Utah Historical Quarterly, Volume 47, Number 4, 1979

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY ( I S S N 0042-143X)

EDITORIAL STAFF MELVIN T. SMITH,

Editor

STANFORD J. L A Y T O N , Managing

Editor

M I R I A M B. M U R P H Y , Associate J A N E T G. B U T L E R , Assistant

Editor Editor

ADVISORY BOARD OF EDITORS T H O M A S G. A L E X A N D E R , Provo,

1980

M R S . I N E Z S. C O O P E R , Cedar City, 1981 S. G E O R G E E L L S W O R T H , Logan, G L E N M . L E O N A R D , Bountiful,

1981 1979

L A M A R P E T E R S E N , Salt Lake City, 1980 R I C H A R D W . SADLER, Ogden,

1979

HAROLD SCHINDLER, Salt Lake City, 1981 G E N E A. S E S S I O N S , Bountiful,

1980

Utah Historical Quarterly was established in 1928 to publish articles, documents, a n d reviews contributing to knowledge of U t a h ' s history. T h e Quarterly is published by the U t a h State Historical Society, 307 West Second South, Salt Lake City, U t a h 8 4 1 0 1 . Phone (801) 533-5755 ( m e m b e r s h i p ) , 533-6024 (publications).

Members of the Society receive the Quarterly, Beehive History, a n d t h e bimonthly Newsletter u p o n payment of t h e annual d u e s ; for details see inside back cover.

Single copies, $2.00.

Materials for publication should be submitted in duplicate accompanied by return postage a n d should be typed double-space with footnotes at the end.

Additional information on requirements is available from the managing editor. T h e Society assumes no responsibility for statements of fact or opinion by contributors.

T h e Quarterly is indexed in Book Review Index to Social Science Periodicals, America: History and Life, a n d Abstracts of Popular Culture.

Second class postage is paid at Salt Lake City, U t a h .

H I S T O R I C A L aXJiWRTERX-Y

Contents FALL 1979/VOLUME 47 / NUMBER 4

IN THIS ISSUE

343

THE ARCHAIC INHABITANTS OF THE NORTHERN COLORADO PLATEAU

.

.

UTAH'S SPANISH TRAIL

.

C.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT THE ISAAC CHASE MILL THE WALKER WAR: DEFENSE AND CONCILIATION AS STRATEGY THE BUFFALO SOLDIERS: GUARDIANS OF THE UINTAH FRONTIER, 1886-1901 .

SCHROEDL

344

GREGORY CRAMPTON

361

BRUCE HAWKINS

384

ALAN

R.

HOWARD

RONALD

A.

G.

CHRISTY

395

COLEMAN

421

BOOK REVIEWS

440

BOOK NOTICES

449

INDEX

451

THE COVER Pictograph panel located at Ferron Box, Emery County.

© Copyright 1979 Utah State Historical Society

J E S S E D . J E N N I N G S . Prehistory

the Eastern

of Utah and

Great Basin

R I C H A R D V . FRANCAVIGLIA.

.

The

.

DAVID B. M A D S E N

440

Mormon

Landscape: Existence, Creation, and Perception of a Unique Image in the American

West

.

.

.

RICHARD H. JACKSON

441

J O H N THEOBALD and LILLIAN THEOBALD.

Wells Fargo in Arizona Territory

JOHN

F. Y U R T I N U S

443

Q U I N T A R D TAYLOR

444

S T E P H E N L. CARR

445

N O R M A N L. C R O C K E T T .

The Black Towns

Books reviewed DON

L. H O F S O M M E R .

Railroads

in the West

.

J O H N D . U N R U H , J R . The Plains

.

.

Across:

The Overland Emigrants and the TransMississippi West, 1840-1860 . N O R M A N J. BENDER 446 K A R E N C U R R E N T a n d W I L L I A M R. C U R R E N T .

Photography Old

West

and the MARGARET D . L E S T E R

447

In this issue.

For a dozen millennia before permanent white settlement came to the place, Utah served as home and crossroad to a variety of cultures. A large portion of their record—that of the Archaic lifeway—is surveyed in the first article and reveals an interesting story of human strivings and achievements within a simple cultural environment. From that point the rate of cultural interaction continued to grow, accelerating considerably with the penetration cf the Spanish explorers and merchants during the eighteenth century. The trade route they established, arcing across several hundred miles of Utah terrain, beckoned trappers, traders, and other transients, then later, settlers, some cf whom, like the Jorgensens whose ranch is pictured above, located directly astride the Spanish Trail. The course of this important conduit, with an historical overview, is sketched in the second article.

The next feature, a technical analysis of the Isaac Chase Mill, reveals construction detail and technology of the early pioneer period. It broadens our understanding of the commitment and determination employed by the Mormon settlers, and, to that extent, complements the succeeding piece, an interpretation of the clash of Mcrmon-Indian cultures as reflected in the Walker War. The final article in this issue introduces yet another ingredient to LJtah's cultural milieu. Black soldiers were dispatched to the Llinta Basin in the latter nineteenth century, and their engagement with both Indians and whites is a story well told. If the earlier selections reveal something about the longevity of Utah as a crossroad of cultures, this piece offers special food for thought about the growing pace and complexity of cultural interaction at the approach of the modern era.

Deluge Shelter., _

/

rhofne Cave .

(

Hell's Midden

\

v

Utah j o e s^ • Valley^ Alcove'

/

/ / 50

100

Clyde's • Cavern Sudden Shelter ^ \Pint-size • ^Shelter

150 km.

/ Cowboy • Cave

I / / / / / M

Sand Dune Cave •

Dust Devil • Cave

"7-

/ Fig. 1. Archaic sites on the northern Colorado Plateau. Two of these, Sudden Shelter and Cowboy Cave, provide a basis for a chronology of the Archaic period for this region. All photographs are courtesy of the author.

The Archaic Inhabitants of the Northern Colorado Plateau

BY A L A N R. S C H R O E D L

^Tabeguache Cave

,

Archaic Inhabitants

345

period about 9,000 years ago until the introduction of maize horticulture, the Archaic pattern of exploitation dominated much of the North American continent. The name Archaic is not meant to imply a backward or outmoded style of life; on the contrary, the Archaic lifeway was the most dynamic and flexible mode of adaptation that ever developed in the New World. Based on a pattern of regional specialization, it was the most persistent of all the known technological stages in North America.

The Archaic lifeway on the northern Colorado Plateau began more than 8,000 years ago and lasted for more than seven millennia until A.D. 500 when the presence of the bow and arrow, ceramics, and maize horticulture signaled an end to it.1 This lifeway was centered around a pattern of seasonal wandering, the hunting of animals, and the gathering of plants. The plants provided food and materials for the construction of textiles, while the animals provided not only meat but also bone for tools and hide for clothing.

In broad outline the general pattern of regional specialization for this continentwide lifeway is understood.2 In each area of North America numerous species of local flora and fauna were tapped as resources, not only as food but as raw material for a vast array of cultural items.

Clothing and blankets were manufactured from hides and furs. Animal bones and shells provided workable material for more specialized objects such as pendants, awls, beads, punches, and needles. Cordage, sandals, netting, rope, and basketry were constructed from plant fibers, while wood was used to make knife handles, dart shafts, and digging sticks. In each area of the continent local resources were extensively utilized.

On the Atlantic seacoast a pattern of exploitation developed with an emphasis on fish and ocean mollusks. Bowls were carved out of steatite in this area and major tools were chipped out of stone; and where stone was not immediately available, shell was used. In the Southeast a riverine adaptation arose. Fresh-water mussels were harvested by the thousands; deer and turkey were also taken. The first pottery in North 1*ROM THE END OF THE BIG GAME HUNTING

Dr. Schroedl is a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology, California State University, Fresno.

1 Although it is the author's opinion that there was a continuous occupation of the northern Colorado Plateau by Archaic peoples from about 6000 B.C. to about A.D. 500, other archaeologists (David B. Madsen, personal communication) disagree, claiming that the continuity is yet to be demonstrated. Still other archaeologists take the view that there is no continuity between Fremont horticulturists a n d Archaic peoples anywhere in U t a h . See Michael S. Berry and Claudia F. Berry, "An Archaeological Reconnaissance of the White River Area, Northeastern U t a h , " Antiquities Section Selected Papers, vol. I I , no. 4 ( 1 9 7 6 ) . T h e question is obviously still open.

