Land area
Land of the Shoshoni in Wyoming, recorded 1868 (area 540)
- 1868
Set aside as a reservation
By Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868 (Eastern Shoshone and Bannock)
- 1872
Earlier terms confirmed
The 1899 record: “Retain remainder of their reservation which constitutes the present Wind River reservation”
- 1887
Named in the record
The 1899 record: “The President sets apart as the Wind River military reservation for Fort Washakie the following lands”
In the record
Set apart as the Shoshoni's Wind River reservation in 1868 and kept after they ceded the southern part in 1872; a small military reservation for Fort Washakie was carved out in 1887. The area covers about 2.3 million acres in what is now Wyoming.
The 1899 record names Shoshone (Shoshoni) as the people of this land.
How it was taken: a treaty or agreement. The treaty text records a negotiated reservation treaty signed by chiefs and headmen; the Supreme Court in 1937 describes it as an exchange of reservations, and no source cited describes coercion.
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
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 11
- Bannockmatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Duckwater Shoshone Tribematched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Ely Shoshone Tribe of Nevadamatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, Nevada and Oregonmatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of the Fallon Reservation and Colony, Nevadamatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Shoshone (Shoshoni)as named in the 1899 recordsuggested
- Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservationmatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation, Nevadamatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- 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
- Yomba Shoshone Tribe of the Yomba Reservation, Nevadamatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
Agreements recorded for this land 1
Located in 1
Sources
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1868-07-03primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1868-07-03primary record
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1872-09-26primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Wyoming 2 (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
- 540
- Dates in the 1899 record
- 1868-07-03; 1872-09-26; 1887-05-21
- Kind of instrument
- Treaty or agreement
- Peoples as named in the 1899 record
- Shoshoni
- States
- WY
- Counties
- Fremont; Hot Springs
- Map sheets in the 1899 record
- Wyoming 2
- 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