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On May 10th,
1869 the rails were completed. According to Grenville Dodge, who
was present at the ceremony, “there was quite a mix of ethnic
groups at the May 10th ceremony including American Indians.”
Nancy Marinda Tracy Moyes gives this account of the day "Now
I will tell a little of the history of the great event that took
place at Promontory where the train from the East met the train
from the West. The Governor from California stepped off his train
to meet the great men from the East. There were many cheers, whistles
were shrieking and there [were] lots and lots of noise. Flags
were waving and the bands played. Among the hundreds of people
gathered, there were also many Indians from the Indian Reservations
all decked out in their gaudy buckskin clothes, ornamented with
lovely colored beads and with many colored feathers in their bonnets.
It is a sight not to be forgotten."
The completion of the transcontinental railroad in May 1869 made
matters even worse for the Northwestern Shoshone. Large numbers
of emigrants could now easily reach Utah and compete with the
Shoshone and other Indian groups for land and resources. The new
railroad also spawned the birth of Corinne in the heartland of
the Shoshone domain a development that from its beginning proved
to be problematic to the Indians.
For freight and passengers going from the Central Pacific to the
Beaverhead Country by way of the Montana Trail, however, there
is a lot of evidence to describe Indian-White relations at the
new freight-transfer point at Corinne, Utah. For the Northwestern
Shoshone, Corinne was important because the town was located on
the west bank of the Bear River just a short distance above it's
confluence with Great Salt Lake and within two or three miles
of a traditional winter camp of the Shoshone. Furthermore, this
place came to be the site where the Utah Indian Agents distributed
the northwestern annuity goods every fall, with Pocatello and
his tribe nearly always in attendance. This annual event and the
daily comings and goings of various Shoshone groups who camped
near the town received constant attention from local newspaper
editors.
In 1872 Agent M.P. Berry at Fort Hall complained about the Northwestern
Bands of Shoshone. Berry had become increasingly frustrated with
the Northwestern bands who drew provisions at Fort Hall but did
not remain there. Rather, they "scattered along the Rail
Road and among the Mormon settlements." Berry recommended
that they all be sent to Fort Hall permanently.
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