FRANKLIN COUNTY, Idaho — The Northwestern Band of Shoshone marked a somber day Monday on the anniversary of the Bear River Massacre, the single deadliest attack on Native Americans in the history of the west.
The Shoshone used to camp in what is now Franklin County, Idaho 161 years ago, meeting there every year to invite the warmth of spring. Back on January 29, 1863. the Shoshone were together for a gathering of hope.
"The spring was coming and you're hoping for a good year," said Patty Timbimboo-Madsen, Cultural and Natural Resource Manager for the tribe.
Timbimboo-Madsen helps the tribe remember their own history, and named several generations of her own family, back to her grandfather, who was wounded at Battle Creek.
"You know, the ones that died right here on these grounds," said Timbimboo-Madsen, "those are the ones that you can count."
On that day over a century-and-a-half ago, 493 Shoshone were directly killed on the field, with more dying in flight or despair.
Brad Parry, the Vice Chairman of the tribe, pointed out where his great-great-great grandfather's teepee once stood, along with a photo of his son who was in the teepee during the massacre and survived. It's the picture of a man who was a boy when he watched his tribe decimated on a morning far colder than Monday.
"You look back and you think, well, those were olden times, not to us, you know, our time is our people are still buried here," Parry said.
This big crowd attending the anniversary was only about half the number killed 161 years ago. Maybe 600 Shoshone camped at the spot, while about 100 were men of fighting age. They knew the soldiers were coming, and at dawn they saw steam from the cavalry horses breath on the high ridge to the east.
"...in the soldiers diaries... they wrote where it was so cold, our whiskey was freezing in our canteens," said Parry.
On that day, the Shoshone thought they would negotiate with the U.S. Army, but Colonel Patrick Edward Connor was clear before the attack.
"What he said to the to the marshal Isaac Gibbs was, 'I'm not going to deprive my man from a little Indian killing fun," shared Parry.
For years, history parroted the Army's story that troops defeated the Shoshone who had been raiding the white settlers. But enough Shoshone survived to tell their story, which was backed up by local Latter-day Saints who had befriended them, that the soldiers attacked a peaceful gathering and killed everyone they could.
"I think one of the things is, a lot of the people here, and especially the Army afterwards, buried it because of the killing of, of the brutal killing of the women and the children," said Parry.
Parry is working to restore the land to it's native vegetation and Battle Creek to it's historic path. The restoration, like a new invitation to the warmth of spring.
During the site restoration, the Northwest Shoshone don't want to just honor their ancestors, but are also pulling out enough invasive species to give about 13,000 acre feet to the Great Salt Lake via the Bear River.
