Ute Legend: The Basket Lady and the Man with the Hat

When working in Duckwater, I worked some with the school kids to physical education and other activities.  We presented the story of the Basket Lady and the Man with the Hat.  This was a Ute legend.  The story was a precautionary one about minding your manners and not being too loud.  Mom and grandma have to be away and tell the children that they should be good and not make too much noise or the Basket Lady will get them.  Of course they are too loud, and the woman with a basket gathers them all and puts them in the basket.  Apparently she is taking them home for a nice dinner.  However the man with the hat rescues them.  He tosses his hat at the witch which captures her.  He rescues the kids and they return home much better mannered.  This is the picture of the Basket Lady.  

Video Review: Newe The Shoshone People

Newe: The Shoshone People - Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada and Utah. Turtle Island, USA

This movie is mostly drum music playing with written narrative.  Shoshone comes from the word for high grass.  They refer to themselves as Newe.  They were first called Shoshone by Meriweather Lewis.  This video tells a brief story of the Shoshone culture and talks of some of the differences between groups of Shoshone; Western, Northern, Eastern and Gosiute.  Eastern took the customs of the plains Indians.  The were driven south  by other tribes and the Comanche in Texas may have been Shoshone.  The Northern and Eastern peoples livied in tipis (teepees) which could be easily taken down like a tent.  This allowed them to follow the animals they hunted, such as buffalo.  The Northern Shoshone would also sustain themselves with salmon which the caught in nets or baskets.  A camp could be torn down in an hour and ready to move.  The used dog pulled travois.  However the Western Shoshone made lodges out of grass.  These were more permanent and harder to move.  They relied more on eating roots, pine nuts and seeds.  They would hunt smaller game such as deer or rabbit.  

This video introduced me to a new game, Shinny ball.  This game is most similar to field hockey.  It is played with sticks made from willow, which are heated and bent to make like a hockey stick.  

This movie has many pictures of Shoshone people, but they are not labeled.  It talks of the different tribes being lead by a chairman, and their having their own governments.  It talks about many conflicts and wars--especially the Bear River Massacre which saw the largest loss of life in Shoshone history.  

Book Review: The Shoshones by Liz Sonneborn

 The Shoshones by Liz Sonneborn, Native American Histories, Lerner Publications Company, Minneapolis, Minn., 2007.

This book actually gives a very accurate description of the Shoshone.  I like reading about the Shoshone because I lived amongst the Western Shoshone for a couple of years.  The book starts talking of the Western Shoshone but then loses them in the last couple of chapters.  I noticed the consultants for the book were both of the Eastern Shoshone.  

There is a good map that describes the homeland of the Shoshone, the Western Shoshone went from easter Utah, through Nevada and into California.  Northern Shoshone occupied northern Utah and much of southern Idaho.  Their major reservation is now Fort Hall which is shared with the Bannock.  The Eastern Shoshone include most of western Wyoming.  They were granted reservation land along the Wind River under Chief Washakie.  

The western Shoshone traditionally had the harder life.  Food supplies were lest plentiful in the great Basin desert.  There was the possibility of catching large game, but mostly small game such as squirrels and rabbits were most plentiful.  They would also gather pine nuts, and often their winter food supply depended on how much pinyon pine nuts they could find in the autumn.  Beading and basket making were also products which could be traded or enjoyed.  

This book also mentions Sacagawea and the Lewis and Clark expedition.  Sacagawea was from the northern Shoshone groups.  There is the story of the Dann sisters of the Te Moak band of the Western Shoshone.  They were suing the federal government when I lived amongst the Shoshone.  They were trying to pursue grazing rights which was restricted by the BLM.  

Native American Biography: Sacagawea

 Sacagawea, 16, Lemhi Shoshone, guided Lewis and Clark and their expedition, while pregnant, to the Pacific ocean.  She traveled with the group from North Dakota and made important cultural contacts with other Native American groups as they traveled west.  Sacagawea was born in the Salmon, Idaho area.  However at about age twelve she was captured by the Hidatsa in a raid, and thus came to be in North Dakota.  The Hidatsa sold her to Toussaint Charbonneau, a trapper from Quebec.  Lewis and Clark hired Charbonneau and Sacagawea to go with them on the expedition to help with translating.  They wintered with the expedition and Sacagawea had her baby, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau.  While traveling up the Mississippi Sacagawea rescued papers from the river that included the journal and records of  Lewis and Clark.

