Bannock War The Bannock War of 1878 was an armed conflict between the U . S . military and Bannock and Paiute Tribal warriors in Southern Idaho lasting from June to August 1878 . The Bannock - Paiutes totaled about 500 warriors and were led by Chief Buffalo Horn and later Chief Egan . The U . S . military , consisting of the 21st Infantry Regiment and volunteers , was led by Brigadier General Oliver O . Howard . The conflict ended when the remaining scattered Bannock - Paiute forces surrendered in August and September 1878 . Background . The Bannock peoples originated from the Northern Paiute tribe of northern Idaho . During the 18th century these Paiutes travelled south to the Snake River Plain of Idaho , enticed by the prospect of an alliance with the linguistically similar and equestrian Shoshone peoples . It was during this period that these Paiutes became known as Bannocks . The Bannocks quickly adopted the Shoshone ’ s equestrian culture and fastened cultural ties with the Shoshones through marriage . The Bannocks , in turn , provided increased security and population for the disease - battered Shoshones . Arrival of Whites . By the time of Lewis and Clark ’ s arrival in 1805 , the Bannock - Shoshones were familiar with trading with foreign Europeans and quickly opened trade with Americans for firearms and horses , a practice they had done with other European traders safely for years . The Shoshone - Bannocks remained independent , despite their continued reliance on American trade and prosperous participation in the Rocky Mountain fur trade ending in 1840 . This era of positive cooperation with American trade declined along with the fur trade in the 1850s and the sudden migration of Euroamericans to the Snake Valley Plain . The discovery of gold in the Boise Basin and the Beaverhead country of Montana had attracted the movement of prospectors and traders through the Snake region . 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 . The Shoshone - Bannocks were dramatically influenced by arrival of Euroamericans and the rapid expansion of the trade - based economy . On a cultural level , the Euroamericans ’ s way of life challenged the values and seasonal traditions of the Shoshone - Bannocks . New practices of agriculture , livestock , and production replaced the traditional resources the Shoshone - Bannocks survived on and made the tribe dependent on Euroamerican methods and products . American leaders began to make efforts to trade the Shoshone - Bannocks for titles to the Snake River Plains in the 1860s , and the land trade brought about new infusions of migrants to the Idaho territory , specifically the Boise region of Snake Valley . In 1866 , in order to protect the Shoshone - Bannock groups in the Boise Snake Valley region from fearful and aggressive settlers , Governor Lyon created a refugee camp for a few hundred people near Boise City . The camps lack of sufficient resources forced the inhabitants to depend once again on the local settlers for work and food . Many Shoshone - Bannocks voiced the desire to be given their own reservation land . The proposed relocation challenged the Shoshone - Bannocks religious connection to the land , with their cultural practices directly dependent on local seasonal changes in the Snake Valley as well as the belief that their ancestors ’ spirits still resided in the land . Furthermore , leadership amongst the Shoshone - Bannocks was directly connected to the land these ancestors inhabited , granting the chief his position . After complex and controversial deliberation , the Shoshone - Bannock leaders and American government officials formally agreed to relocate the Boise refugees to the Fort Hall Reservation . The replacement occurred in 1869 . Life at Fort Hall . The Fort Hall reservation was a 1 . 8 million acre plot by the Upper Snake River in eastern Idaho , on the river ' s southeastern banks . The region had potential for irrigation and agriculture . Nevertheless , the Shoshone - Bannocks faced immediate survival challenges due to their subsistence - based lifestyle , a lifestyle the region did not support . The population was very dense for the land , numbering 1 , 037 in 1872 , and the Shoshone - Bannocks struggled to live by subsistence . The government provided sizable appropriations to purchase the supplies necessary to feed the community . Food crises arose during the winters of 1874 - 1875 and 1876 - 1877 , resulting from diminished game for hunters and a lack of food storages . Many Shoshone - Bannocks left Fort Hall to attempt survival on their own . Simultaneously , the 1877 Nez Perce War drove many officials to crack down on the tribe , requiring them to remain on the Fort Hall Reservation . The Bannock War of 1878 was the result of many contributing factors . The terrible conditions caused divisions within the Shoshone - Bannock communities . The Bannocks began to view the Shoshones as intruders and committed theft and other crimes against the group . Friction between the Indians and the Euroamericans increased as well , resulting in violence when Pe - tope , a Fort Hill Indian , shot and wounded two teamsters in August 1877 . Agent William Danilson , the government appointed administrator of the Fort Hall reservation at the time of the incident , pressed the tribal leaders to charge Pe - tope for the crime . In response to the crack down , a friend of Pe - tope named Nampe - yo - go killed a beef contractor for the reservation named Alexander Rhodan . Agent Danilson again called for the tribe to capture the killer but met resistance with the Shoshone - Bannocks who placed that duty on the family of Nampe - yo - go , not on the entire tribe . The violence between the Indians and the Euroamericans , the conflicts between the tribes and the subsequent actions taken by the reservation administration to crack down on the Shoshone - Bannocks resulted in the exodus of a large number of the Shoshone - Bannocks from the reservation that summer . This exodus of the Shoshone - Bannocks from Fort Hall would spark the Bannock War of 1878 . The Battles . Violence in the Camas Prairie and the Initial U . S . Military Response . In May 1878 , Chief Buffalo assembled 200 Bannock Warriors from Fort Hall at Payne ’ s Ferry on the Snake River and moved the army to the Big Camas Prairie to set up camp . At that time the region between the Big Camas Prairie and the Snake River was occupied by