Bear River Campaign
The Bear River Campaign, which took place in January 1863 during the American Civil War, was a military action led by Colonel Patrick Edward Connor against the Shoshone and Bannock tribes in what is now Idaho. Following military disarray in Utah, Connor, commanding about 300 cavalry troops, aimed to assert control over the indigenous populations in the region, which he deemed necessary due to their occasional conflicts with settler routes. On January 27, Connor's forces launched a surprise attack on a Shoshone village led by Bear Hunter, resulting in a brutal confrontation. Despite facing significant resistance, Connor's troops encircled the village, leading to a devastating assault that resulted in the deaths of approximately 224 Shoshone individuals, including Bear Hunter, and the destruction of their village. Connor's actions were met with praise from the War Department, and he was promoted for his success. The Bear River Campaign is now often viewed through a critical lens, similar to the Sand Creek Massacre, as an example of the violence inflicted upon Native American communities during westward expansion. This campaign highlights the complexities of U.S. military and indigenous relations during this turbulent period in American history.
Bear River Campaign
Date: 1863
Place: Idaho
Tribe affected: Shoshone
Significance: As did the Sand Creek Massacre, the Bear River Campaign exemplified the antagonistic nature of military leadership when state militias replaced federal troops in the West during the Civil War
With the Civil War, some twenty-five hundred federal troops under General Albert Sydney Johnston left Utah to fight in the East. Utah Territory, like the West in general at the time, was placed militarily under a volunteer state militia. The regarrisoning of Utah fell to the volatile California businessman and former Mexican-American War veteran, Colonel Patrick Edward Connor. Connor organized his California volunteers, numbering about a thousand, and marched them to Salt Lake City in 1862 to assume the task of policing the Overland Mail Route across Utah. Connor held even more contempt for American Indians than he did for the Mormons, and both experienced his fiery temper and decisive, vicious action. At one time Connor had a number of Indians hanged or shot, leaving their bodies exposed as an example.
At the time, the Shoshone and Bannock held a somewhat amicable relationship with the Mormon settlers, but occasionally they committed depredations on the Oregon and California trails as well as on the mail and telegraph routes—enough to cause Connor to muster his energies against them. Connor dispersed his forces throughout the region in an attempt to control the Indians, yet reports of belligerent activity continued. Incensed, Connor determined to deliver a decisive blow to the Shoshone and Bannock.
In the dead of winter, he marched a detachment of three hundred men, mostly cavalry, northward from Salt Lake City to attack the village of Shoshone leader Bear Hunter on the Bear River near Preston, Idaho. At daybreak on January 27, 1863, the Shoshone were in wait as Connor pressed his attack. About two-thirds of Connor’s men forded the ice-choked Bear River and commenced a frontal assault on the village, but they met heavy resistance. Connor sent detachments to flank the village, thus trapping the American Indians in the large ravine where they were wintering. As troops sealed off any escape routes, others swept over the rims of the ravine, pouring a murderous volley into the encampment. The Shoshone fought back desperately, having no alternative. Most were slain defending their positions. Others, who attempted to escape, were shot trying to swim the icy river. By mid-morning the fight was over.
Connor’s troops counted 224 bodies, including that of Bear Hunter, though the death toll was higher. The troopers destroyed the village (seventy lodges), seized 175 ponies, and captured more than 150 women and children, who were then left in the razed village with a small store of food. Connor’s losses were only 14 dead, 53 wounded, and 75 with frostbite. Connor’s attack upon the village gained him the War Department’s praise as well as quick promotion to brigadier general. Today the Bear River Campaign is perceived in much the same light as the Sand Creek Massacre, as an act of pointless, excessive bloodshed.