When they made contact with a Shoshone tribe, Sacagawea was employed to interpret.  She discovered that the chief was her own brother and reacquainted with many relatives.  The Shoshone bartered horses with the travelers for their overland route which then took them to the Columbia River Basin

Sacagawea continued her journey to the Pacific ocean.  She provided her beaded belt so it could be traded to procure a fur coat to be taken back to President Jefferson.  She was a le to see the carcass of a whale that had beached close to where they camped for the winter.

Sacagawea continued her duties on the return trip.  She provided useful information on a couple of occasions, leading them through Gibbons Pass and through the Bozeman Pass.  Her presence on the journey signaled to those they met of the peaceful intention of the group--a woman and child traveling with them.  

After the trek she and her husband and child remained with the Hidatsa for a few years.  They then, at the invitation of William Clark they relocated to the St. Louis area.  Jean Baptiste was adopted by William Clark.  Sacagawea had a daughter.  However (here the stories vary) she may have passed away at this time, 1812 at the age of 25.  Another story has her returning west and marrying a man of the Comanche and later making it back to her Shoshone people.  She was now known as Porivo.  This woman had more children.  This story has her passing away in 1884 and being buried on the Wind River reservation.  

Sacagawea has been honored with both a postage stamp and also a gold dollar.

Native American Biography: Chief Pocatello

 Chief Pocatello lived at a cross roads in history, and was caught in the changes taking place during his lifetime.  His Shoshone name is Tondzaosha meaning buffalo robe.  He led attacks against travelers along the Oregon Trail which led to the U.S. government sending troops to Cache Valley to chastise him.  However Pocatello somehow was informed and left the camp in Cache Valley before the Bear River Massacre.  He later agreed to relocate his people to Fort Hall, but because promised subsidies his people suffered economic hardship.  He attempted a move to Utah to join the Mormons, hoping this would provide some relief.  However the government again intervened and his people returned to the reservation.  He granted a right-of-way to the railway and this resulted in the name for the City of Pocatello.

Shoshone Artifacts: Bannock Museum, Pocatello

Shoshone cradle board

 

sun dance

Chief Pocatello

Chief Pocatello great grandson

The pine nuts brings back memories of gathering with the Shoshone School.  The cradle board appears authentic and reminds me of Sophie Allison who was a master basket weaver.  

Documentary Review: What Was Ours

"What Was Ours" is a documentary from Indie Lens released January 17 on PBS.  I enjoyed this.  It is about the Shoshone and Arapaho from Wyoming, Wind River Reservation.  When the economic foundation of the Native Americans changed, many sold their artifacts to museums, or in one case to a Deacon of the Episcopal Church, and the items were lost to the tribe.
This documentary tells three stories, two young Arapaho, one a young woman, Mikala, a high school senior.  She was princess of a Denver March Pow Wow.  Her family is important to hear, going back through generations.  He tells the story of her grandfather who was a previous keeper of artifacts.   A young man, Jordan, interested in bringing the items back to the reservation.  He is interested in the storytelling of his paper, which tells you are part of a bigger picture.   Lastly an elderly Shoshone, Philbert, who served in the Viet Nam War as a helicopter gunner.  He always carried his talisman as a good luck charm.  All three are trying to maintain their Indian ways in a modern way.  Some of the items which have left the reservation were sacred objects.
There had been a museum on the reservation,  but the items were removed when there was no longer anyone to care for them.  Philbert works for the casino, and a space in the casino set aside for a museum.
These three are part of a group which traveled to Chicago to see items stored or displayed there.  However the focus on the film is the return of items owned by the Episcopalian Church; those which had been at the museum.  In the end, there is a cooperation between the reservation, the church and the casino which lead to the items being returned and displayed on the reservation.
This documentary is fascinating.  It shows a people trying to tight rope two cultures.  This struggle for their artifacts is just one part of that struggle.  The colors and the artwork in some of the pieces is just fascinating.  They also talk about the history behind some of the pieces they are creating contemporarily.  There is also insight given on how some of the ancient pieces were used.

Washakie, Utah: Ghost town

Washakie, Utah was named for the Shoshone chief Washakie, however Washakie never lived there.  This town was inhabited by Sagwitch and his people.  It is located off of I-15, in Utah but close to the Idaho border near Plymouth, Utah.  It was a farming community.  Most of the original buildings are now gone.  At one time there was a thriving branch of the  church hear, and in fact a ward at one point, with the first Native American bishop, Moroni Sagwitch.  I was able to get some pictures of the town and the cemetery.  I was looking for the resting place of Sagwitch, but was not successful.  The cemetery was made where he passed away and was buried.  The cemetery is very rustic, but it shows a great deal of pride, especially for those who served in the military.

