Shoshone-Bannock Subsistence and SocietyMurphy, Robert F. (Robert Francis)
History
Shoshone-Bannock Subsistence and Society
Murphy, Robert F. (Robert Francis)
Bannock Indians; Shoshoni Indians
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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