Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All USU Press Publications USU Press 2007 Shoshonean Peoples and the Overland Trails Dale L. Morgan Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs Part of the Indigenous Studies Commons Recommended Citation Morgan, D. L., Saunders, R. L., & Smoak, G. E. (2007). Shoshonean peoples and the overland trails: Frontiers of the Utah Superintendency of Indian Affairs, 1849-1869. Logan: Utah State University Press. This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the USU Press at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All USU Press Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Shoshonean Peoples and the Overland Trails Shoshonean Peoples and the Overland Trails Frontiers of the Utah Superintendency of Indian Aff airs 1849–1869 Dale L. Morgan Edited and Introduced by Richard L. Saunders Ethnohistorical Essay by Gregory E. Smoak Utah State University Press Logan, Utah Copyright ©2007 Utah State University Press All rights reserved Utah State University Press Logan, Utah 84322-7200 www.usu.edu/usupress Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on recycled, acid-free paper ISBN: 978-0-87421-651-6 (cloth) ISBN: 978-0-87421-667-7 (e-book) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Morgan, Dale Lowell, 1914-1971. Shoshonean peoples and the overland trails : frontiers of the Utah Superintendency of Indian Aff airs, 1849-1869 / Dale L. Morgan ; edited and introduced by Richard L. Saunders ; ethnohistorical essay by Gregory E. Smoak. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-87421-651-6 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Shoshoni Indians—Government relations. 2. Shoshoni Indians—History. 3. Shoshoni Indians—Social conditions. 4. United States. Offi ce of Indian Aff airs. Utah Superintendency— History. 5. Mormon Church—History. 6. Overland journeys to the Pacifi c. 7. Oregon National Historic Trail. 8. California National Historic Trail. I. Saunders, Richard L., 1963-II. Smoak, Gregory E., 1962-III. Title. E99.S4M65 2007 979.2004’974574—dc22 2007018534 Contents Illustrations vi Editorial Note and Acknowledgements vii Introduction 1 Dale L. Morgan and the Study of Indian Aff airs Richard L. Saunders 7 Th e Newe (the People) and the Utah Superintendency Gregory E. Smoak 33 Th e Administration of Indian Aff airs in Utah, 1851–1858 (1948) 57 Indian Aff airs on the California Trail, 1849–1860 (1949) 85 Washakie and the Shoshoni: A Selection of Documents from the Records of the Utah Superintendency of Indian Aff airs, 1850–1869 (originally in ten parts, 1953–1957) 127 Appendix: Selected Notes 395 Index 413 Illustrations Dale L. Morgan, 1952 6 Shoshoni men on horseback, ca. 1870 32 Utah Territory and the overland trails 48 Shoshoni Indians in Salt Lake City, ca. 1869–1875 56 Jacob Harrod Holeman, ca. 1840 59 Shoshone Indians, Humboldt plains, 1869 84 Changes along California Trail, 1866 124 Couple on horseback near tipi encampment, 1870 126 Chief Washakie, 1870 133 Brigham Young, ca. 1853, 1850–1857 147 James Duane Doty, 1860 271 Luther H. Mann, ca. 1870 271 Shoshoni Treaty Map prepared by Doty 318 Orsamus H. Irish, ca.1880 326 Fort Hall reservation, ca. 1863–1870 394 vi Editorial Note and Acknowledgments THIS collective work crosses both temporal and cultural lines, conse- quently, it possesses more than a few quirks. First, readers will notice the obvi- ous diff erences in spellings for tribal and personal names. Shoshoni was encoun- tered by literate people as a fully mature but unwritten language; all contempo- rary and modern spelling conventions are ultimately based on either the various transliterations by early non-native diarists and offi cials struggling to accurate- ly represent an unfamiliar language, or modern conventions facing exactly the same challenge. In modern usage the long-e of the phonetic rendition shō-shō- nē or shō-shō-nā is terminated with either an –i or –e. Th ere is no agreement on the terminal phoneme being romanized with either vowel. Linguists prefer the –i, since it avoids the common mispronunciation of making the last vowel silent (as sho-shown), while native peoples today seem to prefer the latter spelling. Nineteenth-century writers oft en split the diff erence and spelled using a dou- ble –ee. Morgan consistently used a terminal –i in his work. Acknowledging the factors behind these orthographic diff erences, Morgan’s spelling is maintained throughout his work and notes, while the introductory essays each take separate approaches. Hopefully this quirk will not be regarded as either incompetence or a slight on anyone’s part. Second, in making documentary transcriptions, Dale Morgan took great pains to maintain the oddities of spelling and punctuation of the original docu- ments, details which were carried over into the texts as edited for publication. Th