Cemetery pictures

Washakie ghost town pictures

plaque commemorating a fort which was located near Washakie

Book Review: Sacagawea: Westward with Lewis and Clark

Sacagawea: Westward with Lewis and Clark, Native American Biographies, Alana J. White, Enslow Publishers, Springfield, NJ, 1997.  In this book we have not only a biography of Sacagawea but also a history of the Lewis and Clark expedition.  Sacagawea was 16 when she joined the expedition.  Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were glad to have her as part of the team called Corp of Discovery because she knew the territory, could serve as interpreter, and also because she could help them negotiate with Indians when they would need to trade for horses.  Even thought she was 16, and had a new born baby to care for, which she carried in his cradle board, she was an important asset.  Sacagawea had been stolen from her people about six years previous.  She then became the husband to a french Canadian, Toussaint Charbonneau who either bought her as a slave, or won her in a poker game.  Whatever he married her.  Sacagawea was not his first wife, but the only wife on the journey with him.  Sacagawea's knowledge of local plants, and which were good for food was invaluable information.  Also she helped with directions and her knowledge of the land.  They did find her people, and Sacagawea was able to help Lewis and Clark purchase horses.  Her brother was the chief.  However Lewis and Clark were not as pleased with Charbonneau.  He let the canoe sink, and did several other things through carelessness.  However the entire family, Sacagawea, Charbonneau and their son Jean Baptiste (nicknamed Pomp by Captain Clark) all made the trek both ways, to the Pacific and back again.  They were exploring the Louisiana Purchase, and trying to determine if there was a water crossing across the continent.  This there was not, but they proved it was possible to cross the continent by overland travel and water.  There were many perilous times on the trek.
William Clark befriended Sacagawea's baby.  He offered to raise him.  It appears Charbonneau and Sacagawea took him up on this.    They traveled to Saint Louis where he lived.  There is an indication that Sacagawea died young.  A note says the wife of Charbonneau had passed away and was buried at Fort Manuel in South Dakota.  However as Charbonneau had more than one wife this is confusing.  The Shoshone have her returning to them and living a long life.  She told of the whale carcass she had seen while along the coast, and many other strange things.  This tradition has Sacagawea passing away in 1884 on the Wind River Reservation.  Since she was 16 when she started the trip with Lewis and Clark in 1804, she would have been well in her 90s when she passed away.  The result is that there are two burial sites for Sacagawea.  Whatever the truth, she was a remarkable woman, and her knowledge and fortitude helped Lewis and Clark return successfully from their mission across the continent.

Book Review: Moho Wat: Sheepeater Boy Attempts a Rescue

Moho Wat: Sheepeater Boy Attempts a Rescue, Kenneth Thomasma, illustrations by Jack Brouwer, Grandview Publishing Company, Jackson, WY, 1994.  With this book I am introduced to a new author.  This author writes children's books, based on Indian stories.  Many of these stories are passed down verbally.  This story is very old, in the 1700s.  It tells the story of the Shoshone Indians who were living in Yellowstone at the time.  The were known as the Sheepeater people.  This is a fascinating story about a boy, and is father.  Moho Wat discovers a sheep in a hot spring of Yellowstone.  The hot water has changed the ram's horn, making it into a material which would be very good for a bow.  That is what they do, they fashion a bow for his father and one for himself.  They now have bows superior to that of those around them.
However, just as things are going well, tragedy strikes.  A mountain lion gets Moho Wat, as he comes to close to her den.  It grabs his hand, and although his father saves him with the new bow, he does not save his hand.  It is indeed a tragedy to not have a hand, and at first Moho Wat reacts this way, his life is done.  However he begins to see that there are ways to overcome this.  He learns to shoot his bow with his feet.  He is convinced he can provide for a wife.
At the religious ceremony, held at the sacred medicine wheel, in the big Horn Mountains, far from their native, a young woman is kidnapped.  Moho Wat had seen her, and was stricken by her beauty.  He goes after her to rescue her.  This effort is very complicated.  He follows them many miles.  He finally develops a plan, and it works.  However he is now pursued.  They make their escape, and at one point a flash flood would have taken Moho Wat except for the girl hangs from a tree branch and saves him.  She is injured in the rescue, but heals quickly.  How surprised the family of both individual is when they finally arrive home.  
Aside from the story, the cultural information provided about the Sheepeater people is incredible.  They were a mountain people, who rarely traveled to the valley.  Their method of hunting as a team, the grieving for a brother, and other details of family life were insightful.  The are now mixed with the Shoshone of Fort Hall.
My only complaint about this book is the pictures make the couple look too Caucasion rather than Indian.  I really enjoyed the story.

