Washakie, Chief of the Shoshones

Washakie was chief of the eastern band of the Shoshone Indians for almost sixty years, until his death in 1900. A strong leader of his own people, he saw the wisdom of befriending the whites. Grace Raymond Hebard offers an engaging view of Washakie’s long life and the early history of Shoshone-occupied land—embracing present-day Wyoming and parts of Montana, Idaho, and Utah. Washakie is seen signing historic treaties, aiding overland emigrants in the 1850s, and finally assisting whites in fig…