THE EASTERN SHOSHONE

It would be extremely difficult to under estimate the impact of the Shoshone on the settlement of the West. In the first place, Sakakawea, who saved the Lewis and Clark expedition, was Shoshone. Without horses



Sakakawea and her young son Jean Baptiste accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition



provided them, the Corp of Discovery might never have crossed the Continental Divide. But the story doesn't end here. Hundreds of thousands of settlers trekking to Oregon and California received guidance and protection against hostile tribes from the Shoshone. Were it not for the military skills and bravery of the Shoshone and their Crow allies The Battle of the Rosebud would have replaced the Battle of Little Bighorn as the most devastating loss of the U S Army to the Sioux. Yes, settlers, and "history" owe much to the Shoshone. The debt remain unpaid.

The Shoshone people once roamed much of Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota, Montana, Utah, Nevada, and Eastern California. The band who provided horses for Lewis and Clark were the Lemhi Shoshone, who had been driven into the Bitterroot Mountains by the Sioux and Blackfeet. They would become known as the Eastern Shoshone. Skilled horsemen, they had chosen to trade with the Spanish, rather than the French. Because the Spanish refused to trade guns, and because of numbers (or the lack thereof), they were militarily inferior to their enemies. In the Bitterroots they were relatively impoverished. Military fortunes, and to some extent, wealth, would improve, however.

Early in the 19'th century, the Shoshone made a fateful decisions. They believed the White Man would become powerful; thus an alliance with them would best serve Shoshone interests and provide protection from their Indian enemies. Once this decision was made, they never wavered.

At first, their contacts with Whites were with the trappers and "mountain men." They attended the first great trappers rondesvioux at Green River in 1825, and every such event thereafter. For guns, ammunition and whiskey, they would trade horses, meat, furs and the services of young women.

In 1842 a half-Shoshone, Washakie, became war chief of the Shoshone. He would remain so for 60 years, until his death 1n 1902. Perhaps he, more than any other individual, is responsible for shaping the events leading to the settlement of the West. Always trustworthy, always a man of his word, he was kind to his friends, but a fierce and deadly enemy. Np less authorities on the matter than Red Cloud and Crazy Horse, mortal enemies of Washakie, would call him "the greatest of all warriors." He was more than a warrior, however. He was an astute diplomat. He was extremely gifted as a teacher, but he was as gifted a learner.

In 1851 the Shoshone were party of the Fort Laramie Treaty (see the Sioux pages.) The Shoshone were assigned a huge tract of land, some 48 million acres in Colorado, Wyoming, southern Montana, and southeastern Idaho. Washakie chose to make his main camp close to the famous South Pass, the major gateway to Oregon and California. Though tseemingly endless stream of immigrents scared away game and trampled ground where his people gathered roots, Washakie always provided hospitality. When he did complain, it was never in anger. He was successful in obtaining compensation for these damages.

It is said that one time a wagoneer caught in a winter blizzard stumbled into Washakie's camp. He would live, but his feet were frost-bitten. When he asked the Chief for medical help, Washakie summoned one of his wives and bade her hold the man's feet between her bare breasts. This she did all through the night. The man was healed.

Washakie was a prophet in many ways. Long before others came to realize the truth, Washakie sensed that great changes were coming, and the Shoshone must act accordingly. The buffalo herds were declining and the number of White settlers was increasing. Though fierce and brave warriors, the Shoshone were few in number, and their enemies were many. Washakie sought to inhabit land where his people would be protected from the Sioux and somewhat remote from White settlement. He sought a place where his people old learn to farm and do other things to survive the changing times. He knew of such a place, the Wind River Valley.

In 1868 the Shoshone signed a treaty at Fort Bridger. In exchange for protection and teachers, the Shoshone would "cede" about 44 million acres. They would live on the Wind River Reservation in central Wyoming. There they remain today.

