Land area
Reservation of the Shoshoni (Western bands) in several states (area 444)
- 1863
Recognized as Native land
In the record
Defined as Western Shoshoni country by the 1863 Ruby Valley treaty; the United States took it over without formal purchase. Described territory, not a cession or reservation. The area covers about 76 million acres in what is now California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Utah.
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
- InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council Nation government Land conservation and return of coastal Sinkyone lands to tribal stewardship (nearly 5,000 acres protected) Give on their site Website
- Koy'o Land Conservancy (Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe) Nation government Restoring traditional homelands to tribal members Website
- Kumeyaay Diegueno Land Conservancy (KDLC) Nation government Acquiring and preserving sacred and culturally sensitive lands in Kumeyaay aboriginal territory Give on their site Website
- Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria Nation government 450 acres (2026), first ancestral land return in the Big Chico Creek watershed
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.
Located in 5
Nations named for this land 3, matched by the Forest Service, under review
Agreements recorded for this land 1
- Treaty of Ruby Valley (Western Shoshone), 18631863suggested
Sources
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1863-10-01primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1863-10-01primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Utah 1 (Library of Congress)primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Nevada (Library of Congress)primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: California 2 (Library of Congress)primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Oregon 1 (Library of Congress)primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Idaho (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
- 444
- Dates in the 1899 record
- 1863-10-01
- Kind of instrument
- Treaty or agreement
- Peoples as named in the 1899 record
- Shoshoni (Western bands)
- States
- CA; ID; NV; OR; UT
- Counties
- Adams; Baker; Blaine; Boise; Box Elder; Canyon; Cassia; Custer; Elko; Elmore; Esmeralda; Eureka; Fayette; Gem; Gooding; Grant; Harney; Humboldt; Jerome; Lake; Lander; Lassen; Lemhi; Lincoln; Malheur; Minidoka; Modoc; Nye; Owyhee; Pershing; Tooele; Twin Falls; Valley; Washington; Washoe; White Pine
- Map sheets in the 1899 record
- Utah 1; Nevada; California 2; Oregon 1; Idaho
- 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