Utter-Van Ornum Massacre
Another attack came the next day. Around two hundred Bannock and Shoshone warriors came for the wagon party. They formed a defensive position to fend off the attack, protecting the livestock. They offered goods to the Indigenous people to avoid future conflict. This seemed to work – until a larger attack, estimated to consist of about one hundred Indigenous people, bore down on them. Three men of the party were killed.
The party was attacked again the next day, with another man killed. The Utter-Van Ornum party abandoned their wagons and livestock and fled to hide along the Snake River. Most of them, anyway. Elijah Utter was seriously injured in the attack. His wife and three children refused to flee to safety This doomed all five of them. More members of the party would die before rescuers could reach them over a month later.
