For this report, I share a little bit about the first white men who traversed the Great Basin area, but concentrate more heavily on the period of time from July, 1847 through August 1877, when the first white men arrived who made their homes, built communities and claimed the land. Previously, white men were merely passing through the country, usually Spaniards, priests, or mountain men and beaver hunters.

The first encounters who left a lasting impact were the Spaniards whose most important contribution was the horse. By the early 1700s, all tribes in Utah had some access to the horse. The Paiute and Goshute were hunters and gatherers who roamed southwestern and west-central Utah. This land usually did not provide sufficient grass to sustain large herds of any kind and the prey these Indians hunted was best caught on foot. The horse was seen by these Indians as an alternate food source. The Utes and Northern Shoshones hunted herds of buffalo and deer and became tepee-living, horse-wealthy warriors.

At times, the Shoshone fought the Utes and Paiutes, and the Utes preyed upon the Paiutes as a source for slaves to trade with the Spaniards and Mexicans. Still, relations within the confines of Utah were usually peaceful.

In 1821, Spain accepted Mexico’s independence, succeeding a vast territory including the future state of Utah. Mexico held title to this land for twenty years but did little with it. Mountain men traversed the streams in search of beaver. Groups of traders traveled through the valleys and over large stretches of the Great Basin via the Old Spanish Trail which connected Santa Fe, New Mexico to Los Angeles, California. The Indians were still in control of their destiny and could choose what they accepted from the white man.

In 1847, a large contingent of white men entered the Salt Lake Valley. These whites, unlike travelers of the past, built settlements and claimed land, waterways, and forests as their own. Inherent in their theology was the thought that American Indians were descendants of Book of Mormon characters, Hebrews thought to have fled Jerusalem six hundred years before the birth of Christ. These Hebrews were believed to have fallen from the grace of God and were given a dark skin as a sign of their spiritual standing. It was thought, in the forthcoming battles preceding the coming of Christ, these dark skinned natives would become white and delightsome and act as the battleaxes of the Lord in the wars leading to the coming Kingdom of God. This Kingdom was expected to arrive within the lifetime of the settlers.

Brigham Young was the leader of these people commonly known as Mormons. After building Salt Lake City, claiming the forests, water rights, and the most fertile land, there was little left for the Indians who had spent centuries hunting and moving from one area to another in response to the seasons and weather. As hunger moved into the tepees, conflicts between the two groups ensued. Brigham Young’s Indian Policy: ‘It is cheaper to feed the Indians than to fight them’ was necessary as the natives, little-by-little, were forced from their homelands. Many Indians were massacred in spite of Young’s policy.

It is estimated that there were twenty thousand Indians in Utah in 1847, the year the Mormons moved in. In 1850, the white population was eleven thousand. A decade later, it was eighty-six thousand, which increased to one hundred forty-three thousand by 1870. Many Indians had been killed by 1870. At times, entire tribes were wiped out. Often, Mormons were the guilty ones, as well as army personnel whose duty it was to protect the area and the emigrants who passed through it. Indians, driven by hunger, were forced to steal. Retribution was swift and sure.

Growth in numbers continued. Emigrants from abroad, as well as gold-seekers, were constantly on the move. The three emigration trails had constant traffic. There was no stopping the westward movement. In a short time, sixteen cities and towns were established within territory previously claimed by the natives. Hunting and gathering grounds that had been utilized for hundreds of years by the dark-skinned natives were no longer available.

The Paiutes provided the largest number of Mormon converts. The Utes waged two costly wars–the Walker War (1853-1854) and the Black Hawk War (1865-1868). The Shoshone and Goshute also offered resistance. Many look back and judge the attitudes of destruction and hate expressed on the eastern frontiers as it became prevalent in Utah. There were no differences between Mormons and non-Mormons when it came to meting out their concept of justice. At times, there was peace.

The Walker War: (1853-1854)
Before there was war, there were skirmishes. The Utes found their land occupied, their lakes and streams over-fished, and their sources of independence disappearing. They retaliated by taking cattle and horses and raiding Mormon communities.

In the summer of 1853, a settler killed a Ute and wounded two others. Chief Walkara, along with his brother, Arapeen, began a series of raids on Mormon settlements. Twenty whites and many more Utes were killed over a period of ten months. But the Mormons had become the majority and there was no way the Utes could prevail. In May, 1854, Brigham Young met with Chief Walkara, and the two reached an agreement. Still, many of the Indians were renegades and not under Walkara’s control, and there were many tribes other than the Utes. Peace with Walkara did not necessarily mean peace in Utah.

Early in January 1858, Mormons met with the Navajos, Utes, and Paiutes to form an alliance. Army personnel were moving into Mormon Territory sent by the President of the United States when he became concerned over the Mormon’s lack of commitment to federal laws and gossip carried from Salt Lake City to Washington by several government officials. Polygamy, which had been a secret way of life for many decades, was now practiced openly. Citizens at large found the practice distasteful and unchristian. The Mormons saw it as God’s law and were unable to end its practice.

