Bannock Tribe

Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Tribal Headquarters
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation P.O. Box 306 Fort Hall, ID 83203-0306 Phone: 208-238-3700 Website

History
The Bannnock tribe lived in what is now the Colorado, Utah, Montana and Oregon in the early 1800s. Jim Bridger a Rocky Mountain trapper and trader established trade relations with the Bannock tribe. He received furs in exchange for supplies.

In 1868 a treaty was signed at Fort Bridger with the Eastern Band of Shoshone.

The Fort Hall Reservation was established in 1869.

The Bannock and Sheepeater Wars were fought during the year 1878. At the conclusion of the wars the Bannock, Shoshoni and Sheepeater were all sent to the Fort Hall Reservation.

Brief Timeline
1700s: The tribe acquired horses -- spread to Colorado, Utah, Montana and Oregon 1829: Jim Bridger established trade relations with the Bannock 1869: Fort Hall Reservation established 1878: Bannock War 1878: Sheepeater War; Sheepeaters are of Bannock and Shoshone tribes who migrated north to the Salmon River Mountains in Idaho and hunted mountain sheep as their main food. 1878: Sheepeaters sent to Fort Hall Reservation with their Bannock and Shoshone kin.

Additional References to the History of the Tribe

 * Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Bannock tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods.
 * Additional details are given in John Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America.
 * For additional history of the tribe, read more....

Records
Teter, Thomas Benton. 1894 Census of the Bannock and Shoshone Indians of Fort Hall, Idaho.

Agency Records
The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters. They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:


 * Allotment records
 * Annuity rolls
 * Census records
 * Correspondence
 * Health records
 * Reports
 * School census and records
 * Vital records

The following agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs had jurisdiction over the Bannock for the time periods indicated. BIA agencies were responsible to keep such records as census rolls, allotment (land) records, annuity rolls, school records, correspondence, and other records of individuals under their jurisdiction. For details, see the page for the respective agency.


 * Fort Hall Agency
 * Wind River Agency

Census Records
The Bureau of Indian Affairs compiled annual Indian Census Rolls on many of the reservations from 1885 to 1940. They list the names of individuals, their age, and other details about each person enumerated. For more information about these records, click here.


 * 1894 Census of the Bannock and Shoshone Indians of Fort Hall, Idaho. by Thomas Benton Teter. or FS Library Film: 928110 item 5.

The following table lists the census rolls for the Bannock Tribe:

Treaties
During the latter part of the 18th Century and most of the 19th Century, treaties were negotiated between the federal government and individual Indian tribes. The treaties provide helpful information about the history of the tribe, but usually only include the names of those persons who signed the treaty. For more information about treaties, click here.

Treaties to which the Bannock Tribe was a part were:


 * 1868July 3, at Fort Bridger with the Eastern Band Shoshoni

Tribal Office Records
The Tribal Office is responsible for enrollment records, vital records, tribal police records, tribal court records, employment records and many others. They are an entirely different set of records from those kept by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Most of them remain in the Tribal Office. For details, contact that office at the address for the Tribal Headquarters listed above.

Vital Records
Prior to the Indian Reorganization Act, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, through their agencies, may have recorded some vital events. Some were recorded on health forms, such as the "Sanitary Record of Sick, Injured, Births, Deaths, etc." Others were recorded as supplements to the "Indian Census Rolls." Some were included in the unindexed reports and other correspondence of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Some vital records for the Bannock Tribe include:

Fort Hall Agency, M595,


 * Births and deaths 1927-1932,FHL|Film: 576497
 * Births and deaths 1924-1934,FHL|Film: 576498
 * Births deaths and marriages 1935-39 FHL|Film: 576499

Reservations
The primary reservation for the Bannock Tribe is the Fort Hall Reservation in eastern Idaho.

The Bannock Tribe were also under the jurisdiction for the following Superintendencies

Oregon Superintendency

Utah Superintendency

Idaho Superintendency

Montana Superintendency

Wyoming Superintendency

Important Websites
Hodge's history of the Bannock.

Official tribal web site for the Shoshone-Bannock.

Wikipedia article about the Bannock Tribe.

For Further Reading
See For Further Reading.