This area includes all of Idaho south of the Sawtooth Mountains
between American Falls and the Bruneau River. It has been seen that
the area of the Boise, Payette, and Weiser rivers was entered
regularly by populations that did not customarily winter there; this
is true also of the area of the middle Snake, and to a much greater
degree. First, the salmon run did not extend above Shoshone Falls, and
the population living upstream from that point resorted regularly to
favored fishing places below the Falls. Second, the prairies about the
locale of present-day Fairfield, Idaho, were the richest camas-root
grounds in this section of the Basin-Plateau area and large numbers of
Indians convened every summer to gather the roots. Historical sources
testify to the numbers of Indians found in the area during certain
times of the year, but it is usually impossible to determine the
geographical locus of these people during the remainder of the year.
Travelers observed small, impoverished groups of Indians and also
larger camps of mounted people. Near Glenn's Ferry, Idaho, Stuart on
August 23, 1812, noted (1935, p. 108):
... a few Shoshonie (or Snake) Camps were passed today, who
have to struggle hard for a livelihood, even though it is the
prime of the fishing season in the Country.
Stuart encountered some 100 lodges of Shoshone fishing at Salmon Falls
(p. 109). In 1826 Peter Skene Ogden met a camp of 200 "Snakes" bearing
60 firearms and a quantity of ammunition at Raft River, above the
limit of the salmon run (Ogden, 1909, p. 357). In October of the
following year he visited Camas Prairie, the camas grounds in the
vicinity of Fairfield, and noted a pattern of movement that is still
reported by informants (p. 263):
It is from near this point the Snakes form into a body prior to
their starting point for buffalo; they collect camasse for the
journey across the mountains. Their camp is 300 tents. In
Spring they scattered from this place for the salmon and horse
thieving expeditions.
Buffalo were formerly found on the plains of the upper Snake River,
but American Falls was apparently their approximate western limit.
Wyeth was at American Falls in August, 1832, and wrote (1899, p. 163):
We found here plenty of Buffaloe sign and the Pawnacks come
here to winter often on account of the Buffaloe we now find no
buffaloe.
The Wyeth party then turned up the Raft River where they "met a
village of the Snakes of about 150 persons having about 75 horses" and
farther upstream found "the banks lined with Diggers Camps and Trails
but they are shy and can seldom be spoken." On Rock Creek, the party
met some 120 Indians who evidently had fresh salmon, and farther on
their journey on this stream they found "Diggers," "Sohonees," and
"Pawnacks" (ibid., pp. 166-168). A chief and some sub-chiefs were
mentioned at one of these camps. Small and scattered camps of Indians
were mentioned throughout Wyeth's journeys on the southern tributaries
of the Snake River.
Fewer Indians were encountered in the salmon-yielding sections of the
Snake River during the winter. Bonneville's party met only footgoing
Indians near Salmon Falls in the winter of 1834; the Indians lived in
a scattered fashion and groups of no more than three or four grass
huts were found (Irving, 1873, p. 300), although large numbers of
Indians were seen in the same area during the salmon season (p. 444).
Crawford met numbers of Indians along the Oregon Trail in southern
Idaho in August, 1842 (Crawford, 1897, pp. 15-17) and in October of
the following year Talbot observed of Indians near Shoshone Falls
(1931, p. 53):
These Indians speak the same language as the Snakes but are far
poorer and are distinguished by the name of Shoshoccos,
"Diggers," or "Uprooters." They have very few, and indeed most
of them, have no horses....
Near Glenn's Ferry, however, Talbot met a large number of Indians of
the "Waptico band of the Shoshonees," who had many horses (ibid., p.
55). Talbot drew the following conclusion from his experience on the
Snake River (p. 56):
It seems that there is a monopoly of the fisheries on the Snake
River. The Banak Indians who are the most powerful, hold them
in the spring when the salmon and other fishes are in best
condition--later on different tribes of Shoshonees hord the
monopoly. Last, and of course weakest of all, the miserable
creatures such as are with us now, come, like gleaners after
the harvest, to gather up the leavings of their richer and more
powerful brethren.
