Bear River Massacre - The story of Sokopee

As you drive through the peaceful valley north of Preston, Idaho on the scenic US 91, you will see a lovely, peaceful valley with a beautiful river flowing through it. 

The River is beautiful and flows quietly through the valley.

Then at Milepost 13.1 you will see a roadside memorial marker, indicating a place that is now a National Historic Site (ID).  It is the site of the Bear River Massacre, also known as the Battle of Bear River and the Massacre at Boa Ogoi, took place on January 29, 1863.

There is much written on this tragic event, and much of it is slanted against the Mormon Pioneers living in the valley, mostly perhaps because they were the largest organized group that moved into the lands inhabited by the Northern Shoshone.  The Indians were facing starvation because of the lack of food and the strain of  a growing population.  Brigham Young's philosophy was, "feed them, don't fight them."   The Chief was a good man. There was a maurading band that came and stole horses and cattle from the Mormon settlers. The Chief rode north to where the small band was, chastized them for what they had done and brought the animals back. The Chief was warned by Mormon settlers of the soldiers that had arrived in town. But the Chief was not worried. "We are friends with the white man." The Mormons also told the troops that had arrived that the Indians that were in the valley were not the ones that were causing the trouble. They apparently did not care, and the evil and viciousness of this attack is beyond what the mind can conceive.

 Before dawn on the bitterly cold day of January 29, Shoshone leader Sagwich rose early to survey the area. As he looked to wards the bluffs to the south he observed what seemed to be a mist or for crawling down the bluffs across the river from the camp. Suddenly a company of soldiers on horseback appeared. The alarm was raised in the camp and the Shoshone leaders gathered to parley with the soldiers. However, upon fording the river and seeing the mass of Shoshone, the cavalry opened fire and advanced on the camp. At first they were driven back and several soldiers were killed. Eventually, regrouping and reinforced by the infantry, the soldiers attacked the encampment and what began as a battle quickly became a massacre. The creek bottom, where the Shoshone turned for protection, became instead a trap. Many who were not killed outright drowned while trying to escape in the river. The soldiers, better equipped with guns and ammunition, slaughtered the INdians in hand-to-hand combat. According to the Shoshone, Col. Conner never had any intention of negotiating with their people and arrived with the specific intention of attacking the Indians, leaving them no alternative but death and annihilation.

(double click on images to enlarge)

The bright green is the "Bear River Massacre Killing Field".  The plaque describes the battle.  The Historical Memorial was erected July 1953 by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers.  It reads:  "Attacks by the Indians on the peaceful inhabitants in this vicinity led to the final battle here January 29, 1863.  The conflict occured in deep snow and bitter cold.  Scores of wounded and frozen soldiers were taken from the battlefied to the Latter Day Saint community of Franklin.  Here Pioneer women, trained through trials and necessity of frontier living accepted the responsibility of caring for the wounded until they could be removed to Camp Douglas, Utah.  Two Indian women and three children, found alive after the encounter were given homes in Franklin."    

I wish some mention had been made that reflects the relationship between this group of American Indians and the local Mormon families.  Maybe it wasn't as good as I like to think it was... but I think it must have been better than portrayed by history.

This is a True Indian Story: a favorite story Louisa told Phoebe Wheeler. 

"It was the winter of 1860 in Franklin, Idaho and the Saints were having trouble with the Indians.  They were stealing cattle, horses, and giving plenty of trouble.  They were told if they didn't get along they would send the army, but the Indians didn't believe them, so the soldiers were sent for and they came one evening.  The Pioneers fed them and gave them a good place to sleep.  The next morning they fought with the Indians, there were eight soldiers killed and many Indians killed and wounded.  All the families in the settlement had to care for the wounded Indians.  They put them in buildings and took food, water and medicine to them. 

There were two Indians given to great-great-grandmother, Sarah Marshall.  Louisa (great-grandmother) was only 10 years old, and her brother George was 8.  It was their job to take the food and water to the 2 Indians who were in the blacksmith shop.  One of the Indians hands was shot pretty bad so he asked Grandmother if she and Uncle George would get some bark off quaken aspen tree, chokeberry tree, tag elder, and kontnick tree which they did.  They put the bark in a big clean pot and cooked it over the fire.  When it was done and cooled he put it on his hands and soon they were healed.  They kept him the rest of the winter and when spring came let him go back to his tribe.  He always called Louisa, Sockopee.

The years passed and grandmother married and had 6 children living in Frankfort on a big farm.  Martin Calvin was doing some investigating at the lower field and wanted Louisa to walk around the field with him.  There were Indians camped at the lower end of the field.  Calvin said Louisa lets walk over and see if we know any of them so they did. 

When they got to the camp, an old Indian came forward and said, "Sockopee, Sockopee."

