Chief Arimo, born 1806,
was a leader of all the Northern Shoshone, called the Snake Indians by other
tribes and clans because they primarily lived on the Snake River. Before the Utah War, the Shoshone tribe had
28 clans averaging 600 people in each clan – 16,800 strong. Illness and warfare quickly depleted their
ranks.
He befriended the Mormons when
they first arrived. He was
baptized. Later he helped them build a
chapel in what eventually became Logan, Utah.
The Mormons in Cache Valley named a building after him in his
honor.
Arimo had seven sons and one
daughter. His name was later anglicized
to “Edmo” by the Indian Agent on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. 17 photographs of him and his children, taken
by Miss Benedicte Wrenstead towards the end of his life, still exist. He died in 1896. The Town of Arimo, thirty miles southeast of
his preferred winter camp near what became Pocatello, Idaho was named after
him. His ancestors still live in the
Idaho-Wyoming area to this day.
The story of Arimo’s
son being saved by a Mormon farmer is true.
It happened to my maternal great grandfather shortly after he settled in
Call’s Fort. It is part of the author’s
family history. My great grandfather and
Arimo remained friends until my ancestor died.
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