01Biography
The most influential Eastern Shoshone leader of the trail era. Through five decades of diplomacy, Washakie kept his people in alliance with the United States while preserving their hunting grounds along the Wind River. His people guided emigrants through South Pass and traded with passing trains, and his warriors fought as U.S. Army scouts in the Bannock and Sioux campaigns of the 1870s. The Wind River Reservation, negotiated in 1868, was the result of his decades-long political work.
02Why they matter
Kept emigrant traffic through South Pass largely peaceful and negotiated the Wind River Reservation that secured Eastern Shoshone homelands.
03How they died
Died of natural causes at the Wind River Agency, Wyoming, on 20 February 1900, aged about 96. He was buried at Fort Washakie with full U.S. military honours, the only Native chief ever to receive such a funeral.
04Legacy
Fort Washakie, Washakie County in Wyoming, and the city of Washakie all carry his name. The Wind River Reservation he secured is still home to the Eastern Shoshone today.