2 Jesse D. Jennings, Prehistory of North America, 2d ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1974).

346

Utah Historical Quarterly

America, a thick fiber-tempered ware, is found among the rubbish of Archaic people in this area. In the Northeast a boreal adaptation dominated, and numerous specialized tools including the ax, the adze, and the gouge, were developed.3 Further west the woodlands of mid-America provided a wide range of locally available seeds and nuts, many of which, such as the hickory, the acorn, and the walnut, were intensively collected.

Archaic populations in this area pursued deer, turkey, and migratory birds; further north the caribou was the preferred game animal. On the Great Plains the bison was the major source for both food and raw materials.1 While other groups in the East were using stone tools, Archaic people in the Upper Great Lakes region were making and using copper tools and implements. Pure copper was collected or mined and then coldhammered into socketed spear points and other objects. The copper artifacts of these Archaic groups are the earliest evidence of metalworking in the New World.5 West of the Rockies other patterns of exploitation evolved. In the Southwest, Archaic peoples adjusted to the semiarid environment by heavily utilizing plants and grasses as well as the small mammals and rodents of the desert and by frequently moving from place to place.6 In some areas a fewr permanent lakes and springs provided local oases around which a very specialized adaptation, a lacustrine form, occurred. At these locations the Archaic inhabitants hunted small mammals and migratory waterfowl, netted fish, and used lakeside plants to manufacture textiles.7 In the higher elevations the hunting of large animals was emphasized, while further west the acorn was a staple food resource. On the Pacific Coast a marine adaptation, similar to the Atlantic coastal form, developed.

Salmon was the favored item on the northwest coast. Further south, sea mammals were extensively exploited.8 This pattern of varied specialization and exploitation existed in each region of North America until the introduction of maize horticulture. :!

Gordon R. Willey, An Introduction to American Archaeology, Vol. 1 : North and Middle (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1966), pp. 252-66.

4 Waldo R. Wedel, Prehistoric Man on the Great Plains ( N o r m a n : University of Oklahoma Press, 1961), p. 261.

3 George I. Quimby, Indian Life in the Upper Great Lakes: 11,000 B.C. to A D 1800 (Chicago, 1960), pp. 5 2 - 6 3 .

6 Jesse D. Jennings, Danger Cave, University of Utah Anthropological Papers, no. 27 (Salt Lake City: University of U t a h Press, 1957). ' Robert F. Heizer and Lewis K. Napton, eds., Archaeology and the Prehistoric Great Basin Lacustrine Subsistence Regime as Seen from Lovelock Cave, Nevada, Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Facility, no. 10 (Berkeley, Calif., 1970).

8 Clement W. Meighan, "California Cultures and the Concept of an Archaic Stage," American Antiquity 24 (1959) : 289-305.

America

Archaic Inhabitants

347

But even horticulture was probably not a novel invention to these people who had been cropping wild plants and weeds for thousands of years.

The archaeological evidence suggests that some Archaic people had taken at least rudimentary steps in domesticating a few of the many forbs and grasses they were harvesting, long before maize was introduced."

Although the spectrum of Archaic exploitation is generally understood for most of North America, there are many areas in which the Archaic stage is virtually unknown. Until recently the Colorado Plateau was one such area. The extent of knowledge about the Archaic on the Plateau consisted of a few scattered sites, most representing very short prehistoric occupancy and lacking a chronological sequence in which they could be placed. Since 1970 a number of stratified, well-dated Archaic sites have been excavated in the area (fig. 1). One of these, Sudden Shelter, has furnished not only a most detailed picture about the Archaic lifeway in the area but also provided the framework for developing a regional chronology of the Archaic.1" Sudden Shelter, located in Ivie Creek Canyon on the western edge of the Colorado Plateau in central Utah, was reported during an archaeological survey in the 1950s but was not excavated until 1974 when the site appeared endangered by the construction of Interstate 70 through the narrow canyon. During the summer and fall of 1974 a crew from the University of Utah excavated most of the 30-meter-long rock shelter.11 Preliminary testing of the rock shelter in the summer of 1974 showed that the cultural deposits were almost 4 meters deep. The prehistoric occupation of the site was apparently continuous, but the stratigraphy, alternating bands of soft dark fill with light sandy layers, was a result of unusual natural aggradational processes. During the occupancy of the site, colluvial slopewash from above was continuously transported down the runoff chutes into the site at varying rates depending on the amount of local precipitation. The short-term fluctuations in the rate of deposition were sufficient to cause marked fluctuation in the charcoal content of adjacent strata. The light sandy layers had very little charcoal and resulted from higher rates of deposition, while the soft dark fill with a

9 Richard A. Yarnell, "Early Plant Husbandry in Eastern North America" in Culture Change and Continuity: Essays in Honor of James Bennett Griffin, ed. Charles E. Clelland (New York: Academic Press, 1976), pp. 265-73.

10 Alan R. Schroedl, " T h e Archaic of the Northern Colorado Plateau" (Ph.D. diss., University of Utah, 1976).

11 Jesse D. Jennings, Alan R. Schroedl, and Richard N. Holmer, Sudden Shelter, University of U t a h Anthropological Papers, no. 103 (scheduled for publication in spring 1980).

348

Utah. Historical

**

*/

,«.1* v

Quarterly

•»

t -

Fig. 2. Sudden Shelter, occupied for almost five thousand years, is located in I vie Creek Canyon in central Utah.

high charcoal content accumulated at a much slower rate, hence the alternating bands observed by the excavators. 12 Twenty-two strata were identified and excavated, with a consistent series of ten radiocarbon determinations from the top to the bottom of the deposits showing a span of prehistoric habitation between 3,300 and 8,000 years ago. T h e five-thousand-year sequence of occupation at Sudden Shelter covers most of the Archaic time period on the Colorado Plateau.

At an elevation of 2,200 meters, Sudden Shelter is an upland site nestled under an overhang on the north side of the canyon (fig. 2 ) . T h e rock shelter overlooks both the valley floor and Ivie Creek, a perennial stream that flows east eventually to join the Muddy River. T h e valley has changed drastically since prehistoric times due to climatic variation and recent arroyo cutting. Geomorphological analysis of the canyon shows 12 Donald R. Currey, "Late Quaternary Geomorphic History of Ivie Creek and Sudden Shelter" in Jennings, Schroedl, and Holmer, Sudden Shelter.

Archaic Inhabitants

349

that during the period of prehistoric occupation at the site, the water table was much higher and the valley floor was a lush meadow supporting a larger and more varied flora and fauna than is sustained in the area today.13 Since the upper reaches of the canyon are located in the transition zone from valley lowland to plateau upland vegetation (the pinyon/ juniper-montane ecotone), the inhabitants of Sudden Shelter could easily exploit resources in both zones.

Five kilometers to the west of the site and several hundred meters higher is Emigrant Pass, a narrow saddle that connects Salina Canyon of the Great Basin with Ivie Creek Canyon of the Colorado Plateau. The distance from the summit of this pass to either the Sevier River in the Great Basin or the San Rafael Swell on the Colorado Plateau is very short.

Emigrant Pass is one of the most important passes between these two physiographic provinces. Thus, it is not surprising that Sudden Shelter contained a long span of Archaic occupation: not only was it an optimal location for exploiting various ecozones but it probably also acted as a way station for aboriginal passage between the Great Basin and the Colorado Plateau.

Judging from the number of projectile points recovered, over 400, hunting was by far the major activity carried on at the site.11 But Sudden Shelter was more than just a temporary hunting camp, since evidence of the full range of domestic activities was present throughout the span of occupation (fig. 3). Over 130 firepits, probably used as some type of cooking oven, were noted. In addition, another 150 open campfires were recorded; they may have been used to heat-treat stone or to generate hot embers for parching seeds. Numerous milling stones and handstones (metates and manos) attest to the significance of plant resources in the exploitation pattern at the rock shelter. Although punches, needles, and shuttles were present, bone awls believed to have been used in manufacturing of textiles were the dominant bone artifact (fig. 4). That the manufacturing and retouching of stone tools was also an important activity at the site is indicated by the presence of antler flakers, hammerstones, and hundreds of blanks, preforms, and cores, not to mention some 40,000 flakes of chipping debris recovered during the screening. Most of the 500 stone tools recovered were knives and scrapers of various kinds, probably used in the butchering of animals and the processing of hides.

