A group of Shoshone made contact with Euro-American Latter-day Saint settlers who had recently arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, marking the beginning of Latter-day Saint and Shoshone interactions in the Shoshone debia’ or homeland.

(William Clayton, Journal, 31 July 1847, Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City [Church History Library hereafter cited as CHL]; Norton Jacob, Reminiscence and Journal, 31 July 1847, CHL; Erastus Snow, Journal, Apr.–Dec. 1847, pp. 94–95, Erastus Snow Journals, 1835–51, 1856–57, CHL; Wilford Woodruff, Journal, 31 July 1847, Wilford Woodruff Journals and Papers, 1828–98, CHL; Washakie Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, 1847, 1874–1965, image 19, CHL.)

Increased tensions between Euro-Americans and Shoshone: Euro-American Latter-day Saint settlers expanded further north into the Shoshone debia’, even as Euro-American emigrant traffic increased through Shoshone lands. Competition over water and food sources produced conflict and tension between white and Shoshone people. Euro-American Latter-day Saints describe Sagwitch’s band as the “friendly ones.”

(Peter Maughan to Brigham Young, 3 Feb. 1862, Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–78, CHL; “The Northwestern Shoshone and the Latter-day Saints”; biography of Sagwitch Timbimboo.)

The United States Army under the command of Colonel Patrick Edward Connor attacked a Northwestern Shoshone winter encampment along the Bear River, killing more than three hundred men, women, and children, near present-day Preston, Idaho.

(Mae Timbimboo Parry, “Massacre at Boa Ogoi,” appendix B to The Shoshoni Frontier and the Bear River Massacre, by Brigham D. Madsen, vol. 1 of Utah Centennial Series [University of Utah Press, 1985], 231–38; Scott R. Christensen, Sagwitch: Shoshone Chieftain, Mormon Elder, 1822–1887 [Utah State University Press, 1999], 41–59; Madsen, Shoshoni Frontier and the Bear River Massacre, 20–21, 177–79, 185–93, 199–200; see also Hans Jasperson, Autobiography, typescript, 1911, p. 3, CHL.)

Northwestern Shoshone bands agreed to peace with the United States and a guarantee of safety for Euro-Americans crossing the Shoshone debia’, or homeland, in exchange for annuities during treaty negotiations in Brigham City, Utah Territory.

(Madsen, Shoshoni Frontier and the Bear River Massacre, 201–16; Ratified Indian Treaty 325, Box Elder Co., Utah Territory, 30 July 1863, NAID 74859412, General Records of the United States Government, RG 11, National Archives, Washington, DC; James Duane Doty to William P. Dole, Salt Lake City, 20 Nov. 1863, NAID 164506817, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, RG 75, National Archives, Washington, DC.)

Sagwitch’s and John Moemberg (Ech-up-wy)’s visionary experience: Northwestern Shoshone dai’gwahni’ or chief Sagwitch and tribal leader John Moemberg—also known as Ech-up-wy—experienced spiritual manifestations, or bo’ha, when three men who appeared to be Native Americans visited them. The visitors instructed them and their people to become Latter-day Saints, and the two leaders saw visions of a Shoshone farming community in northern Utah.

(George Washington Hill, “An Indian Vision,” Juvenile Instructor [Salt Lake City], 1 Jan. 1877, 11; Mae Timbimboo Parry, Account of Vision, n.d., copy in possession of Bradley Parry; biography of John Moemberg.)

Northwestern Shoshone baptized by missionary George Washington Hill: After Sagwitch’s and John Moemberg’s 1872 bo’ha experiences, Northwestern Shoshone leaders contacted George Washington Hill, a Shoshone-speaking Latter-day Saint, who baptized more than 100 Shoshone men and women on 5 May 1873 in the Bear River near present-day Deweyville.

(George Washington Hill, Journal, p. 1, May 1873–Aug. 1875, George W. Hill Collection, 1840–1908, CHL; George Washington Hill to Brigham Young, 6 May 1873, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; George Washington Hill, “My First Day’s Work,” Juvenile Instructor, 25 Dec. 1875, 309; Washakie Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, 1847, 1874–1965, image 21, CHL; Ralph O. Brown, “The Life and Missionary Labors of George Washington Hill” [master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1956], 30–34, 59–60, http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etdm110; “George Washington Hill,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.)

