Darren Parry, the three times great-grandson of Chief Sagwitch– a survivor of the Bear River Massacre in 1863, will address the public in the ballroom of the Oneida Stake Academy at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 29, in conjunctions with the OSA Heritage Day.
“I am looking forward to this more than any other place I’ve spoken,” said Parry, currently the chairman of the Northwestern Shoshone Nation and a board member of the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville, Utah. He has spoken extensively about the Shoshone perspective of the 1863 event, considered the deadliest of the major Indian massacres in the Western states. Estimates vary between 350 and 500 men, women and children were killed when US soldiers under the command of Patrick O’Connor swept down the hills surrounding the Shoshone people camped at the hot springs along the Bear River four miles north of Preston in the Winder area.
Following the massacre, Sagwitch hung the cradleboard holding his infant daughter in a tree where she was later found and then adopted by a Thomas and Mary Hull family from Franklin that raised her as Jane. She is reported to have carried six scars from the battle. She married and raised a family of 10 children, dying in 1910, at the age of 51 in Hooper, Utah.
Parry also tells about Tin Dup, the tribe’s medicine man who came to Sagwitch the night before tragedy and told him he’d had a dream that pony soldiers were killing the people.
“Sagwitch woke up members of his tribe to listen to Tin Dup’s dream and about 30 people believed him and left that night,” said Parry.
The invitation to speak at the OSA Heritage Day is the first time Parry has been invited to speak to an audience in the community where the massacre happened, he said, and he looks forward to an open discussion after his presentation.
“So often, when I go, I have people come speak to me of the experiences their ancestors had with my people,” he said. Furthermore, he enjoys the people here.
“I have such a love for Preston. Everyone I’ve met has been so great.”
Parry said he wants to make sure that those who have gone before him are not forgotten. “The story of the Bear River Massacre and the outcomes of that horrific event need to be remembered,” he said.
He is currently working hard to raise money and awareness so that an interpretive site can be built at the massacre location. Hoping to ensure that those who gave so much are never forgotten.
Parry will be bringing several artifacts from his people, including his ancestor’s headdress and a sword dropped by one of the officers at the massacre.
He attended the University of Utah and Weber State University and received his Bachelor’s degree in secondary education, with an emphasis on history. He and his wife, Melody, are the parents of nine children and 11 grandchildren.
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