Other sources contradict Talbot's observations, however, and give a
picture of simultaneous use of the abundant salmon run by people of
diverse locality and condition. But it is possible that mounted and
more powerful people occupied the choicest sites.
During the late 1850's, the hostilities that broke out throughout Utah
and Idaho also affected the Snake River. Wallen reported Indians
peacefully fishing at Shoshone Falls in 1859, but commented that the
Bannock upstream were well armed and formidable (Wallen, 1859, pp.
220, 223). In the same year. Will Wagner met on Goose Creek "several
men of the band under the chief Ne-met-tek" (Wagner, 1861, p. 25) and
encountered both Shoshone and Bannock in the high country between the
Humboldt and Snake rivers (p. 26). Not all the Indians met exhibited
hostile intentions in 1859 or in 1862 and 1863, when punitive forces
were sent against the hostiles. Colonel Maury noted that "those
perhaps who are more hostile are near Salmon Falls, or on the south
side of Snake River" (War of the Rebellion, 1902, p. 217). Actually
the hostiles were raiding along the Oregon Trail south of the Snake
River, and it is probable that many of the peaceful Indians
encountered also indulged in occasional attacks when in the
neighborhood of the whites. Seventeen lodges and about 200 Indians
were found near Shoshone Falls in August, 1863; these people reported
that "the bad Indians are all gone to the buffalo country" (ibid, p.
218).
Further information from the military forces indicates a continuation
of the older nomadic patterns. Colonel Maury said of Camas Prairie
(ibid., p. 226):
All the Indians living northwest of Salt Lake visit the grounds
in the spring and summer, putting up their winter supply of
camas, and after the root season is over, resort to the falls
and other points on the Snake to put up fish.
In October, 1863, after the mounted people had left the fishing sites,
Colonel Maury reported on the population along the Snake River (ibid.,
p. 224):
They live a family in a place, on either side of the river for
a distance of thirty or forty miles; have no arms and a very
small number of Indian ponies; not an average of one to each
family.... There are from 80 to 100 of this party, all
Shoshones, and, aware of the treaties made at Salt Lake,
scattered along the river from the great falls to the mouth of
this stream [the Bruneau River], a distance of 100 miles.
A party of 20 Indians was attacked by the military on the Bruneau
River and there were signs in the upper part of the valley of a large
force. Maury commented: "All the roaming Indians of the country visit
the Bruneau River more or less." Further evidence of the mobility of
the population is given in the report of attacks in the vicinity of
Salmon Falls Creek by Indians from the Owyhee River under a medicine
man named Ebigon (ibid., p. 388).
With the cessation of hostilities, most of the Shoshone and Bannock of
Idaho were rapidly rounded up by the military and a few years later
were settled at Fort Hall. Governor Lyon reported visiting the "great
Kammas Prairie tribe of Indians" in 1865 (Lyon, 1867, p. 418), and
Commissioner of Indian Affairs Cooley described the latter's territory
as the "area around Fort Hall and the northern part of Utah" (Cooley,
1866, p. 198). Evidently the Indians who congregated annually at Camas
Prairie were mistaken as a single tribe, and there is little further
reference to such a group.
While it is almost impossible to identify Indians in the southwest
Idaho region, west of the Bruneau River, Ballard's 1866 report of a
mixed Paiute and Shoshone population probably represents the real
situation (1867, p. 190).
The southwest portion of Idaho, including the Owyhee country
and the regions of the Malheur, are infested with a roving band
of hostile Pi-utes and outlawed Shoshones, numbering, from the
best information, some 300 warriors.
The reports of Indian Agents already cited in the section on the Boise
River region indicate that the Bruneau River population was Shoshone.
