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 ). They wholesale massacred the tribe, Darren Parry said. The attention of most of the nation's population was focused on the Civil War in the eastern states. Controversy has dogged the Bear River Massacre from the first. But its largely been forgotten.. Unfortunately, Apple's iOS doesn't support home screen shortcuts in the Chrome browser. The Bear River Massacre was an event that changed the landscape of northern Utah and the fate of the Shoshone people. About the Project. Patrick Edward Connor from Co Kerry, a Union general during the civil war, played a central role in the assault on the Native American community. [1] Robert M. Utley, Frontiersmen in Blue: The United States Army and the Indian, 18481865 (New York: Macmillan, 1967), 22324. Darren Parry is the Chairman of the Northweste. It almost annihilated us as a people, said Darren B. Parry, former chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation. Site of the Bear River Massacre of January 1863, where U.S. troops killed at least 250 Bannock and Shoshone people--perhaps many more. In 1864, more than 230 people of Cheyenne and Arapaho people lost their lives in the Sand Creek Massacre. (ed.) The Indians condition was such-with the prospect that they would rob mail stations to sustain life. Few remember it. Id.] 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 . Franklin County Historical Society (Idaho); "The passing of the redman, being a succinct account of the last battle that wrested Idaho from the bondage of the Indians"; [Preston? Bear River Massacre Site, near Preston, Idaho, is the site of the Bear River Massacre, in which a village of Shoshone Native Americans were attacked by the California Volunteers on January 29, 1863. [7] Schindler owned a California-related manuscript that Irvine was willing to trade for the Beach papers. They had come within 2mi (3km) of the central Shoshone winter encampment north of Franklin. He also charted the course of the river at the time of the engagement and pinpointed the soldiers ford across the Bear. Their bodies were discovered by a company of U.S. soldiers led by Captain Frederick T. Dent. They brought blankets and hay to the church meetinghouse to protect the other soldiers from the cold. [38], On December 4, 1862, Connor sent McGarry on another expedition to Cache Valley to recover some stolen livestock from Shoshone. He and McGarry's men followed the Shoshone as they retreated to nearby Providence Canyon. Its had no living members for centuries. A girl of only five years old had her ears cut off, her eyes gouged out, both legs amputated at the knees, and by all appearances, was made to walk on her stumps. [45], Throughout most of January 1863, soldiers at Fort Douglas were preparing for a lengthy expedition traveling north to the Shoshone. When the soldiers appeared shortly after daybreak on January 27 [sic], the Shoshonis were waiting in their defenses. [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. Capt. Local settlers commented that it was unseasonably cold even for northern Utah, and it may have been as cold as 20F (30C) on the morning of the 29th when the attack began. William Leake Beach was born in August 1832 in Abbeville County, South Carolina, the son of Chauncey and Huldah Beach. It was within a few miles of the Mormon Temple construction site and downtown Great Salt Lake City. April 19, 2016. But many stayed with Shoshone Chief Sagwitch. The history of the American West and the interactions with the American Indians is one full of violence and depredations on both sides. [40], A.H. Conover, the operator of a Montana Trail freight-hauling service between mining camps of Montana and Salt Lake City, was attacked by Shoshone warriors who killed two men accompanying him: George Clayton and Henry Bean. Some historians have overlooked these incidents because they occurred near the ill-defined boundary of two different territories: those of Washington and Utah. [22], Several incidents in the summer and fall of 1862 led to the battle between Bear Hunter and Col. Connor. The settlers also claimed the number of surviving women and children to be much fewer than what Connor claimed. [79], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}420846N 1115451W / 42.14611N 111.91417W / 42.14611; -111.91417, Wikisource has several original texts related to, Immigrant pressures causing Shoshone starvation, Warnings and conflicts with Cache Valley settlers, Reuben Van Ornum and the Battle of Providence, Effects on settlement of Cache Valley and long-term consequences, Official military records and the National Park Service's listing of Civil War Battlefields also include the Bear River massacre as part of the, 3rd California Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 3rd Regiment California Volunteer Infantry, 2nd Regiment of Cavalry, California Volunteers, 2nd Regiment California Volunteer Cavalry, "Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion", "The Surveyor General, the Prophet, and a War that Almost Happened", "California and the Civil War: Regiments of the California Volunteers in Federal Service: 2nd Regiment of Cavalry", "Military History Online The Bear River Massacre and the American Civil War", "Utah Local News Salt Lake City News, Sports, Archive The Salt Lake Tribune", "Because it's sacred land: Shoshone Nation chairman is on a mission to share massacre site with world", "Smithsonian to Repatriate Bear River Massacre Remains to Northwestern Shoshone. This page was last edited on 15 April 2023, at 04:04. Native American tribes were already being decimated. Whipped and kicked, he said not a word, nor did he cry out, according to Mae Parrys writings. May 21, 2017 - Explore Tedi Wixom's board "Indian massacres mid 1800's", followed by 213 people on Pinterest. Evidently, the paper was ripped before Beach began his narrative, for he wrote around the ragged edges, thus preserving the integrity of the account. 