Shoshoni Frontier and Bear River Massacre

By Brigham Madsen

In January 1863 over two hundred Shoshoni men, women, and children died on the banks of the Bear River at the hands of volunteer soldiers from California. Bear River was one of the largest Indian massacres in the Trans-Mississippi West, yet the massacre has gone almost unnoticed as it occurred during a time when national attention was focused on the Civil War, and the deaths of the Shoshoni Indians in a remote corner of the West was of only passing interest. Bear River was the culmination of events from nearly two decades of Indian-white interaction. The Shoshoni homelands encompassed a huge expanse of territory and were traversed by the main paths of western travel, forcing Indian-white encounters. Initially friendly and accommodating to white travelers in the 1840s, by the late 1850s resentment soared among the Indians as they were killed and their food stocks were consumed by emigrants and their livestock. The process of white appropriation of Indian lands reached crisis proportions in the Far West and Great Basin before it did on the Great Plains. In the historiography of western Indians, few have appreciated the role of tribes inhabiting the regions of along the Oregon and California Trails. Madsen makes a compelling argument that precedents were established that were followed again and again on subsequent western Indian frontiers, offering a new view of early encounters in the Trans-Mississippi West. This detailed narrative of the events and conflicts that culminated in the massacre remains the definitive account of this bloody chapter in United States-Native American relations.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874804949
• ISBN13: 9780874804942
• Release Date: October 1985
• Publisher: University of Utah Press
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

Shoshoni Frontier & Bear River Massacre

I am the ggGrandson of Preston Thomas, the first LDS Bishop of Franklin. I have been studing the massacre for some time now, of course, with emphasis on what the pioneer's role was in the whole ordeal. This book is very well done and is basically "the bible" by which any other book's subject matter is drawn from. It very well brings out the clash of cultures that was bound to happen sooner than later.

This is the landmark Non fiction book on this subject

Madsen has done the landmark book for western history afficionados, as well as for historians who want to delve into documentation on the Bear River Massacre.His impeccable research, with enough depth for scholars,seemingly has a view towards the eye of the average reader as well.Anyone who wants a feel for this tragic chapter in Native History, with plenty of heavily footnoted documentation, will find Madsens book a great addition to their research library. I recommend it highly!Rebekah Fawn Cochran- AUTHOR- Echoes of a Silent River