Tuesday, May 24, 2016

POCATELLO, IDAHO—The site where Union Army soldiers killed hundreds of Northwestern Shoshone in January 1863 has been identified, according to a report in the Idaho State Journal. The attack, known as the Bear River Massacre, took place at the confluence of Battle Creek and Bear River in eastern Idaho, but pinpointing it had been challenging since the river’s course has shifted multiple times in the past century and a half. Now, a team led by Idaho state archaeologist Ken Reid has used modern technology and maps made by soldiers who took part in the attack to determine that it took place around 2,300 feet north of where the creek and river join today. When Col. Patrick Connor and his 300 soldiers and cavalry launched their attack on January 29, 1863, Shoshone women and children tried to flee at the bottom of a nearby ravine. “I suspect it turned into a traffic jam and then a slaughter,” said Reid. For more, go to “Searching for the Comanche Empire.”