Shoshone-Paiute leader Gibson dies

BOISE – An American Indian leader who in the 1990s helped convince the U.S. Air Force to relocate a planned bombing range farther from his tribe’s reservation on the Idaho-Nevada border has died.

Shoshone-Paiute Tribal Chairman Terry Gibson died Thursday at his home on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation after suffering a heart attack, said his son, Buster Gibson. He was 52.

Gibson was in his second term as leader of the Shoshone-Paiutes.

Two decades ago, the U.S. Air Force sought to create a new bombing range not far from the reservation, where supersonic jets were destined to fly over important cultural resources.

Gibson “almost single-handedly foiled and stopped the training range” at the original site, tribal adviser Doug McConnaughey said.

The Juniper Butte Range was eventually established in 1998 farther from the reservation, though tribal members still complain about disturbances from military aircraft from the Mountain Home Air Force Base.