The Big Horned Sheepeater Indian War of 1879 was the last
Indian war
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
fought in the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
portion of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
; it took place primarily in
central Idaho Central Idaho is a geographical term for the region located northeast of Boise and southeast of Lewiston in the U.S. state of Idaho. It is dominated by federal lands administered by the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Managemen ...
. A high mountain band of approximately 300
Shoshone people
The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ) are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions:
* Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming
* Northern Shoshone: southern Idaho
* Western Shoshone: Nevada, northern Utah
* Goshu ...
, the
Tukudeka
The Tukudeka or Mountain Sheepeaters are a band of Shoshone within the Eastern Shoshone and the Northern Shoshone.Shimkin 335 Before the reservation era, they traditionally lived in the central Sawtooth Range of Idaho and the mountains of what is ...
, were known as the
"Big Horned" Game Hunters because they ate Big Horn Game like
Rocky Mountain sheep akin to other bands of Shoshone who were known by those sacred foods they lived amongst and ate by hunting, fishing, and gathering them, such as: the Agaideka; Salmoneaters, Tukadeka; Bighorn Game Eaters (Sheepeaters was the name given by settlers, as TukuDeka is translated as Big-Horned Game by Shoshone TukuDeka). The word "eater" used amongst the different bands across Shoshone homelands can be also translated into nourishment.. Tukadeka bands were proficient at hunting. Their Big Horned Sheep Bow and other Big Horned Bows were sought after by both settlers and other tribes. They were the last Tribe living Traditionally on the American Rocky Mountains
they were known as 'Sheepeaters' as Bighorn Sheep were a main staple of food, clothing, and tools. The TukuDeka have become part of the Salmon Eater Shoshones after the war. They were being pushed from their homelands for settlers. The TukuDeka did not call this a war as it started with the brutal killing and attack of a small family in the Yellowstone area. Their Primary home was the Yellowstone Park.
Background
Leading up to the war, European-American settlers accused the Shoshone of stealing horses (which they were known for being the horse people of these west) in
Indian Valley
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
and killing three settlers near present-day
Cascade, Idaho
Cascade is a rural city in and the county seat of Valley County, Idaho, United States. The population was 939 at the 2010 census, down from 997 in 2000. during the pursuit. In August, the Shoshone were accused of killing two prospectors in an ambush at
Pearsall Creek, five miles from Cascade. By February 1879 they were accused of the murders of five
Chinese
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**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
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miners
A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...
at
Oro Grande, murders at
Loon Creek
The Middle Fork of the Salmon River is a river in central Idaho in the northwestern United States. It is a tributary to the Salmon River, and lies in the center of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area.
The middle fork is an e ...
, and finally the murders of two ranchers in the South Fork of the
Salmon River in May. There was no evidence for these accusations.
Campaign
United States troops were ordered into action based on the settler's complaints. Heading the campaign against the Sheepeaters was Troop G of the
1st Cavalry led by Captain
Reuben Bernard
Reuben Frank Bernard (1834 – November 17, 1903) was an American Brigadier General.
Early life
Bernard was born in rural Hawkins County, Tennessee to John Bernard Sr. and Mary Morelock Bernard. He was the eldest boy of 14 brothers and sisters, ...
, Company C and a detachment of Company K from the
2nd Infantry Regiment under the command of First Lieutenant
Henry Catley
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Royalty
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, and 20 Indian scouts commanded by Lieutenant
Edward Farrow of the
21st Infantry. The troops were all heading toward
Payette Lake
Payette Lake is a natural lake in the western United States, located in west central Idaho at McCall. Formed by glacial activity, it is situated in the upper drainage basin of the Payette River, which drains into the Snake River.
Outflow fr ...
, near present-day
McCall. Bernard headed North from
Boise barracks
Fort Boise is either of two different locations in the Western United States, western United States, both in Southwestern Idaho, southwestern Idaho. The first was a Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) trading post near the Snake River on what is now the Or ...
, Catley headed South from
Camp Howard, and Farrow headed East from the
Umatilla Agency.
Throughout the campaign, the troops faced difficulty traveling through the rough terrain. The first segment of the campaign, from May 31 to September 8, was through the Salmon River, dubbed the "River of No Return" because it was barely navigable. By August 20, a Sheepeater raiding party of ten to fifteen Indians attacked the troops as they guarded a
pack train
A packhorse, pack horse, or sumpter refers to a horse, mule, donkey, or pony used to carry goods on its back, usually in sidebags or panniers. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use of ...
at
Soldier Bar on
Big Creek. Those who defended the pack train included Corporal
Charles B. Hardin along with six troopers and the chief packer, James Barnes. They managed to drive the Sheepeaters off with only one casualty, Private Harry Eagan of the 2nd Infantry. By October, the campaign ended once Lieutenants W.C. Brown and Edward S. Farrow, along with a group of twenty
Umatilla scouts, negotiated the surrender of the Sheepeaters.
See also
*
List of U.S. military history events
*
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
*
Indian Wars
The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...
Notes
References
*Parker, Aaron. ''The Sheepeater Indian Campaign'' (Chamberlin Basin Country). Idaho Country Free Press, c1968.
External links
Something About Everything Military: Indian Wars
{{Authority control
Shoshone
Conflicts in 1879
Wars involving the indigenous peoples of North America
Pre-statehood history of Idaho
Native American history of Idaho
Indian wars of the American Old West
Wars between the United States and Native Americans