Tribes, federal agency claim same land in eastern Idaho

The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes has recently asserted their claim of ownership of the City Creek Trailhead. However, there is some confusion over who actually owns the land. According to a press release issued by the Tribes on Tuesday, a railroad right of way was granted by the Tribes in 1888. The right of way included land in the City Creek area because it provided water for steam engines that the railroad needed to operate. Back then, the current Pocatello area was part of the Fort Hall Reservation. A condition the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, the U.S. Congress and the railroad company agreed upon at the time was that the land would be returned to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes once it was no longer being used for railroad purposes. According to the Tribes, the City Creek property in question, which is estimated at approximately 100 acres in size along Pocatello’s West Bench, reverted back to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes once steam engines were replaced with internal combustion engines in the early 1900s...more