13

ibid.

The following discussion of Sudden Shelter is completely derived from Jennings, Schroedl, and Holmer. Sudden Shelter.

14

Utah Historical

350

Quarterly

,' v%*>

•f~4? u-A V

f,'/,,. V-.*

/jjT

Fzg. 5. Living floor at Sudden Shelter. Several prehistoric firepits were dug into the colluvial floor of the shelter. The dark organic stain visible in the wall is prehistoric trash that decomposed.

T h e importance of animal resources to the inhabitants of Sudden Shelter is demonstrated by the 170 kilograms of scrap bone, most of it unidentifiable splinters, that were collected off the screens.

Sudden Shelter, then, was more than just a transient hunting c a m p ; it was an intensively occupied base camp from which the inhabitants could efficiently exploit a wide array of resources. But summarizing five thousand years of occupation at the site as a static, unchanging subsistence pattern of hunting and gathering obscures the fact that the Archaic mode of adaptation was totally flexible and dynamic, continually adjusting and responding to various cultural, demographic, and environmental fluctuations. Adjustments to these factors are evident in the shifting use of plant and animal resources and by the changing of artifact types over time. These archaeological changes can be grouped into three distinct cultural components.

Archaic

Inhabitants

351

i

• *

<

:

i

Fig. 4. Bone tools. A variety of awls, recovered during the excavation of Sudden Shelter, were probably used in the manufacture of basketry.

Utah Historical

352

Quarterly

Component I, the first and earliest component at Sudden Shelter, includes strata 1 through 7 and spans a period of time from about 6000 B.c. to 4300 B.C. The total artifact assemblage associated with this component is an already highly developed Western Archaic form. Pinto and Elko series points are the diagnostic projectile points (fig. 5). Although the inhabitants were exploiting numerous plant resources, the abundance of faunal remains indicates that hunting was the predominant subsistence activity, far more so than in the later two components. Component I produced sixteen of the nineteen different genera of animal species iden-

Northern Side-notched

Hawken Side-notched

San Rafael Side-notched

Rocker Base Side-notched

Sudden Side-notched

Elko Corner-notched

Pinto

Elko Side-notched

Fig. 5. Projectile point types from Sudden Shelter. Computer analysis of more than 400 projectile points from this site generated these named morphological types.

Archaic

Inhabitants

353

tified at the site, representing four different orders, artiodactyls, lagomorphs, rodents, and carnivores.

More than half of the total amount of meat harvested at Sudden Shelter was taken during component I. Large game animals provided the bulk of this quantity; in decreasing order of importance, the major animals were mule deer, bison, bighorn sheep, and elk. Although many smaller animals such as cottontail rabbits, squirrels, porcupines, prairie dogs, and rock chucks were hunted during the occupancy of the site, the amount of dressed meat that these animals contributed to the total consumed was minimal.

In all three components the major prey was mule deer. An average deer would provide about a hundred pounds of meat in addition to hide, sinew, bone, and antler for tools and clothing. T h e presence of every major bone of the deer skeleton at the site indicates that after the deer was killed it was brought back to the shelter where all the butchering and processing took place. T h e occurrence of a few prenatal deer among the faunal remains implies that Sudden Shelter was occasionally occupied in the early spring before the does fawned.

Every major dietary species at Sudden Shelter, including deer, is best stalked by a solitary hunter. Other animal species that are only minimally represented at the site such as antelope and jack rabbit are gregarious animals that are most effectively hunted by communal drives and surrounds that depend on the cooperation of a large number of people. T h e faunal data suggests that at this site hunting was an individual activity rather than a communal enterprise.

Exactly what the inhabitants of Sudden Shelter looked like is unknown, but they were probably small judging from the skeleton of a h u m a n female recovered from component I.15 T h e woman had borne at least one child and had survived to an advanced age of fifty or fiftyfive in relatively good health with little evidence of nutritional deficiencies (fig. 6 ) . Although her teeth were badly worn and she was afflicted with arthritis in her right knee and wrist joints (perhaps she was righth a n d e d ) , she suffered very little from pathologies common to sedentary Fremont populations that inhabited much of the Colorado Plateau several thousand years later. T h a t the Archaic people at Sudden Shelter were healthier than later sedentary populations probably resulted from a well-balanced diet. They certainly derived sufficient animal protein 15 J. Craig Hylton and John M. McCullough, "Sudden Shelter Skeletal Material" in Jennings, Schroedl, and Holmer, Sudden Shelter.

354

Fig. 6. The skeleton of an old woman, recovered from Sudden Shelter.

Utah Historical

who died more than 6,000 years

Quarterly

ago,

from the faunal resources, and many of the wild plants a n d seeds they were exploiting have a higher oil and protein content than many modern cereal grains.

Component I I at Sudden Shelter ranges between 4300 B.C. and 2600 B.C. a n d includes strata 8 through 14. There appears to be a drastic shift in the pattern of exploitation in this component compared to the previous one. This shift is also coupled with a change in the cultural assemblage. T h r e e projectile points are diagnostic of this component (fig.

7 ) , two newly n a m e d typesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the Rocker Base side-notched and the Sudden side-notchedâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and the Hawken side-notched, a point type named after a bison-kill site in Wyoming. 16 Compared to component I, hunting h a d fallen off dramatically. With a decrease in the quantity of r a w material the variety and number of bone tools declined as well. Although floral resources were important in all three components, the presence of vertical 10 George O Frison, Michael Wilson, a n d Diane J. Wilson, "Fossil Bison a n d Artifacts from a n Early Altithermal Period Arroyo T r a p in Wyoming." American Antiquity 41 (1976) : 28-57.

Archaic

Inhabitants

355

Fig. 7. Projectile points recovered during the excavation of Sudden Shelter.

slab-lined firepits and a relative increase in the number of milling stones and handstones indicates that plant and seed utilization reached a significant peak during component II. The picture of plant utilization at Sudden Shelter is limited since the only perishable materials recovered were charred plant fragments and seeds retrieved by flotation techniques. From the carbonized macrofossils over 70 different plant varieties representing more than 20 families were identified. Over the whole span of occupation the significant flora represented by charred epidermal tissue were goosefoot, amaranth, wild rye and other grasses, salt brush, and cactus. In component II grasses were the most heavily exploited plant resource compared to goosefoot in component I. Plant macrofossils, when they are completely preserved in a dry cave site such as Cowboy Cave in eastern Utah, can be very informative

356

Utah Historical Quarterly

regarding patterns of plant exploitation by prehistoric populations.17 But it is highly speculative to discuss the range of floral utilization at Sudden Shelter based solely on carbonized plant remains since these probably represent only a small portion of the whole spectrum of plant resources exploited. Like many other Western Archaic groups, the inhabitants of Sudden Shelter probably used plants not only as food but also as raw material for manufacturing an assortment of textiles, tools, and other objects. However, such perishable artifacts are almost never found unless some accident of preservation occurs, an accident that happens too infrequently to suit archaeologists. It must also be remembered that these prehistoric people probably often ate raw such fleshy plant foods as berries, leaves, tubers, and roots, plant parts that need not have been cooked or parched. Evidence of these plant remains is usually totally lacking in an archaeological site unless the excavator recovers human feces for analysis.

The seasonality of the plant remains from Sudden Shelter suggests that the main period of occupancy was between April and September.

Comparing this with the faunal data on seasonality, it seems that Sudden Shelter was occupied anytime from early spring to late fall when, at an elevation of 2,200 meters, the weather would be brisk. It is no surprise that the Archaic people chose this south-facing overhang for shelter.

In the cooler seasons, a south-facing rock shelter would catch the first rays of the sun rising in the low7 southeastern sky and the last rays in the late afternoon. In summer, the warmest time of the year, the sun would be high overhead and the shelter would provide a maximum amount of shade throughout the day.

By the beginning of component III, which ranges between 2600 B.C. and 1300 B.C., the only sheltered area at the site was several square meters at the eastern end. Five thousand years of colluvial deposition had choked the western portion of the overhang so that the protected area had shrunk to less than a third its original size.

Grass exploitation decreased during component III with a concomitant rise in amaranth usage, which reached a peak in this component. Hunting remained at about the same level as in component II and was not nearly as significant as in component I (fig. 8). Although mule deer was still the major game animal, bighorn sheep comprised about 37 percent of the meat diet, steadily increasing since component I where

17

Jesse D. Jennings et al., "Cowboy Cave" (manuscript in p r e p a r a t i o n ) .