Grandmother didn't know what he was trying to say or recognize him.

Then he held up his two scared hands and she knew he was one of the Indians she helped to care for many years before when she was a small girl, 10 years of age."

Grandmother Delilah Asay told us this story, telling abou the Indian braves that escaped the soldiers hid under the banks of the frozen river and the snow being red with blood.  Rick, has many Northern Shoshone friends, and tried to discover what Sokopee meant.  Since it is phonetic, the closest translation that makes sense is "Little mother".  In any case, this Indian used it as a term of endearment.

(click below to hear Amazing Grace in Cherokee)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvYIjFtPQEk

Dayton Idaho

Dayton Idaho at Sunset. It is a lovely place.

I love this barn. It is huge and magnificant. There was large dog barking at me all the while I was taking photos... but I would go back just to see this old barn again.

My brother Rick recently sent an internet message about Old Barns and People... it read...

"A stranger came by the other day with an offer that set me to thinking. He wanted to buy the old barn that sits out by the highway. I told him right off he was crazy... He was a city type, you could tell by his clothes, his car, his hands, and the way he talked.

He said he was driving by and saw that beautiful barn sitting out in the tall grass and wanted to know if it was for sale. I told him he had a funny idea of beauty.

Sure, it was a handsome building in its day. But then, there's been a lot of winters pass with their snow and ice and howling wind. The summer sun's beat down on that barn till all the paint's gone, and the wood has turned silver gray. Now the old building leans a good deal, looking kind of tired. Yet, that fellow called it beautiful...

That set me to thinking. I walked out to the field and just stood there, gazing at that old barn. The stranger said he planned to use the lumber to line the walls of his den in a new country home he's building down the road. He said you couldn't get paint that beautiful. Only years of standing in the weather, bearing the storms and scorching sun, only that can produce beautiful barn wood.

It came to me then.. We're a lot like that, you and I. Only it's on the inside that the beauty grows with us. Sure we turn silver gray too... and lean a bit more than we did when we were young and full of sap. The dry spells and the stormy seasons do a job of beautifying our souls that nothing else can produce. And to think how often folks holler because they want life easy!

They took the old barn down today and hauled it away to beautify a rich man's house. And I recon someday you and I'll be hauled off to take on whatever chores that are waiting for us on the Great Sky Ranch.

And I suspect we'll be more beautiful then for the seasons we've been through here... and just maybe even add a bit of beauty to our memories. May there be peace within you today. And I do sincerely thank my wonderful friends and family who care about me even though I show signs of weathering!"

Look for the beauty and good in people and things and you will find it. "Some people no matter how old they get, never lose their beauty-- they merely move it from their faces into their hearts. " --Martin Buxbeum

My husband was an Airforce Pilot. He flew B-24's out of Italy, and C-124's during the Korean War, and was in a Command Post during the Viet Nam War. During his life-time he flew over 4 Million miles. He told me he can read the sky like a map. He loved these cirrus clouds... he said they were "text book" and asked me to take a picture of the sky. I see a huge heart. This ended our lovely trip to southern Idaho.

John Boice and Mary Ann Barzee - Oxford Cemetery

The Oxford Cemetery is small, and nestled on a hill overlooking the valley. Bill and I searched and searched, looking at all the old historic looking markers, but could not find any that would be for John and Mary Ann. When I searched the computer before our trip looking for the location, the Oxford Cemetry records listed Boice? and Boice?. Not very helpful. I started searching again on the farthest and oldest part of the cemetery... looking at everything... and there it was....

If you are looking also, drive up the entrance road as far as it goes to the little maintenance shed. Follow the road to the right. The monument is located just right of the shed and flag pole.


Do you see it?

Who would have thought to look for a modern headstone. I was hoping to find remenants of a historic marker, but there may not have been one. I am grateful someone knew the location and was able to put this very nice marker so they will always be remembered and we can feel better connected.

If you look hard, you will see a flat marker behind the more ornate standing one on the front right. That's it.

John's health was not good and he was instructed to spend his time traveling, and Blessing the people, which he did. He gave Patriarchal Blessings and was instrumental in several miraculous healings. Mary Ann and John came here after leaving Spanish Fork and traveling to Kamas where they met the band of hostile Indians. They are the adoptive parents to Alfretta, the Indian baby buried in the Spanish Fork Utah Historical Cemetery.

Oxford at sunset... it is a lovely area.

Franklin Hill

This is Franklin Hill, photo taken about one mile south of Franklin. This may be very near where George and John froze. They were walking from Smithfield north to Franklin to a dance and were found along the road that was being built about a mile from town "near Franklin Hill". George Barzee and John Boice froze during a sudden winter storm.

