AN ETHNOHISTORY OF THE BANNOCK TRAIL

Author

Katharine Lucienne White

Year of Award

2024

Document Type

Dissertation - Campus Access Only

Degree Type

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Name

Anthropology (Cultural Heritage Option)

Department or School/College

Department of Anthropology

Committee Chair

Gregory Campbell

Commitee Members

Douglas MacDonald, Anna Prentiss, Wade Davies, William Farr

Keywords

Bannock Trail, going to buffalo, Shoshone-Bannock, Yellowstone National Park

Abstract

The Bannock Trail has been a well-acquainted, but little studied cultural resource of Yellowstone National Park. Previous investigations of the trail provided unverified assumptions and brief conclusions of its route, cultural meanings, or physical chrematistics. The ethnohistory herein serves as the first modern synthesis of the various historical contexts, indications of the current cultural heritage values, and potential physical assessments of the Bannock Trail within Yellowstone National Park. The dissertation comprises the culmination of a wide variety of information collected from historical documents, ethnographic studies, oral history interviews with Shoshone-Bannock tribal members, and archaeological studies that together form the most comprehensive understandings of the Bannock Trail to date.

The research satisfies the dearth of integrated information about the trail that is needed for managers to appropriately interpret and manage the resource. The Bannock Trail is therefore assessed as a cultural landscape, and as such its associative features, contexts, histories, and cultural inscriptions are thoroughly investigated and critically evaluated. Ample discussion focuses on issues regarding the physical condition and likely location of the trail corridor, contemporary cultural meanings of the trail to Bannock and Shoshone peoples, the role the Bannock Trail played in Yellowstone National Park history, as well as who used the trail and why. A variety of management recommendations are provided in light of the research findings.

The trail is surmised as an important pamplisest of varied cultural connections to the Yellowstone landscape over the last few centuries at least. At a minimum, its importance is relevant as a trail utilized and cultivated during the historic period of Intermountain Native American bison huntingdriven movement across the Continental Divide (or “going to buffalo”), the beginnings of American westward expansion into the Rocky Mountain West, and the exploration, creation, and development of Yellowstone National Park. The trail continually serves as a foundational travel corridor for millions of the park’s visitors each year as well as a source of memory and evolving cultural heritage to Shoshone-Bannock tribal members today.

Recommended Citation

White, Katharine Lucienne, "AN ETHNOHISTORY OF THE BANNOCK TRAIL" (2024). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 12372.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/12372