[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 96 (Thursday, June 26, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H6257-H6258]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         HONORING THE NORTHWESTERN BAND OF THE SHOSHONE NATION

  (Mr. BISHOP of Utah asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, headquartered in my hometown 
of Brigham City, Utah, and located throughout northern Utah and 
southern Idaho, and specifically to pay tribute to this tribe as it 
enters a new chapter in its history.
  For more than 1,500 years, the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone 
Nation has cared for much of the land that consumes my district as well 
as the districts of my colleagues in Idaho and Nevada. Last month, the 
Shoshones took ownership of a portion of the land along the Bear River 
in Idaho where as many as 380 of their ancestors were killed by the 
U.S. Cavalry on January 29, 1863. The Bear River Massacre, as it is 
called, was the worst slaughter of Native Americans west of the 
Mississippi, with an estimate of double the number of deaths of those 
at Wounded Knee. Now, for the first time in its history, 26 acres where 
so many Shoshones perished will be treated as the sacred burial ground 
that it is. In a solemn and very moving ceremony, the Northwestern Band 
of the Shoshone Nation was able to perform burial rites for the men, 
women and children who died on that site 140 years ago. Mr. Speaker, 
today I wish to honor those members of this tribe who gave their lives 
on that day in 1863.
  I also want to commend the efforts of the tribe, the American West 
Heritage Center, and the Trust for Public Lands for working together to 
bring closure to this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Northwestern Band of the 
Shoshone Nation, headquartered in my hometown of Brigham City, Utah, 
and located throughout Northern Utah and Southern Idaho, and to pay 
tribute to this tribe as it celebrates a new chapter in its history.
  For more than 1,500 years, the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone 
Nation has cared for much of the land that makes up my district--and 
the districts of my colleagues from Idaho and Nevada. Last month, the 
Northwestern Shoshones took ownership of a portion of the land along 
the Bear River in Idaho where as many as 380 of their ancestors were 
killed by the U.S. Cavalry on January 29, 1863. The Bear River 
Massacre, as it

[[Page H6258]]

is called, was the worst slaughter west of the Mississippi of Native 
Americans, with estimates of the dead nearly double those of Wounded 
Knee, South Dakota. Now, for the first time in its history, 26 acres 
where so many Shoshones perished will be treated as the sacred burial 
ground that it is. In a solemn and moving ceremony, the Northwestern 
Band of the Shoshone Nation was able to perform burial rites for the 
men, women, and children who died on that site over 140 years ago. Mr. 
Speaker, today I wish to honor those members of the tribe who gave 
their lives on that day in 1863.
  I want to commend the efforts of the tribe, the American West 
Heritage Center, and the Trust for Public Lands for working together to 
bring closure to this episode in our nation's history. Their goal is to 
obtain a total of 150 acres so that the Bear River Massacre site can be 
turned into a memorial. This story, along with the tribe's history and 
culture, will be preserved and shared with the public at the nearby 
American West Heritage Center in Wellsville, Utah, which is also 
located in my district.
  Mr. Speaker, for the benefit of our colleagues, I am also submitting 
an article for the Record from a Salt Lake newspaper, which details the 
history of this site. I commend the past and current Shoshone 
leadership for their vision and efforts.

               [From the Salt Lake Tribune, Feb. 4, 2003]

                          This Hallowed Ground

       It never made any sense to call what happened at Idaho's 
     Bear River 140 years ago a ``battle.'' When soldiers based in 
     Salt Lake City went on a mad rampage and killed at least 250 
     men, women and children of the Northwestern Shoshone tribe on 
     Jan. 29, 1863, it was a massacre.
       And it still makes no sense that the site of that blot on 
     our shared history is not officially designated as a national 
     historic site.
       Descendants of the Northwestern Shoshone see the historic 
     significance of the place, and so does the National Park 
     Service. But, while the site near Preston in southeastern 
     Idaho drew a small crowd of devoted friends to mark 
     Wednesday's anniversary of the horrible event, what happened 
     there remains something that has been largely air-brushed, 
     Stalin-like, from our official memory.
       The stumbling block, apparently, is that Idaho Sen. Larry 
     Craig has for eight years been bottling up a resolution to 
     create a $14 million Bear River National Historic Site and 
     Visitors Center. Craig says the park service has more 
     immediate needs and, given the constant scuffle within all 
     federal agencies for adequate funding, it is true that not 
     every idea for a new national historic site can be fulfilled.
       But the Bear River massacre is important enough that it 
     needs to be burned into our collective memory. It was one of 
     the earliest and one of the bloodiest encounters between 
     Native Americans and European settlers in the Far West. Its 
     memory has been kept alive by the tireless efforts of a few 
     Shoshone, most notably Utah's Mae Timbimboo Parry, efforts 
     that themselves deserve to be chronicled at an official 
     historic site.
       As the United States gears up to mark the 200th anniversary 
     of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery, with proper notice 
     given to their Shoshone guide Sacagawea, now would be the 
     proper time to note this terribly sad bit of fallout from 
     that courageous expedition. The extra amount of attention 
     that will be focused on Lewis and Clark should be used to 
     earn support from historians, Congress, foundations and the 
     general public to properly mark the site of the Bear River 
     Massacre and formally mourn those who died there.
       The place of the Bear River Massacre is a national historic 
     site, whether we say so or not.
       We should say so.

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