Above American Falls, the native population consisted of both Shoshone
and Bannock Indians who were mounted and seasonally pursued the
buffalo. Population aggregations were, in general, considerably larger
than in any of the foregoing areas of Idaho. Ogden saw a "Snake" camp
of 300 tents, 1,300 people and 3,000 horses on Little Lost River in
November, 1827 (Ogden, 1910, p. 364), and Beckwourth claimed that he
had met thousands of mounted and hostile Indians at the mouth of the
Portneuf River in the spring of 1826 (Beckwourth, 1931, pp. 64-65).
The journal of Warren Angus Ferris contains many references to the
population in eastern Idaho in the period 1831-1833. The area
evidently was frequently entered by warlike Blackfoot parties and by
more peaceful groups of Flathead, Nez Perce, and Pend Oreille trappers
and buffalo hunters (cf. Ferris, 1940, pp. 87, 146, 153-155, 185).
Buffalo were still to be found and Ferris encountered large herds on
the upper Snake River (ibid., p. 87); Nez Perce and Flathead Indians
were seen on the divide between Birch Creek and the Lemhi River en
route to hunt buffalo (ibid., p. 146). But the Indians most frequently
encountered in the region were Bannock and Shoshone. On the Snake
River plains near Three Buttes Ferris noted (p. 132):
In the evening two hundred Indians passed our camp, on their
way to the village, which was situated at the lower butte. They
were Ponacks, as they are generally called by the hunters, or
Po-nah-ke as they call themselves. They were generally mounted
on poor jaded horses, and were illy clad.
In November, 1832, it was reported that "a village of Snakes and
Ponacks amounting to about two hundred lodges on Gordiez [Big Lost]
River" was attacked by a party of Blackfoot (ibid., pp. 185-186). The
"Snakes" drove them off, but the "Horn Chief" was killed. The Horn
Chief was reported on the Bear River in 1830 (ibid., pp. 71-73). This
group may have been the same one mentioned a month later as being in
winter camp on the Portneuf River (ibid., p. 188). Another Bannock
camp was found in December, 1832, on the Blackfoot River. Ferris wrote
(ibid., pp. 189-190):
I visited their village on the 20th and found these miserable
wretches to the number of eighty or one hundred families,
half-naked, and without lodges, except in one or two instances.
They had formed, however, little huts of sage roots, which were
yet so open and ill calculated to shield them from the extreme
cold, that I could not conceive how they were able to endure
such severe exposure.
Ferris' description does not seem typical of the Plainslike Bannock
Indians. There are two possible explanations: these Bannock had been
attacked by hostiles and had lost their possessions; or they had
recently moved westward from Oregon. The latter possibility cannot be
ruled out, for the Bannock and the Northern Paiute were in contact
during the salmon season and the Oregon people drifted over to join
their colinguists on the upper Snake River until much later in the
century.
The presence of the Horn Chief on the Big Lost River in Idaho and the
Bear River in Utah bespeaks the fact that the residents of eastern
Idaho entered the northern Utah region quite as frequently as did the
Shoshone of western Wyoming. Zenas Leonard reported meeting Bannock
Indians some four days' travel west of the Green River. Depending on
their speed, the trappers may have been in southern Idaho or some part
of northern Utah. Leonard wrote of the Bannock (1934, p. 105):
On the fourth day of our Journey we arrived at the huts of some
Bawnack Indians. These Indians appear to live very poor and in
the most forlorn condition. They generally make but one visit
to the buffaloe country during the year, where they remain
until they jerk as much meat as their females can lug home on
their backs. They then quit the mountains and return to the
plains where they subsist on fish and small game the remainder
of the year. They keep no horses and are always easy prey for
other Indians provided with guns and horses.
It would be difficult to imagine a people without horses traveling
across the Continental Divide for buffalo, and it must be assumed that
the near-by herds that then existed were used.