Archaic

357

Inhabitants

Component

I

Total - 9 8 0 0 lbs)

Component

II

Total - 2 6 0 5 lbs)

Component

III

(Total - 2 2 4 0 lbs)

Fig. 8. Animal use at Sudden Shelter varied over time as indicated by the relative size of tlie circle. Hunting was especially important during component I. Mule deer decreased in importance as a meat source over time while bighorn sheep increased.

they only accounted for about 7 percent of the total meat weight. Although bighorn sheep increased in importance, the number of animal genera exploited declined since component I, where 16 genera were present. In component II 14 were noted, and in component III only 12 out Of the 19 genera were recorded.

In the early part of component III the San Rafael side-notched, a newly identified point type, was the dominant projectile point, while later the Gypsum point was dominant. The Gypsum point was named after Gypsum Cave, a site in southern Nevada where this point was believed to be associated with the extinct ground sloth.1S Today it is known that the Gypsum point which is found at scattered sites throughout the West is not a Paleo-Indian point at all but a diagnostic artifact of the late Western Archaic. The Gypsum point is distinctive in that it is the first projectile point to be hafted with pitch rather than bound with sinew to a dart foreshaft.

Although their technology was similar in many respects, the size of the local group at Sudden Shelter appears to have been smaller than the average recorded for ethnographically known hunters and gatherers. The 18 Mark R. Harrington, Gypsum Cave, Nevada, Southwest Museum Papers, no. 18 (Los Angeles, 1933).

Time

A.D. 1,000 —

Chronological Sudden Shelter Sequence Components

Cowboy Cave Units

Relative

Prehistoric Population Fluctuations

FREMONT

Unit 3C A.D. B.C. Unit ISC 1,000 B.C.—

Component

nr

2,000 B.C.—

3,000 B.C.—

hiatus ?

Component IT.

4,000 B.C.—

5,000 B.C—

Component

I

unit nr

6,000 B.C.— Unit

n

7,000 B.C.—

8,000 B.C.-

hiatus ?

< 9,000 B.C.—

Unit

I

10,000 B.C.

Fig. 9. Cultural chronology for the Colorado Plateau. Sudden Shelter and Cowboy Cave provide an almost continuous sequence of occupation for the northern Colorado Plateau. Population fluctuations, regular during the Archaic, probably resulted from the changing environment.

Dotted lines represent uncertain events.

Archaic Inhabitants

359

intersection of various pieces of information, including the extent of the sheltered area and the horizontal distribution of artifacts and firepits, indicates that the composition of the local group at the site may never have exceeded two or three domestic units, each of which may have consisted of an extended family: a man, a woman, their children, and perhaps an older relative or two.

About 3,300 years ago environmental fluctuations upset the geomorphological equilibrium in the canyon; colluvial deposition ceased just before the sheltered area would have been totally engulfed. About the same time the Archaic inhabitants abandoned Sudden Shelter for good.

Archaic occupation on the Colorado Plateau continued intermittently for about 1,500 more years after the abandonment of Sudden Shelter. The evidence for this occupation comes from the upper units at Cowboy Cave, a dry cave site located on the edge of the Maze District in Canyonlands National Park in eastern Utah. This site was excavated by the University of Utah in 1975, a year after the excavation of Sudden Shelter.

Unit V at Cowboy Cave dates to around the time of Christ and postdates the final occupation at Sudden Shelter by about 1,200 years.

This unit contains artifacts that are diagnostic of the Archaic in this area: Gypsum points and stick figurines, as well as corn and arrow points, artifacts that are generally associated with the Fremont Culture. This unit then can be considered as transitional from an Archaic hunting and gathering mode of subsistence to a more sedentary lifeway. The presence of the bow and arrow in cultural assemblages around A.D. 500 arbitrarily marks the end of the Archaic on the northern Colorado Plateau.

Although the prehistoric chronology on the Colorado Plateau is beginning to take form, archaeologists still have many questions about the Archaic in this area (fig. 9). Where and when did the Archaic on the Colorado Plateau originate? This question cannot yet be answered; there is not enough information. But the well-developed Archaic assemblages in the lowest levels at Cowboy Cave and Sudden Shelter make one thing certain: There are still earlier sites to be found and excavated on the Colorado Plateau.

Was the Colorado Plateau abandoned during the postulated hot-dry Altithermal period between 2500 B.C. and 5000 B.C.? This question was answered by the excavation of Sudden Shelter, and the answer is definitely not. Archaic people were living at Sudden Shelter throughout most of this period. Certainly the size of the population on the Colorado

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Plateau fluctuated with the amount of available resources. Ultimately the food resources, wild plants and animals, were affected by changes in the climate during this period. But the Archaic lifeway was flexible and resilient. T h e shifts in plant and animal utilization during components I and I I at Sudden Shelter indicate that Archaic people could easily adapt to changing environmental conditions.

How far did these Archaic people wander on their annual round?

Where did they go in winter? Again, these questions cannot be answered because of the lack of information. Most of what is known about Archaic populations on the Colorado Plateau has been derived from sites like Sudden Shelter and Cowboy Cave, sites that represent heavily utilized summer base camps that were probably occupied for long periods of time.

What is needed are detailed analyses of transient camp sites coupled with intensive surveys designed to identify Archaic settlement patterns. Only when this data is actively collected will archaeologists be able to understand the full range of Archaic adaptation on the Colorado Plateau.

Archaeologists have recently turned their attention to the origins of the Fremont Culture in eastern Utah. 1 9 Were sedentary Fremont people descendents of a local Archaic population or were they migrant farmers who moved into the area from a yet unidentified region? It is not conflicting data but rather a lack of data that fuels this controversy. As more sites are excavated, archaeologists will be able to answer this question one way or the other. T h e presence of the Gypsum point and stick figures in the latest Archaic (pre-Fremont) occupation at Cowboy Cave (unit V ) offers a tantalizing clue to the roots of the Fremont Culture in this area. Both the Gypsum point and the stick figurine are unquestionably late Archaic artifact types that are found at a number of sites in the greater Southwest.

T h e Archaic lifeway on the Colorado Plateau was a highly successful mode of adaptation. It lasted for more than 5,000 years until the advent of maize horticulture. T h e introduction of maize into the subsistence pattern caused no immediate discernible shifts in the lifeway of these Archaic peoples. T h e transition from an Archaic subsistence mode to a more sedentary horticultural lifeway was a subtle, slow process that took several hundred years. But by A.D. 500 the change was almost complete.

T h e Archaic lifeway was eclipsed by an agricultural mode of subsistence, a lifeway that eventually supported all the great prehistoric settlement complexes of the Southwest.

19

Berry and Berry, "An Archeological Reconnaissance."

In some places, as in this section in Cedar Valley, the Old Spanish Trail is clearly visible. Inset: The late William R. Palmer of Cedar City organized the Spanish Trail Association to publicize the trail's route, indicated by these markers found on public buildings and in other prominent places.

All photographs are courtesy of the author.

Utah's Spanish Trail

BY C GREGORY C R A M P T O N

Old Spanish Trail, ran between Santa Fe and Los Angeles over a long 1,200-mile northward-looping great circle course traversing six states, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California. Traveled by traders, trappers, horse dealers, Indians, and slavers, the trail was in use from 1829 to 1848 when it was the main corridor (hostile Indians blocked a more direct route farther south) through the Southwest. It was the first and most extenI H E SPANISH TRAIL, OFTEN CALLED THE

Dr. Crampton is professor emeritus of history, University of Utah. This article was the foundation for the inaugural David E. Miller Lecture on Utah and the West delivered at the university on April 18, 1979. The lecture was sponsored jointly by the U t a h State Historical Society and the Department of History, University of Utah.

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sively used commercial route to cross the region now within the boundaries of Utah. T h e trail was a trail; it was not used by wheeled vehicles until after 1848 when the early Mormons developed the western sections for wagon travel between Salt Lake City and southern California.

