USA > Idaho > Bannock County > The history of Bannock County, Idaho > Part 4
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Colonel George L. Shoup, of Salmon City, who was expecting the arrival of the Hayden party, went up into the hills where he could get a view of the road, just at the time the In- dians forced the freighters into camp, to see whether the wagons had come into sight yet. Taking in the situa- tion, the colonel hurried back to Salmon City for aid, but the rescuers arrived too late. All they could do was to give decent burial to Hayden, Green, and their two companions.
After this massacre, the Indians followed down Birch creek, crossed the Lemhi river and made a long day's journey, without water, to Hole-in-the-Rock, in Beaver canyon, close to the present town of High- bridge.
At this time, Mr. E. N. Rowland (71)
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who now lives on a ranch five miles west of Pocatello, was traveling north- ward with a freight outfit. He had gone a little beyond Eagle Rock when word came that the Indians were on the warpath. Hurrying ahead, he overtook other freighters, who in turn held back for others to overtake them. In this way forty or fifty men band- ed together for mutual protection. Presently, looking southward, these men saw a great cloud of dust ap- proaching, and prepared for trouble, but the newcomers proved to be friendly Bannocks, a hundred and fifty or two hundred strong, who had heard that the Nez Perces were in the country. They were making a raid to steal the invaders' horses. Mr. Rowland says the same band passed them again a few days later, leading with them about two hundred captured ponies.
Further on, just as they were go- ing into camp for their noonday meal, the freighters saw an Indian some distance ahead turn out of the road and disappear among the rocks. A couple of hours later, before resum- ing their march, a few of the freight- ers made a cautious search and found the Indian dead from thirst. This was the first of several dead Indians found by the freighters, all of whom had died in the same manner. The hot August weather had dried up the (72)
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few streams between the scene of the Hayden tragedy and the Indians' next halting place, Hole-in-the-Rock. Their whiskey orgy of the previous night had left them in bad shape for a long, dry march and some of the weaker of them perished by the way.
It is but a few miles from High- bridge to the Montana line, and the fleeing Nez Perces circled on toward Bozeman, in that state, without per- petrating any more outrages in Idaho.
In June of this same year, 1877, a band of Bannock Indians from Fort Hall, influenced probably by the ac- tion of the Nez Perces in refusing to be restricted by the terms of treaties, left their reservation and proceeded toward Boise. The band was well armed and well mounted. When word reached Boise that these Indians were in camp, less than thirty miles away, the town was greatly alarmed and a body of volunteers, under Captain R. Robbins, was quickly equipped for action.
A small detachment of men was sent to interview the Bannocks, with instructions to bring the band, or at least the chiefs, into Boise to have a talk with the governor. The embassy returned the following morning, June 20th, bringing with them thirty or forty stalwart Bannock warriors. They created a sensation as they rode double file through the main street (73)
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of the city to the governor's office. Here they were introduced to the gov- ernor and several of the leading men of Boise, with whom they held a long peace conference. In the end it was agreed that the people of Boise should provide the Indians with pro- visions and accommodations for their horses until the following day, and give them a few hundred pounds of flour and meat, beside certain amounts of sugar, tea, coffee, tobacco, etc., the Bannocks for their part undertaking to return peaceably to their reserva- tion.
Mr. John Hailey, who was detailed by the governor to see that the com- pact was carried out, has given us the following account of their de- parture :
"Early the next morning, with the assistance of a few of our good boys, we gathered up all these contribu- tions and checked up to see if they filled the agreement. Everything was satisfactory, we helped them to pack up, and then tried to impress on them, first, that we had kept and fulfilled our part of the agreement, and sec- ond, that they must not fail to fulfill their part of the agreement. They seemed to realize the importance of fulfilling their part, so we bade them a good-bye, wishing them a speedy and safe journey to their home on the Fort Hall reservation. They went
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and kept their part of the agreement for this year, 1877, but in 1878 they gave us trouble."
The trouble to which Mr. Hailey refers was the Bannock Indian war, which we will take up in the next chapter.
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CHAPTER VII.
The Bannock Indian War and the Sheep-Eaters.