In September 1857, an incident referred to as the Mountain Meadows Massacre took the lives of over one hundred Americans traveling through Utah on their way to California from Arkansas. There were several issues that led to this tragedy, starting with vows taken a decade earlier to avenge the death of the prophet, Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum. These vows were taken in the temple in Nauvoo, Illinois, before the trek west led by Brigham Young. Years later, these same men were stimulated into action by rumors that some of the people in the Mountain Meadows party boasted about having the gun that killed Joseph Smith. Furthermore, when learning of the loss of one of their leading and well-loved apostles, Parley P. Pratt, the elders were further agitated. Pratt was murdered when he took the wife of another man as his twelfth plural wife. The woman’s first husband was from Arkansas, another reason for vengeance on the Arkansans at Mountain Meadows.

Mormons claimed the Indians were the perpetrators of this deed, but most knew the Indians were white men dressed as natives. My understanding is many Paiutes took part in the initial attack, but when they saw Indian blood and realized they had been lied to about the Mormon God stopping the bullets, they dropped out. This book states that the Paiutes were innocent all along.

The Bear River Massacre: (January 1863)
The Shoshone of the Bear River often spent their winters in a natural depression that was thick with willows and brush. This scene provided shelter from the wind and blizzards. The nearby natural hot springs provided warm water and the tepees were kept warm inside. Often, these people would have visitors from the Eastern Shoshone band or from another band led by Chief Pocatello. These three groups united for games and times of fun, and closed their gathering with a traditional ceremonial Warm Dance. The Shoshone and other guests left early this night and the remaining Indians began settling into their nightly routines.

Three members of the visiting party were returning to their homeland. Shoshone trouble makers stole some horses and cattle belonging to white settlers. One-Eyed Tom, Zee-coo-Che (Chipmunk) and Qua-ha-da-do-coo-wat (Lean Antelope) were named as the perpetrators in this case. Additionally, there was a fight between some white and Shoshone youths. Two whites and two Shhoshone were killed. These youths were not of the Northwestern Shoshone Band, but neither the whites nor the Indians distinguished between perpetrators and the innocent.

Some Shoshone from Chief Pocatello’s band got into a fight with some miners. The miners were killed, their horses and other personal belongings were taken into their chief’s part of the country. Colonel Patrick Conner, stationed at Camp Floyd, about forty miles south of Salt Lake City, armed with Justice Kinney’s warrant for the arrest of two Northwestern Shoshones Chiefs, Sagwitch and Sanpitch, approached Bear River.

Sagwitch and Sanpitch were warned of Colonel Conner’s intention to come to the Indian camp, but they felt they could negotiate a peaceful settlement. Early the morning of January 29, 1863, the soldiers came down the bluff, crossed the river, and approached the Indian encampment firing their rifles. The Shoshone men, women, children, and babies were slaughtered like rabbits. Few escaped. Chief Bear Hunter, as one of the leaders of the Northwestern Shoshone Band, was whipped, kicked, and tortured, and then, finally, shot. Before he died, a bayonet that had been heated in the camp’s fire pierced through the chief’s head from ear to ear.

As the day began to wane, soldiers went through the fields killing those who were not yet dead, striking them with an ax. Finished, they set the tepees on fire, after gathering their food and clothing which was also burned. The survivors, dazed, with their eyes looking hollow, joined together in a state of shock and despair. Their buffalo robes and personal belongings were taken by the soldiers to sell or keep as souvenirs. Tomahawks, stone axes, willow baskets, headdresses, bows and arrows, and much more were taken by the soldiers. Thirteen Indians survived the massacre, including Sagwitch and Sanpitch. Several hundred members of a peaceful village had been ruthlessly slaughtered.

The Black Hawk War: (1865)
In 1860, Brigham Young had sent a survey party to the Uintah Basin. The party reported that the land was entirely unsuitable for farming. It was then suggested as a site for the next Indian reservation. When the natives were offered this area, they did not want to leave their homes. Sowiette and Sanpitch both spoke against this treaty, but Brigham Young advised the leaders to sign the treaty, noting that it provided an annual dollar annuity for ten years. The chiefs signed the treaty. In succeeding years, almost every Ute was moved to the Uintah Basin. The Utes were in desperate circumstances. The promised annuities were never paid.

Black Hawk, a very capable leader, led bands of Indians on attacks against the whites. He was able to recruit other Utes, and some Navajos and Paiutes. The Black Hawk war was an intensification of the raids that had been conducted against the Mormons since 1849. Great numbers of livestock and supplies were seized. Their efforts were in vain. Mormons threatened a war of extermination. In the summer of 1867, Black Hawk appeared on the Uintah Reservation. He explained that the Indians were tired of fighting and were hoping for permanent peace. They negotiated a verbal peace treaty. In 1870, Black Hawk traveled to various Mormon settlements asking forgiveness for the attacks. He died later that year of tuberculosis.

Most of this report has been devoted to the wars between the whites and the Indians. I need to point out the Indians rarely received the annuities promised to them at the signing of the various treaties. This book points out the Indians are still with us. We did not kill them all. They were and are a strong willed people. I have two more books to write reports on: both about the Utah Indians. In this report, we have looked at the Indian wars. The next two book reports, hopefully, will give us an opportunity to understand more about the lives led by the Indians who roamed the Great Salt Lake Basin before and during the great westward expansion.

P.S.: There is no reason to believe that the Nephites and the Lamanites are anything more than characters of Joseph’s early ‘Ancient Inhabitants’ tales–the ones his mother said sounded as if, “…he lived with them all his life.” Joseph knew the Nephites and the Lamanites. Until he wrote about them, no one else did. Secular history denies their existence.