Bonneville met a Bannock winter camp in January, 1833, near the Snake
River, in the vicinity of Three Buttes (Irving, 1850, p. 88). They
numbered 120 lodges and were said to be deadly enemies of the
Blackfoot, whom they easily overcame when their forces were equal. In
the following winter the Bannock camp was at the mouth of the Portneuf
River, near the last season's site (Irving, 1837, 2:41). And in
August, 1834, Townsend saw two lodges of some twenty "Snakes" who were
"returning from the fisheries and traveling towards the buffalo on the
'big river' (Shoshone's) [Snake River]" (Townsend, 1905, p. 245).
Russell's journal provides further description of buffalo hunting on
the upper Snake River. He himself hunted buffalo out of the newly
established Fort Hall post in 1834 (Russell, 1955, pp. 7-8). On
October 1 of that year a village of 60 lodges of "Snakes" was
found on Blackfoot River; the chief was "Iron wristbands" or
"Pah-da-her-wak-un-dah." On October 20 a camp of 250 "Bonnak" lodges
arrived at Fort Hall. Russell met some 332 lodges, of six persons
each, hunting buffalo in the vicinity of Birch Creek in October, 1835
(p. 36). Their chief was "Aiken-lo-ruckkup," a brother of the late
Horn Chief. The trapper also found 15 lodges of "Snakes" in the same
area (p. 37). Twenty-five miles east of the Bannock camp, Russell
found a buffalo-hunting camp of 15 "Snake" lodges under "Chief Comb
Daughter," or the "Lame Chief" (p. 38). Presumably, Russell's
"Snakes" were Shoshone. The buffalo evidently disappeared from the
Snake River drainage by 1840, for the last reference to their presence
in this region is in January, 1839, when Russell mentions the presence
of buffalo bulls on the upper Snake River (p. 93).
Lieutenant John Mullan encountered two "Banax" Indians in December,
1853, on the Jefferson River in Montana. They had crossed the
mountains from the Salmon River country in hopes of meeting other
Bannock returning from the buffalo hunt. He noted the inroads on their
numbers made by smallpox and the Blackfoot and commented (Mullan,
1855, p. 329. "The most of them now inhabit the country near the
Salmon River, where, in their solitude and security, they live
perfectly contented in spearing the salmon, and living on roots and
berries.") Across the divide between Montana and Idaho, in the
vicinity of Camas Creek, they met a single Bannock lodge en route to
the mountains (p. 333). North of Fort Hall, the party came upon three
or four families of "Root Digger Indians" whose destitute condition
was described by Mullan (p. 334).
The Bannock had visited Fort Bridger for purposes of trade over a
period of many years and continued the practice after the end of the
fur boom. Superintendent Jacob Forney reported that some 500 Bannock
under chief "Horn" appeared there in 1859 and claimed a home in the
Utah Territory (Forney, 1860a, p. 31). Forney granted them permission
to remain in the region claimed by Washakie. A body of Bannock was in
the vicinity of Fort Bridger in 1867, but Washakie refused to share
the Eastern Shoshone allotment with them. It will be remembered that a
part of the Bannock population had been collected on the Boise River
prior to this time. Indians denominated as Bannock were evidently to
be found in a number of places during this period. Commissioner of
Indian Affairs Taylor reported in 1868 (1869, p. 683):
The other tribes in Montana are the Bannock and the Shoshones,
ranging about the headwaters of the Yellowstone, and reported
to be in a miserable and destitute condition. These Indians it
is believed are parties to a treaty made by Gov. Doty on the
14th of Oct., 1863, at Soda Springs, not proclaimed. As they
occupy a part of the country claimed by the Crows, I think it
advisable ... to induce them to remove to the Shoshone country,
in the valley of the Shoshone (Snake) River.
In the same year Mann assembled 800 Bannock for a treaty conference,
but one-half of this number left the gathering in June, 1868, when the
commissioner failed to appear (Mann, 1869, p. 617). The 800 Bannock
were gathered by Chief "Taggie" (Tygee), who was also mentioned in the
1869 report of the Fort Hall Agent (Danilson, 1870, p. 730).