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 . 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. Kirk Savage, "The Politics of Memory: Black Emancipation and the Civil War Monument," in Commemorations: The Politics of National Identity, ed. [4] In the past, the belief was that the warriors had been cut off from their herd of ponies. But she had a hard time trying to care for her own wounds, and she couldnt keep her baby from crying, according to writings from Mae Parry. 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. But the colonel didnt ask for the men before his soldiers started to fire. [54], This military action occurred during perhaps the coldest time of the year in Cache Valley. . On the battlefield the troops counted 224 bodies, including that of Bear Hunter, and knew that the toll was actually higher. This tribe helped the Pilgrims survive for their first Thanksgiving. 3. Currently, Madsen says, some traditional military historians are still opposed to using the term massacre relative to Bear River. 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]. In an argument about returning some livestock, a White man named John H. Smith was fatally shot. Yet few have ever heard of it. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990. To do this, he separated his command into two detachments that were to come together from time to time on their journey to Cache Valley. Utah Public Radio Over 150 years ago, the United States Army attacked and killed as many as 500 Shoshone men, women and children in Northern Cache Valley. [62] Bear Hunter was killed, with some later reporting that he had been among those casting bullets; Madsen described the possibility as "doubtful". [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. [36] McGarry instructed Bear Hunter to send his people to bring back the white boy. [citation needed]. His superiors at the United States Department of the Interior did not act on his proposal. When asked about the young white boy, Bear Hunter said that the boy had been sent away a few days earlier. Encased in snow and silence, the Shoshone Indian camp located near the banks of Bear River near present-day Franklin, Idaho, had little idea what that fateful day held in store for them. Madsen asks a valid question: Why have historians of Utah and surrounding states ignored the confrontation between General Patrick Connor's California Vol- 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. He ordered the territorial marshal to seek assistance from Col. Connor for a military force to "effect the arrest of the guilty Indians."[41]. U.S. Army Col. Patrick E. Conner, who in 1863 led the California Volunteers from Camp Douglas to massacre the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone in the Cache Valley on January 29, 1863, There were skirmishes with settlers as Native Americans, who didn't have any concept of personal property, stole horses and killed cattle for food. The Bear River Massacre, also known as the Battle of Bear River and Massacre at Boa Ogoi, occurred January 29, 1863. It was repulsed with heavy loss. . [5] This mountain valley had attracted fur trappers such as Jim Bridger and Jedediah Smith, who visited the region. By 1856, European Americans had established their first permanent settlements and farms in Cache Valley, starting at Wellsville, Utah, and gradually moving northward. Irvine found the narrative and map folded in an envelope and was intrigued because the documents referred to Bear River, which he at first took to be the Bear of Humboldt County. 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 . 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. Harold Schindler,The Bear River Massacre: New Historical Evidence, inCivil War Saints, ed. !!!!!!! Robert Thornley, an English immigrant and first resident of Summit Creek, defended the young Indian and testified for him. [42] Before they returned, the other five men were attacked by Shoshone, who killed John Henry Smith of Walla Walla and some horses. Gen. Richard H. Orton (comp. [44], In many ways, the soldiers stationed at Fort Douglas were spoiling for a fight. Some were able to run and hide out along the icy river. Provo, UT 84602 The cry for quarters fell upon deaf ears as the bloody work continued. Jasperson wrote, I turned around and counted them back and counted just the same.. 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. [9], Brigham Young made the policy that Mormon settlers should establish friendly relations with the surrounding American Indian tribes. Soldiers got Medals of Honor for massacring Native Americans. Kenneth L. Alford (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012), 22735. [31], Together with about 20 of his people, Chief Bear Hunter was taken prisoner and transported to the soldiers' camp near Providence. 