Bannock War

Part of the American Indian Wars

Date	1878
Location	Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming
Result	United States victory

Belligerents

United States

Bannock
Shoshone
Paiute

Commanders and leaders

Oliver Otis Howard

Buffalo Horn
Egan

Strength

900+

500

Casualties and losses

12-15

7-15

The Bannock War of 1878 was an armed conflict between the U.S. military and Bannock and Paiute warriors in Southern Idaho and Northern Nevada, lasting from June to August 1878. The Bannock-Paiute totaled about 500 warriors; they were led by Chief Buffalo Horn who was killed in action in June. After his death, Chief Egan led the Bannock. He and some of his warriors were killed in July, by an Umatilla party who entered his camp in subterfuge.

The U.S. military, consisting of the 21st Infantry Regiment and volunteers, was led by Brigadier General Oliver O. Howard. Nearby states also sent militias to the region. The conflict ended in August and September 1878, when the remaining scattered Bannock-Paiute forces surrendered; many returned to Fort Hall Reservation. The US Army forced some 543 Paiute, from Nevada and Oregon, and Bannock prisoners to be interned at Yakama Indian Reservation in southeastern Washington Territory.

The Bannock people had developed as a distinct group from the Northern Paiute nation of northern Idaho. During the 18th century, these Paiute had traveled south to the Snake River plain of present-day Idaho, attracted by the prospect of an alliance with the linguistically similar and equestrian Shoshone people. It was during this period that these Paiute became known as Bannock. The Bannocks quickly adopted the Shoshone’s equestrian culture and made other ties through intermarriage with the Shoshone. The Bannock provided increased security and population for the Shoshone, who had lost many members due to epidemics of infectious disease contracted from Europeans.

By the time the American Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived in this area of present-day southern Idaho in 1805, the Bannock-Shoshone had been trading for some time with representatives of the Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company from British Canada. They quickly opened trade with Americans for firearms and horses, as they had done with other European traders for years. The Shoshone-Bannock remained independent, despite their continued reliance on American trade. They participated in the Rocky Mountain fur trade, which ended about 1840. This era of positive cooperation with American trade declined in the 1850s, along with the fur trade, under pressure of increased migration of Euro-Americans to the Snake Valley plain. The discovery of gold in the Boise Basin and the Beaverhead country of Montana had attracted prospectors and traders, who moved through the Snake region, competing for game and water resources as they traveled. The American traders and migrants were an established presence in the Snake region by the mid-1860s, affecting a vast majority of the Shoshone-Bannock inhabitants.

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