Details

Subject(s)

• Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation of Idaho [Browse]
• Northern Paiute Indians [Browse]
• Bannock Indians—Wars, 1878—History—Sources [Browse]
• Indigenous peoples of North America—Northwest, Pacific—1870-1900—Sources [Browse]
• Indigenous peoples of North America—Wars—1866-1895—Sources [Browse]
• United States. Army—Officers—History—19th century—Correspondence [Browse]
• West (U.S.)—History—1860-1890—Sources [Browse]
• United States. Army—Officers—History—19th century—Diaries [Browse]
• Indigenous Studies [Browse]

Related name

• Rowell, Charles Walter, 1850-1898 Correspondence [Browse]
• Cushing, Samuel T. (Samuel Tobey), 1839-1901 Correspondence [Browse]
• Howard, O. O. (Oliver Otis), 1830-1909 Correspondence [Browse]
• Wheaton, Frank, 1833-1903 Correspondence [Browse]
• Forsyth, George A. Correspondence [Browse]
• Miles, Evan Correspondence [Browse]

Getty AAT genre

• Diaries—19th century [Browse]
• Correspondence—19th century [Browse]

Compiled/​Created

1878.

Summary note

• This journal, which covers the span of the Bannock War from July to September 1878, provides a detailed account by U.S. Army officers of events in the field and at headquarters. Primarily kept by Harry Lee Bailey (1854-1934), 2nd Lieutenant, U.S. Army, it is predominantly comprised of the text of letters and telegrams to and from General Oliver O. Howard, as well as those sent by his chief officers in the field, Colonel Frank Wheaton, Colonel George A. Forsyth, and Captain Evan Miles. The journal's other contributors include Captain Samuel Tobey Cushing and 2nd Lieutenant Charles Walter Rowell. Both Bailey and Rowell served as Acting Assistant Adjutant General during the campaign.
• The journal contains records of individual activities, copies of orders sent from the Columbia, Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory, and the text of telegrams sent to and from headquarters consisting of full accounts of troop movements in the field, intelligence reports, plans of action, and after action reports, some several pages long. Also noted are such things as the need for money to pay Native American scouts; the distribution of funds, guns, and horses; and reports of skirmishes and casualties.
• Included with the volume is a loose printed field order dated July 22, 1878, from temporary headquarters at Baker City, Oregon from Lieut. Harry Lee Bailey, Acting Assistant Adjutant General, to Capt. Samuel Tobey Cushing. Cushing's subsistence endeavors are recorded in various places as he was at the time serving as Purchasing and Depot Commissary at San Francisco, California.

Content advice

The journal documents multiple accounts of violence, including killings, against members of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and includes usage of anti-Indigenous racist language.

Notes

• According to the dealer description, a telegram dated July 18, 1878 is the only correspondence known to be quoted anywhere. The description explains that it is possible that some of the telegrams were copied by E. H. Holland, who is listed as telegraph operator.
• Harmful language from dealer description that was originally used to describe this item was revised and/or removed by Faith Charlton in 2024 per reparative description work.

Source acquisition

Purchase, 2015. AM 2016-52.

OCLC

939492731

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