Book Review: The Great Basin Indians

The Great Basin Indians: Daily Life in the 1700s, Karen Bush Gibson, Bridgestone Books, Mankato, MN, 2006.

My only complaint about this book is I was wanting more, but when you read a children's history book there isn't more.  However a quick review of what there is.  A map shows five nations. The Goshutes are not included.  Shoshone have two groups, mostly in Utah and then in Wyoming.  Bannock are in Utah.  Paiute have two areas as well, northern Nevada and Oregon and southern Utah.  Utes are mostly in Colorado.  Washoes are in western Nevada.  

Those who lived on the desert were much influenced by the environment.  They were unable to farm due to the environment. They gathered grass seeds, nuts, berries, insects and small game. They were nomadic, and formed small groups of a few families.  Some traveled form area to area with the gathering.  Others travelled form the valleys in winter to the mountains in summer to avoid the heat. Some formed larger groups, tribes which were run by a chief or council. The decisions made included where to gather or hunt, and when to go to war.  The more eastern groups had access to buffalo, and lived in tepees.  The more western groups built wickiups from branches bark and grass.

The piñon hunt in the fall was important. There were also rabbit round ups.  Netting would be used to entrap the rabbits.  They also fished.  Some groups would smoke salmon.  Milkweed fibers were used for clothing.  Rabbit skins and buck skin would also make nice clothing.  Buffalo was often too heavy for clothing, but good for ground cover and tepees.  

This book mentions a game called kill the bone. Also round dance in Autumn with the piñon harvest and bear dance in spring.

Native American Biographies: Chief Walkara (Shoshone or Ute)

Chief Walkara was chief of the Sanpete, Timpanogos band of Indians.  There is some confusion as to whether this group was Shoshone or Ute.  Walkara means hawk in Shoshone.  This group spoke a mixture of both languages.
Walkara lead his people on a very wide migration.  He was referred to as the greatest horse thief in history.  This was a great honor among Indian people based on a society of stealing horses from one another.  Walkara's travels put him in contact with Spaniards, California Indians, Apache, Navajo and many other groups.  He gained his fame as a great horse theif by stealing many horses from the Spaniards.
With the advent of the Mormon pioneers Walkara favored driving them out of the area.  However the views of his brother, Sowiette won out.  Walkara met with Brigham Young and they negotiated a peace.  Walkara was baptized.
However, subsequent to this there was a disagreement and Walkara was involved in Walker's War.  This name refers to James Walker Ivie who killed several members of Walkara's tribe in a conflict.  This war involved raiding of several Mormon settlements.  Brigham Young asked members to move from outlying farms into forts.  However the War was short lived, and after the war, 120 members of Walkara's band were baptized into the Mormon Church.  Walkara was likely rebaptized.
Walkara died of a lingering illness, likely pneumonia, in 1855.

Sanpitch was a brother of Walkara.  He was also the father of Black Hawk.  His murder in 1866 was one of the things which sparked the Black hawk War.