Unless the Bannock were an amazingly mobile people, they must have
traveled in a number of groups during the late 1860's. Superintendent
Sully of Montana wrote in September, 1869 (Sully, 1870, p. 731):
... [the Bannock] are a very small tribe of Indians, not
mustering over five hundred souls. They claim the southwestern
portion of Montana as their land, containing some of the
richest portions of the territory, in which are situated
Virginia City, Boseman City, and many other places of note.
However, Superintendent Floyd-Jones of Idaho reported in 1869 (1870,
p. 721):
The Bannacks, about six hundred strong, have always claimed
this country, and promise that this winter's hunt in the Wind
River Mountains shall be their last ...
Groups of Bannock were variously reported in Wyoming, Montana, and
Idaho during these years, and it is to be assumed that they sought
both buffalo and rations. Governor Campbell of Wyoming wrote in
October, 1870, that the Bannock had spent the summer with the Crow
Indians (J. A. Campbell, 1871, p. 639) after leaving Wind River. The
Bannock were evidently the most difficult to settle of all the Idaho
Indians, and their nomadic propensities were restrained only after the
conclusion of the Bannock War of 1878. The data that follow were
gathered through ethnographic means and continue and summarize the
foregoing historical account.
The Bannock population of the Fort Hall plains was undoubtedly
resident in that area for a considerable period. Living on the western
slope of the Continental Divide, they crossed the mountains frequently
to hunt in the buffalo country of the Missouri drainage. In the
process they came into contact with tribes of the Plains and borrowed
a good deal of culture from them. However, contact with the Paiute of
Oregon continued. During the Bannock War of 1878 the Fort Hall
insurgents were joined by the rebellious inmates of the Malheur Agency
in eastern Oregon. Also, genealogies given by informants indicate that
many Northern Paiute were still leaving their Oregon habitat as late
as the time of the treaty and thereafter and were joining the Bannock
in their more abundant and exciting life of warfare and buffalo
hunting. In effect, these migrants became "Bannock" when they began to
live with the Bannock. The formation of the Bannock in southeastern
Idaho from Oregon Paiute who managed to get horses and were attracted
by the buffalo hunt was not a single occurrence at some indefinite
time in the past; it was a continuing process that lasted into the
reservation period. There is no evidence placing the Bannock in the
Fort Hall area before the introduction of the horse. It is doubtful
that they predated this time, given the fact that buffalo hunting on
horse was one of the main attractions of eastern Idaho.
The relation of the Bannock to neighboring Shoshone groups,
denominated by the generic term, "Wihinait," is somewhat problematic
and can best be understood from detailed consideration of the two
populations. Steward says that "the Fort Hall Bannock and Shoshoni
were probably comparatively well amalgamated into a band by 1840"
(Steward, 1938, p. 202), but also notes (p. 10) that "Bannock and
Shoshoni, though closely cooperating and living on terms of equality,
were politically distinct in that each had its band chief." Our
evidence indicates that there was a good deal of social intercourse
and intermarriage and cooperation in the buffalo hunt between the two
groups, but except when engaged in some joint endeavor each appears to
have maintained its autonomy. Although there were organized bands,
their lines were not very clear-cut because of their frequent fission
(ibid., p. 202):
Even with the advantage of the horse, it was not always
expedient for the combined Bannock-Shoshoni band to move as a
unit. They frequently split into small subdivisions, each of
which travelled independently through Southern Idaho to procure
different foods, to trade, and occasionally to carry on
warfare.
Despite the presence of many Plains Indian culture elements, the
social structure of the Fort Hall people was basically that of the
Shoshonean population of the Basin-Plateau. While they grouped into
larger units for certain defined purposes, these units functioned only
during part of the year. The internal organization of the bands was
fluid, amorphous, and shifting.