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. [43] Kinney issued a warrant for the arrest of chiefs Bear Hunter, Sanpitch, and Sagwitch. Then the 1918 flu hit. The hills around the Valley are about six hundred feet high with two feet of snow on them. James L. Fisk visited the site months later and wrote, Many of the skeletons of the Indians yet remained on the ground, their bones scattered by wolves, according to the National Park Service. Furthermore, they said they would gladly pay this money "for the privilege (original emphasis) of going to the Potomac and getting shot." [33] After the Indians opened fire, McGarry gave the order "to commence firing and to kill every Indian they could see. [58], Major McGarry and the first cavalry units of the 2nd Regiment California Volunteer Cavalry arrived at the massacre scene at 6:00am, just as dawn broke over the mountains. Native Americans fight for items looted from bodies at Wounded Knee. Some accounts put the Bear River death toll even higher than 350. He also says the papers can emphasize and strengthen the efforts of the National Park Service to bring recognition, at last, to the site of this tragic event, which was the bloodiest killing of a group of Native Americans in the history of the American Far West.. Nonetheless, a jury of locals convicted him and hanged him for stealing the horse. In 1835, a revolt began in the Mexican province of Texas. Archaeological work at the site where 350 Shoshone people were killed in 1863 aims to enrich the understanding of the Bear River Massacre in the southeast . He saw steam from the mountains and realized as they got closer it was the horses breath in the cold air. Battle of Bear River 2, Location street & number city, town n,,c Prr > . The Colonels Voice was occasionally herd encourageing the men teling them to take good aim and save their amunition Majs McGeary and Galiger [Paul A. Gallagher] were also loud in their encouragement to the men. [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. He encouraged their helping to "feed them rather than fight them". Harville had an abiding interest in local history and was a founding member of the Humboldt County Historical Society. 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. [78] The remains were returned in 2013. The California Volunteers suffered most of their direct combat-related casualties during this first assault. His penmanship is quite legible though flavored with misspellings. [2] The legality of the federal writs was irrelevant, however, to Colonel Connor, commander of the California Volunteers at Camp Douglas. They will also discover the adaptability and determination of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone in their ability to repurpose the site. But critics have questioned whether the warrants could legally be served, since the chiefs were no longer within the courts jurisdiction. 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. Author Darren Parry of the Shoshone Tribe describes how the Daughter of Utah . Theres no room with the Nationals. By then, cold weather had set in and the Shoshones were in their winter grounds for the season. Madsen feels that the Beach papers are very important in resolving some of the issues surrounding the encounter. 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. [68] In his 1911 autobiography, Danish immigrant Hans Jasperson claims to have walked among the bodies and counted 493 dead Shoshone. Within a few days, the Shoshone retaliated by killing a couple of young men of the Merrill family gathering wood in the nearby canyon. Connor set forth from Fort Douglas with nearly three hundred men, mostly cavalry, late in January 1863. But many of the troops were frustrated they were there and wanted to be on the front lines of the Civil War. Bear River Massacre In early autumn, they went to Salmon, Idaho, to fish. Beach operated a meat market in St. Louis and later in Salina, Kansas, before moving his family to Washington Territory. See Brig. [74], According to published newspaper articles, Col. Connor and the California Volunteers were treated as heroes when they arrived at Fort Douglas and by their community in California. [35] Finally, Chief Bear Hunter signaled surrender by climbing a foothill and waving a flag of truce. History & Culture. [7] As early as July 31, 1847, a 20-man delegation of Shoshone met with the Mormons to discuss their land claims in northern Utah. There are two large tears in the paper, one in the upper right corner of the first page and another across the bottom of the same leaf. He recommended that an Indian Reservation be established in Cache Valley to protect essential resources for the Shoshone. Rafael Trujillo was in power from 1930 until his assassination in 1961 From late September to mid-October that year, men, women and children were rounded up, then beaten or hacked to death for just. When the Richmond people returned with the advance party, they recovered the body of John Smith and buried him at the Richmond city cemetery. While Connor tarried to hasten the crossing, Major [Edward] McGarry dismounted his troops and launched a frontal attack. 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. 