For seven years previous to the treaty of 1869, the Bannock Indians had given no trouble. In the late fifties and early sixties they committed a num- ber of depredations, and in 1862, Gen- eral Conner, with a body of troops from California, administered a de- feat to them at Battle Creek, near the present town of Oxford, that effectu- ally ended their misbehavior for sev- eral years. The bones of Indians killed in this fight are still found in the vicinity.
It was told in a previous chapter how a confusion of the terms Camas and Kansas occurred in the Bannock Indian treaty of 1869. The document stated that the Indians should have a portion of the Kansas prairie, in- stead of Camas. The two words were synonymous to the Indians, but wise men among the whites foresaw that the mistake would cause future trou- ble. Accordingly, in the spring of 1873, Mr. John Hailey called on the secretary of the interior and the com- missioner of Indian affairs in Wash- ington and urged that the mistake be corrected. As a result a commis- sion of three was appointed to settle (76)
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all disputed points with the Nez Perce and Bannock Indians, but noth- ing was accomplished by the embassy. The treaty still read "Kansas" and the Bannocks still believed that they were entitled to a portion of the Camas prairie, where there were no white settlers at that time, and where the Indians roamed at will.
The trouble came in 1878. In May of that year some hogs were herded on Camas prairie and William Silvey, George Nesbet and Lou Kensler drove a band of cattle and horses there to graze. The men camped about ten miles south of Corral Creek crossing. On the twenty-seventh of May, two English-speaking Indians, called Char- ley and Jim, visited the campers and appeared in every way friendly. They came again early the next morning, ate breakfast with the white men and continued their show of friendliness until Silvey, Nesbet and Kensler had scattered to their several camp du- ties. Then Indian Charlie, without warning, shot Nesbet through the jaws with a pistol as he was gather- ing up some dishes from the ground, while Indian Jim fired a shot at Kensler, who was saddling a horse, and grazed the side of his head. Nes- bet and Kensler made a dash for their tent, where they seized guns and opened fire on the Indians, who were now shooting at Silvey. They fled (77)
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before the bullets and Silvey escaped unharmed.
Nesbet was badly wounded. His companions tended his injuries as well as they could, saddled a couple of horses, and started with him for Boise. When they had gone a few miles they looked back and saw a large body of Indians devastating their camp. They gave the alarm as they traveled along toward Boise, which Nesbet was a week in reaching. Upon examination, his mouth was found to be alive with vermin, caused by fly-blows, but Dr. Treadwell cleansed it and sewed his tongue to- gether, and after much suffering Nes- bet recovered.
The Indians spent a day in the raided camp on-Camas prairie, killing cattle and drying beef, gathering horses and preparing generally for war. Two white men, Mabes and Dempsey, were with them. The lat- ter had lived with the Bannocks for several years and had an Indian wife. The Indians made Dempsey write a letter to Governor Braymen at Boise, threatening to kill settlers and de- stroy property all over the state, if troops were sent to fight them. They then sent Mabes to deliver the letter, and killed Dempsey.
It was learned later that there was a division among the Indians at this time, some favoring war, and others counselling against it. Buffalo Horn,
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who was bent on mischief, finally se- cured a following of some two hun- dred warriors and a few young In- dian women, while the remainder of the Indians returned to the Fort Hall reservation.
Buffalo Horn and his followers next appeared at King Hill station on the Overland stage road. They robbed this place and then raided Glenn's Ferry, five miles below, on the Snake river, where they destroyed several wagon-loads of merchandise consigned to Boise merchants, and held a big spree on some whiskey they found there. The next day they went on down the river to Bruneau, killing John Bascom and two other men on the way, and two others, Jack Sweeney and a Mr. Hays, whom they found at, or near, Bruneau. The murders would have reached a much higher number had it not been for the alarm spread by Kensler, Nesbet and Silvey, which gave the settlers an opportunity to escape.
In the meantime, W. C. Tatro, who bad met the fleeing campers and learned of the outbreak from them, carried the news to Rocky Bar, where a company of volun- teers was at once raised by Hon. G. M. Parsons. At the same time, Colonel Bernard, accompanied by Colonel R. Robbins, who had rendered valuable services in the Nez Perce war of the previous year, led a body
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of troops from Boise. Both parties took up the trail of the Indians at Camas Prairie and followed in their tracks.