The Northwestern Shoshone Saints began their first attempt at a Euro-American–style farming community near Franklin, Idaho Territory. Weber Valley dai’gwahni’ Little Soldier and his band joined the Northwestern Shoshone at Franklin, where many were baptized. Unsatisfied with the location, the Shoshone Saints returned to Utah Territory to winter.

(George Washington Hill to Dimick B. Huntington, 8 June 1874, Historian’s Office History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882, pp. 2375–77; Mae Timbimboo Parry, “The Northwestern Shoshone,” in A History of Utah’s American Indians, ed. Forrest S. Cuch [Utah State Division of Indian Affairs; Utah State Division of History, 2003], 32; George Washington Hill, Missionary Report, 1 Oct. 1876, p. 2, CHL; “Little Soldier,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.)

Northwestern Shoshone dai’gwahni’ Sagwitch and his wife, Mo-yo-gah, were endowed and sealed in the Salt Lake City Endowment House alongside another Northwestern Shoshone couple, James Laman (Nan-oke-to-enip) and Minnie (Ewadsing-up).

(Endowment House Endowments of the Living, 1851–84, microfilm 183409, vol. J, p. 1, 22 Feb. 1875, FamilySearch Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City [FamilySearch Library hereafter cited as FSL]; Endowment House Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–89, microfilm 183400, vol. J, p. 193, 22 Feb. 1875, FSL; “Mo-yo-gah Timbimboo” and “Minnie Laman,” Church History Biographical Database; biography of James Laman.)

In early May 1875, Northwestern Shoshone dai’gwahni’ Pocatello was baptized in Salt Lake City, while more than 800 Shoshone and Bannock from Wind River and Fort Hall reservations were baptized by George Washington Hill in the Bear River. The growing community started a farm under Hill’s direction near Bear River City, Utah Territory.

(“More Lamanites Baptized,” Deseret Evening News [Salt Lake City], 6 May 1875, [3]; Report of Special Commissioners J. W. Powell and G. W. Ingalls [. . .] [Government Printing Office, 1874], 8, 20; Hill, Journal, 7 June–12 Aug. 1875; Hill, Missionary Report, pp. 3–6.)

Residents of the town of Corinne in northern Utah claimed that the nearly 1,000 Shoshone at the Bear River City farm were organizing to attack the predominantly non–Latter-day Saint community at the behest of George Washington Hill. Hill denied the claim, but Shoshone were forced to abandon the Bear River City farm during harvest time and return to their reservations, under threat of violence from federal troops. Many of the Northwestern Shoshone opted to remain in northern Utah rather than relocate to reservations.

(Hill, Journal, 10–12 Aug. 1875; George Washington Hill to Brigham Young, 25 Aug. 1875, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; see also Christensen, Sagwitch, chap. 4.)

Northwestern Shoshone leaders worked with Euro-American missionaries to apply for homesteads in a new location along the Malad River near present-day Tremonton, Utah. George Washington Hill referred to the community as Lemuel's Garden. Around this time, John Moemberg was given the honorific “Bishop John” in recognition of his leadership among the Shoshone Saints.

(Hill, Missionary Report, pp. 9–12; Christensen, Sagwitch, chap. 5; George Washington Hill to George Reynolds, 28 Jan. 1877, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; biography of John Moemberg.)

Northwestern Shoshone Latter-day Saints contributed significant labor to the Logan Temple construction, on one of their sacred sites known as Baa-daa-see, starting in 1877.

(“Free Will Offerings of Box Elder Stake of Zion to Logan Temple from May 1877 to April 1st 1880,” Charles O. Card Papers Pertaining to the Logan Temple, 1871–84, CHL; see, for examples, Logan Temple Financial Records, 1877–1914, Journal, 1878–80, p. 68, 24 Aug. 1878; Journal, 1880–83, p. 415, CHL; biography of Moses Neaman.)