Their numbers are given as 400 in 1866 (ibid.) and 300 in 1868, after
they had been brought to the Boise River (C. F. Powell, 1869, p. 661).
The frequent mention of a band of Bruneau Shoshone in the later
reports of the Indian agents is somewhat misleading. Information from
contemporary informants indicates that there was no distinct and
separate population of the Bruneau River, as opposed to near-by
stretches of the Snake River. Furthermore, the fisheries of the
Bruneau River were often used by mounted Indians from the Fort Hall
prairies.
There were no boundaries, as such, in southwest Idaho. Stewart's
Tagotoka band of Northern Paiute is represented as occupying most of
southwestern Idaho (Stewart, 1939, map 1, facing p. 127), while
Blythe's equivalent "Tagu Eaters" are placed in the Owyhee River
Valley (Blythe, 1938, p. 404). Blythe notes that east of this
population there were "no pure Paiute bands." Steward's map places the
limit between the Paiute and the Shoshone about equidistant between
the Owyhee and Bruneau Rivers (Steward, 1938, fig. 1, facing p. ix).
There was no hard and fast line between Shoshone and Paiute, and the
high country south of Snake River was usually entered only in the
summer when hunting parties of either linguistic group wandered
through southwest Idaho. Further information the pattern of
occupation of the Snake River and southwestern Idaho is given in the
following ethnographic material.
Despite the extent of the region in question, there were not many
permanent, or winter-dwelling, inhabitants. Greater use was made of
the natural products of this region by the more numerous Shoshone and
Bannock, who wintered elsewhere, than by the small local population.
The two chief resources were the extremely rich root grounds at Camas
Prairie, in the vicinity of Fairfield, Idaho, and the fishing sites
scattered between Glenn's Ferry and Shoshone Falls. Camas Prairie was
used by the Bannock and, to varying degrees, by all the Shoshone of
Idaho, as well as occasionally by other tribes, like the Flathead and
the Nez Perce; the fisheries were used by the Bannock and all the
Shoshone of the upper Snake River above Shoshone Falls, the limit of
the salmon run.
Some large stretches of territory were used very little, if at all. We
were unable to obtain information on use or occupancy of the country
north of the Snake River and south of the Sawtooths between Camas
Prairie and Idaho Falls. This is extremely arid and infertile country,
strewn with lava beds and containing little water. It was often
traversed, but little subsistence was drawn from it. Also, scanty
information was available on the territory west of the Bruneau River.
One informant said that Silver City, Idaho, was within the limits of
Paiute territory; according to other informants, the Bruneau River
Valley was definitely within the Shoshone migratory range. It seems
evident that southwest Idaho was not much used by either the Paiute or
Shoshone, and, while both groups entered the area on occasion,
boundaries could hardly have been narrowly defined.
The population which wintered in the general area of the middle Snake
River and drew year-round subsistence from the resources of the region
was usually referred to by the term Taza agaidika, or "Summer Salmon
Eaters." Other terms used were Yahandika, or "Groundhog Eaters," and
Pia agaidika, or "Big Salmon Eaters." Steward reports the use of the
terms Agaidueka and Yahandueka for the area (Steward, 1938, p. 165). One
informant said that these were alternate terms which, however, did not
change with the season or activities of the people designated. Lowie's
Kuembedueka (Lowie, 1909, pp. 206-208) were not reported by our
informants. Apparently, the names covered any and all people who
wintered in the region and who were more or less permanent residents.
The population included in these terms did not form a social or
political group, nor did they unite for any collective purposes.
The Shoshone of the middle Snake River resemble the Nevada Shoshone in
social, political, and economic characteristics more than does any
other part of the Idaho population, and Steward lists them with the
Western Shoshone for this reason. They had few horses and took no part
in the buffalo-hunting activities of their neighbors of the Fort Hall
plains, and warfare was virtually nonexistent. Property in natural
resources was absent, and other Shoshone and the Bannock availed
themselves freely of the fishing sites on the Snake River without
interference or resentment on the part of the local population.