The people of Silver City in Owy- hee county, hearing that a band of hostile Indians was encamped in the mountains to the north, sent a com- pany of twenty-six men, under Cap- tain Harper, to give them battle. The white men were greatly outnumbered and the Indians had the advantage of position. A long and fierce fight ensued, during which Captain Har- per lost two men. The result was in- decisive, the white men returning to Silver City, and the Indians with- drawing the following day.
When he heard of the Silver City engagement, Col. Bernard hurried thither, and sent Col. Robbins out with a detachment of men to see why the mail stage, due the day before, had not arrived. They found the stage destroyed by the Indians, and the driver killed. The only passen- ger had escaped on one of the lead horses of the stage.
The Bannock Indians soon persuad- ed others to join them. They gained recruits from the Duck Valley In- dians, the Lemhis, Winnemuccas, Malheurs and Snakes, and with their allies numbered about two thousand warriors, women and boys. As they traveled they killed or stole all the
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cattle and horses they met and de- stroyed a large amount of property.
From Silver City, Col. Bernard moved on to Fort Harney. Col. Rob- bins, who was scouting ahead, suc- ceeded in locating the camp of the Indians by night. He followed their trail for some distance and then climbed a steep hillside to a level plateau, along which he crawled un- til opposite the red men's camp. In the clear starlight, he could see all the Indian camps and calculated that they contained at least a thousand warriors. The white men had less than three hundred soldiers.
After a conference, Colonels Rob- bins and Bernard decided to attack the hostile camp. Col. Robbins, with thirty-five men, charged and sur- prised the enemy in the early morn- ing, while Col. Bernard, with the main force, proceeded up Silver Creek to the canyon where the Indians were encamped.
Although completely surprised, the red men betook themselves to some fortifications they had made among the rocks, while the soldiers shielded themselves as best they could. The two parties kept up a fusilade throughout the day, and during the following night, June 23rd, the In- dians decamped, leaving a hundred dead behind. Five soldiers were killed and a few slightly wounded.
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Before beginning the battle, Col. Bernard had sent word to General Howard, who was at Malheur, say- ing that he was about to enter an engagement with a large force of Indians and might need reinforce- ments. The general arrived the fol- lowing morning and took command in person.
Colonel Robbins and his scouts fol- lowed the Indians, who headed in a northwesterly direction, while the troops came on behind.
Within a few miles of John Day river, Robbins came to a sheep cor- ral in which a large fire had been built by the Indians. The brutes had then bound together the hind legs of the lambs found on the place and thrown them into the corral to burn to death. They had killed the old sheep and left them to rot. In an- other place the scouts found a herd of Merino bucks, whose forelegs the Indians had cut off at the knee, leav- ing the poor animals in agony. Such exploits were typical of the Indian on the warpath.
On another occasion the scouts saw a white man on foot running for his life from a party of pursuing Indians, who overtook and killed their victim before the rescuers could arrive. The man was found, scalped and muti- lated, and although still breathing, too far gone to give even his name.
Scalping was quite an art among
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the Indians, and one in which, sad to say, some white men became very proficient. The Indians did not re- move the whole head of their vic- tim's hair, but only a circular por- tion, about the size of a silver dollar, from the crown of the head. Some- times in an attempt to win false glory, a man would cut two or three scalps from one head, taking the ex- tra ones from the sides, but a judge of scalps could always detect the fraud, and unerringly select that which had been taken from the crown. Some white scouts scalped the In- dians they killed, and sold the tro- phies, properly cured, for good sums, the price among eastern curio seek- ers ranging from fifty to seventy-five dollars. The wound inflicted by scalping was by no means fatal, al- though most people who went through the ordeal died, because they had been badly wounded first. But in- stances are on record of men who afterward recovered and were none the worse for their experience.
On July 8th, Colonel Robbins lo- cated and surprised the Indians in a canyon leading up to the Blue moun- tains in Oregon. He was supported by Colonel Bernard with his troops, and succeeded in driving the red men from their position. But the Indians took to the hills and got away, leav- ing several dead behind them.