Peace wasn't immediate, however. For eight years the Sioux and Shoshone waged savage warfare. Peaceful ways and farming the land would have to wait until the Sioux were defeated. In the spring and summer of 1876, Washakie and his people got the chance to settle the matter. The U S Army and the Sioux were at war. Chief Crazy Horse had proclaimed that all soldiers entering Sioux territory would die. General George Crook, among others, led about a thousand soldiers across the Tongue River into said territory. Luckily for him he recruited 86 Shoshone and 176 Crow allies. Washakie lead the Shoshone, His Shoshone had learned much of cavalry tactics, and proved to be more disciplined even than Crook,s finest companies. Despite repeated warnings of an impending attack, Crook's forces were surprised by an onslaught of more than 5000 Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. His troops were able to fight the Sioux to a standstill and claim a victory of sorts, but only because the Crow and Shoshone were prepared and bore the brunt of two major attacks. Eight days later, the Seventh Cavalry would not be so lucky. Washakie stayed with the Army until the Cheyenne were defeated in the fall of 1876.

Soon thereafter an elaborate ceremony was held in honor of Washakie at Camp Brown, on the Reservation. There solemn words were spoken in his honor. He was told of the great admiration President Grant held for him. He was given a medal of friendship and a fine saddle trimmed in silver. He remained silent throughout the ceremony. After numerous exhortations to speak, he said simply:

"When a favor is given a White Man, he feels it in his head and his tongue speaks. When a kindness is shown an Indian, he feels it in his heart. The heart has no tongue. I have spoken."

His fighting days were over. Now Washakie would become a change agent. He would receive yet more honors, as the name of Camp Brown was changed to Fort Washakie, one of few such facilities named after an Indian. He accepted placement of the Northern Arapaho, former enemies, on the Reservation in 1878. (Sixty years later the Shoshone Tribe would lose a claim that they were not adequately compensated for this Settlement.) He lead his people as they learned agriculture and the use of irrigation techniques appropriate to central Wyoming. His people learned well. By 1898 the Shoshone were producing substantial surpluses of hay and grain from land on which they had built irrigation ditches. Their reservation was one of the more prosperous of all the western home lands.

Feeble and blind, Washakie died in 1900. Nearly a hundred years old at the time of his death, he had seen great changes take place and had successfully lead his people through them. Unlike so many other great Chiefs of his era, he died satisfied, at peace with himself and with others. Mercifully, he did not live to see the impoverishment of his people 20'th century allotment would bring.

Chief Washakie Presides over his Council circa 1875
(Photo from Time Life Books - The Chiefs)

Allotment was rather late in coming to Wind River, but come it did. In 1905 Congress pressured the Tribes to "cede" about a million and a half acres, and the rest was apportioned to individuals. The bargain was rather unique in that the Government did not pay the Indians for their land; rather, money went directly to the Tribes when someone bought land. Some of this money was used to extend the irrigation ditches and enlarge water storage facilities. The Reclamation Act of 1902 was supposed to bring settlers to the West in droves by affording them cheap land to buy and building irrigation projects for them. Claimants were supposed to pay back construction costs, but rarely could afford to do so. The settlers did not come to Wind River in droves, however, and in 1934 the Government returned almost a million acres to the Tribes

The Government built two irrigation projects in the area. The first, the Riverton Project, would irrigate land on ceded territory and would service white settlers. The second, the Wind River Project was built to irrigate Reservation land and serviced Indians and Whites who had purchased allotted lands. Over the years the government would spend more than $70 million on the Riverton Project, but only $4.4 million on the other. In 1970 Congress approved $12.2 million to repair and upgrade Riverton (The actual costs would exceed $40 million.) The Wind River project received nothing. There was some hope the Carter Administration would help the Tribes, but no money came. Then in 1985 the Reagan Administration succeeded in eliminating moneys for operational costs. Such funding would not be restored for another seven years. Today the two systems are vastly different. Riverton has shiny new equipment. The land is well drained and irrigated (when there is sufficient water.) At Wind River the facilities are old and rusted. Storage facilities are not sufficient to provide enough water to irrigate new lands and there is not enough money to extend the ditches even if water could be transported further from the river. The Shoshone have been forced to take more than 10,000 acres out of production because the drainage system is inadequate to keep waste water from water logging the crops. The Indians are not happy about the situation, but neither are the White farmers. Even with the refurbished facilities, there is not enough water to go around.