Native Americans and Hyrum City

Shoshone used to camp in the gulch where Hyrum Lake is now located

Cache valley use to be a part of the regular migration of the Eastern and Northern Shoshone.  The book "Home in the Hills of Bridgerland" documents some of the contacts between these migrating groups and the native Americans.  In talks of both Washakie and Sagwitch and their people coming through the area.  From the history of Emma Liljenquist the note:
Whenever we could hear the Indians coming, there was excitement.  The sound of the bells on their little dogs and the dragging of their tent poles on the ground always let us know when they were near.  Often the Indians came from Mt. Sterling over across the river which is now covered by the dam. . . .One day Chief Washakie, a very important Indian at that time, and a very good friend of the white people, came with a band of Indians.  They stopped outside our place.  There were about one hundred in all, men squaws, and papooses.  The Indian men usually rode on horses free from luggage while the squaws rode those which were loaded with tents, dragging poles, buckets and baskets and papooses.  This day they wanted watermelons.  Chief Washakie told my father what they wanted.  Father told him to help himself. . . .He was dressed extra fine.  He wore a [w]hite shirt and black trousers and a long linen duster.  He wore no hat and his hair was braided into two long braids which were wrapped with beads and [he wore] beaded moccasins.  The Indians usually camped down in the hollow which is now covered by water.  They always like to camp by the water so they could fish.
Early in the morning just as the sun was coming up, we could see the squaws coming up the hill.  They would spend the day going from house to house and at night would go back to camp loaded with provisions.  The Indians were quite friendly in this part of the state and would wander from door to door trading or swapping as they would say, their beads for flour, sugar, bread, or molasses which they like very much. . . .The Indians used to pick choke cherries and we would swap things for them.  I don't think I could eat one now having been picked by the Indians, but at that time we enjoyed them.
One cold wintry Saturday just after we had finished scrubbing the floor and had put some sacking by the door an Indian quietly opened the door and came in.  He said, "Heap cold, heap cold." and mother said to come in a sit by the stove and get warm and I will give you something hot to drink.  After he had eaten and gotten warm he got up to go and turned and said, "Good woman, heap good woman."  Mother died shortly after that.  One day this Indian came to the house and was carrying some fish he had caught and said it was for "Little mar" which was what he called mother and when we told him she had died he stood and wiped his eyes and cried and said "Too bad, too bad, good woman." and for a long time he used to come to see "Little Mary's papoose."
The also quote Lon Savage:
It was customary for the Indian women to go from door to door all over town begging for flour.  They carried a fifty pound sack and each place they called they were given a quart or so of flour.  While the women were begging flour, the men, headed by the chief, went in search of meat, the most usual person was the bishop.  A band came and established a camp that filled the whole street.  Their horses were staked along the ditch banks all over the neighborhood.  There must have been 100 men, women, and children.
Up in the center of town was the tithing office and a yard bard back in the center of the block.  There they found the bishop and he, adhering to the advice of Brigham Young "Feed the Indians, don't fight them."  At the Tithing Yard there were always kept a few head of cattle for emergency.  When the bishop saw the large number he called for help and killed a beef and parceled it out.  Each one was given his share in his hands without any wrapping.  When all were served they formed a line, single file, and marched to their camp holding their meat up so it was visible to all whom they passed. . . While the oldster were gone the older children were gathering wood.  Some were better educated and instead of gathering willows along the ditch banks, they went to people who had a supply of summer wood piled up and there the bedded wood.
Flour, meat and wood were now in good supply and preparation was made for the feast.  Fires were built all over the camping area and when a supply of live coals was ready the meat was roasted on the live coals.  Those who had stew meat hunted an old tin can for the stew pot.  Water was taken from the water ditch, not withstanding some of the horses were standing in the ditch up the stream.  The roasted meat was parceled out to each and held in the fingers.  The Johnny cake was made in a trough of flour and mixed with water form the irrigation ditch, on the flesh side os a piece of dried deer hide.  Mixed stiff, it was spread on live coals and soon the Johnny cake was ready.  Meat in one hand and Johnny cake in the other, the feast was in full swing.  When the stew was ready some cold water from the ditch was added to cool the soup.  They dived in the pot with their hands and fished out a piece of meat and a swallow of soup in the palm of the hand.  The feed over, they lay down and went to sleep.  Their hand were a good fly rendezvous and the dogs in camp licked some of the hands of the contented sleepers.
And then from the writing of Laurin Liljenquist:
An Indian named Sacquich [Sagwitch] and his squaw often cam to my father's home.  They would visit with us, eat our food, and ask for provisions to take with them.  They usually received whatever they asked for, is we were able to comply with their requests.  Sacquich and his squaw brought sacks of dried choke cherries and dried service berries each autumn and stored them in my father's cellar.  In the spring they would return for them.  The dried berries contributed to their food supply in the early spring.  These Indians never harmed us and we looked forward to their short visits.
Sometimes a group of Indians would go from cabin to cabin requesting food or any articles which would be useful or interesting to them.  This group of Indians would always dance to their own music at each home before making their wants known.
[One year] tepees were built all over the town and you could see Indian children playing outside.  Some of them rode wild horses.  The Indians used to tame wild horses for the White people, then they took some wheat or corn for pay.  They wanted money, but the Whites could not give them any because they did not have enough for themselves.  The Indians got angry, but it did no good.  The Whites had to build a corral for their animals so the Indians could not steal them. . . .At last the Indians became quite friendly with the Whites, and the Indian children and the White children began playing together.  The Indians had a big green place like a square where they all lived.  After they made friends with the Whites, they were the best people to live with there could be.  After that they were always friends.