The question of the constitution of the bands also remains: was there
one large Fort Hall Shoshone and Bannock band, were there one Fort
Hall Bannock and one Fort Hall Shoshone band, or were both populations
split into smaller groups? Both Steward and Hoebel reject the first
possibility, and the answer seems to lie somewhere between the second
and third. Hoebel names four Bannock bands (1938, p. 412): Cottonwood
Salmon Eaters, Deer Eaters, Squirrel Eaters, Plant (?) Eaters. One
informant told us also of four food names among the Bannock. These
were: Biviadzugarika ("root [?] eaters,") Topihabirika ("root [?]
eaters"), Tohocharika ("deer eaters"), and Yaparika ("yamp eaters").
Only part of the Fort Hall Bannock population bore these names. The
names did not refer to band groupings of any type, and their bearers
were of various bands. Our informant did not know the origin of this
nomenclature. It is possible that the names designated Oregon food
areas and were applied to more recent migrants from the Oregon Paiute,
but the names do not bear sufficiently close correspondence to those
given by Blythe and Stewart to validate this assumption.
Bannock informants claimed that there was a head chief of all the
Bannock, Tahgee, and that subchiefs under him were leaders of smaller
groups at certain times of the year. The subchiefs were said to have
attended the treaty conference at Fort Bridger with Tahgee. Their
names were Patsagumudu Po'a, Kusagai, Totowa, Pagoit, and Tahee.
Tahgee represented the Bannock in their affairs with the whites and
was the leader of the buffalo hunt. Otherwise, he seems to have
exerted little direct authority over his people, although he had great
influence in council. Bannock informants all asserted that people went
where they wished when they wished and did not necessarily travel
under any form of leadership.
Bannock chieftainship was nonhereditary and was assigned by general
agreement to a man noted for wisdom and courage.
Among the Shoshone of the Fort Hall region, leadership was more
clearly a function of interaction with the whites. One man was said to
have become chief "because he helped the whites." Two chiefs were
reported, Aidamo and Aramun; the bands of both roamed through
southeastern Idaho and into northern Utah. These Shoshone were called
by the Bannock, "Winakwat," or "Wihinait" in Shoshone. The name
evidently did not refer to a single band but designated all
Shoshone-speaking people of the immediate area. I could find no
confirmation of Hoebel's Elk Eaters, Groundhog Eaters, and Minnow
Eaters, all of whom were said to live in the area roamed over by the
various Fort Hall Shoshone and Bannock groups (Hoebel, 1938, pp.
410-413).
In the Fort Hall area, as in the rest of Idaho, winter habitat
supplies the only stable criterion for identifying the several groups
or populations. The Bannock customarily wintered on the Snake River
bottoms above Idaho Falls and at the mouth of Henry's Fork near
Rexburg, Idaho. They also wintered downstream in the vicinity of the
modern town of Blackfoot, Idaho; historical sources mention Bannock
winter camps at the mouth of the Portneuf River. The Snake
River--Henry's Fork sites were favored because of the abundance of the
mule-tailed deer, which came into the bottomlands in the winter.
Another source of subsistence in winter was cottontail rabbits, which
were caught among the willows in the bottoms with a noose snare or by
surrounding them and killing them with the bow and arrow.
The main winter subsistence, and the food source that provided the
margin of survival, was the dried meat of buffalo, elk, and deer taken
in the fall hunts, supplemented by dried roots and berries. Food
caches were maintained near camp, but they were generally resorted to
only in the spring, when the dried food kept in the lodges was
exhausted. The location of the cache was known only to the family that
made it. Caches and their contents were considered private property.
Dried roots, berries, and salmon were generally kept in the
underground caches, but not meat.
Bannock winter camps were spread out along the river; there was no
central encampment. The population was predominantly Bannock, although
many Shoshone lived among them either through in-marriage or by
choice.
Not all of the Bannock wintered on the Snake River. Those who crossed
the divide for buffalo frequently did not return in time to cross the
mountains before the snows blocked the high passes and so generally
wintered in western Montana, not joining the rest until spring.
