Ceremony honors those lost in Bear River Massacre


16 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

PRESTON, Idaho — The Northwestern band of the Shoshone Nation now owns a major piece of the land where hundreds of their own were massacred. That purchase brought some added emotion to a remembrance ceremony Monday for the Bear River Massacre.

“There are lessons that we can learn from that tragedy and lessons that need to be learned,” said Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox. “This is a story that needs to be told.”

In response to friction between American Indians and white travelers, Col. Patrick Edward Connor and about 200 California volunteers attacked the winter camp of the Northwestern Shoshone in an area near where Preston, Idaho, sits today. The incident occurred before dawn on a bitterly cold Jan. 29, 1863. With inferior weapons and large numbers of mothers, children and aged adults, the Shoshone were overmatched.

The soldiers brutally killed children, defiled women, burned the Indians’ homes, stole their supplies and walked away with their horses, according to historians. When it was over, more than 400 had perished, making the Bear River Massacre the single greatest loss of Indian lives in American history.

But even among those somber moments, there was a bit of celebration.

“We were able to sign documents to purchase 550 acres of the massacre site," said Darren Parry, chairman of the Northwestern band of the Shoshone Nation. “How ironic that we had to purchase land that had been ours for centuries.”

Visitors look out over the area where the Bear River Massacre occurred during an annual remembrance ceremony near Preston, Idaho, on Monday, Jan. 29, 2018. Hundreds of Shoshone men, women and children were killed when the U.S. Army attacked on Jan. 29, 1863. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, KSL)
Visitors look out over the area where the Bear River Massacre occurred during an annual remembrance ceremony near Preston, Idaho, on Monday, Jan. 29, 2018. Hundreds of Shoshone men, women and children were killed when the U.S. Army attacked on Jan. 29, 1863. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, KSL)

The known names of those lost were read in a ceremony at the visitors center that Parry said had by far the largest crowd ever, allowing more people to hear the story. But how they do that in future years will soon change thanks to their new ownership of the land.

“We’ll be able to tell the story from our perspective while being sensitive to other perspectives that are out there,” Parry said.

The plan is to have future ceremonies closer to where the actual massacre occurred in order to better tell the story from the Native American perspective. But it’s about more than just telling a story, it’s about respect, he said.

“Respect for the people that died here, that maybe they can rest in peace knowing that people aren’t digging around,” added Patty Timbimboo-Madsen, cultural natural resource manager for the Shoshone Nation.

Items hang from a tree as during an annual remembrance ceremony for the Bear River Massacre near Preston, Idaho, on Monday, Jan. 29, 2018. Hundreds of Shoshone men, women and children were killed when the U.S. Army attacked on Jan. 29, 1863. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, KSL)
Items hang from a tree as during an annual remembrance ceremony for the Bear River Massacre near Preston, Idaho, on Monday, Jan. 29, 2018. Hundreds of Shoshone men, women and children were killed when the U.S. Army attacked on Jan. 29, 1863. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, KSL)

It will help better honor those who were lost.

“Now you can stand on land that’s yours and feel at home without someone saying, ‘You’ve got to move on,'” Timbimboo-Madsen said.

Contributing: Viviane Vo-Duc

Photos

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

IdahoUtahPolitics
Mike Anderson, KSL-TVMike Anderson
Mike Anderson often doubles as his own photographer, shooting and editing most of his stories. He came to KSL in April 2011 after working for several years at various broadcast news outlets.

STAY IN THE KNOW

Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Newsletter Signup

KSL Weather Forecast

KSL Weather Forecast
Play button