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. [citation needed]. In the early dawn hours, screams, gun smoke, and the feverish sounds of a . [25] According to the Deseret News of September 21, 1859, a detachment of Lieutenant Livingston's dragoons found five bodies at the scene of the massacre were mangled. When cold weather hit, they hunkered down in the Cache Valley, which runs through northern Utah and southeast Idaho. Reid, Kenneth C. Although the United States was officially neutral, Americans like Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston led a rebellion against Mexican rule,. [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. Despite a diligent search by his son through his fathers papers, this important historical document could not be located. 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. McGarry got his men across the river but had to leave their horses behind. 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. Harold Schindler Controversy has dogged the Bear River Massacre from the first. Most of the remaining members of the Northwestern band of Shoshone built farms and homesteads under LDS Church sponsorship. Of those who broke free, many were shot while swimming the icy river. Local history recorded the Shoshone's name as Pugweenee. Connor was promoted to the rank of brigadier general after the massacre. He also contacted me. [George F.] Price then gave the command forward to their respective companies after which no officer was heeded or needed The Boys were fighting Indians and intended to whip them. Connor assumed control and shifted tactics, sending flanking parties to where the ravine issued from some hills. . [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. 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. He needs your help to raise $5 million to make it happen. Local news, weather, sports, events, restaurants and more. Answer: Mormons Explanation: "The Bear River Massacre was an event that changed the landscape of northern Utah and the fate of the Shoshone people. He went on to say that two of his brothers and a sister-in-law "lived", as well as many who later lived at the Washakie, Utah, settlement, the Fort Hall reservation, in the Wind River country, and elsewhere. Because the author attempts a more scholarly study, th tone and style of The Shoshoni Frontier are more smooth and connected. [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. The survivors reported that the attacking warriors took four Van Ornum children captive. 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. And the death count was nearly double the roughly 150 Sioux killed at Wounded Knee in South Dakota, four days after Christmas in 1890. Alexis Van Ornum, his family, and about ten others hid in some nearby brush, only to be discovered and killed. The Indians were slain after soldiers came into a valley where they were camping for the winter and attacked, leaving about 90 women and children among the dead. Both Irvine and Madsen agreed that the document should be made available to scholars and researchers, preferably those in Utah. The Bear River Massacre was seriously bloody, and without equal in American history. ), Records of California Men in the War of the Rebellion, 1861 to 1867 (Sacramento: State Printing Office, 1890), 17879, 275. Maybe it is a steam come from a horse. 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. Colonel Patrick Edward Connor led a detachment of California Volunteers as part of the Bear River Expedition against Shoshone tribal chief Bear Hunter. Courtesy of History Colorado H.6130.37. At the onset of his expedition against the Bear River band, he announced that he was satisfied that these Indians were among those who had been murdering emigrants on the Overland Mail Route for the previous fifteen years. As Connor led his column east, Sergeant Beachs company was assigned to Major McGarry as he swung north to punish the Shoshoni who had attacked a wagon train near Gravelly Ford. Our lossfourteen killed and forty two wounded Indian Loss two hundred and eighty Kiled. 801-422-6975. [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. Their creed was "kill the Indian to save the child." Due to the weather conditions and deep snow, it took time for Connor to organize his soldiers into a battle line. Several members of the company were killed by gunfire. Since then, however, much has been discovered about Sergeant Beachs background. 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. One of the survivors included chief . This article was published more than1 year ago. By the time of the battle, confrontations between the once-friendly Indians and the settlers and emigrants were common. 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. [53], The sacks of grain carried by these Shoshone were later found by the 3rd California Volunteers during their advance the next day, apparently dropped by the Shoshone in their attempt to get back to their camp. In the 1800s, the Shoshones and other tribes faced a slew of hardships and troubles as the U.S. government wanted to rid the country of what officials called the Indian problem. Settlers moving west and Mormon farmers invaded Shoshone land, and miners caused skirmishes as they passed through on their way West to find gold. Darren Perry discusses the historical and social events surrounding the Bear River Massacre in Northern Utah. Yet Bear River is generally ignored. Three days later, Lieutenant Livingston of Fort Walla Walla, leading a company of dragoons, met the survivors. 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. [31] There, he visited Col. Connor at Fort Douglas and asked for help to regain his nephew. . 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.