The Wihinait, or Shoshone of the Fort Hall area, were said to have
wintered apart from the Bannock on the Portneuf River. Winter camps
ranged along the Portneuf between Pocatello and McCammon, and other
places as far south as Malade City, Idaho, were sometimes occupied.
Here, too, the population lived off stored food and whatever game
could be taken.
The winter quarters of the Shoshone were more secure from enemy
attack, however, than were those of the Bannock. The only hostile
tribe to enter southern Idaho with any frequency was the Blackfoot.
They pressed their attacks vigorously, especially against the Bannock,
and were a subject of some wonder owing to their practice of sending
out war parties in the middle of winter. Blackfoot war parties,
consisting only of men, frequently came south from Montana before the
passes were closed by the winter snows and made camp on Henry's Fork,
near the present site of St. Anthony, Idaho. From this convenient
point they sent small raiding parties against the Bannock camps. The
main purpose of these raids was to capture horses, which were driven
north to the Blackfoot country when the passes opened in the spring.
Although the Bannock were kept on the defensive, they were not the
helpless prey of the Blackfoot. Defensive tactics were frequently too
late, for the enemy drove off horses surreptitiously by night, but
counterraids were made and pursuit was given in return. The Blackfoot
occasionally pressed their raids farther downstream and entered the
Portneuf Valley, but such forays were less frequent. Historical
records, however, mention Blackfoot raids in Yellowstone Park and
Jackson Hole and as far south as the valleys of the Green and Bear
rivers and Great Salt Lake.
When spring arrived the winter camp broke up and both Shoshone and
Bannock split up into small groups, each of which went their separate
ways. Hunting was the first undertaking after breaking up winter camp.
The spring hunt was usually conducted in Idaho rather than in more
distant places, since most people wished to return later in the spring
for salmon fishing at Glenn's Ferry. Small parties of only a few
lodges each roamed through the mountains of Caribou County, Idaho, in
search of deer and elk, while others went southwards into the Bear
River and Bear Lake country. Chub were caught in Bear River, and duck
eggs were gathered and ducks killed in the marshes at the north end of
Bear Lake. During the spring wanderings, roots were dug also.
The route to Bear River went through much the same country as modern
U.S. Highway 30 N. Parties ascended the Portneuf River and crossed the
divide to the Bear River at the site of Soda Springs. They continued
south on the Bear River to Montpelier. Those who did not intend to
return for salmon but wished to visit the Eastern Shoshone ascended
the Bear River to Cokeville and Sage and crossed the Bear River
Divide, passing the fossil-fish beds en route.
As has been mentioned, not all the Shoshone and Bannock went to
Glenn's Ferry to take salmon; those who did went in small groups
rather than in a body. Parties followed the Snake River down to
Glenn's Ferry, where they fished with harpoons. The Fort Hall people
apparently did not make fish weirs. The weirs were usually the work of
the winter population of the salmon areas, but one informant stated
that the Bannock shared in the catch.
Some Bannock continued downstream past Glenn's Ferry and fished in the
Bruneau River, while others went to the Boise and Weiser rivers. Trade
was conducted with the Nez Perce in the Weiser Valley; informants did
not believe that the Bannock or the Shoshone took part in the trade
with the Columbia River tribes in the Grand Ronde Valley in
northeastern Oregon. This trade was, however, before the memories of
any of our informants (or of their fathers).
At the conclusion of the spring salmon run, the scattered camp grounds
of Fort Hall Shoshone and Bannock went to Camas Prairie, where they
dug camas, yamp, and other roots and fattened their horses for the
fall hunt. Roots could also be dug in other areas, like the Weiser
Valley and the plains and foothills near Fort Hall, and some families
did not go to Camas Prairie.
In most years Camas Prairie served as the marshalling grounds for the
annual buffalo hunt. On these occasions, Bannock and mounted Shoshone
of the Fort Hall area joined forces. While it is possible that these
groups combined also with the Lemhi Shoshone for the buffalo hunt, we
could obtain no corroboration of this grouping from informants.
