In a history recounting the terrible Bear River Massacre of members of the Northwestern Shoshone, Colen Sweeten, Jr. reported in the Malad Idaho Stake Centennial History Book, “Mormon settlers began to have some success in their efforts to extend the hand of fellowship and friendship to the scattered Indians. When the survivors of the battle were taken into white homes and cared for, they were able to believe that some of the whites had an interest in their welfare.“ As reported by Sweeten, LDS Church president, Brigham Young had a desire to help the Indians, and on numerous occasions had appealed to Chief Washakie to let the Church help his people learn to farm and make a better living for their families. On November 6, 1854, President Young sent a letter to the great Shoshone chief, stating in part, “I think it is a poor plan for the Shoshone to scatter so much and roam about in such small parties. This plan exposes you more to the attacks of your enemies. I also think it unwise for you to depend entirely upon hunting and fishing for living, for game is often scarce and often hard to be caught, and in such cases you suffer from hunger and sometimes starve. Now I would like to see your people collect into large bands and begin to cultivate the earth that you may not starve when you are unfortunate in hunting.” And further, “I hope that you will understand that I am your friend and brother and that I desire to do you all the good I can.” Another letter was sent by President Young in 1865 to offer Chief Washakie an opportunity to educate the children of his people. In his article, Colen Sweeten indicated that the prospects of becoming farmers instead of hunting for game didn’t appeal to many of the Indians; however, about twenty years later they started to see the value in President Young’s counsel. 

George W. Hill made great progress in making friends with the Indians. In 1873, Mr. Hill received a letter from President Brigham Young requesting that he come to Salt Lake City to meet with him. At that time, President Young indicated to Hill that “he had had a load resting on his shoulders for some time and he had been unable to shake it off”. He told Hill that he was giving the load to him and it would be his load from that time forth. At that time George W. Hill was given charge of the Indian Mission. Hill took his responsibility seriously and went about teaching the LDS gospel to the Indians, raised the Indian standard of living and helping them to become more self-sustaining. He attempted to locate the Indians at several locations prior to Washakie, always along the Bear River – in Franklin, Idaho and near Bear River City, Utah. 

According to Mae Timbimboo Parry, the area in the vicinity of Promontory and Corinne, Utah, had been an ancestral place of the Shoshone where they spent the winter seasons. This area now became more of a permanent settlement. At this time many of the Indians were becoming members of the LDS Church as missionaries and friends of the Indians had befriended, baptized, and were teaching the Indian people how to farm and to become self-sufficient. Many of the male tribal members had gained some farming experience from working as hired hands for some of the area’s white farmers. In 1875 the Shoshone began farming, raising wheat, pumpkins, melons, corn and potatoes in this area in the Bear River Valley. Sadly, however, the Shoshone would not be permitted to harvest their crops. As quoted by Mae Parry, “The Shoshone were informed by some white friends that the Corinne Telegrapher and an unscrupulous group of Corinne workers were plotting to get them removed from their farming area. The group was spreading a false rumor that the Shoshone were preparing to attack the town of Corinne and reported this baseless rumor to the military stationed at Fort Douglas (Utah). The military, in turn, sent a contingent of soldiers to Corinne to investigate.” George Hill intervened in behalf of the Indians but the order was made by the military that the Indians must leave. Before leaving the settlement, it is recorded that Chief Sagwitch Timbimboo asked, “What have I stolen? Who have I killed? What meanness have I done…” 

Brigham H. Madsen wrote in his book, Northern Shoshone, “Except for a few isolated families, the expulsion from the Corinne area marked the end of large groups of Northwestern Shoshone gathering annually at the mouth of the Bear River. Most found a home at Fort Hall from then on. The remainder, almost three hundred, remained faithful converts to Mormonism and began to prosper as the church helped them learn the arts of civilization.” Again, the Shoshone started another settlement in Elwood, Utah, with the continued help of George W. Hill and a young missionary by the name of Isaac Zundell. These men, and others who cared for the Indians helped them to homestead land in this area. However, misfortune again came to the band of Indians when grasshopper infestations took their crops.  

