On January 29, 1863, U.S. troops massacred hundreds of Shoshone people along Bear River in present-day Idaho following a series of clashes between white settlers and Native Americans.
National Archives and Records AdministrationInterpretative signs near the site of the Bear River Massacre in present-day Idaho.
In 1863, hundreds of Shoshone Native Americans — men, women, children — were killed by U.S. troops in present-day Idaho. But while the so-called Bear River Massacre stands as the deadliest slaughter of Native Americans in U.S. history, it’s not well known in the United States today.
At the time, the massacre was overshadowed by the violence of the Civil War. And subsequent conflicts between white Americans and Native Americans — including the Battle of Little Bighorn (1876) and the Wounded Knee Massacre (1890) — moved to the forefront of the public consciousness.
That said, the Bear River Massacre has not been forgotten — and it has received more attention in recent years. For the descendents of those who survived the massacre, it’s important that the painful story is told.
The Increasing Tensions Between White Settlers And Shoshone Native Americans
The Shoshone people, who once numbered 17,000, had longed roamed the West. Various tribes lived in Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming, and traveled with the seasons. In the winter, many Shoshone made their way to Bear River in present-day Idaho, which they called Boa Ogoi. There, in the Cache Valley, they had shelter from the cold and an abundance of fish and game.
But as white settlers made their way west, they increasingly clashed with the Shoshone. Though the two people had initially gotten along, settlers and gold miners took over more and more traditionally-held Shoshone land. Deprived of their hunting grounds, the Shoshone resorted to stealing livestock.
Wikimedia CommonsA Shoshone encampment in Wyoming in 1870
As the Washington Post reported in 2021, a number of violent skirmishes occured between white settlers and Native Americans in the area in January 1863. On January 5, 10 miners were purportedly murdered by Native Americans while traveling along the Montana trail. Just a day later, a group of white men heading to Salt Lake City were also allegedly killed. And a white man named John H. Smith was shot and killed during an argument.
At the time, the 3rd Regiment California Volunteer Infantry of the Union Army were stationed at Fort Douglas near Salt Lake — and they were tasked with arresting several tribal leaders. Led by Colonel Patrick Edward Connor, the soldiers set out to stop the Shoshone for good.
“[W]ith ordinary good luck,” a local paper wrote, “the volunteers will ‘wipe them out’ if the chiefs named in the writ do not deliver themselves up.”
Though the Shoshone did not anticipate the coming violence, one elder named Tin Dup had a disturbing dream in the days before the Bear River Massacre. According to a 2018 speech by Darren Parry, the chairman of the Northwest Band Tribal Council of the Shoshone Nation, the elder had a vision of his people being killed by “pony soldiers.” He shared the dream, but only a few heeded it and moved away from camp.
Meanwhile, Chief Sagwitch knew that Connor and his soldiers would come and demand to arrest several tribal members. But he did not think that the incident with devolve into bloodshed.
Sadly, Chief Sagwitch was very wrong.
The Horrifying Violence Of The Bear River Massacre
On the morning of Jan. 29, 1863, Chief Sagwitch emerged into the sub-zero temperatures and noticed a strange fog gathering on the bluff above the river near present-day Preston, Idaho. As the fog began to move with unnatural speed towards the encampment, the chief realized it was no natural mist, but the breath of approaching horses.
Public DomainChief Sagwitch, who survived the Bear River Massacre, and his wife, Beawoachee. Circa 1875-1880.
The soldiers were approaching fast.
Sagwitch roused his men, and told them not to shoot first. He still thought that he would be able to negotiate with Connor and the Union soldiers. But as the soldiers got closer, they immediately opened fire. “It frightened the Indians so that they came running out… like jack rabbits,” Army scout William F. Drannan wrote in his memoir, “and were shot down like sheep.”
Drannan added, “In all my experience in the Western wilds I never saw such a slaughtering as there.”
Though some of the Shoshone warriors tried to fight back, their tomahawks, spears, and bows were no match for the rifles of the Union soldiers.
Public DomainPatrick Edward Connor, who led the Bear River Massacre.
“[W]hat was an arrow compared to the muskets of the Army?” Parry asked. “The Indians were slaughtered like wild rabbits. Indian men, women, children, and babies were slaughtered left and right. No butcher could have murdered any better.”
Hundreds of Shoshone at the camp fled toward the frigid river, plunging into the water. But most couldn’t escape. Soon, Parry stated, “the blazing white snow was brilliant red with blood.”
One woman, hiding in the water, was forced to drown her baby so that his cries didn’t alert the soldiers. Meanwhile, the 12-year-old son of Chief Sagwitch saved himself by playing dead. But hundreds of the Shoshone were massacred, and Chief Bear Hunter was brutally tortured and murdered. According to Parry, the soldiers whipped and kicked him, and then, enraged by his silence, heated up a bayonet and ran it through his skull.
By the time the soldiers rode away, hundreds of Shoshone were killed. Though the exact death toll is not known, historians believe that between 250 and 450 Shoshone were massacred, if not more. A Danish immigrant who passed through the scene shortly after the massacre occurred later claimed to have counted 493 Shoshone bodies.
And yet the Bear River Massacre faded from memory.
The Forgotten Legacy Of The Bear River Massacre
Though historians believe that the Bear River Massacre was the deadliest slaughter of Native Americans in U.S. history, it remains a little known chapter in the country’s history. Not only was the massacre was overshadowed by the ongoing Civil War, but few newspapers reported on it outside of Utah or California.
But the Shoshone have not forgotten. The site of the massacre, originally called the Bear River Battleground, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1990. The name of the site, under pressure from tribal members, was renamed to the Bear River Massacre Site in 1993. And in 2018, members of the Shoshone tribe were able to purchase hundreds of acres of the land where the massacre once took place.
They aim to restore the land to how it was before white settlement — and to build an interpretative center where the story of the Shoshone and the Bear River Massacre can be remembered.
Beneathtimp/Wikimedia CommonsA monument at the site of the Bear River Massacre, honoring the hundreds of Shoshone who were killed there in 1863.
“The Bear River Massacre does not define us today,” Darren told Smithsonian Magazine in 2026.
“The loss has made us stronger, more resilient. It’s a horrific thing. I can’t even imagine what my ancestors suffered. But playing the victim here and becoming bitter is not the way to honor our ancestors. We honor them by telling their story.”
After reading about the Bear River Massacre, thought to be the worst massacre of Native Americans in U.S. history, learn more about the Wounded Knee Massacre. Then, discover the story of the genocide of the Native Americans that you never learned in school.