About the Project

Photo of Bear River Massacre location on January 29th, 2017.
Conditions in 1863 were nearly identical.

The Massacre

The morning of January 29, 1863 a detachment of cavalry and infantry from Camp Douglas near Salt Lake City attacked a Shoshone village on the banks of the Bear River in what is present day Idaho at the confluence of Beaver Creek. Following a series of incidents between Mormon settlers in Cache Valley, wagon trains on the Oregon trail, and miners travelling between Salt Lake City and the Montana gold fields Colonel Patrick Connor had set out to "punish" the natives. He marched his men across the frozen countryside for days through two feet of snow to the banks of the Bear River to accomplish his goal.

Shortly after dawn a small group of cavalry advanced to surround the village. Fighting soon broke out that grew into a hail of bullets poured indiscriminately into the village. After approximately four hours hundreds of native Americans lay dead in the snow and floating in the river, including women and children. Wounded Shoshone and Bannock men, women, and children were either left in the ruins of the village or were executed by the soldiers. The few who escaped fled to the mountains as their homes were looted and then burned. Connor's losses amounted to 26 killed, 49 wounded, and 69 suffering from frost bite.

The soldiers returned across the frozen Cache Valley and on to Camp Douglas to be welcomed as conquering heroes. The bodies of their victims were left without burial as a warning to other Shoshone and Bannocks - submit to unconditional white rule or expect more of the same. Mormon settlers in Franklin rendered aid to soldiers and natives as they could, but they expressed relief that the soldiers had put an end to "Indian depredations".

The Aftermath

That same year Idaho became a territory and was opened to white settlement. The native Americans who had lived there were considered subdued by the ruthlessness of the United States Army under brevetted General Patrick Connor. Abraham Lincoln was assured that the Northern mail route would remain open and settlers could more freely travel through Shoshone and Bannock country. The settlers in Franklin moved their houses further apart and into the fields they claimed as their own.

Connor would go on to continue his attacks on indigenous people throughout the region. His soldiers would eventually return to mining in Utah, the mountains of Idaho, and Montana or homestead on lands they had helped to conquer. Connor lived on to be known as the father of mining in Utah and to travel Europe with his family. The Shoshone and Bannock, staggered by the massacre, struggled to survive in an industrial world thrust upon them.

The Destruction of the Site

The massacre was branded "The Battle of Bear River" and hailed as a victory against "savages". Beaver Creek was renamed "Battle Creek" and the site of the destroyed village was trampled by development. Settlers from Franklin (the first settlement in Idaho) who grazed their herds in the fertile bottoms of the river. Freight wagons rumbled again across the area on their way to the Montana and, later, the Idaho gold mines. Then came the Utah Northern railway that cut straight through the site. Battle Creek Station was built just to the East of where the massacre occurred. With a round house, hotels, and a hundred residents it was a temporary stop for trains on their way North. Visitors could walk a short distance and view the bones of the dead. Canals soon carved the landscape, one running along the hills, again, right through the massacre field.

Relic hunters kept a sharp eye for rusted rifles, cavalry swords, arrow heads, and anything else related to the battle. The bones slowly disappeared into the soil or were carried away by scavengers. In only a few short years Battle Creek Station disappeared when the new towns of Eagle Rock (now Idaho Falls) and Pocatello appeared on the map.

Changing Views

A monument was put up that enraged and saddened the families of the survivors of the massacre declaring the victory of the army at The Battle of Bear River. However, through the years some research was done and slowly the true story of January 29, 1863 became partially known. Scholarship uncovered hand-drawn maps, accounts of rape, and first-person accounts from the victims handed down through oral traditions memorized verbatim by their children and grandchildren. The "Battle of Bear River" was re-branded "The Bear River Massacre". Slowly white culture began to recognize that what had happened was not only wrong, but one of the worst examples of the slaughter of civilians by the United States to ever occur. Still, the story has been little known, a footnote in history eclipsed by Wounded Knee, Sand Creek, the Little Bighorn, and the American Civil War.

The Project

Today new documents are still being discovered relating to that tumultuous time. Families are finding photographs in basements, closets, and attics. Diaries appear from old trunks with a note or two about that freezing winter. Occasionally relics appear in someone's home. It is now time to write a fuller history of the events at Bear River, what led to them, and what came after.

I am Justin Smith, a lifetime resident of Idaho. I grew up in American Falls and live in Pocatello. Throughout my life I have heard of the massacre, but in 2016 began to stumble on previously unpublished first-person accounts. The idea of a book began to form and I started searching in earnest for every possible scrap of information related to the massacre. What I have found has been truly amazing, but I know there is more to be discovered and I'm appealing to the community to help find even more.

How You Can Help

The history of Southeastern Idaho and the Cache Valley in Northern Utah is still to be written. Much of it hides in the homes of its residents unknown to the rest of the world. We are actively looking for the following:

  • Diaries of settlers in Southeastern Idaho.
  • Diaries of soldiers who moved into Idaho after leaving the California Volunteers.
  • Photographs of native Americans.
  • Photographs of Battle Creek Station and the area around it.
  • Relics, artifacts, and antiques (to be photographed and recorded).
  • Family accounts of those who lived in the area and/or were involved in the events.
It is not our purpose to take property from anyone. We only wish to see it and have an opportunity to make photographs of it. Any items donated will be carefully preserved with local historical groups for future generations.

Please, look through your closets. Check your family photo albums. Look at great-grandfather's diary. Help us to document our shared history. When you find items please contact me through this site so we can work together to preserve our history! 

How Political Will You Be?

The purpose of The Bear River Project is not to grind a political ax. It is to gather the facts, bring them together coherently, and let history speak for itself. Events such as these are complex with many actors and events feeding into a single pivotal moment of history. People are people. Some are good, some are bad. However, everyone believes at the moment when they act that they are justified in doing what they are doing. It is our job to understand that, treat people fairly, and learn from what happened for the benefit of future generations. I have no political, religious, nor ethnic agenda. I want facts.


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