Informants generally stated that the buffalo party was composed
chiefly of Bannock and was led by the Bannock chief. While many Fort
Hall Shoshone took part, most hunted elk, moose, and deer on the
western side of the Continental Divide. Furthermore, some Bannock did
not take part in the hunt and similarly hunted in Idaho and
southwestern Wyoming.
It should be noted that information on the entry of Shoshone or
Bannock groups into the buffalo grounds of Montana occurs very early
in the historical period in the reports of Lewis and Clark, and also
very late in this period. It is true that there is little pertinent
historical data on southwestern Montana, but there is a distinct
possibility that the Shoshone and Bannock did not cross the Divide
annually. Buffalo were found on the upper Snake River prairie until
about 1840, and the presence of the Blackfoot in Montana made ventures
there risky. It is noteworthy that in the early reservation period the
Bannock crossed the Divide into the Big Horn drainage in company with
the Eastern Shoshone; the trip through Green River and thus to Wind
River was not by any means the shortest route to the buffalo country.
On the other hand, informants gave highly detailed information on the
trail to the Montana buffalo grounds and showed detailed traditional
knowledge of it. Without more continuous historical data such as is
available on transmontane hunting patterns in Wyoming, any question of
historical changes in hunting itineraries must remain open.
From Camas Prairie, contemporary informants say, the buffalo party
skirted the southern end of the Sawtooth Mountains and went up the
Little Lost River, crossing over to the Lemhi River. They then
traveled down the Lemhi and across the Divide via Lemhi Pass.
Descending the east side of the mountains, the buffalo party arrived
on the Beaverhead River at a point close to Armstead, Montana. They
then traveled down the Beaverhead past Twin Bridges to the point where
the Beaverhead becomes the Jefferson River and thence downstream to
the Three Forks of the Missouri. One informant said that the
Beaverhead Valley contained buffalo in earlier times, but by the
period preceding the treaty it was necessary to go much farther east.
From Three Forks, Montana, the buffalo route followed the present line
of U.S. Highway 10 through Bozeman and over Bozeman Pass. The party
pressed eastwards until it arrived in the country called Buffalo Heart
by the Bannock because a near-by mountain supposedly had the shape of
a buffalo heart; this was the fall and winter hunting grounds of the
Idaho Shoshone and Bannock. It was near the Yellowstone River between
Big Timber and Billings, Montana, though the migratory habits of
buffalo and buffalo hunters would dictate considerable movement within
the region.
The buffalo hunters remained to the west of the Bighorn River and,
presumably, they did not encroach too heavily upon the Crow. While the
Crow considered the Eastern Shoshone enemies, we have no information
on hostilities between them and the Idaho people. The Bannock actually
camped with the Crow in the late 1860's and early 1870's.
To return to the route to the buffalo country, some alternate trails
must be noted. After leaving Camas Prairie the party sometimes passed
through Arco and Idaho Falls, Idaho, and then headed north over the
Divide, via Monida Pass. They followed Red Rock Creek down to its
confluence with the Beaverhead and followed the previously described
trail.
Also, the buffalo party did not always reach Bozeman Pass via the
Three Forks of the Missouri. The alternate route crossed from the
Beaverhead River to the Madison River via Virginia City. The party
continued down the Madison a short distance and then went east to
Bozeman where the trail joined the one already outlined. There were
undoubtedly several other routes that are no longer remembered by
informants.
The buffalo hunt was conducted by much the same techniques as already
described for the Eastern Shoshone. Two scouts were sent out to
report upon the presence of buffalo, and the party surrounded and
pursued the herd as a group. No police societies to prevent hunting by
individuals were reported by our Idaho Shoshone and Bannock
informants, nor is there historic evidence of the institution. Guns,
spears, and the bow and arrow were used.