The incident as written in Sons of God, Aroused from her Sleep, Sarah Goode Marshall, pp 242: "On the night of February 23, 1865, Grandmother awoke from her sleep startled, with howling and barking of dogs. she hastened out into the darkness of the night. As she listened she distinctly heard cries for help, rushing into the house, she went to her husbands room and found him sleeping, she woke him immediately and asked him to make an investigation, that she heard someone calling for help and that they were in distress, but he consoled himself by telling her to go back to bed, that it was only wolves howling.

The following morning, teams were sent out to break road between Franklin and Oxford (the snow being deep because of a fierce blizzard) and the men discovered the frozen bodies of my Uncle John Boice Jr. and my Great Uncle George Barzee."

They are buried together in Smithfield, Utah Cemetery.

We were told an interesting story about Franklin Hill, about an optical illusion that occurs as you are driving, a rock formation make it appear a woman is carrying a papoose into a cave. When you drive in the opposite direction, the illusion is reversed, and appears the woman is leaving the cave. We didn't happen to see it... but maybe you will.

Sarah Goode Marshall

Commissioned painting depicting Sarah (35)  in red dress, and daughter Lovina (12) in blue pulling the hand cart somewhere in Nebraska.  Daughter Selena (10) in green, Tryphena (8) in red walking behind the handcart, Louisa in blue (6) George playing in mud (4), and baby Sarah (2) riding in cart.  Maria (25) would likely be with the group and a hint of red skirt can be seen near the front right, I picture Maria there.

Sarah Goode Marshall, was converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-saints while living in Herefordshire, England. Her husband, Thomas was vehemently opposed to her association with the Church. It is said, she would walk 10 miles to hear the missionaries speak, carrying the youngest of her children. Sarah prayed for the Lord to remove the stumbling blocks from her pathway that she would be able to come to America.  "Little did I think the Lord would remove the stumbling block by the death of my husband. I was so hopeful he would embrace the gospel." Thomas died in 1854, leaving Sarah penniless. She worked for two years making kid gloves at night and as a ladies maid during the day to earn passage for herself and her children to come with the Saints to Zion.

Sarah gained passage on the ship, "Samuel Curling". They set sail on th 19th of April 1856 with a company of 707 saints. They were at sea for 36 days, living on ship rations, and arrived in Boston, May 25th. The voyage was under the direction of Captain Dan Jones. They remained in quarantine one day, observed the Sabbath, then on a Monday, proceeded to Iowa City by rail where they were outfitted for the trek to Utah. Nearly 1800 saints awaited on the banks of Clear Creek in Iowa until a sufficient number of handcarts could be constructed. It took three week to finish, and on June 23, began their historic 1,300 mile journey on the first handcart company lead by Captain Edmond Ellsworth.

S. Curling Register (double click on images to enlarge)

S. Curling Circular

The Franklin Cemetery is located about one mile south of Franklin.

The Headstone for Sarah Goode Marshall is attractive with an open book and a shawl draped over the stone. There is a Pioneer designation plaque noting her Pioneer standing.

Sarah Goode Marshall-Chadwick's grave site is located in the south-west end of the cemetery in Block 36 Lot 10.

The marker reads at the bottom: "Dearest Mother thou has left us here thy loss to deeply feel. But its God that hath bereft us. He can all our sorrows heal."

Sarah and Joseph's son William Joseph Chadwick is buried at Block 36 Lot 3 near his mother. George Marshall, Sarah and Thomas Marshall's only son is also located in this cemetery.

Joseph Chadwick and Mary Whitehead monument. His burial site is located in Block 33 Lot 1. This is a long way north of where Sarah Goode Marshall is buried... he apparently was not kind to her.

In Searach of Ancestors in Idaho

Recently, my husband Bill and I took a day trip to Southern Idaho to visit towns and cemeteries significant to the Boice (Boyce), Barzee, Marshall-Chadwick family lines.

Franklin is a very historic town in Idaho and the burial sites of Sarah Goode Marshall Chadwick, her only son, George Marshall and her husband Joseph Chadwick.

John and Mary Ann Barzee are buried in Oxford, Idaho in a very small pioneer cemetery against a hill. Dayton is the birth place of Delila May Boice Asay.

North of Preston about 2.5 miles is the location of the Bear River Massacre. Smithfield Utah is where the family lived prior to moving to Idaho and where George Barzee and his nephew John Boice are buried.

We began our small adventure in Franklin, the oldest town in Idaho and the resting place of Sarah Goode Marshall and her son George, and husband Joseph Chadwick.

There is a monument in the park in the historic section of the town that lists the early Pioneers. Sarah Marshall is listed on the monument.

The adobe brick building below is one of the first ZCMI buildings, note the "Holiness to the Lord" in the arch with a beehive. The park and monument is located to the left of this building and next to a log building which houses many Pioneer artifacts.