January 29th, 2017 - A trip to the river

Photo taken January 29th, 2017 at approximately 7:30am.
Conditions in 1863 were nearly identical. Photo color is true to life.

My toes are still cold from yesterday morning's excursion to the Bear River. There was about two feet of snow on the ground and at 7:00am it was -4 degrees. This is near the edge of frostbite weather. If the wind blows it gets much more dangerous. Taking pictures at that time was fine for about four minutes, then my hands began to feel stiff and clumsy. Each time we stepped out of the car it was harder to warm back up. From 11:00 until noon we stood with the sun on our backs and our feet were still going numb in the 9 degree weather. Every time someone stood behind us for a moment we were instantly cold again despite our warm winter coats. Our noses hurt and we had to keep our hands in our pockets or the skin would start becoming stiff in just two minutes. I had to teach my son to stamp his feet to warm them a bit. A small survival lesson for a boy who sleeps in a warm bed each night.

Those fighting in 1863 described similar conditions and problems. Their fingers could no longer feel and they had to deliberately look at their hands to load their rifles. After getting wet crossing the river the soldiers' pants froze solid. None could feel their feet and some would lose toes to frostbite.

Indians who had made it to the river and under the ice to escape spoke of the unbelievable cold as they climbed out of the water downstream and tried to warm themselves. With ice floating on the river the water temperatures were near 32.5 degrees. Within 3 minutes manual dexterity begins to fail. At 15 minutes exhaustion begins. Between 15 and 30 minutes unconsciousness sets in. Climbing out of the water into the arctic air slashed those times. Some Indians had been shot on their way to the river or while swimming. One carried two small children with her despite her wounds. It is a testament to their understanding of survival techniques, determination, and a hard life in the Idaho weather that they lived to tell of their swim. It's a miracle the children survived at all.

Imagine then the callousness of the soldiers who left the women and children captives in their grief sitting on the riverbank while the soldiers burned their tipis to thaw out their hands and uniforms. The women would recount that they were not warmed until evening when an Indian man had built a large fire on the hill and called to them to come warm themselves. Throughout the day they had sat weeping on the banks of the river. The soldiers mockingly wrote about the women and children staring into nothingness unable to comprehend all that had happened.

As the soldiers bedded down for the night on the South side of the river, supply wagons were moved on the hill above. Indians and soldiers alike remembered the unearthly howls of the wagon wheels turning on their axles. There was no loud wailing of Indian women over the dead. They were fighting to live through the night. The squealing wheels were the only dirge sung for the Indian men, women, and children who's corpses lay frozen on the snows of the Bear River bottoms.

Remembering the Massacre

Tomorrow is January 29th. On that day in 1863, at approximately 7:20am, Colonel Patrick Edward Connor and detachments of the California Volunteers from Camp Douglas in Salt Lake City arrived at the Bear River just North of where Preston is today. Within 5 hours, approximately 300 Shoshone and Bannock men, women, and children would be dead. Connor had 21 casualties and 46 wounded, the majority of those because of the stupidity of one of his own officers. Records show another 164 Indians wounded or captured. The more grievously wounded adult Indians were executed with axes and the children had their heads smashed on the ground, but the seriously wounded soldiers were taken back to Salt Lake for medical care. Of the dead, at least 90 were women and children. Connor had told his men "nits make lice" and they behaved accordingly.

The soldiers' brutality continued even after the killing ended. The tipis were burned, food was thrown on the ground, horses were taken, and anything else of value was looted. There were also rumors of rape. The prisoners who were lucky enough to survive the massacre would have almost nothing to help get them through the rest of the winter - a winter very much like the one we are experiencing this year. The bodies were left on the field as a warning to other Indians that Connor was a man to be feared and would slaughter indiscriminately to subjugate the Shoshone and Bannock who lived in what today is Southern Idaho. Unable to bury that many dead in the winter the natives were forced to leave them where they lay. In the coming years the bones would become a curiosity for travelers passing by and toys for coyotes and crows.

Some settlers were shocked at the absolute brutality of the attack. They had wanted something done, but they did not realize the cost. A few Indians found medical care. A few orphans were taken in. However, the land stolen was not returned. After all, the soldiers had solved the problem for them and now they could continue their work. It was too bad, but it had to be done, they said.

Connor was hailed the conquering hero, promoted, and lauded by all. His men complained bitterly that their great victory did not receive the credit it deserved because it was overshadowed by the Civil War. They mocked the Shoshone dead for losing, never mind that the Indians were making musket balls while soldiers swept through the camp with revolvers. However, the victors wrote the history and the event became known as "The Battle of Bear River".

For a hundred years the official account was the only account - Connor and his intrepid Volunteers had defeated the savages and brought them to heel. However, in the 1970s, a few researchers began to piece together the real events. Some of the Shoshone stories also became known. Eventually the battle was properly renamed a massacre, but only over the objections of those who didn't want to believe the truth.

Today more facts are trickling up to the surface and the history is being fleshed out. The massacre was more senseless and more horrific than we knew. The lies and corruption of soldiers, settlers, migrants, miners, beauracrats, and politicians are becoming known. The old excuses of depredations, are being laid bare for what they were.

This is a particularly dark episode in American, Utah, and Idaho history, but it was whitewashed by those involved and has never gained the notoriety of other significant but smaller massacres like those at Sand Creek and Wounded Knee. Idaho students don't find it in their textbooks. Few adults know it happened and for most of those the facts are murky at best.

However, tomorrow at the site of the massacre, the Shoshone and Bannock will remember that cold day in 1863. Then they will return to their homes, farms, places of worship, and businesses and continue their lives. Yes, long ago they had been overrun by another culture, but they survived. They did what the Shoshone and Bannock had always done. They adapted, took care of their own, and learned to thrive despite hardships and a changing world. They served proudly in the military, serving in world wars and around the world. Some made it to college. Others started businesses. Others planted farms. They raised their children to survive in a world their grandparents could never imagine, but to keep their values and memories alive. Tomorrow they will remember their dead, but their eyes are to the future.

Anniversary of departure

On this day and evening in 1863 Connor left Camp Douglas on his campaign to Bear River.

A hard winter

It seems somewhat ironic that this winter has turned into one a lot like 1863. Army and civilian sources all cited the weather as being bitterly cold and two feet of snow falling in January of 1863 as the California Cavalry marched North to the Bear River. The last couple of weeks of December we seen nearly 40" of precipitation in some areas and well over that in higher elevations. Temperatures dropped to as low as -20. Imagine marching 100 miles from Salt Lake City to Preston, Idaho through that! That's the reason why the majority of Connor's casualties were from frostbite. It's also an important indicator of just how lopsided the fight was with the Shoshone on the Bear River.