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.
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