In their fine background book, Old Spanish Trail, LeRoy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen have cast the subject in broad historical perpective, but an on-the-ground, detailed retracing of the trail itself all the way from Santa Fe to Los Angeles has been put off too long. T h e challenge appealed to me. W h a t follows here is my own interpretation of the actual route of the trail through the U t a h sector, the longest that can be claimed by any of the trail states. These findings come from the documents and books, and from many glorious days spent with good companions exploring the old trail, and from informed and knowledgeable persons met along the way. 1 T o T H E G R E E N RIVER C R O S S I N G

Crossing the Great Sage Plain, a lofty, open, undulating, southwardtilting plateau stretching from Mesa Verde and the Dolores River to the Abajo Mountains, the Spanish Trail entered U t a h in section 35 T 4 2 N R20W, New Mexico Principal Meridian, near the site of the first settlement of Ucolo, located on Piute Creek about two miles below Piute Spring. Then, following a course north and west, the trail continued across the plateau for about twelve miles before dropping down into the spectacular red-rock country drained by Hatch Wash.

Caravans crossing the Great Sage Plain in U t a h found the going easy but monotonous. Covered with sagebrush, pinyon, and juniper, the landscape was unrelieved save for the great laccolithic mass of the Abajo, or Blue, Mountains standing high on the western skyline some fifteen miles 1 Assistance in support of research was received from the University of U t a h Research Fund. M u c h of the success of the field research was owing to the contributions made by Steven K. Madsen, W. L. Rusho, Don Cecala, and Henry J. Webb. I would appreciate hearing from anyone having additional information about sections of the Spanish Trail.

T h e word Spanish is something of a misnomer since the trail was in use only during the time when the region it traversed was part of Mexico. T h e term comes down to vis through the works of American explorers who, traveling along sections of the trail, mistakenly concluded that it was opened by Spain and thus in their diaries and maps it appears as the "Spanish Trail." John C. Fremont was an early user of the name, but after 1848, when sovereignty over the region passed to the United States, American travelers in some numbers mentioned and described the Spanish Trail, and their writings provide clues for anyone seeking its location.

During the course of his second expedition, Fremont in 1844 followed and described a long section of the Spanish Trail through California, Nevada, and U t a h . His report, edited by Donald Jackson and Mary Lee Spence, under the title The Expeditions of John Charles Fremont, I, Travels from 1838 to 1844, and accompanying Map Portfolio ( U r b a n a : University of Illinois Press, 1970), was widely used and copied by later explorers, reference to whose works will appear in later notes.

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The Spanish Trail from Ucolo to Green River.

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away. Today the plain is checkered with dry farms of beans and wheat, and many segments of the Spanish Trail have been ploughed under the deep, red soil. Still other segments have been destroyed by the trampling feet of range cattle first brought into the region in the late 1870s.

Trail research in areas like this is difficult, but here we are helped along by a body of records and reports produced by the military exploring expedition commanded by Capt. John N. Macomb of the War Department's Corps of Topographical Engineers. In 1857-58, when conflict between the United States and the Mormons seemed possible, the army found itself with no reliable information about the southeastern approaches to Utah Territory. In April 1859 Aiacomb was ordered to fill in the blanks on the map and to locate the best and most direct route between the Rio Grande and Utah's southern settlements. To that end, among other assignments, he was to examine the region traversed by the Spanish Trail.

Leaving Santa Fe, the expedition was in the field until the end of September 1859. Aside from one notable detour from New Mexico into Colorado, Macomb followed the Spanish Trail from Abiquiu, New Mexico, to Ojo Verde in Hatch Wash, Utah.

With the records of the Macomb expedition at hand one may trace the explorers' routeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and the Spanish Trail. 2 The party made two camps on the Great Sage Plain (which the explorers named) in Utah, one at Guajalotes, where a large pool of bad surface water was found in a natural reservoir of rocks, and the second at Ojo de la Cueva (Cave Spring), a sulfurous spring. These names do not appear on modern maps, but data in the Macomb records indicate that the former must have been Piute Creek near the first site of Ucolo, about two miles below Piute Spring. According to Herman U. Butt of Monticello, Utah, the spring was an important watering place on the Spanish Trail. He filed on a homestead around the spring in 1913 and lived there until 1942.

2 John N. Macomb, Report of an Exploring Expedition from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the Junction of the Grand and Green Rivers of the Great Colorado of the West, in 1859, with Geological Report by Prof. J. S. Newberry (Washington, D . C : Government Printing Office, 1876), is the basic published document; Macomb contributed eight pages, Newberry, 140. T h e m a p accompanying the report was drawn by F. W. Egloffstein, who issued the map separately under his own name in 1864. However, an engraved map of the Territory and Military Department of Utah Compiled in the Bureau of Topographical Engineers 'of the War Department.

Chiefly for Military Purposes, dated 1860, but probably not issued until 1862, incorporated the Macomb data. William H. Goetzmann, Army Exploration in the American West, 1803-1863 (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1959), casts the army's important mapping in broad national perspective.

A highly useful book covering the exploratory history of southeastern U t a h is Charles S. Peterson, Look to the Mountains: Southeastern Utah and the La Sal National Forest (Provo, U t . : Brigham Young University Press, 1975).

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365

Herman Butt knows the regional history well; he has lived through much of it. His knowledge of the Spanish Trail extends all the way across the Sage Plain from Dolores, Colorado. When taken to the field he pointed out the trail's course from old Ucolo to Piute Spring and on to the Summit area, the extreme northwestern part of the Sage Plain plateau, drained in the main by the headstreams of East Canyon. Although it has not been located precisely, the Macomb camp at Ojo de la Cueva was probably located on * .'•"EfeffiLL • East Canyon Wash.3 From the Summit area the Spanish Trail dropped down a thousand feet to the nearly level floor of East Canyon, a nine-mile-long gash in the northwestern corner of the Sage Plain plateau. These were the "longest & steepest mountains yet Herman U. Butt of Monticello lived over," wrote Orville Pratt on Sepfor many years at Piute Spring tember 13, 1848.4 The Macomb paron the Spanish Trail. ty camped on the canyon floor, and geologist Newberry, who had a fine eye for scenic as well as geological landscape, found delights in the brilliant coloring of the canyon walls.

3 Possibly within the area enclosed by sections 25, 26, 35, 36 T32S R25E, Salt Lake Meridian.

According to H e r m a n Butt, Piute Spring (SEJ4 of sec. 21 T33S R26E Salt Lake Meridian) on the Spanish Trail, with a steady flow of good water, was a most important watering place and crossroads point as frontier expansion enveloped the area after 1876. See Cornelia Adams Perkins, Marian Gardner Nielson, and Leonora Butt Jones, Saga of San Juan (Salt Lake City: San J u a n County Daughters of U t a h Pioneers, 1957) for regional history and mention of the Spanish Trail.

4 Orville C Pratt's journal, reproduced in LeRoy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen, Old Spanish Trail ivith Extracts from Contemporary Records and Including Diaries of Antonio Armijo and Orville Pratt (Glendale, Calif.: Arthur H. Clark, 1954), pp. 341-59, is the only diary yet found of a trip over the trail all the way from Santa Fe to Los Angeles. T h e drop into East Canyon—a thousand feet in about one mile—indeed was the longest, steepest section anywhere on the trail. When interviewed, Kenneth Summers of Monticello, who has lived in the area since 1930. and who owns a ranch in East Canyon, stated that South Canyon was a natural route from the Summit area to the floor of East Canyon, now followed by a stock trail about a mile long.

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"the lower half composed of strata which are bright red, green, yellow or white." The brilliant coloring suggested the name Canon Pintado (Painted Canyon), a name which, unhappily, never got beyond the pages of Newberry's "Geological Report." 5 From the mouth of East Canyon, or Canon Pintado, the Spanish Trail crossed open Dry Valley, a drab name for a great basin hollowed out of predominantly red rock. Drained by Hatch Wash and stretching away north and west toward the Colorado River, it has been a winter range since the early 1880s when the big cattle outfits first came into southeastern Utah. About seven miles from its camp in Canon Pintado the Macomb party reached La Tina j a (The Tank), probably located near the base of Casa Colorado (Red House). This prominent landmark, a striking red sandstone rock rising two hundred feet above an elevated base, was so-named because its several sculptured caves and alcoves resembled the windows of a giant house.

Newberry found La Tinaja to be a "deep excavation in red sandstone, which retains so large a quantity of surface water and for so long a time, as to become an important watering place on the Spanish Trail."

