Utah State University’s Special Collections and Archives will soon become the new home of the Shoshone Nation’s historical collection.
Darren Parry is chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshones.
After many died in the Bear River Massacre in 1863, he said they were the only band that chose not to go to a reservation and that the government allowed not to go.
“Almost all of the survivors ended up being baptized into the (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) in 1873,” Parry said. “Because of that, we kind of assimilated into the culture. There was a farm established for us at Washakie, just north of Tremonton, and from 1885 until 1960 our people lived there. They were taught the agricultural lifestyle.”
The Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nation became a federally recognized tribe on April 29, 1987, separate from other bands of Shoshones.
Parry said tribal enrollment of the Northwestern Band numbers 539. Nearly all of them live in southern Idaho and northern Utah, with few members scattered throughout the United States.