Sheepeater Band of Shoeshone

United States

Indigenous Peoples of the US

Shoshone Tribes

Idaho

Indigenous Peoples of Idaho

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History

The Sheepeater Indians are a part of the Shoshone Tribe and were also known as the Mountain Shoshone. Their name may have come from the fact that they were hunters and eaters of Rocky Mountain sheep.

The Mountain Shoshone or Sheepeaters were located in the Yellowstone and northern Rocky Mountains along the Idaho-Montana border. Some of them settled in the Lemhi Valley near Tendoy, Idaho. A reservation was established for them in 1875, called the Lemhi Reservation, and approximately 700 Shoshone, Sheepeater, and Bannock were placed on that reservation.

The Lemhi Reservation was never very successful and in 1906, 474 Native Americans from the Lemhi Reservation were moved to Fort Hall Reservation in eastern Idaho. Some of the Shoshone, especially those under Chief Tendoy remained in the central Idaho area near Salmon. Chief Tendoy died in May 1907 and was buried near Tendoy, Idaho.

Reservations

Lemhi Reservation

Additional References

A brief history of the Sheepeater and the Sheepeater Indian War of 1879 is available online.

Bands and Groups of Sheepeaters

• Chief Tendoy's Band

Records

The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:

• Allotment records
• Annuity rolls
• Census records
• Correspondence
• Health records
• Reports
• School census and records
• Vital records

Many of the records of the Sheepeaters, 1875-1906, are included in the records of the Lemhi Reservation. Subsequent records mostly are at the Fort Hall Reservation, where many of the descendants of the early Sheepeaters now live.

There is also an Indian burial ground on a bench near Tendoy, Idaho.

Correspondence and Census

Tribe	Agency	location of Original Records	Pre-1880 Correspondence M234 RG 75 Rolls 962 Roll Number	FHL Film Number	Post-1885 Census M595 RG 75 Rolls 693 Roll Number	FHL Film Number
Sheepeater	Lemhi Agency, 1885, 1887-1906	Seattle	-	-	248	FHL Film: 576937

Important Websites

"Sheepeater Indian War" article in Wikipedia.

Bibliography

Tribe

• Dominick, David. "The Sheepeaters." Annals of Wyoming, Vol. 36, No. 2 (1964), pp. 131-168.

Family History Library