Book Review: Among the Shoshones

Among the Shoshones, by Elijah Nicholas Wilson, Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, 1969.
This is a remarkable autobiographical story told by an oldtimer about things that happened to him when he was young.  He starts when he was 12, and he decided to run away with a group of Indians rather than herd sheep.  He was gone for two years.
He was taken in by Chief Washakie of the Shoshone, and was cared for by Chief Washakie's mother who had just lost two of her sons in an avalanche.  Wilson gives some very interesting descriptions of Chief Washakie, who was the head chief among the Shoshone.  He often had power struggles with Chief Pocatello, who was described as a more violent chief, who was responsible for murder and plunder along the Oregon Trail.  The terrain Chief Washakie's band of Shoshone covered is incredible.  The would cross the Continental Divide, hunting buffalo in the summer on the east side of the divide.  In one series is told the struggle they had with the Crows in order to keep their favorite hunting ground for buffalo.  There is a very good description of the buffalo hunt, and hobbling the buffalo with a long spear which was used to cut the tendons of the buffalo, and then they couldn't get away.
Wilson had some personal struggles, being the only white skinned boy in camp.  Many times he had fights with other children.  Sometimes his temper would get him into trouble.  At one point a kidnapping blunt was unfolded.  Some of Chief Pocatello's men wanted to sell him as a slave.  Another time the medicine man treating him after he had been bitten by a dog, deliberately mistreated the wound in an effort to make it worse.  He suggested amputation.  However Wilson knew something was wrong with the treatment, so stopped it and his wound healed.  These events happened in the 1850s.  There was talk amongst the whites of Wilson's having been kidnapped, and as a result it was determined he should go back home.  He intended to return to his Indian mother, but he never did.  Shortly after arriving home, the events of the Utah War took place, and he and his family removed to Utah Valley for a time.  After that Wilson was a Pony Express Rider, and then a stage coach driver.
An interesting story Wilson tells is of being a scout for General Albert Sidney Johnson in an attack against a combination of Indians who intended to kill the stage coach operators and cause trouble generally.  He said there were Paiute, Parowan and Shoshone.  The timing of this battle was shortly before the U.S. forces left Utah to fight in the Civil War.  He describes a lake, and the battle was fought not by a lake but by the Truckee River.  However there were marshes along the river.  This was the second Battle of Pyramid Lake and took place a short distance from Pyramid Lake.  The White forces routed the Indians, after the Indians had routed the Whites in the First Battle of Pyramid Lake (in real life not in the book.)  This is the only engagement I could find as large as the one described by Wilson.  Johnson wasn't there, but a commander from California who brought troops.  Also there were many local militia.
Wilson eventually settled in Rich  County, and became a bishop.

Native American Biography: Sarah WInnimucca: Paiute

Sarah Winnimucca was Paiute, and a political advocate for her people.  Her father was Shoshone, who had married into the Paiute Tribe.  She was also wrote the first known Native American Autobiography written by a woman, "Life Among the Paiutes: Their Wrongs and Claims (1883).  DUring her life she traveled East to lobby for her people, and was promised improvements, which did not happen.  Consequently she lost the trust of her people.  She spent periods of her childhood away form her people, in  California or Nevada.  During her times away bad things would happen to her people, the worse being the Pyramid Lake War in which many of her people were killed.  Because her family traveled widely, (at times play acting to replace their livelihood) she picked up many languages, including three Indian languages, English and Spanish.  She used this knowledge in bargaining, interpretation and scouting for the federals.

Native American Biography: Tendoy: Shoshone Bannock

Tendoy (Tin Doi)

Tendoy was a Lemhi Bannock chief.  He was of Bannock and Shoshone heritage.  Through his mother he was related to Washakie, and maintained a close relationship with him.  Through his father, who was killed in combat with the Blackfoot, he inherited the leadership of the Bannock band in the Lemhi pass area in Idaho.  He was a contemporary of Bear Hunter, who was killed at the Bear River Massacre.  However he and his people had a different attitude toward change.  He always maintained a peaceful relationship with encroaching white settlers.  They avoided economic hardship by trading and having business interaction with the whites.  Even during the Nez Perce War he taught his people to be accommodating rather than confront the new settlers.  This allowed them to maintain a stance of neutrality.  He was rewarded by President Grant who issued an order that the Lemhi Bannocks could remain in their ancestral area.  Tendoy traveled to Washington on several occasions and was finally convinced to sign away their land in Lemhi valley and move to the reservation at Fort Hall.  His people still resisted and this move did not take place until shortly before his death in 1907.  Tendoy was honored by the State of Montana .  "The Society of Montana Pioneers paid tribute to Tendoy in recognition of his long association with early settlers. The skillfulness with which he had guided his people for 43 years through the labyrinth of Washington indifference, settler hostility and agency neglect, while holding patiently, but firmly to the course he had set for himself and his tribe."  http://www.montanacowboyfame.com/151001/381902.html

Native American Biography: Shoshone and the Bear River Massacre: Bear Hunter, Pocatello, Sagwitch

The three were above were all chiefs of the Northern Shoshone.  Two were directly involved in the conflict that took place just north of current day Preston, Idaho close to the Bear River.  This conflict became known as the Bear River Battle or Bear River massacre.  The Northern Shoshone claimed Cache Valley as their hunting grounds, and lived in southern Idaho.  As the Mormons entered the valley, it put a greater and greater strain on the resources available to the Indians.  There were several altercations.  In Cache Valley an Indian boy was hung having been accused of stealing a horse.

