Almo, Idaho Indian massacre myth
[2] The endurance of the myth and the monument that is built to remember the "massacre" engenders negative feelings among Native Americans, a group that has historically experienced persecution at the hands of white settlers.
[2] A massacre of this magnitude would be one of the most infamous of its kind in United States history, but the lack of evidence makes it difficult to accept as a factual and historical event by historians.
[7] If the massacre did not happen, one explanation for the origins of the story comes from the poor relations between Native Americans and western settlers in the 19th century.
[10] The year 1861 was described as a quiet season, but skirmishes between Native Americans and whites were reported to have happened in the area in 1862, according to newspapers in both Nevada Territory and California.
[8] An example of this was a better-attested skirmish that was started by some members of the Shoshone tribe attacking a wagon train on August 9, 1862, near the Snake River in southeastern Idaho in which eight overland emigrants and about twenty Native Americans were killed.
The location of this attack is near what is now referred to as Massacre Rocks in Idaho, the name of which shows that it has been exaggerated to a greater degree than what initially occurred.
Historian James Loewen noted that portraying Native Americans in such a negative manner falls into a popular, though offensive, stereotype of "savage Indians" that grew in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
"[13] Some of the longtime residents of Almo, including the Sons and Daughters of the Idaho Pioneers, view the monument as essential to the history of the town.
[3] Although the exact reasons for its creation are unknown, some believe the monument was made in an effort to make Almo a recognizable place on the map and increase the likelihood that tourists would stop in town on their way to City of Rocks National Reserve.
"[4] The President of the Sons and Daughters of Idaho Pioneers has openly apologized to the Shoshone tribe; however, before her death, the monument was not removed or replaced.
[3] Given the lack of evidence, modern day members of the Shoshone tribe view the monument, which tells the story of the massacre as long as it stands, in a more negative and offensive light.
[3] One suggestion is to replace the monument commemorating the massacre, considered an embarrassment by some, with one that is in memory of Chief Pocatello of the Shoshone tribe.
