Bannock War - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This event should not be confused with the Bannock War of 1895
Bannock War of 1895
The Bannock War of 1895, or the Bannock Uprising, refers to a minor conflict centered around Jackson's Hole, Wyoming, in the United States. During the early 1890s Wyoming passed a state law prohibiting the killing of elk for their teeth, which led to the arrests of several Bannock hunters in 1895...

.

The Bannock War was a series of conflicts in 1878 between various Bannock

Bannock (tribe)

The Bannock tribe of the Northern Paiute are an indigenous people of the Great Basin. Their traditional lands include southeastern Oregon, southeastern Idaho, western Wyoming, and southwestern Montana...

, Northern Shoshone

Shoshone

The Shoshone or Shoshoni are a Native American tribe in the United States with three large divisions: the Northern, the Western and the Eastern....

and Paiute

Paiute

Paiute refers to three closely related groups of Native Americans — the Northern Paiute of California, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon; the Owens Valley Paiute of California and Nevada; and the Southern Paiute of Arizona, southeastern California and Nevada, and Utah.-Origin of name:The origin of...

tribes against the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Background

Camas

Camassia

Camassia is a genus of six species native to western North America, from southern British Columbia to northern California, and east to Utah, Wyoming and Montana...

, Camassia quamash, is a plant with a blue or purple flower which has a nutritious bulb about the size and shape of a tulip bulb. For many of the tribes in Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

, Eastern Washington

Eastern Washington

Eastern Washington is the portion of the U.S. state of Washington east of the Cascade Range. The region contains the city of Spokane , the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and the fertile farmlands of the Yakima Valley and the...

, Eastern Oregon

Eastern Oregon

Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity, thus the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost counties in the state; in other contexts, it includes...

, and Western Montana

Western Montana

Western Montana is the western region of the state of Montana, United States. Although there is no firm definition, Western Montana is roughly considered by some the western third of the state.-Geography, Biomes and Climate:...

, camas was a major source of food. It was gathered in late spring or early fall. It was either eaten raw or steamed in a pit for immediate consumption. To preserve the camas, the bulbs were pounded in a mortar to make a kind of dough which was then shaped into loaves, wrapped in grass, and steamed again. After cooking it for a second time, the loaves were made into smaller cakes and dried in the sun. Without adequate stock of camas, people would be ill prepared for the cold winter months. In Idaho, one of the most important camas areas was known as Great Camas Prairie

Camas prairie

The name camas prairie refers to several distinct geographical areas in the western United States which were named for the native perennial camassia or camas, including regions in the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington...

.

The Bannock tribe was restricted to the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho by the Fort Bridger Treaty Council of 1868

Fort Bridger Treaty Council of 1868

This Fort Bridger Treaty Council of 1868, was also known as the Great Treaty Council, was a council that developed the Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868 . The Shoshone, also referred to as the Shoshoni or Snake, were the main American Indian group affected by this treaty...

. The tribe was experiencing a famine

Famine

A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...

as they competed with local settlers for game, and the rations provided by the U.S government were too few to support the people on the reservation. In the spring of 1871, the Bannocks and Shoshone traveled to nearby Great Camas Prairie to harvest camas roots. They discovered that settlers had grazed their hogs and livestock on the land, and many of the camas tubers had been eaten. This increased the starvation pressure on the tribes and lead to increased hostility.

General George Crook

George Crook

George R. Crook was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.-Early life:...

, a contemporary United States military officer, commented that

"...it was no surprise...that some of the Indian soon afterward broke out into hostilities, and the great wonder is that so many remained on the reservation. With the Bannocks and Shoshone, our Indian policy has resolved itself into a question of war path or starvation, and being merely human, many of them will always choose the former alternative when death shall at least be glorious."

Battles

Led by Chief Buffalo Horn the tribe left the reservation and soon joined with Northern Paiutes from the Malheur Reservation

Malheur Reservation

The Malheur Reservation was an Indian reservation in the U.S. state of Oregon from 1872 to 1879.-Establishment:On September 12, 1872, a presidential order set aside the Malheur Indian Reservation in Eastern Oregon for the Northern Paiute...

under Chief Egan

Egan (Paiute)

Egan is the American name given to Pony Blanket. Pony Blanket was a Paiute leader in the Oregon Country in the 19th century.-Early life:Pony Blanket, known to American settlers as Egan, was born to a Cayuse family and did not know his birth mother. He married Evening Star, the sister of Chochoco...

and the Umatilla

Umatilla (tribe)

The Umatilla are a Sahaptin-speaking Native American group living on the Umatilla Indian Reservation, who traditionally inhabited the Columbia Plateau region of the northwestern United States....

tribes. Chief Buffalo Horn would have known that success was highly unlikely, as he had served as a scout for General Oliver Otis Howard during the Nez Perce War

Nez Perce War

The Nez Perce War was an armed conflict between the Nez Perce and the United States government fought in 1877 as part of the American Indian Wars. After a series of battles in which both the U.S. Army and native people sustained significant casualties, the Nez Perce surrendered and were relocated...

the previous year. The two procured food by raiding settlements of the white settlers. The United States government of the time sent General Oliver Otis Howard to aggressively quell the raids: he achieved victory in two battles. Following a final battle in Idaho, the remaining tribe members surrendered.

Background

Battles

See also