Sagwitch Timbimboo (1822 – March 20, 1887), which translates to "Speaker" and "One Who Writes on Rocks," was a nineteenth-century chieftain of a band of Northwestern Shoshone that converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

[1] Of his tribe, he was one of the very few survivors of the horrific Bear River Massacre (January 29, 1863), which is considered the greatest loss of Indigenous life through wars with Anglo-Saxon people.

Living the majority of his life in what is now Cache Valley, which is located in Northeast Utah and Southeast Idaho, Chief Sagwitch was an instrumental leader within the Shoshone Tribe and within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Helping build a temple with the Latter-day Saints in Logan, Utah, Chief Sagwitch became an Elder for the Church shortly after his conversion in 1873.

At a young age, Sagwip was keen with hunting and making of weapons, developing quicker than most children within the tribe at the time.

"[4] Though EuroAmerican hunters had been in the area for years to trade, White Americans began surfacing around the region in 1847, which saw a significant rise in the animal pelt industry.

Once whites settled in the region in 1847, Sagwitch joined the business and hunted animals such as Black Bears and Bison for the sale of pelts and meat.

The Bear River Massacre is the worst single loss for the Shoshone tribe, losing an estimated 250-400 men, women, and children.

[10] For much of the late 1800’s, white settlers and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints moved west to settle what is now Utah and Idaho.

[3] On the 29th of January 1863, near Franklin Idaho in what is currently the city of Preston, Chief Sagwitch Timbimboo and his tribe of Northwestern Shoshone Indians were ambushed.

[16] Chief Sagwitch and his small band of Shoshone Indians were constantly moving around Cache Valley to find resources.

The Sagwitch Basin Boys, made up of three friends and a daddy daughter duo, can be found performing western ballads and folk songs at the annual Mountain Man Rendezvous in Cache Valley.

Regular rendezvous and fur-trading posts became an important part of life for both early settlers and native Americans alike.

Each spring, citizens of Cache Valley and outsiders alike come from far and wide to experience moments like those had by fur traders and the Shoshone Indians.