In a region typified by Dry Valley, where one seldom finds living, running water, these natural rock reservoirs, taking the forms of tanks, potholes, basins, and cavities, were a boon to desert travelers, providing them water for drinking and even bathing. 0 From La Tinaja the Spanish Trail followed down Hatch Wash to the vicinity of the mouth of Hook and Ladder Gulch where it turned

5 After M a c o m b the name Canon Pintado was used but once. It was included in a splendid p a n o r a m a drawn in 1876 by W. H . Holmes and published in the Tenth Annual Report of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories (better known as the H a y d e n Survey) (Washington, D . C : Government Printing Office, 1878), p. 190, along with his " R e p o r t on the Geology of the Sierra Abajo and West San Miguel Mountains," pp.

189-95. O n geological reconnaissance for Hayden, Holmes had climbed Abajo Peak (11,360 ft.), the highest in the Abajo Mountains, where in plain view he could see 20,000 square miles of mountains, canyons, plateaus and deserts, a good third of which he brought into his panorama.

His art was so good that we can identify his Canon Pintado with East Canyon as it appears on the modern topographic m a p ( U S G S H a t c h Rock and Lisbon Valley quadrangles).

The Geological and Geographical Atlas of Colorado and Portions of Adjacent Territory, published by the Hayden Survey in 1877, does show Canon Pintado (Sheet V I I I ) as well as the " O l d Spanish T r a i l " throughout its course in Colorado. Hayden's Atlas, Sheet V I I I , also shows the Spanish Trail passing through the highest peaks of the L a Sal Mountains, a fiction copied from the Egloffstein m a p of the M a c o m b expedition, or, probably, from the Gunnison m a p where it first appeared (see note 1 3 ) .

"Newberry in Macomb's Report, pp. 9 2 - 9 3 , describes L a Tinaja, or La Tenejal, and Casa Colorado, the subject of one of eleven colored plates in the work. After a rain in desert country natural catch basins fill with water but most of them soon dry up. Basins containing p e r m a n e n t water are few; in Dry Valley their number would probably be less than four. T h e T a n k (sees. 21-22 T 3 0 S R23E S L M ) , on T a n k Draw, a tributary of H a t c h Wash, is one in regular use. A series of tanks at the immediate base of Casa Colorado, may have been La Tinaja of the expedition.

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367

One of the deep potholesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;La Tinajaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;at Casa Colorado.

north. The Macomb expedition continued on down the wash about three miles to Ojo Verde where camp was set up as a base for further explorations,7 From Hatch Wash to the crossing of the Colorado River, the Spanish Trail followed a course closely parallel to U.S. Highway 163, one dictated by the topography and shape of the land.8 From the mouth of Hook and Ladder Gulch the trail stayed to the west of the highway and passed to the east of Looking Glass Rock, a lone monument over a hundred feet high, perforated by a natural window which (the namer must have thought) resembled a mirror. Two miles north of Looking Glass the trail reached West Coyote Creek near La Sal Junction. Here, service stations T h e name Casa Colorado has been preserved and appears on some modern maps ( U S G S H a t c h Rock quadrangle) as Casa Colorado Rock. Of course, the name should read Casa Colorada if correct Spanish g r a m m a r is used. Local stockmen refer to it as Red Rock.

7 Ojo Verde is in the N W / 4 sec. 31 T 3 9 S R22E SLM. From his base camp here Macomb went on to explore, via Indian Creek, the rugged canyon country to the west in the expectation of finding the confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers. T h e explorations of the M a c o m b expedition beyond Ojo Verde are described by C. Gregory Crampton, Standing Up Country, the Canyon Lands of Utah and Arizona (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1964), pp.

59-64. O j o Verde, which may have been visited by travelers on the Spanish Trail, a delightful green oasis, enclosed by hundred-foot-high red cliffs, bears no name today but it is an important watering place much used by local stockmen.

8 I t is apparent from the maps based on the Macomb reconnaissance that the Spanish Trail left H a t c h Wash about three miles upstream from Ojo Verde, practically at the mouth of Hook and L a d d e r Gulch, to continue northward to the Colorado River, about thirty-two miles. Territory and Military Department of Utah ( 1 8 6 2 ) , a n d Egloffstein's maps. Refer to note 2.

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and cafes on U.S. 163 mark a crossroads important to the region since the first settlers arrived in the late 1870s.

From the junction the old trail closely followed the present highway past (at 1.8 miles) a huge mass of rocks on the east, four hundred feet high, surmounted by rocks in rounded shapes which early travelers named the Nipples. At four miles the highway bridges a sharp-edged canyon about fifty feet deep. Here the Spanish Trail looped sharply upstream half a mile to a place where the canyon walls were low enough to permit a crossing, and then the trail looped sharply downstream. The first wagon road and the first highway followed the same course, the shape of which suggested a muleshoe, and someone gave that name to the crossing and the canyon it crossed. Three miles from the Muleshoe the trail reached Kane Springs in Kane Springs Canyon, a major stopping place on the Spanish Trail where the bountiful springs have served travelers ever since. The state of Utah maintains a highway rest stop there. The dark green of trees and lawn stand out in pleasant contrast to the red rock of a massive promontory towering 1,300 feet above the historic site.

Leaving the springs behind, travelers on the trail faced a rough haul of three miles. A steep, narrow trail carried them out of Kane Springs Looking1 Glass Rock, visible from U.S. Highway 163, was a landmark on the Spanish Trail.

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Utah's Spanish Trail

369

Canyon to the top of Blue Hill, and a long, rocky descent brought them to the head of Spanish Valley. This stretch has been something of a challenge to modern road builders. One may count three different highway alignments in Kane Springs Canyon. A long section of the Spanish Trail, which was later widened to make the first wagon road, may still be seen just to the east of the present highway.

In fourteen miles the trail passed through Spanish and Moab valleys (actually one continuous valley) to reach the Colorado River northwest of the city of Moab. This is one of the most scenic places along the trail.

A steep wall of red rock 1,500 feet high flanks the valley on the southwest, but the opposite wall is much lower, permitting views of the laccolithic peaks of the La Sal Mountains towering over 12,000 feet on the southeastern skyline some fifteen miles distant.

The level valley floor, about two miles wide, was easy going and the early travelers on the trail found good grass and pure water in Pack Creek and Mill Creek which head in the La Sals and flow through the valley (confluent below Moab) to the Colorado River. During the trail days Pack Creek was called Salt Creek, or Little Salt Creek, a name derived from La Sal (Salt) Mountains, not from its salty taste.

Right on the Spanish Trail, a county seat, a bustling trade center and tourist capital, Moab was founded in 1855 as the Elk Mountain Mission by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In that same year, when Ute Indians killed three of the missionaries, the Mormons pulled out. Permanent settlers did not return until the 1870s.9 Thereafter,

9 Shortly before the Elk Mountain (the Mormon name for the La Sal Mountains) Mission was abandoned, a five-man exploring party examined the region south to the Navajo country on the San J u a n River. Given the topography, the most natural route open to the explorers was the Spanish Trail which they followed to H a t c h Wash in Dry Valley. T h e diaries of two members of the party, Ethan Pettit (Film P - F 3 4 8 , Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley) a n d Alfred N. Billings (copy in U t a h State Historical Society, Salt Lake City) give us details of the actual trail through this section. See diary (both documents are nearly identical) entries August 29-September 1, 1855.

O n their way south the Mormon party left the trail to "Santa Fee" a short distance before reaching H a t c h Wash and then continued on a route closely parallel to U.S. 163 which carried them to the Sage Plain plateau by way of Peters Canyon. Looking Glass Rockâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the "big rock with hole through it"â&#x20AC;&#x201D;was to the west of the trail which crossed West Coyote Creek a mile southeast of L a Sal Junction. At K a n e (Cane on the older maps) Springs the diarists refer to the high rock promontory, now housing Hole N ' The Rock, a commercial establishment, as "St. Louis Rock" a name possibly dating from the Spanish Trail period. Pratt and Choteau in 1848 refer to the flow of water at Kane Springs as the Corisite, or Horasito (Hafen and Hafen, Old Spanish Trail, pp. 348, 3 6 9 ) .

T h e slight remains of the Mormon Elk Mountain Mission fort may still be seen on the northeastern outskirts of Moab. Faun McConkie Tanner, The Far Country: A Regional History of Moab and La Sal, Utah (Salt Lake City: Olympus Publishing Co., 1976), and Phyllis Cortes, comp., Grand Memories (Salt Lake City: Daughters of U t a h Pioneers, 1972), describe the early history of Moab, Spanish Valley, and environs.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

The modes of travel across the Green River provide a mini-history.