Meat was jerked and dried on the plains and the slain buffalo were
skinned and their hides dried. When as much of these commodities as
the pack horses could carry was accumulated, the party struck out for
home. Owing to the great distance between the Snake River Valley and
the buffalo country, winter usually overtook the party en route. If
the passes were still open when the hunters reached the Divide, they
went into winter quarters on the Snake River. If the heavy snows
caught the party while still far from the mountains, they kept
traveling slowly westward and attempted to encamp in one of the well
wooded and sheltered valleys on the east side of the Divide. When the
passes opened in the spring, they crossed into Idaho.
During the winter the party subsisted upon the dried buffalo meat and
whatever game could be killed. An important product of the hunt, the
most important according to one informant, was the buffalo hides from
which tipis and robes were made. Since there was no spring hunt and
other game was plentiful in eastern Idaho and western Wyoming in the
fall, the hides may well have been the primary attraction of the
buffalo country.
Those Shoshone and Bannock who did not follow the buffalo party
carried on the fall hunt in southeastern Idaho, northern Utah, and
western Wyoming. The elk and deer hunted could best be taken by small
groups, hence hunting parties were not large and communal techniques
were not necessary. Also, since these animals were scattered
throughout the region and did not travel in the huge herds
characteristic of the buffalo, the population had to spread out
accordingly. Somewhat larger groups gathered to hunt antelope, but
these were temporary aggregations. The actual size of the fall hunting
groups is uncertain. One informant said that each consisted of about
fifteen tipis, while another said that groups of two to four tipis
were common. These smaller camp groups were known as _nanogwa_. Their
size was said to have made them more vulnerable to attack than the
somewhat larger concentrations.
Some locales were known to have a plentiful supply of certain game
animals. Caribou County in southeastern Idaho was considered good for
deer hunting, while Jackson Hole and Yellowstone Park were noted for
elk. The arid highlands of southwestern Wyoming abounded in antelope.
Of course, all of these areas contained other types of game, and wild
vegetables could be obtained in all.
The fall hunt began at the end of August or in early September when
the game was growing fat. Some parties went from Camas Prairie to
Jackson Hole and Yellowstone via Idaho Falls and the Snake River. The
route used was much the same as that followed by U.S. Highway 26. One
informant spoke of Targhee Pass and West Yellowstone, Idaho, as being
a point of entry to and departure from the Yellowstone country. The
Snake River Trail was more commonly used to enter Jackson and
Yellowstone, although West Yellowstone seems to have been more
frequently traveled on the homeward journey. The west slope of the
Tetons, the area drained by Teton River, was used also by hunting
parties.
Other Bannock and Shoshone camp groups went southward through the
Portneuf Valley and over to the Bear River at Soda Springs; they
followed the Bear River until they bore eastward to Kemmerer, Wyoming.
Most camps of the Idaho Indians remained on the west side of the Green
River. The chief game of the area was the antelope herds which were
found on affluents of the Green River, northeast of Kemmerer. The
Idaho Shoshone and Bannock were joined in the antelope hunt by the
Eastern Shoshone of Wyoming and by the Ute, some of whom crossed the
Uinta Range in early autumn for this purpose. Whether all these people
actually combined for communal hunts is uncertain. It is more probable
that small groups from each population amalgamated. Another attraction
of the Green River country was Fort Bridger, where many of the Indians
went for trade.
A few camps might remain to winter in the Green River country, but
most of them continued their hunt in other parts while returning to
winter quarters. Some camps retraced their outward route, but others
traveled northward through Star Valley in western Wyoming and thence
up the Snake River to Jackson Hole. It must be kept in mind that there
was no central camp group nor were there fixed hunting trails that
each group had to follow and that were recognized as their rightful
grounds. Camp groups could travel where they pleased and when they
pleased. Proprietary rights to hunting grounds were not recognized.
The individual camp groups changed in composition and membership
annually. A small camp of only a few tipis might consist of
consanguineally and affinally related people, but such association was
not a fixed rule. Also, a family could leave one hunting group and
join another at will.
The hunting season ended with the advent of winter. Camp groups
drifted into the previously described winter quarters and awaited
spring, when the cycle would begin again.