He grew up during the fur trapping days of the 1820s and 1830s. The Shoshone were frequent traders with the white mountain men. As an adult, Pocatello's status grew among his people. He was frequently consulted for advice on everyday tasks. While his reputation grew, so did the numbers of white men crossing Shoshone territory. In the southern part of their range in the Salt Lake Valley, the Mormons had settled. Pocatello and his people were very concerned about all these people who grazed all the grass and chased away the game.
Pocatello and his people began to confront the wagon trains and the Mormons, demanding food to replace what the white people had used or chased away. The Mormons gave them what they wanted, figuring it was better to concede than to go to war. The wagon trains did not feel the same way. They threatened war to the Indians if they continued to harass them. Soon Pocatello was being blamed for every Indian atrocity in that part of the country. In 1859, two Indians were killed by white men. Pocatello retaliated by sending a war party, which killed six white travelers. During this scuffle, Pocatello was captured by Lieutenant Ebenezer Gay. He was later released when it was found Pocatello had not been part of the skirmish.
In August of 1862, Pocatello led a charge against a wagon train traveling through the City of Rocks, in south central Idaho. A few days later, they attacked two other wagon trains near the Snake River. In the two attacks, ten white men were killed. That fall, Colonel Patrick Connor and the Third California Infantry arrived to bring the hostilities to an end. They were stationed at Camp Douglas near Salt Lake City. Connor did not like being kept out of the real action back east, which was engulfed in the Civil War. So instead, he took out his aggression on the Indians.
That winter, Connor led his men against a Shoshone camp on the Bear River. On January 29, 1863, the army attacked the Indians. He lost 22 of his own men, but killed over 350 Indians. It is considered one of the greatest losses in an Indian war. In the spring, Connor roamed the entire Bear River country, looking to kill or capture the rest of the Shoshone, especially Pocatello. He had already accomplished part of his mission, though. Those who had survived the Bear River massacre signed a peace treaty. This treaty applied only to the eastern Shoshones.
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