the mail routes and telegraph lines that ran through the Cache Valley area. Arriving in Salt Lake City, Conover told a reporter the Shoshone were "determined to avenge the blood of their comrades" killed by Major McGarry and his soldiers. Both Irvine and Madsen agreed that the document should be made available to scholars and researchers, preferably those in Utah. I am not their nanny, I am their mom. [21] Upon arriving in Utah, he established Camp Douglas (adjacent to the current location of the University of Utah) as the primary base of operations for his unit. Evidently, the paper was ripped before Beach began his narrative, for he wrote around the ragged edges, thus preserving the integrity of the account. According to a website of the tribes history, she was afraid the teepee would go up in flames and told him to lie very still. [31], Together with about 20 of his people, Chief Bear Hunter was taken prisoner and transported to the soldiers' camp near Providence. They gathered grain and grass seeds there, as well as fished for trout and hunted small game such as ground squirrel and woodchuck; and large game including bison, deer, and elk. As early as 1859, Jacob Forney, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Territory of Utah, recognized the impact of migrants, writing, "The Indianshave become impoverished by the introduction of a white population". Harold Schindler,The Bear River Massacre: New Historical Evidence, inCivil War Saints, ed. April 19, 2016. Photo: Wilson44691, Public domain. Photo of Bear River Massacre location on January 29th, 2017. Alexis Van Ornum, his family, and about ten others hid in some nearby brush, only to be discovered and killed. Sergeant Beach rarely spoke about his army experience, saying only that he remained haunted by what he witnessed during his Indian fighting service in Utah Territory. About two-thirds of the command succeeded in fording ice-choked Bear River. [62] After about two hours, the Shoshone had run out of ammunition. Because he showed no fear of the pain, soldiers heated a rifle bayonet and ran it through his head from ear to ear, Mae Parry said. Connor was promoted to the rank of brigadier general after the massacre. They still regret it 400 years later. Currently, Madsen says, some traditional military historians are still opposed to using the term massacre relative to Bear River.
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