ose vagaries have been maintained here, particularly in the transcripts appear- ing in “Washakie and the Shoshoni,” except where obvious (or at least probable) typographic errors were made. Th e text for this edition was produced from the printed series and was not cross-read against either his initial transcriptions or the original documents. Document headings that varied slightly between the published parts have been standardized in this edition for stylistic consistency. Th ird, writing conventions among nineteenth-century correspondents, who themselves were bound by long delays between sent and received correspon- dence, relied upon temporal terms and conventions that are arcane today. For the sake of modern readers it may be helpful to know that “P.S.,” an abbreviation for the still-understood term postscript, is properly defi ned as an addition made by a writer to a handwritten document aft er the closing signature. “N.B.,” for nota bene, is much less used today and indicates a helpful explanatory note sup- plied for the recipient by the writer. Th e dative terms ultimo, instant, and proximo vii Richard L. Saunders have fallen completely out of use. Ultimo, oft en abbreviated ult. or ulto., refers to a specifi c date in the preceding month. Instant or inst. identifi es a date within the current month, whether past or future, leaving proximo to refer to a specifi c date in the next or coming month. Th ese were important points of reference when mail schedules were measured with calendars rather than clocks. Fourth and fi nally, for this volume the editor has added a few new notes and clarifi ed or added to Morgan’s original notes, which are clearly set off by brack- ets. Th e texts of a few excessively long footnotes have been pulled from the pages and are collected as an appendix to ease reading. Th e citations in Morgan’s notes have been edited and reformatted to eliminate arcane scholarly abbreviations and convert them to current standards, so the notes will read slightly diff erently than in the original publications. Further, I chose not to include all illustrations Morgan used in “Washakie and the Shoshoni,” and a few additional appropriate images have been included. Th anks are due to James S. Morgan, Dale’s brother and executor, for per- mission to reprint his work, and to the Bancroft Library for clearance to include new material from the Jacob Holeman papers. Th anks are also due to various copyright holders for permission to include images. Dr. John Alley of USU Press jumped into the project with little more than an early tentative query and con- tributed his expertise to the bibliographic note. Dr. Daniel Howe, Maurice L. Howe’s son, read the introduction and saved readers’ attention with his critiques. Mary Frances Morrow and Tom Eisinger of the National Archives deserve a cheer for their committed public service, as do many other nameless souls for timely aid and miscellaneous services rendered. Especial thanks are off ered to the entire disciplines represented by librarians and genealogists, which in the past ten years have committed untold amounts of time and capital to scan, tran- scribe, and format thousands of pages of historic volumes and public records electronically. Th eir committed eff ort makes it possible to do detailed research on nineteenth-century Western America from the comfort of my isolated desk in rural west Tennessee. I appreciate the moral and administrative support of my former director at the Paul Meek Library, Steve Rogers, but as ever, the largest debt is owed Carrie and the brood: AnnMarie and Stephen (who have fl edged and fl own), Heidi, David, Pinkie (Rebecca), R. Dan, Missy (Marianne), and Nathan. Finally, since this is really a gathering of someone else’s work, I do not presume to insert a dedication. It is appropriate, however, to respectfully off er up this newly col- lected volume in honor of the one who introduced me to Dale Morgan’s work in a directed readings course on the fur trade back in 1984, Dr. Charles S. Peterson. Now emeritus from the history department at Utah State University, Chas edited the Western Historical Quarterly and later chaired my graduate program. viii Introduction THIS volume collects three works by Western American research historian Dale L. Morgan. In the broad fi eld of Americana, Morgan has acquired almost a cult following among the historically minded. Partly because he may be regarded as the last great amateur historian of the West, partly because his research was so thorough, partly because the period and resources in which he did his research and on which he chose to write inform so many other areas, the work of Dale L. Morgan is still cited in virtually any writing involving the early American West. As a researcher and writer, Morgan’s busy and prolifi c career provides us with a bit of a puzzle.