Chief Pocatello

When a group of Oregon Trail immigrants were attacked, and several killed and some boys kidnapped, their uncle tracked them to Utah.  He called out the military, who found a group of Shoshone in Cache Valley.  They were forced up Providence Canyon, were they took a defensible position, and a gun battle ensued for a couple hours.  Finally the Shoshone relented, and they were questioned about the boy.  The boy had been sent on, and Bear Hunter and four others were kept hostage until the boy was returned.  The Shoshone claimed this was not the same boy, but the uncle claimed the boy and that  was that.  In 1862 Colonol Patrick Connors sent McGarry to Cache Valley to intervene in the theft of some livestock.  He captured four Shoshone, who did not appear to be related to the theft.  He held them hostage and threatened execution if the livestock was not return.  When the livestock wasn't returned, he had them shot.
After this attacks by the Shoshone became common place.  There were several other attacks against miners and others on the Montana and Oregon Trails.  Finally Connors from Fort Douglas in Salt Lake decided to intervene.  He traveled with his forces from Salt Lake.  The Shoshone had some prewarning.  As a result, Pocatello and his men took to the North.  Bear Hunter had a camp just above the Bear River, which seemed a defensible place.  They also made some breastworks and rifle pits.  Sagwitch was also there.  Sagwitch generally tried a peaceful approach.  However the Bluecoats were not in the mood to offer of peace.  San Pitch had been in the Salt Lake area and it was he that reported to the group of Indians living just north of the Bear River that the military was coming.
Connor had orders to arrest or kill Chief Black Bear, Sagwitch, San Pitch and Pocatello.
Connor and his men had two cannon, but they were left behind in a snow bank.  When Connor was able to get his men deployed he started with a frontal assault, which was not successful, and several of his men dyed in the attempt.  He then tried flanking moves, which eventually overwhelmed the defenders.  The defenders also ran out of ammunition.  At that point the attack became a slaughter.  Connor's troops were known to have taken children by the feet and smashed their heads against rocks, women were raped, and killed if they resisted.  Bear Hunter was killed.  Sagwitch was shot through the hand twice.  His horse was shot from under him.  However he was able to escape in the river, and avoided freezing thankfully to a warm spring.  He was able to come back and help the wounded and make some sense of the destruction.  As noted Pocatello was not there.  San Pitch was there, but he too escaped.  They took advantage of hot springs in the Bear RIver to be able to hide in the river.  Connor reported that he and his men had killed all four chiefs.
Connor estimated of the native American dead at about 224 of 300 warriors.  He also said he captured about 160 women and children.  Some of those in the Indian camp were able to get away.  A Danish immigrant who came the next day estimated the total number of corpses as 493 which many fewer women and children having escaped.  Sagwitch's son estimated the deaths at less than 200 with about half of the Shoshone getting away.  There were 14 federal deaths, and 49 wounded, seven fatally.
Most of those who escaped moved to the Fort Hall reservation.   Pocatello also moved there.  Sagwitch and several with him, eventually converted to Mormonism, and created a town called Washakie, named after the Western Shoshone chief.  Conditions were such that Pocatello left the reservation with a group of people, hoping to get better treatment from the Mormons.  Many were baptized, but the Mormons were not in a position to help them.  They were returned to the reservation.  When the railroad traveled north, they negotiated with Pocatello for passage across the reservation.  This resulted in the naming of Pocatello, a new railroad town.

Book Review: Shoshone by: Barbara A. Gray-Kanatiiosh

Shoshone Barbara A. Gray-Kanatiiosh ABDO publishing Company 2003

This is a short little book, written for a younger age, but gives you an idea of the Shoshone people.  They say is pronounced with two syllables and the last e making the o long.  However I always used three syllables.  The Shoshone people covered a wide area.  The extend all the way into California, Death Valley area, through about half of the state of Nevada, into Idaho, almost to Montana and then into Wyoming and Utah.  There is a map of their traditional area, which I thought was a bit large, as I knew some of the area was Ute territory.  However the book explained that the Shoshone had difficulty getting guns, and therefore their traditional area was greatly reduced.  When the Mormons came to Utah, the Shoshone only extended as far south as Ogden or so, and then the rest was Ute territory.  There was some area which went back and forth, but the Ute Indians dominated the Uintah area. 