First came the Spanish Trait, a ford. Later, a ferry was operated there. Then the D&RG Railroad, and later the highway, bridged the stream, all near Green River City.

Moab became a supply point for much of southeastern Utah and adjoining sections of Colorado. Traffic through the region passed over sections of the Spanish Trail, a fact known to early settlers who gave it the name Spanish Valley.10 C. S. Cecil Thomson of Moab, long a prominent figure in the history of regional transportation, can locate sections of the trail from Dry Valley to points across the Colorado north of Moab. He related that, according to local tradition, the trail passed directly through the city to the crossing of the Colorado River. Probable location? About half a mile downstream from the highway bridge on U.S. 163. There the river is about two hundred fifty yards wide, but an island appears at low water and the bottom is firm. Fording may have been possible at lowest water; however, most travelers, like Orville Pratt in 1848, found it necessary to swim the men and animals across the river and raft the goods and equipment. The right bank approach to the crossing lay somewhere between the storage yard of the ore reduction mill operated by the Atlas Corporation and the mouth of Courthouse Wash.11 10 The name Spanish Valley appears as early as 1884 on the U.S. General Land Office map of the Territory of Utah, 1884 (New York: Julius Bien, n.d.).

11 Pratt crossed the Colorado, then known as the Grand, River on September 16, 1848 (Hafen and Hafen, Old Spanish Trail, pp. 348-49) when the stream may have been high

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Trail

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From the Colorado to the Green River, about fifty-five miles, the Spanish Trail, following a northwesterly course, crossed a wide, open desert country, a land of sparse vegetation and little water. For twelve miles beyond the Colorado River travelers on the trail with an eye for beautiful landscape could have enjoyed the exposures of deep red rock cliffs on the west, eroded and sculptured into castellated formations so characteristic of the canyon country of southeastern Utah. These same sensitive travelers might have noticed the arches and windows in the Windows Section of Arches National Park visible off to the east nine miles away.

At twelve miles the trail crossed Courthouse Wash at the point where Lower Courthouse Spring provided a "small, run of living water" according to Pratt. 12 Now on the northwest beeline course the trail passed through open, barren country. Pools in the bedrock of Thompson Wash, or in T e n Mile Wash, a tributary, provided a limited water supply. Three miles beyond the water holes in Thompson the trail reached a low divide between Thompson Wash and Little Grand Wash.

Here the trail research is helped along by the report of John W. Gunnison, captain in the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, who h a d been commissioned by the W a r Department to undertake a railroad survey across the West along the 38th and 39th parallels of latitude.

Antoine Leroux, the old mountain man who guided the surveyors through the Colorado Rockies, told them that near the Green River they would reach the Spanish Trail which "is broad, well-marked and easy to follow." T h e Gunnison train, which included eighteen supply wagons, reached the trail just beyond Thompson Wash on September 29, 1853; and for the next three weeks, with some detours, the explorers followed it all the way to the Sevier River. With the Gunnison report and maps in h a n d one can, with tolerable accuracy, follow the Spanish Trail across the Green River, the San Rafael Swell, and the Wasatch Plateau. 13 from summer rains. H e writes that the crossing was but 600 yards above "a deep canion" (the Portal), which would indicate a crossing a mile or so downstream from the one indicated above, where another island appears at low water as indicated in sec. 34 T25S R21E SLM. In fact, a crossing is indicated in that section on the plat for that township surveyed in 1878.

12 Orville Pratt, September 18, 1848, in Hafen and Hafen, Old Spanish Trail, p. 349.

U.S. Highway 163 from the Colorado River to this point very closely follows the Spanish Trail.

Today's highway traveler, near the turnoff to Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands National Park may see the distant arches and windows of Arches National Park. During the early years of this century a stage station and rest stop were in operation at Lower Court House Springs, then, simply, Court House Springs. U p p e r Court House Springs, a mile away, has a better flow of water and is currently a stock-watering place, but this water was probably not used by the early trail travelers.

13 O n the lower Sevier River, Gunnison and several of his party were killed in an Indian attack. T h e official report was prepared by Capt. E. G. Beckwith, "Report for a Route for a Pacific Railroad, by Capt. J. W. Gunnison, Topographical Engineers, near the 38th and 39th Parallels of North Latitude, from the Mouth of the Kansas River, Mo. to the Sevier Lake, in

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After reaching the Spanish Trail the Gunnison party traveled twenty miles west and north to the Green River crossing. The trail followed down Little Grand Wash for about three miles before striking off across lots. Passing through the army's Green River missile test complex of the White Sands Missile Range, the trail crossed the tracks of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad about one mile east of Elgin. T h e n it turned north for three miles to the crossing area which must have been in section 32 T20S R16E Salt Lake Meridian, two and a half miles north of the city of Green River, where an island divides the river before it makes a swing to the southeast. 14 Located near the old trail, Green River's history can be told mainly in terms of its crossroads location. T h e coming of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad brought it to life in 1881, and it is nourished by one of the nation's major freeways, Interstate 70.

T o J U N C T I O N ON T H E SEVIER RIVER

From the Green River crossing the Spanish Trail swung away from the river on a southwestern course to Saleratus, or Cottonwood, Wash; and then, generally following the wash, it turned northwestward to Trail Spring, known as Green River Spring in the trail days, about fourteen

the Great Basin," in Reports of Explorations and Surveys to Ascertain the Most Practical and Economical Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean. . . . I I (Washington, D . C : Beverly Tucker, 1855), pp. 9-118. T h e maps drawn by F. W. Egloffstein, appeared in Volume X I (Washington, D . C : George W. Bowman, 1861). The Spanish Trail and Gunnison's route are indicated on the maps but the scale (12 miles to the inch) makes possible only general locations. Egloffstein shows the Spanish Trail passing through the high peaks of the L a Sal Mountains, a fiction included on his later maps and copied by others (see note 5 ) .

See Forbes Parkhill, The Blazed Trail of Antoine Leroux (Los Angeles: Westernlore Press, 1965) for the mountain man's part in the Gunnison expedition.

14 This position agrees well with Gunnison's distance of 20 miles from the point where he first reached the Spanish Trail. See "Table of Distances" in Beckwith, "Pacific Railroad," p.

117. It also agrees well with the diarists of J. W. Powell's 1871 river voyage. O n August 27, from their camp number 50, on the left bank of the Green at the mouth of a wash (center sec. 3 T20S R16E S L M ) , A. H . Thompson and J. F. Steward walked five miles down to the "Spanish Crossing," to the "old Spanish trail, or Gunnison's Crossing," which is the actual distance between the camp and the crossing. See H. E. Gregory, ed., "Diary of Almon Harris Thompson," Utah Historical Quarterly 7 (January, April, and July 1939) : 3-140, and W. C Darrah, ed., "Journal of John F. Steward," Utah Historical Quarterly 16-17 ( 1 9 4 8 - 4 9 ) : 175-251. Further confirmation of the site comes from Col. W. W. Loring who crossed with a military detachment on August 5, 1858, and observed that the course of the river at the ford is southeast. See LeRoy R. Hafen, ed., "Colonel Loring's Expedition across Colorado in 1858," Colorado Magazine 23 (March 1946) : 49-76. This position appears to agree with the findings of the late Bert J. Silliman of Green River, an industrious student of the Spanish Trail.

See Hafen and Hafen, Old Spanish Trail, p. 306. Henry Gannett, "Topographical Report on the Grand River District," Ninth Annual Report of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories (Washington, D . C : Government Printing Office, 1877), pp.

337-50, includes a sketch of the ford but no relative position is indicated. It should be noted in passing that the Gunnison m a p locates the crossing at under 39° north latitude when its actual location is approximately 39°2'. Changes in the river's channel and heavy use by man on both banks may well have effaced the trail's approaches to the crossing.

373

Utah's Spanish Trail miles from the river.15 Now within the rugged San Rafael Swell, the trail went due north up an unnamed wash about four miles where it veered off to the northwest to enter Lost Spring Wash. At that point Gunnison left the trail to carry his railroad survey around the northern end of the Swell. He returned to it again in Castle Valley.