The growing community of Shoshone Saints at Lemuel’s Garden constructed a meetinghouse to serve as a chapel, schoolhouse, Sunday school, and mission headquarters. Euro-American missionary Alexander Hunsaker served as the first superintendent of the Northwestern Shoshone Mission Sunday School.

(Isaac E. D. Zundel to John Taylor, 20 Aug. 1878, First Presidency [John Taylor] Correspondence, CHL; Isaac E. D. Zundel to John Taylor, 25 Sept. 1879, First Presidency [John Taylor] Correspondence, 1877–87, CHL; Washakie Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, images 33–35, CHL; “Alexander Beckstead Hunsaker,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.)

In search of better farmland, the Northwestern Shoshone moved their community from Lemuel’s Garden to a large farm south of Portage, Utah Territory. This community eventually became known as Washakie, likely named after the paramount Eastern Shoshone dai’gwahni’ of the same name.

(“The Northwestern Shoshone Mission.”)

Elder Lorenzo Snow called Euro-American missionary Isaac E. D. Zundel as bishop of the “Indian Ward” in the Box Elder Stake.

(Isaac E. D. Zundel to Orson Pratt, 9 Apr. 1881, Historian’s Office Correspondence Files, 1856–1926, CHL; Zundel-Ward Family Record, ca. 1880–1910, p. 9, 3 Sept. 1880, CHL; “Isaac Eberhard David Zundel,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.)

After their move to the Washakie townsite, the Sunday School was reorganized with Euro-American missionary Moroni Ward as superintendent.

(Washakie Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, image 11, CHL; “Moroni Ward,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.)

Euro-American Elizabeth Jane Harding Zundel was called as Relief Society president alongside counselors Melissa Johnson Hunsaker and Cohn Shoshonitz Zundel, the first Northwestern Shoshone called to a ward leadership position.

(Washakie Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, image 11, CHL; “Elizabeth Jane Harding” and “Melissa Caroline Johnson,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org; biography of Cohn Shoshonitz Zundel.)

Fires in mission stores consumed many of the earliest records of the Washakie Ward and its members.

(Washakie Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, image 43, CHL; “To the Latter Day Saints of the Seventh Ward,” [ca. Nov. 1887], Washakie Indian Fund, 1887–88, CHL; Seymour B. Young to Lorenzo Snow and the Council of the Twelve Apostles, ca. July 1889, Wilford Woodruff Stake Correspondence Files, 1887–98, CHL.)

The Washakie Ward was transferred to the newly organized Malad Stake.

(Malad Idaho Stake General Minutes, 1888–1928, 1960–77, vol. 1, 11 Feb. 1888, CHL.)

Moroni Zundel was called as Sunday School superintendent, the first Northwestern Shoshone appointed to preside over a Washakie Ward organization. Fellow Shoshone Ammon Pubigee and Alfred Wahnee were called as his assistants, while Willie Ottogary was called as secretary.

(Washakie Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, image 11, CHL; biographies of Moroni Zundel, Ammon Pubigee, and Willie Ottogary; “Alfred Wahne,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.)

Euro-American missionary Moroni Ward was called to replace Isaac E. D. Zundel as Washakie Ward bishop.

(Washakie Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, image 45, CHL.)

Following the release of Elizabeth Harding Zundel, Eliza Voss Ward, wife of Bishop Moroni Ward, was called as the second Euro-American Relief Society president of the Washakie Ward. Ward retained Cohn Shoshonitz Zundel as a counselor.

(Washakie Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, image 11, CHL; Malad Idaho Stake Relief Society Minutes and Records, 1888–1973, vol. 1, p. 38, 11 July 1891, CHL; Seymour B. Young, Journal, 12 July 1891, Seymour B. Young Papers, 1857–1924, CHL; “Eliza Voss,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.)

Moroni Ward was succeeded as third Euro-American bishop of the Washakie Ward by his son George M. Ward.

(Washakie Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, image 49, CHL; “George Moroni Ward,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.)

Bishop George M. Ward’s wife, Mary Ann Morris Ward, was called as the third Euro-American Relief Society president, with Northwestern Shoshone Cohn Shoshonitz Zundel and Towange Timbimboo as counselors and Lucy Zundel as assistant secretary.