Shoshone are a nomadic people.  Tony Baca explained this to me in the Duckwater area where I lived for a couple years.  The traditional people there would live in the valley during the summer, where there was water and grazing land.  However during the summer they would migrate to the mountains where they could keep from the warm sun, and hunt deer and larger animals. 

It talked about gathering nuts, which is something I did with them.  However it did not give a very good explanation.  It said the children would remove the nuts from the cones.  However, the cones often had to be roasted to get the nuts out.  They would place their blankets under a tree.  Then with a long branch with a crook or joint in it at the top, they would shake the tree vigorously so the pine cones would fallout.  I imagine this is something similar to the way the acorns are harvested with the acorn tree shaker.

For food they relied on small animals caught in snares, elk, deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep.  They also would trap fish in nets, using spears or with hook and line.  Women collected pinon nuts, fruits, seeds, berries wild vegetables and camas roots.  They generally had a permanent community with teepees.  However when they were on the move they would sleep in brush shelters or lean-tos. 

Shoshone are very good at crafts.  They women traditionally used porcupine quills to decorate clothing.  After meeting French trappers they traded for beads which they work with needle and rawhide or quills.  They are also very adept at weaving willows from which they make cradle boards for their babies, as well as baskets.  Some so tight they can hold water. 

It mentions two famous Shoshone, both from the eastern Shoshone (Wyoming) area. 

Sacagawea who lead Lewis and Clark, and Chief Washakie.

This book is short, but it gives an interesting look at the Shoshone.

Book Review: Death Valley's Scotty's Castle: The Story Behind the Scenery

This book is written by Stanley Paher.  It gives the historical story of Scotty's Castle, and pictures of the current decor, which is the same as it has been for many years. 
The castle is named for Walter E. Scott.  It was always rumored he had a rich gold mine, and paid for the castle with proceeds from the mine.  However the most startling thing about this book is that Scotty was a benefactor rather than financier of the castle.  The castle was actually owned and built by his friend, Albert Johnson.  Albert Johnson received a large inheritance from his father.  He also ran an insurance company.  He paid Scotty an allowance, and also visited the area frequently before the castle was built.  Death Valley proved good for his health. 
Construction began in 1927.  About 90 local Shoshone worked on the construction, and were the bulk of the crew.  They were paid $2.50 a day.  Skilled labor, usually white was paid $5 a day.  Skilled craftsmen were paid $11 a day.  Segregation was enforced after hours, with most of the crew living in tents. 
Another obstacle was getting materials to the site.  The train originally came close, but closed down during the project creating more difficulty. 
The project was never finished.  Depression era change in finances was the major reason.  The pool was never completed.  The chime tower was completed, but the chimes never installed.  The elaborate Welte-Mignon theater organ was completed at a cost of $50,000 for shipping and installation.  The 118 pipes are installed behind a wall. 
The properties were purchased by the National Park Service in 1970 for $850,000.

Northwest Shoshone Tribe

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865580684/Native-American-tribe-buries-remains-150-years-after-massacre.html?pg=1
I came across a very interesting article in the Deseret News about the Northwest Shoshone Tribe.  They were subject to the greatest one day loss of life as a result of the Bear River Massacre.  I have visited this site many times.  I lived for a couple years among the Western Shoshone People.  The Shoshone Nation extends from Wyoming, through Southern Idaho and into Nevada and even reaches California in the Death Valley area.  This article mentions that only ten people of the Northwest Tribe speak the native tongue.  I imagine that in different areas there are different accents and dialects, but there were a few who spoke the native tongue in Duckwater where I lived.  They also taught the language in school.  It was very difficult.  I know three or four words, Debus (stink bug) Habigna (flower) and summa waitha baitha watsawitha (one, two three, four.)  I wish I could remember more.  I know many native peoples are struggling to preserve their language and their heritage.

There were also many other beautiful things about the Western Shoshone culture.  The Bear Dance and the Round Dance were some of my favorite.  Also the gathering and roasting of pine nuts.  The native dress was beautiful.  Also the tradition of cradle boards.  The design of the Shoshone Cradle Board is unique and beautiful.  The are made of woven willow.  They work.  You can wrap a crying baby in a cradle board, and they are comforted by the tightness of the wrap.  We wrap them in a blanket in white culture, which works the same way.