The Winters rule afforded First Americans with reserved water rights, rights superior to state law, but for most other purposes the Reclamation Act of 1902 let the states allocate water rights. As has happened so often, Wyoming went about allocating water rights as though Winters and the Wind River Tribes did not exist. The state allowed and the federal government subsidized extensive diversion of Wind River water. In dry years so much water would be diverted that the River would run dry, thus destroying a prime trout stream and a potential source of income for the Tribes. Then in 1976, an extremely dry year, there simply wasn't enough water for anyone. State officials saw the need to clear up the jumbled pattern of appropriated rights. They began the process on the Wind River in 1977.

There are two ways to quantify water rights in the West, negotiation, the choice in Montana, and through the courts, the path taken in Wyoming. In a surprise move the state sued the Tribes, through the Federal Government, to obtain a judicial quantification of Indian water rights. Perhaps officials thought the Indians were weak, they had lost many battles before, but this time they were wrong. The ensuing litigation would last for twelve years and cost more than $20 million. A state court sent shock waves through the water establishment, ruling that the Indians held rights to about half a million acre feet of water, more than a third of all the water flowing through the Wind River in an average year. Even more surprisingly, the Wyoming Supreme Court held in favor of the Indians, dating their rights back to 1868 (First in time, first in right.) Without writing an opinion, a divided U S Supreme Court upheld the Winters Doctrine and affirmed the decision of the Wyoming Courts.

Again that familiar pattern has been set into motion. The Indians won a surprise victory, but can they win the war? Tension between white farmers and Indians had been on the rise as all began to realize there was not enough water to suit everyone's needs. In some ways the Wyoming v. U S decision made things worse. Indians had rights to more than a third of Wind Water water, but no way to use much of it. But where did this leave the farmers? They could no longer be assured of enough water to irrigate their crops. Tensions were eased somewhat when the Indians agreed not to exercise their water rights in 1990 in exchange for $3.3 million from the state to improve their irrigation ditches. Even that money didn't help very much.

The Tribes wished to allow some of their water to flow through the River in order to restore the trout population. A prime trout river would bring tourists and dollars to the Reservation. The Tribes said they, not the State, would determine how their water was to be used. Wyoming sued and this time succeeded in thwarting Indian goals. The Wyoming Court ruled that state and federal law gave Wyoming the power to administer usage decisions. The State said the Indians could divert water for agricultural purposes only, and of course the Tribes lack the facilities to use water that way. The matter remains in limbo even today. Often hostile words are spoken, so far without violence. Water shortages still occur and no one is sure what the future holds. U S Fish and Game did plant the River with Brown Trout in 1994, but the next summer an upriver irrigation district without a permit to do so diverted too much water. The trout population was decimated. The Indians have threatened to fully exercise all of their rights, even if it means flooding their land, unless the state is willing to seek a good faith solution to the problem. This may be an idle threat, but it exemplifies the heated rhetoric generated by the struggle over water.

Today, one of the more prosperous and well developed turn -of-the-century Western Reservations has become relatively impoverished. About 8,000 Shoshone and Arapaho inhabit the Reservation. Per capita income is about $4,300 per year. Agriculture is dying. Oil and coal royalties provide the major portion of Tribal income, about $2 million per year. Less than two/thirds of the population hold high-school degrees, and about 6% hold college degrees. Unemployment stays at about the 25% level. Water quality is threatened by low level radio active waste, the residue from a now defunct off- reservation uranium mine.

Once again the Shoshone seem to be willing to make a great change, as they did when Washakie was chief. If agriculture offers little hope, perhaps higher education does. The Shoshone have entered into a cooperative agreement with Colorado State University, an agreement designed to open new educational opportunities for Shoshone youth. Shoshone lawyers and Shoshone wildlife biologists have played a major role in bringing about what legal and environmental successes the Tribe has accomplished. Perhaps the young and educated offer the greatest hope for Shoshone strength. Perhaps their spokespersons will bring the respect that these people who changed the course of history so richly deserve.