The Bannocks had crossed into Ore-
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gon in the hope of persuading the Umatilla and Yakima Indians to join them. In this they were disappoint- ed, which, added to the close pursuit of the soldiers and the, now, well- picketed condition of the country, dis- heartened the marauders, and they began to sneak back in small bands to the reservations from which they had come. On their way they com- mitted many de predations.
In Umatilla county, Oregon, Mr. Charles Jewell, hearing of the Indian outbreak, secured an equipment of guns and carried them to his herders, who were tending his sheep about thirty-five miles from Pendleton. He stopped at a rancher's door for a friendly chat, and had barely alighted from his horse when a volley of shots from some ambushed Indians laid him on the ground. The other man was killed and Mr. Jewell was left for dead. When the Indians had gone, he crawled into the house and se- cured a pair of blankets and a shingle. On the shingle he wrote : "Charles Jewell-shot by Indians- is in the brush near by-call me if you see this." The wounded man then dragged himself to the road, posted his sign there, and crawled into the brush, where he wrapped himself in the blankets. For three days and nights he lay without food or water, and when finally some pass- ing men found his sign and were led
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to him by his feeble answer to their call it was too late. He died a few days afterward in Pendleton.
The three leading war chiefs of the fighting Indians were Buffalo Horn, Bear Skin and Egan. The two for- mer had been killed since hostilities began in May. About the middle of July, Chief Homily of the Umatillas, with ninety followers, went up into the hills to recover some horses that Chief Egan's men had stolen. He arranged for a conference with Chief Egan and thirty of his men, and in the midst of it, at a given signal, fell upon Chief Egan, killing him and his thirty companions. He then af- fixed the dead chief's scalp to a long pole, with the hair flying in the breeze and carried it triumphantly back to the reservation. General Howard had doubted the loyalty of the Uma- tillas up to this time and Chief Hom- ily killed Chief Egan as an evidence of his good faith toward the whites. Colonel Robbins was sent to the scene of the massacre to determine whether Chief Egan were really dead. Every- thing was found just as Chief Hom- ily had described it.
Chief Egan's death completely de- moralized the Indians. They had now lost their three greatest fighting chiefs, and wherever they went they found the white men ready for them. Volunteer companies had been formed
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all through that section of the coun- try, even as far south as Nevada, and the triumphant advance of the red men had turned into a search for safety. They broke into small par- ties, traveling along out-of-the-way trails and largely by night, killing and plundering when the opportunity came, but always heading for the res- ervation and safety. It is now more than thirty-five years since this war ended, during which time the Ban- nock Indians have given no further trouble. The large increase in popu- lation makes another outbreak prac- tically impossible.
Idaho has seen one other Indian war, known as the Sheep-Eater In- dian war. This was fought with the Tookarikkas, in 1879. These people were a mixture of the Shoshones and Bannocks, apparently inheriting the bad qualities of both without their good qualities. They were outcasts, even among the Indians, and won their soubriquet of "Sheep-Eaters" by stealing sheep from the ranges. They were cowardly and treacherous, and subsisted largely by theft. In May, 1879, they killed some settlers and burned some property on Hugh Johnson's ranch on the south fork of the Salmon river, near Warrens, and as a result were rounded up by government and state troops and sent to Vancouver, Wash.
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We give this war only passing no- tice because it belongs to the history of Bannock county, only through the relationship of the Tookarikka and Bannock Indians.
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CHAPTER VIII.
The Stage Coach.
Previous to 1863 there was no reg- ular line of transportation through Bannock county, the mails being car- zjed by pony express, which made the postage on letters cost from fifty cents to one dollar each, and the few people whose business called them across southern Idaho traveled singly or in groups, in the saddle, or by wagon, as suited their convenience and opportunity. But, however they traveled, they all followed the line of the old Oregon trail.
In 1863, Oliver and Conover stock- ed a road from Virginia City, Mon- tana, to Salt Lake City, the impetus given to transportation in these parts by the development of the mines in Montana promising to make such a venture successful. The trail through Bannock county followed closely the present tracks of the Oregon Short Line running north from Fort Hall along the Montana division. The sta- tions were from twelve to fifteen miles apart, there having been one at Fort Hall, another near the Lavatta ranch, another at Pocatello creek and a fourth just west of McCammon, formerly called Harkness.
