Sagwitch Timbimboo's Survival of the Bear River Massacre

During the Bear River Massacre on January 29, 1863, Sagwitch Timbimboo was shot and severely injured by soldiers under the command of Colonel Patrick Edward Connor. Despite the overwhelming loss of life among his people and his own wounds, he survived the attack, which is considered one of the greatest losses of Indigenous life in conflicts with Anglo-American forces.

Fuller account of this event (as retold in Native History: Bear River Massacre Devastates Northwestern Shoshone, ICT News):

Early in the morning of January 29, Sagwitch saw clouds of dust rising along the riverbanks, kicked up from the hooves of the soldier’s horses. Sagwitch woke the sleeping community, the men reaching for whatever weapons they had at hand. Chief Sagwitch rode his horse across the river while another man was pulled across by holding the horse’s tail. Women jumped into the water, babies on their backs drowning. One drowned baby floated down the river “among the other dead bodies and blood red ice,” according to Parry’s account.