Idaho’s Forgotten Peacemaker: The Bannock Chief Who Refused to Fight

Chief Taghee’s Peaceful Leadership During Idaho’s Settlement Era

Chief Taghee took over the Bannock tribe in 1865 as white settlers poured into Idaho. Unlike past leaders, he chose peace when others wanted war.

In 1867, he asked Idaho’s governor a simple question: “The white people have come into my country, and have not asked my consent. Why is this?”

Yet he still signed the Fort Bridger Treaty in 1868, hoping to save his people’s land. A spelling error cost them Camas Prairie.

When promised food never came in 1870, Taghee stood firm.

Today, his name lives on across southeastern Idaho, where Targhee National Forest stands as a monument to this remarkable peacemaker.

A Wise Man Becomes Chief During Troubled Times

Chief Taghee was born in the early 1800s among the Bannock people across what we now call Idaho. People who knew him talked about his calm way of solving problems and his smart thinking.

When leader Le Grand Coquin died in 1865, the tribe chose Taghee as their guide. He took charge during a tough time.

White settlers moved onto Bannock lands each year. The government pushed to take Native lands.

Taghee looked for peaceful answers while protecting his people’s way of life.

Seasonal Rhythms Shaped Bannock Life For Generations

The Bannock people moved with the seasons for food and supplies. They traveled east in winter to hunt buffalo across Montana and Wyoming.

Spring brought them back to Idaho’s Camas Prairie to dig nutritious camas roots. In summer, they gathered berries and hunted in the mountains.

Fall meant salmon fishing and getting ready for winter travels. The Bannocks often traded with their neighbors, the Shoshone, sharing goods and hunting grounds.

This lifestyle worked for hundreds of years until newcomers changed everything.

Wagon Trains And Gold Seekers Disrupted Everything

By the 1860s, white people flooded Bannock territory. Wagon trains on the Oregon Trail cut through hunting grounds.

Gold miners tore up valleys and made streams dirty. Farmers put fences on land where the Bannock gathered food.

The U.S. Army built forts to protect settlers. Taghee saw these changes hurt his people but chose to talk instead of fight.

He sent messengers to American officials asking for meetings to explain how newcomers made it harder for his people to find food.

The Chief Asked A Question No One Could Answer

Taghee met with Idaho Territorial Governor David Ballard in Boise in 1867.

During their talk, he asked: “The white people have come into my country, and have not asked my consent. Why is this?”

The governor had no good answer. Taghee explained how settlers took the best land and scared away animals.

He talked about broken promises from government agents. Governor Ballard pushed for the Bannock to move to a reservation, saying it would protect them.

Taghee left with little trust but still wanted peace.

One Spelling Mistake Cost The Bannock Their Best Land

Taghee went to Fort Bridger in 1868 to sign a treaty with the U.S. government.

He made sure to ask for the Camas Prairie as part of Bannock lands because his people needed those root-gathering grounds to live.

The treaty promised yearly payments, tools, schools, and food for giving up most of their land. But the final treaty had a spelling mistake that left out the crucial Camas Prairie from protected Bannock lands.

This small error later caused huge problems and led to war after Taghee died.

Hungry People Nearly Started A War

After moving to the Fort Hall Reservation with their Shoshone friends, the Bannock waited for supplies the government promised in the treaty.

Months passed with no food deliveries. Children went hungry. In 1870, Taghee got tired of empty promises.

He gathered warriors and told government agents they would attack if food didn’t come soon. His threat worked, and some supplies arrived within days.

But the food never came regularly enough, and many Bannock struggled to feed their families on the small reservation without good hunting grounds.

The Old Chief Made His Final Journey

By 1870, Taghee felt worn out from years of hard talks. He gave leadership duties to his son Pat and decided to make one last buffalo hunting trip.

He joined a group heading to Montana where some buffalo still roamed. During this trip in 1871, the aging chief got sick.

He died among the hunting party, far from the reservation. His friends buried him following Bannock customs.

News of his death reached Fort Hall weeks later. The people felt sad about losing their peaceful leader, not knowing worse troubles waited ahead.

War Broke Out After Taghee’s Peaceful Approach Failed

Seven years after Taghee died, the conflict he tried so hard to stop finally exploded.

In 1878, the U.S. government let white settlers farm on the Camas Prairie, land the Bannock thought the treaty protected.

Chief Buffalo Horn led angry warriors off the reservation to fight back. The Bannock War lasted several months before the U.S. Army beat the tribe.

After the war, the government put tighter controls on the Bannock. They couldn’t leave the reservation to hunt or gather food.

President Roosevelt Named A Forest After The Peaceful Chief

In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt created a new national forest in Idaho and Wyoming.

Officials named it after Chief Taghee, though they changed the spelling to “Targhee” National Forest.

The forest covered over 1.8 million acres of mountains and valleys, much of it once Bannock territory.

The forest still carries his name today, covering parts of eastern Idaho and western Wyoming with tall pines and mountain meadows where the Bannock once hunted.

His Name Lives On Across The Mountain West

Beyond the national forest, many places in Idaho and Montana carry the Targhee name. Drivers between Idaho and Yellowstone National Park cross Targhee Pass at 7,072 feet.

Targhee Creek flows down from the mountains near the Montana border. In 1969, a ski resort opened on the west side of the Tetons called Grand Targhee.

Maps, road signs, and businesses across the region use the name, keeping the memory of the chief alive even among people who know nothing about him.

Modern Bannock People Keep Their Heritage Strong

Today, about 6,000 Bannock and Shoshone people live on the Fort Hall Reservation in southeastern Idaho.

The Shoshone-Bannock Festival brings thousands of visitors to learn about tribal culture.

Tribal members teach young people the Bannock language and stories about leaders like Chief Taghee.

The tribe runs its own museum that tells their history from their perspective. They hold powwows each summer where dancers perform traditional steps.

They continue to fight for water rights and land claims based on the very treaty Taghee signed over 150 years ago.

Visiting Targhee National Forest, Idaho

You can visit Targhee National Forest on US Highway 20 at the Idaho-Montana border, 7,072 feet up.

The forest was named after Chief Taghee, a peaceful Bannock leader from the 1860s, though they changed the spelling.

It’s part of the Nez Perce National Historic Trail and Caribou-Targhee National Forest with hiking trails.

For more about his culture, check out the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Museum in Fort Hall off I-15 at Exit 80.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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