Clark massacre facts for kids

In August 1851, a group of Shoshoni people, led by a warrior named Cho Cho Co, attacked a wagon train. This wagon train was traveling on the Oregon Trail and was led by Thomas Clark. The attack happened near where the Raft River meets the Snake River in what is now Idaho.

Reports from that time say that the Shoshoni wanted to steal horses from Clark's group. During the attack, Thomas Clark's mother, his brother, and another man traveling with them were killed. This event is known as the Clark massacre.

Who Was Thomas Clark?

Thomas Clark was an Englishman who loved to hunt. He traveled to the Willamette Valley in Oregon in 1848. Later, he went to the California Gold Rush with friends.

Clark and his friends decided to use their gold to buy good quality cattle and horses. They wanted to bring these animals back to Oregon. By the spring of 1851, Thomas had bought 17 horses and some cattle from Kentucky and Illinois.

On his journey west, Thomas traveled with his mother, his 25-year-old sister Grace, and his 17-year-old brother Hodgson. His brother Charlie and another married sister with her family were also with them. Thomas even had a special carriage built for Grace and his mother to ride in. This might have been the first such carriage to cross the plains.

Clark also guided several other families from Illinois who were heading to Oregon. The group traveled slowly. This allowed their animals to graze and stay healthy for the long trip.

Who Was Cho Cho Co?

Cho Cho Co was a young Shoshoni warrior, only about twenty years old in 1851. But he was already a skilled fighter. He led a group of warriors from the Tussawehee sub-tribe of the Shoshone.

The Shoshone were a very powerful tribe in the area that is now Eastern Oregon, Idaho, and Western Montana. White settlers often called them the "Snakes." By late August, Cho Cho Co's group needed supplies. They especially needed good horses, guns, and ammunition.

Cho Cho Co traveled east along the Oregon Trail. He planned to meet his uncle, Deer Fly, and borrow more warriors from him. With this stronger group, he chose the Clark party as his target.

The Attack on the Wagon Train

The attack happened around noon on Wednesday, August 6, 1851. The wagon train had stopped to rest and eat lunch. As they often did, Mrs. Clark, Grace, and Hodgson went about a mile ahead of the main group. They found a good spot by the Raft River to prepare their meal.

Thomas Clark went up the river to hunt ducks. Other men brought many of the horses to the river ahead of the rest of the wagon train. The Raft River is about 16 miles (26 km) west of Massacre Rocks State Park. Several other wagon trains were attacked in that area later in the 1850s.

How the Attack Happened

The attackers had a plan. Some warriors would charge the main part of the wagon train very fast. This would cause a lot of confusion. While this was happening, Cho Cho Co and others would quickly gather the horses and drive them away.

When the men with the horses saw the warriors coming, they hid behind some rocks by the river. Hodgson Clark was shot and killed right away. He was climbing onto a wagon wheel to get a gun when he was hit.

An older Shoshoni man came to unhitch some horses tied to the wagon. Mrs. Clark yelled at him, and he began shooting at her. She died later that evening from her injuries.

Grace Clark was also wounded. She was shocked and pretended to be dead. Grace later said that some of the attackers spoke American English and some had blue eyes.

Soon, the warriors saw a cloud of dust approaching. Thomas Clark had heard the shooting. He was riding back very fast with his hunting dogs barking beside him.

The main part of the wagon train was too surprised by the sudden attack to help the Clark family. Thomas's brother, Charles Clark, gathered a group to chase Cho Cho Co's band. They caught up to them where the Shoshoni had taken shelter in a strong natural spot. The group could not force the Shoshoni out, so they gave up the chase.

The people who chased them reported seeing several men with long, sandy-colored beards among the Shoshoni group. Cho Cho Co's band killed one man, wounded another, and got away with the horses.

Some reports suggest that Mormons had offered to buy some of the horses earlier on the trip. Some of the stolen horses were later seen in Salt Lake City. It is thought that the white people with the raiders might have been "ordinary outlaws" who later sold the horses to the Mormons.

Americus Savage's account supports this story. He wrote about the events happening on August 18, though this might have been a mistake in his journal and was more likely August 8. Savage wrote that a man (possibly Charles Clark) came to his wagon train, which was about four days ahead of Clark's group.

Savage said that the man was trying to find people to chase the Shoshoni and get the horses back. Savage's group only had two horses, but two men volunteered to go. They quickly left. They gathered fifteen volunteers from all the companies. By riding hard, they caught up to the Shoshoni at noon that same day.

Savage wrote that they saw the horses grazing quietly on a hillside. When they charged close to the hill, the Shoshoni jumped up from behind bushes and rocks. They gave a war cry and fired their guns into the small group of volunteers. They killed one horse, badly wounded one man, and shot another man named Powell from Savage's company. The volunteers realized it was useless to try and get their horses back from the Shoshoni in their strong hiding spot. So, they retreated.

After the Attack

Thomas Clark expected his sister Grace to die from her wounds. He waited for a day or so before moving on.

A traditional story says that instead of following the usual Oregon Trail route, Clark headed west. He aimed for the mountains known as the Three Sisters in the Cascade Range. This story claims that Clark's group was the first white group to camp by the Deschutes River. This spot later became Pioneer Park in Bend, Oregon.

However, some historians believe Clark followed the usual Oregon Trail in 1851. They think this story might be confused with a trip Thomas and Charles Clark made in 1853. On that trip, they crossed eastern Oregon south of the Blue Mountains with the "Lost Wagon Train," following the Elliott Cutoff.

Either way, it was Thomas Clark who named a tall, extinct volcano in Bend, Oregon, Pilot Butte. Thomas Clark's own letters support the idea that he followed the usual Oregon Trail in 1851. He wrote about meeting his brother James about thirty miles east of The Dalles on the Columbia River during that trip.

Grace Clark later married Thomas's business partner, Jackson Vandevert. They settled in the Willamette Valley. Grace worked hard to help the local Native Americans. She passed away in 1875. Their first child, William Plutarch Vandevert, was born in 1854. He later started Vandevert Ranch south of Bend in 1892.

Thomas, Charles, and James Clark moved to Petrolia, California in 1857. They raised cattle there. All three brothers fought in the Rogue River Wars of 1855-1856 in Southern Oregon.

James Clark returned to Oregon. His ranch, later called "Burnt Ranch," was burned by Native American raiders. James, with Howard Maupin, tracked down and killed Chief Paulina in 1867. Thomas Clark died in Oxnard, California, on November 11, 1903, at 88 years old.