a few white Settlers , 2500 cattle , and 80 horses . On May 30 the first blood was shed as a result of the movement when the Bannock group , after attempting to sell a buffalo skin robe to cattle drivers on the plane , shot two of the herders . The herders , Lou Kensler and George Nesby , survived the wounds and traveled with the third member of their party , William Silvey to the nearby Baker ’ s camp . Not long after this incident another attack occurred on a camp near the Lava Beds , between the Big Camas Prairie and the Snake River , resulting in the death of another settler and the loss of the camp ’ s resources . The news of the increased violence spread to Idaho ' s state capital in Boise City . Governor Brayman notified the commander of the Military Department of the Columbia Brigadier General O . O . Howard . He mentioned in the May 30th letter to the General that he dispatched Col . Bernard ’ s cavalry from Boise to the plains just that evening as a show of force with no intent to provoke further conflict with the Bannocks . Col . Bernard ’ s cavalry met the Bannock camp on June 2 and drove them to retreat from their camp to the Lava Beds , considered by the military to be a better position for defense . The Bannock group moved west and raided Glenn ’ s Ferry and King Hill station , both on the Snake River . Next , they moved along the Snake River , killing several settlers along the way . Col . Bernard ’ s cavalry travelled by road to Rattlesnake station where they joined with more military cavalry as well as local militia volunteers from Alturas . At this time Bernard claimed that there were three hundred Bannock Warriors in the Lava Beds as well as two hundred more who had raided Glenn ’ s Ferry and King Hill Station . The Bannocks were rushing westward to meet with their Paiute allies , traveling down the Owyhee River to the Juniper Mountains and Lava Canyon . Conflicts between Military and Bannocks . The first violent conflict of the Bannock war happened on June 8 between a group of twenty - six volunteer military men from Silver City led by Captain J . B . Harber and Chief Buffalo Horn ’ s warriors . The two groups met when the volunteers caught up with the Bannocks in South Mountain , a small mining village , resulting in violent conflict and the deaths of two Silver City volunteers and several Bannocks , among them Chief Buffalo Horn . The Bannocks selected a new leader , Chief Egan , and headed to Juniper Mountain in Idaho and Steens Mountain in Oregon to meet with the Paiutes . Other state militias began sending troops , including California , Nevada , and Utah . As the Bannocks traveled westward , they continued to raid camps , resulting in the deaths of settlers and rising fear among people in Idaho and neighboring states that the violence would soon spread their way . Col . Bernard arrived in Silver City on June 9 and quickly headed out to the Jordan Valley . The troops then moved to meet the Bannocks at Steens Mountain . Col . Bernard ’ s cavalry followed Chief Egan ’ s Bannocks west into Oregon , eventually meeting them in battle on June 23 by Silver Creek . The fight resulted in the deaths of three U . S . soldiers , the wounding of three others , and an unknown number of Indian casualties . Col . Bernard moved to nearby Camp Curry to meet with General Howard on June 25 . On June 29 , nearby Canyon City was host to a skirmish between the Bannock warriors and the city ’ s volunteer militia shortly after the Silver Creek fight . Col Bernard and his cavalry of 350 arrived shortly after and secured the city . The Bannocks were now travelling towards Fox Valley , numbering between 350 and 400 , and intending to travel further north to possibly join the Cayuses and other Indian groups in that region who shared their discontent . Gen . Howard encountered the Bannocks at the junction of Butter Creek and the Columbia River on July 7 resulting in conflict . Five U . S . soldiers were injured , and one died from his wounds . The fight resulted in an unknown number of casualties on the Bannock side and their flight from the area to the southeast . The next fight occurred when Captain Miles of the Umatilla agency , a reservation near the Umatilla River and a potential ally of the Bannock band accidentally encountered a large band of Umatilla warriors . The Umatillas , feeling threatened by the increased movements of state militias around their territories rode out in defense and accidentally encountered Capt . Miles troops on July 12 . The Umatilla ’ s , who were allied with the Bannocks at first , quickly surrendered and offered to aid in the fight of the nearby Bannocks . The reason for the change of heart is contested , but it is argued the large bounty on Chief Egan ’ s head was a factor . The conflict resulted in the deaths of five Bannock warriors and their eventual flight . That night , Umatilla leaders pursued the Bannocks and killed Chief Egan and several other warriors during their attack . Another blow was dealt to the Bannock when on July 20 one of Col . Bernard ’ s battalions under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Forsyth met the Bannock forces in the canyon of the North Fork of the John Day River . The conflict did not result in many casualties but broke up the Bannocks even further and forced their hasty retreat . By July 27 , Gen . Howard ' s strategy changed from one against a united enemy to a strategy of pursuing the now fractured Bannock groups . The strategy often resulted in wandering pursuit by many army units in Idaho . Most of the concluding conflicts between the remaining bands and the military were led by Col . Miles in August and September . The rest of the Bannocks returned to the Fort Hall Reservation or pursued peaceful hunting on their own in groups . More skirmishes between the fleeing and scattered Bannocks and military forces followed , such as on August 9 in Bennett ’ s Creek by the Snake River . The Aftermath . After the Bannock War of 1878 , the American government took action to place restrictions on the movements of Fort Hall Indians in and out of the reservation . Connections with other tribal groups were restricted , as well as their ability to use local resources . Realizing that they could not retake Snake Valley through force or attempt to create alliances with other tribes , the Fort Hall Indians focused their efforts on constructing community within the reservation .