At this time the Indians scattered around the Bear River Valley, farming and filing more homesteads. Many wanted to become U.S. citizens. In a book, Shoshone a Blessed People, compiled by Ross Rudd, it states, “In the spring of 1876 some of the Indians filed under the homestead act on land seven miles north of Bear River City between the Bear River and the Malad River. They planted a number of acres of grain intended for dry farming; they also had a ditch surveyed on which they commenced work, the water to be taken from the Malad River. In 1877 George W. Hill was released from local affairs and appointed to travel in a more universal way, while Isaac E.D. Zundell was appointed to take local charge as president of the Indian Mission. Others were called to take their families and settle among the Indians to teach them industries. This new location became known as the Malad Indian Farm.” Zundell was informed that the plan to use the water from the Malad River would not work, as the water was not suitable for irrigation so the work on the canal was abandoned. 

In February 1878, Moroni Ward and several other families were called to settle among the Indians on the Malad Indian Farm. They immediately went to work, building a “Mission House” and several smaller lumber dwellings. Most of the Indians lived in lodges or tents pitched around the Mission House. In 1880 the LDS Church purchased from the M & M Association of Brigham City 1760 acres of land. This area became the home of the Northwestern Band of Shoshone Indians for the following eighty years. The settlement was named after the respected Shoshone leader Washakie. The following year, additional land was purchased and some of the buildings and a granary located on the M & M property were moved about two miles north to the new site, which was to become the permanent settlement of Washakie. Other land was later purchased and added to the farm. 

Mae Parry indicates, “Under the direction of Isaac Zundell, Alexander Hunsaker, and Moroni Ward, the Shoshone at Washakie began to make some real progress. A canal carrying water from springs in Samaria, Idaho, had been started by farmers from nearby Portage. The LDS church acquired part ownership in the project for use on the Washakie farm. Shoshone Indians from the community pitched in and were responsible for much of the construction of the canal, which was to bring water to Washakie for irrigation of farm crops. The canal remains in use today. A sawmill and lumber business also was started.” Parry reports that the first sawmill in the area was built by the Shoshone in the mountains near Samaria, Idaho. Other reports indicate the mill was in the mountains east of Washakie and that this sawmill was moved to the Elkhorn area of Idaho (referring to Indian Mill). Parry goes on to relate that the Shoshone worked hard operating the sawmills with profits being reinvested into machinery. Wood products were sold throughout the entire area. The sawmill(s) burned to the ground under suspicious circumstances. In need of building materials, a brick kiln was erected at the Washakie settlement. The Indians made and baked bricks in their kiln and some Shoshone became carpenters and bricklayers. Two large multi-level brick homes were the first to be built entirely by the Indians under the guidance of their white leaders. 

The documents of Ross Rudd indicate that in 1879 an agent from the Sidney Stevens Implement Company of Ogden called on Bishop Zundell to explain the operation of a new machine for harvesting. The new machine was called a header. Zundell met with his counselors and some of the leading Indians in a council meeting. As the machine would cost several hundred dollars, the question arose as to how to finance the purchase, but there were unable to reach a decision. When they met again the next morning, Bishop Zundell said, “I am of the opinion we should place an order for the header. I am sure ways of raising sufficient money will come to all concerned in this recommendation.” The order was placed a short time afterward. In the meantime, a cattle agency brought about 3000 head of cattle to graze on the river bottoms and hills west of the Malad River. The next day the cattle boss discovered 150 head of cattle dead and others dying. He called on Isaac Zundell to come and examine the dead animals. After a careful examination, Zundell pulled a few bluebells and showed them to the cattlemen and said, “The roots of these flowers are poison to cattle and are the cause of the death of your cattle.” Zundell assisted the men in driving the cattle from that locality, and as they parted the cattle boss, Knolton, said to Zundell, “If the hides of these animals are of any value to you and your people, you are welcome to them.” Isaac Zundell returned and gathered a group of Indians. The cattle were skinned and the hides dried and taken to the Brigham City Tannery. From the sale of the hides, enough money was received to pay for the header. Moroni Ward operated the header, the first one in Box Elder County. 

The Shoshone at Washakie acquired land in their own names under three separate acts of Congress. Under the Citizens Homestead Act of May 30, 1862, four Shoshone residents of Washakie acquired homesteads. Under the Winnebago Act of 1881, twenty-seven Shoshone acquired land. Under the Indian Homestead Act of 1884, twenty-five-year trust patents were issued by the United States in trust for six additional Shoshone residents. Three other allotments of an unknown type also were issued, for a total of forty allotments for Washakie residents. The Indians also purchased a herd of sheep and raised sheep for several years. It has been reported that at one time the herd numbered several thousand head. Profit from the sale of wool and lambs enabled the people to buy additional farm machinery and equipment. The sheep project came to an end in 1877 when 50 percent of the herd was lost due to an exceptionally hard winter. During that year also, the store was accidentally destroyed by fire. Another store was built by Isaac Zundell and Lorenzo Hunsaker, which after changing hands also burned to the ground in 1891. After that time there was no store in Washakie.  

