Campaign Of Deception: Legacy Of Settler Violence In Southern Idaho / Dave Lundgren

David Lundgren, tribal attorney and author, joins me to discuss his new book, Massacre Rocks: A Campaign of Deception. 

Through years of research, Dave has uncovered "inconsistencies in historical accounts of emigrant massacres along the Oregon Trail that did not reflect official governmental records," most notably in the case of a massacre of white emigrants allegedly committed by a small band of Shoshonis, on the site now designated as Massacre Rocks State Park located just west of American Falls, Idaho. These inconsistencies have revealed, as in the case of this particular massacre, that many of these acts of mass murder along the Oregon Trail were committed by Mormon settlers in the region.

With this reality in mind, Dave and I discuss how this mass propaganda campaign to distort the history of this region has manifested in the white settler culture in southern Idaho.

The book was completed just before the Pocatello School District voted to end the use of the “Indians” mascot at Pocatello High School earlier this year, but Massacre Rocks sheds light on local views toward Native Americans that makes the use of Indian-themed mascots in the region so wide-spread. “Massacre Rocks” also links the tactics of modern domestic terrorists by white supremacists with those used in the 1800s, and warns that a failure to address organized hate quickly and decisively can have grave consequences. (http://bit.ly/3pBjwD9)

Bio:

Dave Lundgren grew up in Pocatello and was a graduate of Pocatello High School, Idaho State University and Antioch School of Law in Washington, D.C. While a student at ISU, Dave served as the news editor and editor-in-chief of The Advocate student newspaper. The author has represented Indian Tribes across the country and now maintains a private law practice focused exclusively on federal Indian law in Northeastern Washington State, where he lives with his wife, Sandy, and their yellow lab.

Episode Notes:

Learn more about Massacre Rocks: A Campaign of Deception and purchase a copy

Read Dave’s article Local history about Pocatello is wrong at Idaho State Journal

The song featured in this episode is by Eli Stonemets.