Land area
Reservation of the Western Shoshoni in Nevada (area 422)
- 1859
Set aside as a reservation
In the record
Set apart in 1859 by agent Jarvis, not by treaty, as a reserve at Ruby Valley, Nevada, for the Western Shoshoni; not a cession. The area covers about 23 thousand acres in what is now Nevada.
The 1899 record names Shoshone (Shoshoni) as the people of this land.
This area was not ceded. The 1899 record shows it as a reservation the nation kept, at least until the record ends in 1894.
Today, Eastern Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming, Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation and Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada (Four constituent bands: Battle Mountain Band; Elko Band; South Fork Band; and Wells Band) carry the history of the people named here.
Written from the records linked here; open any of them for its sources.
Shapes come from C. C. Royce’s 1899 maps as georeferenced by the US Forest Service. They are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land. Royce recorded land the United States treated as ceded; the shape does not show a nation’s territory.
Who is doing the work
This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:
- Eastern Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming
- Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation
- Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation
- Duckwater Shoshone Tribe
- Ely Shoshone Tribe of Nevada
- Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation, Nevada
- Yomba Shoshone Tribe of the Yomba Reservation, Nevada
Land return and Native-led work nearby
- Tule River Indian Tribe Nation government 17,030 acres (Yowlumne Hills) with tule elk reintroduction, Oct 2025
- Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California Nation government WélmeltiɁ Preserve (10,274 acres), held by the Waší·šiw Land Trust (tribal)
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Connections
Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.
Nations named for this land 3
- Shoshone (Shoshoni)as named in the 1899 recordsuggested
- Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada (Four constituent bands: Battle Mountain Band; Elko Band; South Fork Band; and Wells Band)matched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Western Shoshone (Newe)matched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
Located in 1
Sources
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1859-10-05primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1859-10-05primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Nevada (Library of Congress)primary record
- USDA Forest Service, Tribal Lands Ceded to the United States (digitized Royce maps)reference work
The record’s fields
- Area number in the 1899 record
- 422
- Dates in the 1899 record
- 1859-10-05
- Kind of instrument
- Treaty or agreement
- Peoples as named in the 1899 record
- Western Shoshoni
- States
- NV
- Counties
- Elko
- Map sheets in the 1899 record
- Nevada
- Geometry
- Approximate shape from Royce’s 1899 maps
Research notes
geometry_role is 'cession' for every USFS feature: no field in the source distinguishes cessions from reservations.
- Kind
- Land area
- Confidence
- Medium