The Mission House on the lower farm was torn down and was used to help build a meetinghouse in 1881, and in 1882, just two years after settling the village of Washakie, a school was established. Parry reports that the first teacher was James J. Chandler. The first lessons taught to the Indian students were very elementary. Chandler taught the students nursery rhymes and simple songs, possibly to acquaint them with the English language. The students learned to read from a primer and to write their names. Students ranged in age from quite young to young adults. In the 1920s a new Washakie school building was erected. It was an improvement over the old white church building which until this time had served for school classes. The building had one large room with modern desks as well as two storage rooms and living quarters for the schoolteachers. Many windows were built into the schoolroom, and a large bookcase where all of the books were kept was built into one wall. For the first time swings, slides, and other playground equipment were brought in and the younger children welcomed a sandbox. First through eighth grades were now taught in the school. 

The Indians continued to prosper and progress at Washakie. Almost all were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and lived the United Order until approximately 1889. During the building of the Logan LDS Temple, the Indians of Washakie worked in groups, with five to ten males moving with their families to Logan where they pitched their teepees just east of the temple and worked for one month. When they came home another group was sent to Logan. On February 12, 1889, the Washakie Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was transferred from the Box Elder Utah Stake to the newly organized Malad, Idaho Stake. Isaac E.D. Zundell served as bishop of the Washakie Ward until 1890 when Moroni Ward was called. He served as Bishop until 1901, and then his son, George M. Ward served as bishop until 1929. Joseph Parry from the Malad First Ward was called to serve as bishop from 1929 to 1939 (Mae Timbimboo married his son, Grant). On January 22, 1939, Moroni Timbimboo, the first Indian bishop for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was called to serve. He served as bishop until March 11, 1945.  

In 1881 there were 300 Indians, mostly Shoshone and mostly members of the LDS Church living in Washakie. From 1881 there began a steady decline in the number of inhabitants at Washakie with the largest coming during World War II when young men went into the service and others residents moved because of the jobs opening up in defense work. Colen H. Sweeten noted that since the days of George W. Hill, the goal of the Church leaders and farm managers remained the same—to provide employment and training for the Indians and to help them become self-sustaining. The population dwindled until there were very few Indians left on the project. Sweeten states, “While this may look like failure to the uninformed, it is just the opposite. It taught them and helped them get out on their own, support their own families, and find a place in the white community. That has been the goal from the start.” on December 31, 1959, only three Shoshone Indians were working on the project. 

Unfortunately, the relationship with the LDS Church ended with bad feelings on the part of some of the Indians. Mae Parry relates, “During the summer of 1960 most of the remaining dilapidated homes of the Shoshone, which appeared to be abandoned but were not, were burned to the ground in preparation for the sale of the church farm. Some Shoshone families had possessions in the homes such as appliances, bedding, and personal papers that were burned. This action resulted in bitter recriminations from some of the Shoshone, who believed the LDS church had defaulted on a promise that Washakie and the use of the farm would be there for the Shoshone in perpetuity. A relationship which began in 1874 had ended.” On November 24, 1960, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints disposed of the Washakie farm. The farm was sold to the Peterson brothers of Roy, Utah, to become a privately owned large cattle ranch. In a gesture of compassion for the Washakie residents, the Northwestern Shoshone Band was given 184 acres of land purchased by the LDS church in the vicinity of Washakie. This land was donated to the tribe as trust lands to fulfill the federal requirement enabling residents to receive government aid. 

However, as Colen Sweeten relates, “Washakie will always be an important place in history. There stands the little brick church where Moroni Timbimboo served a the first Indian bishop in the LDS church. A short distance west of the building is a slight ridge where his grandfather, Chief Sagwitch Timbimboo, a survivor of the battle of the Bear River is buried along with some 200 later Indian graves. Surely the settlement of Washakie, Utah, will be known as the turning point in the lives of many “Shoshone Indians.”