While chiefs are reported from most parts of Idaho, we were unable to
obtain the name of a leader from the middle Snake River. Not only were
there no band chiefs, but the winter villages lacked headmen. The
principal informant for the area merely commented that everybody was
equal.
Especially pronounced among the Shoshone of this area is the practice
of splitting into a number of scattered and very small winter camps.
Among the winter camps were: Akongdimudza, a camp at King Hill, Idaho,
named for a hill which abounded in sunflowers; Biesoniogwe, a winter
camp near Glenn's Ferry; Koa agai, near the hamlet of Hot Spring,
Idaho, on the Bruneau River; and Paguiyua, a camp on Clover Creek near
a hot spring, immediately up the Snake River from the town of Bliss,
Idaho.
Winter camps were commonly located on the Snake River bottoms, where
there was wood and shelter. The camps consisted of two or three
lodges, each of which housed a family and a few relatives. The list of
winter camps above is by no means complete; Steward gives three, two
of which were below the town of Hagerman, a third near Bliss (Steward,
1938, pp. 165-166). There were undoubtedly several more, but it should
be remembered that the place names above referred to sites which were
not necessarily inhabited every winter.
The composition of the winter camps varied. While it was common for
kinsmen to camp together, they by no means always did so. Also, the
same people did not camp together every winter. Each family head
decided each year where to spend the winter, and families were free to
shift from one site to another annually. Steward's data confirm this
practice (ibid., p. 169):
... it is apparent that the true political unit was the
village, a small and probably unstable group. Virtually the
only factor besides intervillage marriage that allied several
villages was dancing. Dances, however, were so infrequent and
the participants so variable that they produced no real unity
in any group.
The Shoshone of the middle Snake River relied heavily on the salmon
runs for food and fished during spring, summer, and fall. One fish
weir, maintained on the Bruneau River, was frequently visited by Fort
Hall Bannock, with whom the catch was shared. Glenn's Ferry was one of
the better fishing sites; the waters between the three islands in the
Snake River at this point were shallow enough for weirs to be used.
Immediately above Hagerman, on the Snake River, the Indians caught
salmon by spearing, although the water was too deep for weirs.
Basketry traps were used in small creeks.
The Shoshone of this area took part in root gathering and festivities
every summer on Camas Prairie. During the fall, deer were taken on
Camas Prairie and in the country immediately south of the Snake River.
Deer and elk were taken in the fall in the mountain country north of
Hailey, and bighorn sheep were also pursued in the mountainous crags
of this area.
In the great expanse of territory between Shoshone Falls and Bannock
Creek only one small group is reported. These people were referred to
as Paraguitsi, a word denoting the budding willow tree, and were said
to inhabit Goose Creek and vicinity. Goose Creek is above the limit of
the salmon run and only trout could be caught in its waters. Whether
they fished below Shoshone Falls is uncertain. The area of the Goose
Creek Mountains was entered also by people who wintered in other
sections and was a frequent resort of Idaho and Nevada Shoshone in
search of pine nuts.
Informants agreed that the Paraguitsi were a wild and timid people who
remained isolated in the fastnesses of Goose Creek and the Goose Creek
Mountains. This range provided them with deer and pine nuts, but their
economy was meager and they were reported to resort to cannibalism in
the winter. Other Shoshone avoided them because of this abhorrent
practice.
One informant reported a category of "Mountain Dwellers," or
Toyarivia. This was evidently a generic term for mountaineers as
opposed to those who dwell in valleys, or Yewawgone. The Mountain
Dwellers customarily spent the winter on the Snake River bottoms in
the same area as the people generally called Taza agaidika. They
joined in the salmon fishing at Glenn's Ferry and above, but hunted in
the highlands on the Idaho-Nevada border during the fall. This
division of mountain and valley people seems thus to have been
occasionally used to distinguish Shoshone who hunted south of the
Snake River from those who roamed to the north.