The freighting season opened in
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April and lasted until November. The bottom lands to the west of Pocatello were a favorite wintering resort for the freighters because of the facili- ties they offered in the way of pro- tection, water and food.
The freight wagons were drawn by either mules or oxen, and so slow was their progress that they made only from three to five trips a season. The more costly and perishable merchan- dise, such as drugs and chemicals, was usually carried on the passenger stages.
A mule train was made up of from eight to twelve animals attached to two or three wagons; an ox train of about fourteen animals. These cum- brous outfits traveled about twelve miles a day.
The passenger stages, however, traveled about one hundred miles in twenty-four hours. They were drawn by from four to six horses, who were changed every twelve or fifteen miles, while the drivers changed every fifty miles. They were usually accompa- nied by a messenger, who was a kind of guard and rode beside the driver. Most of the stages were of the thor- ough-braced type, the bodies resting upon leather straps instead of springs, which gave them an easy, swinging motion. They were usually fitted with three seats and carried nine pas- sengers, and were very comfortable to travel in. A few post stages, which
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would accommodate twenty-six pas- sengers, were run over this road, but the traffic was not heavy enough to bring them into general use.
In 1864, Ben Halliday, whose name has been given to a street in Poca- tello, secured a contract to carry the United States mails, and bought out Oliver and Conover. This line was later called the Halliday Overland Mail and Express, a name retained in the Overland Limited of today, on the Oregon Short Line and Union Pacific railroads.
Ben Halliday was well known throughout the far west fifty years ago, and his name is linked insepar- ably with her early history. Mr. Hi- ram T. French, in his History of Ida- ho, says : "Ben Halliday was a prom- inent figure in the development of the country west of the Mississippi, and filled a place that no man lack- ing in courage, judgment or charac- ter could have held. To one who knows the west, 'Overland' is even yet a word to conjure by. In fancy one sees the dashing horses and lurch- ing coach, and hears the crack of the driver's whip."
Hon. John Hailey writes from per- sonal knowledge of the famous stage man as follows: "Ben Halliday was a little over the average in size, strong in stature, fine looking, soci- able, generous, energetic and far-see- ing. In conversation his intellectual
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face and eyes would fairly shine. He was open and frank in all his deal- ings. He was brave, quick and dar- ing in engaging in any legitimate business that tended to open the re- sources of this great western coun- try.
"At the time Mr. Halliday estab- lished his Overland Stage Line from the Missouri river to Salt Lake City, and from Salt Lake City to Helena, Montana, and to Boise, the country through which his stages must run was wild, inhabited by none save In- dians, usually hostile, and a few white men who were equally dangerous. Few men would even have entertained the idea of engaging in such a dangerous and hazardous business, which in- volved the investment of several hun- dred thousand dollars to build sub- stantial stations, and fit up the road with the necessary live and rolling stock, foragt, provisions, men arms, and ammunition for the protection of life, property and the United States mail, but Mr. Halliday did it success- fully. He opened the great Overland Route and transported mail and pas- sengers from the east to west and re- turn with reasonable celerity and se- curity, besides making the route much safer for others to travel and blaz- ing the way for the Union Pacific railroad, which was commenced soon after."
The stage line through Bannock
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county passed from the hands of Ben Halliday to the Wells Fargo Express company, and later to the firm of Gilmore and Salisbury, who continued the service until the opening of the Utah and Northern railway made stages a thing of the past.
The mountain fastnesses along the Portneuf canyon, made this the most dangerous stretch of road between Salt Lake City and Butte. It was very difficult to trail men over the lava rocks that abound along this route, and the wild nature of the country beyond them offered road agents a fair chance of safety. The gold bullion brought down from the Montana mines made a tempting prize, and encouraged highway rob- bery to such an extent that the out- rages in time gave birth to the vigi- lantes, who gave the robbers short shrift and in time succeeded in prac- tically ending their operations.
The first hold-up in Bannock coun- ty occurred in 1863, about a mile and a half west of Pocatello creek, when Jack Hughes, a Denver man, was robbed of $6,000 by Brocky Jack, at that time a well-known character along the stage road. The trick was easily turned and Brocky Jack es- caped with his booty without firing a gun.
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