The history of Bannock County, Idaho

by A. C. Saunders

Fort Hall was established in 1834 as a fur trading station by Captain Nathaniel Wyeth. The captain found himself unable to compete successfully with the Hudson Bay company, which at that time operated in these parts, and in 1835 sold his interests to his rivals and returned to the east.

Here comes the first problem in locating the original site. The Hudson Bay company is thought to have moved the fort. Who can tell whether the sites now pointed out were those of the first or second post? Some pioneers maintain that Fort Hall was moved three times before the sixties, while others maintain that some old ruins on the bank of the Snake, about one and a half miles above the Tilden bridge, are the first site. This spot is now overgrown with grass, but it is possible to detect the outlines of an old foundation, something over two hundred feet in length, and what appears to have been at one time rifle pits. Evidently it was the location of a large building, but whether or not of the first fort, who can tell? Joe Rainey, native interpreter at the present Fort Hall Indian reservation, maintains that this was the first site.

Other old-timers say that some dobies near the Snake river were a fort site, but Mr. J. N. Ireland of Pocatello, says that he built these himself and that they were a station on the old Overland stage road.

The old Oregon trail, which extended for over two thousand miles, from St. Louis, Mo., to Portland, Oregon, divided at Soda Springs, in Bannock county, into two almost parallel courses, which met again at old Fort Boise. One of these followed the Portneuf river through the present sites of McCammon and Pocatello. The other followed a northwesterly direction from Soda Springs to old Fort Hall.

Many pioneers, in their description of the fort as they first knew it, speak of a river that can be no longer found. Either its course has changed since the early days, or its name changed; perhaps both, which last condition would make it very difficult to identify the present stream with that of seventy-five years ago.

During pioneer days, Fort Hall was one of the most important posts along the Oregon trail. It was the first point west of Fort Laramie, where travelers could rest securely under the protection of the flag, and where there was a garrison of soldiers to relieve them of all fear of sudden attack from the Indians. Here the weary and travel-stained pioneers, pushing on for the far-famed Oregon territory, found respite from their toils and dangers, and enjoyed once more the companionship of their own kind. Here, too, preparatory for the last, long march of their transcontinental journey, they repaired their wagons, and discarded such baggage as it had seemed wise to bring when starting, but which later experience proved to be only an encumbrance. An area of several acres around Fort Hall is said to have been covered with this debris, which was ransacked by the Indians and shorn of such parts as the red men wanted. Prof. W. R. Siders, superintendent of the Pocatello public schools, who has been interested for several years in the effort to locate the site of the original fort, and to whom the writer is indebted for very generous and valuable information, maintains that it ought to be possible to identify the Hudson Bay company’s fort by the rummage in its vicinity. He has examined the banks of the Snake river for several miles and been unable to unearth any such remains. This failure adds probability to the statement of old “Doc” Yandell, a trapper in early days, who still resides in these parts. Mr. Yandell says that some years ago he and Pete Weaver lived on the site of old Fort Hall, which was then on the banks of the Snake river, and three quarters of a mile distant from a spring. In later years Mr. Yandell maintained that he could walk directly to the site of his former camp, but when he attempted to do so, he found that the Snake was flowing within three hundred yards of the spring that used to be three-quarters of a mile from its bank. It is probable that since his departure some spring flood had washed out a new channel for the river, thereby changing its course, and placing the old fort site under water. This might account for Prof. Siders’ failure to find the debris of which he was in search.

The name “Fort Hall” has experienced numerous vicissitudes, since it was first coined eighty years ago. The Hudson Bay company received it from Captain Wyeth. When the Hudson Bay company sold its American rights to the United States government in 1863, the latter used the name to designate the military post which stood about sixteen miles northeast of the present agency. Here the government maintained a garrison of three companies of soldiers until about 1884, when the troops were withdrawn and the fort buildings used for Indian school purposes. When the school was moved to its present quarters, which were first occupied in 1904, the name went with it. Some of the old fort buildings were moved to the new site, and the remainder given to the Indians. Traces of the fort may still be seen.

The Oregon Short Line station at the reservation, originally called Ross Fork, has recently been changed to Fort Hall and the name is also used to designate the whole reservation.

The name Ross Fork, according to Interpreter Joe Rainey, was derived from an old man named Ross, who operated a ferry across the Snake river forty years ago. One or two old posts still mark the ferry site.

The Fort Hall Indian reservation for the Bannock Indians was established in July, 1868. In July of the previous year the government appointed a commission consisting of N. G. Taylor, Lieutenant General Sherman, U. S. A., William S. Harney, John B. Sanborn, S. F. Tappen, A. H. Terry, and Brevet Major General C. C. Augur, U. S. A., to negotiate treaties with all hostile and non-treaty Indians, and if possible to settle them on reservations. The treaty made with the Bannock Indians states that they were to have “reasonable portions of the Portneuf and Kansas prairies.” There is no doubt that not “Kansas” but “Camas” was meant, the latter being a favorite resort of the Indians, where they gathered the tuberous Camas root, which they prized highly as a food. The mistake in the name must have been made by an interpreter, clerk or typesetter, and Mr. John Hailey says that the government officials understood the mistake, but threw open the Camas prairie for settlement by the whites. The Indians who signed this treaty on behalf of the Bannocks were Taggee, Tay-Toba, We-Rat-Ze-Won-A-Gen, Coo-Sha-Gan, Pan-Sook-A-Motse, and A-Mite-Etse. To them, no doubt, “Kansas” and “Camas” meant the same, but the mistake caused much trouble in later years.