Bear Hunter (died January 29, 1863), "also known as Wirasuap (bear spirit)" was a

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ), also known by the endonym Newe, are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the United States with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshon ...

chief of the

Great Basin The Great Basin () is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets to the ocean, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja Californi ...

in the 1860s. On January 29, 1863, he and his Shoshone band (Northwestern Band) were attacked by the US Army in what is known as the Bear River Massacre. In 1862, a Californian volunteer infantry led by Patrick Edward Connor established a fort on the

Wasatch Range The Wasatch Range ( ) or Wasatch Mountains is a mountain range in the western United States that runs about from the Utah-Idaho border south to central Utah. It is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the Gr ...

near

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

. In January 1863, they attacked Bear Hunter's village in an action known as the Bear River Massacre today. Bear Hunter was among those tortured and killed.

References

1863 deaths 19th-century Native American leaders Native American people of the Indian Wars Year of birth unknown Shoshone people {{NorthAm-mil-bio-stub