(“Mary Ann Morris,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org; biographies of Cohn Shoshonitz Zundel, Towange Timbimboo, and Lucy Zundel Alex.)

Northwestern Shoshone men Yeager Timbimboo and James Joshua were called as the first Native counselors in the Washakie Ward bishopric, serving with George M. Ward, the third Euro-American bishop of the ward. Ammon Pubigee was called as the first Shoshone ward clerk.

(Washakie Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, image 49, CHL; Washakie Ward General Minutes, 1902–33, 1943–62, vol. 5, p. 25, 12 Apr. 1908, CHL; biographies of Yeager Timbimboo and Ammon Pubigee.)

Brothers-in-law Willie Ottogary and Ammon Pubigee were called on a short-term mission to Deep Creek near the Utah-Nevada border among Shoshone-speaking relatives, the Goshute.

(Biographies of Willie Ottogary and Ammon Pubigee.)

Northwestern Shoshone leader and reporter Willie Ottogary traveled to Washington, DC, to contact federal officials to address Northwestern Shoshone grievances.

(Matthew E. Kreitzer, ed., The Washakie Letters of Willie Ottogary: Northwestern Shoshone Journalist and Leader, 1906–1929 [Utah State University Press, 2000], 6; biography of Willie Ottogary.)

After twenty-seven years as bishop of Washakie, George M. Ward was released, and Euro-American Joseph Parry succeeded him as the fourth Euro-American bishop of the Washakie Ward. Parry called Northwestern Shoshone Moroni Timbimboo and Warren Wongan as counselors.

(“Washakie Ward Leadership Positions,” appendix G to Kreitzer, Washakie Letters of Willie Ottogary, 262; “Joseph Parry,” and “Warren Wongan,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org; biography of Moroni Timbimboo.)

Joseph Parry’s wife, Margaret Morgan Parry, was called as the fourth Euro-American Washakie Ward Relief Society president, with Northwestern Shoshone Amy Hootchew Timbimboo and Mamie Perdash Wongan as counselors.

(“Margaret Morgan,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org; biographies of Amy Hootchew Timbimboo and Mamie Perdash Wongan.)

Moroni Timbimboo and Henry Woonsook, both counselors in the Washakie Ward bishopric, served a short-term mission among Assiniboine on the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana.

(Biographies of Moroni Timbimboo and Henry Woonsook.)

Latter-day Saint Fullmer Allred, a Euro-American with training in agricultural science, was appointed as the supervisor of the Washakie Project, with responsibilities to oversee the church farm, coordinate with the Malad Stake presidency, and promote the revitalization of the Washakie townsite.

(Malad Idaho Stake Confidential Minutes, 1892–1977, Stake Meeting Minutes, vol. 6, pp. 107–8, 20 Nov. 1938, CHL; “New Era Dawns for Indian Ward,” Deseret News [Salt Lake City], 18 Feb. 1939, Church Department section, 3; Samuel A. Hendricks, interview by Mark Grover, 9 Feb. 1974, transcript, p. 5, Charles Redd Center for Western Studies Oral History Project, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT; Samuel A. Hendricks Papers, 1933, 1960, 1974, CHL; “Aaron Fullmer Allred,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.)

Moroni Timbimboo succeeded Joseph Parry as bishop of the Washakie Ward. Timbimboo called Jim John Neaman and Nephi Perdash as counselors with Henry Woonsook as clerk, forming the first all-Native American bishopric in the church.

(Malad Idaho Stake Confidential Minutes, Stake Meeting Minutes, vol. 6, p. 123, 22 Jan. 1939, CHL; “Washakie Ward Has All Indian Bishopric,” Bear River Valley Leader [Tremonton, UT], 2 Feb. 1939, 1; biographies of Moroni Timbimboo, Nephi Perdash, Jim John Neaman Sr., and Henry Woonsook.)

Northwestern Shoshone Saints constructed a new chapel as part of a renewed effort to revitalize the townsite dubbed the Washakie Project.

(Malad Idaho Stake Confidential Minutes, Stake Meeting Minutes, vol. 6, p. 123, 22 Jan. 1939, CHL; “New Era Dawns for Indian Ward,” Church Department section, 3.)

