The Bannock War was a series of conflicts in 1878 between the Bannock and Northern Shoshone tribes and the United States.

Contents 1 Background 2 Battles 3 References 4 See also

[edit] Background

The Bannock tribe was restricted to the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho by the Fort Bridger Treaty Council of 1868. The tribe was experiencing a famine as they competed with local settlers for game, and the rations provided by the U.S government were too few to support the people on the reservation. In the spring of 1878, the Bannocks and Shoshone traveled to nearby Great Camas Prairie to harvest camas roots.^[1] They discovered that settlers had grazed their hogs and livestock on the land, and many of the camas tubers had been eaten. This increased the starvation pressure on the tribes and lead to increased hostility.^[2][3]

General George Crook, a contemporary United States military officer, commented that

"...it was no surprise...that some of the Indian soon afterward broke out into hostilities, and the great wonder is that so many remained on the reservation. With the Bannocks and Shoshone, our Indian policy has resolved itself into a question of war path or starvation, and being merely human, many of them will always choose the former alternative when death shall at least be glorious."

[edit] Battles

Led by Chief Buffalo Horn the tribe left the reservation and soon joined with Northern Paiutes from the Malheur Reservation under Chief Egan and the Umatilla tribes. Chief Buffalo Horn would have known that success was highly unlikely, as he had served as a scout for General Oliver Otis Howard during the Nez Perce War the previous year. The two procured food by raiding settlements of the white settlers. The United States government of the time sent General Oliver Otis Howard to aggressively quell the raids: he achieved victory in two battles. Following a final battle in Idaho, the remaining tribe members surrendered.

[edit] References

• Zuljan, Ralph (2000). Bannock War 1878 article at OnWar.com. Retrieved 27 February 2005

[edit] See also

• Indian Campaign Medal
• Sheepeater War
• Yakima War
• Nez Perce War
• Palouse War
• Cayuse War
• Rogue River War