Rhoda Moemberg Woonsook, great-granddaughter of community founder John Moemberg, succeeded Euro-American Relief Society President Margaret Morgan Parry, with Northwestern Shoshone counselors Juanita Perdash and Amy Timbimboo.

(Malad Idaho Stake Relief Society Minutes and Records, 1888–1973, vol. 7, image 55, 17 Feb. 1939, CHL; biography of Rhoda Elnora Moemberg Woonsook; “Juanita Perdash,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.)

Following the United States’ entrance into World War II, the Ogden Air Depot opened and provided new employment opportunities for the region. Many Northwestern Shoshone families took advantage and began moving away from Washakie permanently or temporarily.

(“Hill Air Force Base History,” Hill Aerospace Museum, Hill Air Force Base, accessed 6 Mar. 2026, https://www.aerospaceutah.org/museum/hill-afb-history/; biographies of Moroni Timbimboo, Amy Hootchew Timbimboo, and Emmeline Pabawena Neaman.)

Moroni Timbimboo and his counselors were released and succeeded by Euro-American Glen Morris, who called Northwestern Shoshone Henry Woonsook and Jim John Neaman as his counselors.

(Washakie Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, image 67, CHL; “Glen Morris,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.)

Glen Morris and his counselors were released and succeeded by Euro-American Newel J. Cutler. Jim John Neaman and Moroni Timbimboo became his counselors.

(See biographies of Moroni Timbimboo and Jim John Neaman Sr.)

Due to declining membership and the loss of some key leaders, like Jim John Neaman Sr., Malad Stake leaders changed the Washakie ward’s status to a branch.

(Washakie Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, image 103, CHL; biography of Jim John Neaman Sr.)

Former Washakie Ward members continued to move away from the branch to seek economic opportunity elsewhere, and eventually stake leaders chose to close the branch and move the records of the few Northwestern Shoshone still attending it to the nearby Portage Ward.

(Washakie Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, image 137, CHL.)

Malad Stake leaders directed farm officials to burn homes of former and contemporary Washakie residents to prepare the land for sale.

(Testimony of Indians Related to the Burning of Houses at Washakie, Utah, June 1974, transcript, The Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation Tribal Library, available at Utah State University Digital History Collections, libraryusu.access.preservica.com [The Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation Tribal Library hereafter cited as NWBSNTL]; Stephen L. Smith, interview by Rhett S. James, 16 Dec. 1969, transcript, Rhett S. James Research Collection, 1965–89, 2003, CHL; Mae Timbimboo Parry Collection, ca. 1880–1990, Photographs, ca. 1880–1980, Washakie Scenes and Buildings, ca. 1910–80, image 10, CHL.)

Rulon and Louis Peterson purchased Washakie townsite and surrounding property from the church to operate as a Hereford cattle ranch.

(“Roy Brothers Purchase Farm,” Sun Chronicle [Roy, UT], 20 Apr. 1972, [12]; Parry, “Northwestern Shoshone,” 58–72; “Spring Sale Unveils Dream Come True,” Salt Lake Tribune, 19 Feb. 1950, [82].)

Led by Chairman Frank Timbimboo, Northwestern Shoshone church members who had seen many of their homes burned and felt betrayed by the actions of church leadership brought their grievances before general authorities. As a result of Northwestern Shoshone advocacy and at the behest of leaders including President Spencer W. Kimball, the church donated 184 acres of land to the tribe. This land was designated as federal trust land, allowing the tribe to apply for federal benefits.

(“Church Sells Washakie Farm,” Deseret News, 3 Apr. 1972, C8; “A Record of the Meeting Held at the Church Office Bldg.,” Salt Lake City, UT, 26 Mar. 1973, NWBSNTL; Bruce G. Parry and Darlene Parry, interview by Scott R. Christensen and Paula B. Watkins, 29 Aug. 2013, transcript, p. 47, CHL; “Frank Leonard Timbimboo,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.)

The Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation formally adopted a constitution, organizing under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1935.

(Parry, “Northwestern Shoshone,” 58–72; “The Washakie Ward.”)