For about nine rough miles the Spanish Trail was confined by low canyon walls to the bed and banks of Lost Spring Wash. Then, crossing open country for a short distance, it headed up Big Hole Wash to Cement Crossing on the original line of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, a line surveyed and graded but over which tracks were never laid.16 The Big Holes, in Packsaddle Gulch, about three and a half miles from Cement Crossing, was one of the best and most reliable watering

15 Called Akanaquint Spring by the Ute Indians, according to Gunnison (Beckwith, "Pacific Railroad," October 2) who puts it down as 16.76 miles from the Green. The spring, in the S W # of sec. 34 T20S R14E SLM, is now used as a stock watering hole. Orville Pratt in 1848, as well as some later travelers, called it Green River Spring. See Hafen and Hafen, Old Spanish Trail, p. 350. G. H , Heap described the spring as he saw it on July 26, 1853. See LeRoy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen, eds., Central Route to the Pacific by Gwinn Harris Heap . . . (Glendale, Calif.: Arthur H . Clark Co., 1957), p. 213.

16 During the years 1880-83 the company graded a road all the way across the northern part of the San Rafael Swell and then abandoned the route in favor of its present line running between Green River and Price, Utah. In other areas the grade very closely paralleled the old trail. See note 18.

In desert country the trail followed water sources.

Green River Spring â&#x20AC;&#x201D; n o w Trail Springâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;became a stock-watering pond.

That portion of the trail from Green River to

Junction.

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Utah Historical Quarterly places along the way. Water flowing over bedrock has created a series of natural tanks much used today by local stockmen.17 From Big Holes the trail crossed open country for twenty miles to Red Seep. Halfway, and under the thousand-foot-high cliffs of Cedar Mountain, it reached Little Holes where water was to be found in natural rock reservoirs, a source, however, far less reliable than that at Big Holes.18 From Red Seep the trail wound through the low Black Hills and then dropped down to Huntington Creek in Castle Valley.

Here Gunnison returned to it after his detour around the San Rafael Swell. In the Black Hills the trail reached its northernmost point at approximately 39° 12' north latitude.

Castle Valley, watered by streams (the upper tributaries of the San Rafael River) falling from the high Wasatch Plateau immediately to the west, was settled in the 1870s

by Mormon pioneers from central Utah who followed Gunnison's wagon tracksâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and therefore the Spanish

Big Holes, in the San Rafael Swell country, was a highly reliable water source.

17 Evidence locating Big Holes on the Spanish Trail must rest on the accounts of later travelers, among them Oliver B. Huntington, official diarist of the 1855 Mormon Elk Mountain Mission. See his entry for May 31 in Andrew Jenson, " T h e Elk Mountain Mission," Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine 4 (1913) : 191-92.

18 See Huntington's account, May 31, 1855, in Jenson, "Elk Mountain Mission," pp.

191-92. For about three miles before reaching Little Holes the old trail a n d the D&RGW railroad grade were practically conterminous.

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Trailâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;across Wasatch, or Emigrant, Pass to their new homes. Public land surveys followed settlement, and one must be especially grateful to those government surveyors, Augustus D. Ferron among them, who very carefully laid down "Gunnison's Road" on their township plats, further identified in their notes as the "old Spanish Trail."10 That Gunnison had little difficulty in following the Spanish Trail is evident from reading what he wrote about one section in Castle Valley: "The Spanish Trail though seldom used of late years, is still very distinct where the soil washes but slightly. On some such spaces today wc counted from fourteen to twenty parallel trails, of the ordinary size of Indian trails or horse paths, on a way barely fifty feet in width." Although most vestiges in Castle Valley have disappeared, John L. Jorgensen, long a resident of Castle Dale, teacher and student of history, knows the course of the old trace through the valley. He generously pointed out sections in the Black Hills, at the site of old Wilsonville on Cottonwood Creek, near the Paradise Ranch, on Ferron Creek, and elsewhere.20 Beyond Castle Valley the Spanish Trail crossed Muddy Creek and its upper tributaries, and by way of Oak Spring Ranch ascended one of them, Ivie Creek, to the summit of the WTasatch Plateau. The Ivie Creek way is now taken up by two parallel slabs of concrete, Interstate 70.

Going up Ivie Creek (to which he gave the Indian name Akanaquint) Gunnison came to a fork in the trail at the mouth of Red Creek.

The "southern branch" split off here.21 Going by way of Fish Lake and the East Fork of the Sevier River, this was the shortest route, but it reached elevations in excess of 9,000 feet, and it probably saw less use than the longer "northern branch" (Gunnison's route) which crossed Wasatch, or Emigrant, Pass on the divide between the Great Basin and the waters of the Colorado River at an elevation of approximately 7,880 feet. Both tracks joined again at the confluence of the Sevier River and its East Fork.22

10 See original township plats and survey notes, 1873-80, in offices of the Bureau of Land Management, Salt Lake City, copies in Recorder's Office, Emery County Courthouse, Castle Dale. The Mormon settlers bound for the Elk Mountain Mission at Moab in 1855 were the first after Gunnison to use his "road." The early township survey plats have provided important information at a number of points along the trail.

20 See E. G. Beckwith, "Pacific Railroad," p. 65. for Gunnison's comment on the multiple trails in Castle Valley. John L. Jorgensen wrote "A History of Castle Valley to 1890" (M.S. thesis, University of Utah, 1955) which reflects his interest in early exploration and settlement.

21 See E. G. Beckwith, "Pacific Railroad," for Gunnison's entry for October 13, 1853.

22 Choteau recommended the Fish Lake route but Orville Pratt missed the turnoff and continued on over Wasatch Pass. Hafen and Hafen, Old Spanish Trail, pp. 351, 366. Traveling eastward over the trail in 1848, Brewerton took the Fish Lake route. See Stallo Vinton, ed.,

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Crossing the open pass Gunnison headed down Salt Creek (now Meadow Creek), the natural routeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the Salina Canyon route now followed by Interstate 70. Gunnison's Ute guide, Tewip Narrienta, said this was the direct route to the Sevier but that a narrow, rocky canyon below would stop wagons if not animals. There was a horse trail through it, he said, and this may have been the main line of the Spanish Trail.23 To avoid the narrow reaches of Salina Canyon, Gunnison turned west at a point five miles below Wasatch Pass to detour around it. To make matters more complex, he identified this route with the Spanish Trail. This alternate trail carried the explorers across Yogo (Gunnison's Swambah) Creek, up Niotche Creek, across a divide (a thousand feet higher than Wasatch Pass) to Gooseberry (Gunnison's Un-got-tah-li-kin) Creek, and then over a low divide to Soldier Canyon which they followed to its mouth at Salina Creek. At a point six miles before reaching the mouth of Soldier Canyon, Gunnison noted that the Spanish Trail turned off to the west to reach the Sevier River some distance above the mouth of Salina Canyon.21 After the rough country behind them, westbound travelers found good going for about thirty miles up the valley of the Sevier River (the Rio Severo of the trail days). There was plenty of water and grass, if little wood, along the meandering stream. Orville Pratt was mightily impressed with the valley's ambience in late September when he wrote that "it was

Overland with Kit Carson, a Narrative of the Old Spanish Trail in '48, by George Douglas Brewerton (New York: Coward-McCann, 1930), pp. 109-12. Brewerton named it Trout Lake after enjoying a bountiful harvest of fish from the lake.

Although the Fish Lake route was the longest of these, one must recognize that there were branches, alternate routes, cutoffs, and short cuts at several places along the Spanish Trail.

In this paper I have attempted to identify the main trail throughout, leaving the alternate routes for further study. As a tentative conclusion I am inclined to favor Wasatch Pass and Salina Canyon as the route of the main trail.

"J This would have been the easiest, if longest, way. The Sawtooth Narrows in Salina Canyon, about seven miles above the mouth of Gooseberry Creek, where two tunnels were dug on a spur line of the D&RG railroad, would have been the roughest place, a bar to wagons but not to horses. Supporting evidence for this route comes from the township (T22S R l and 2E SLM) plats, surveyed in 1878, which show the "Old Spanish Trail" running through lower Salina Canyon for a distance of five miles.

24 The distance directly down Salina Canyon from Gunnison's turnoff to the mouth of Soldier Creek was about 22 miles; the detour was not much more than two miles farther. From this turnoff in Soldier Canyon the Spanish Trail, following a rather crooked route, would have crossed Lost Creek and passed down Brine Creek to reach the Sevier just above Sigurd. Altogether this route, together with Gunnison's route, was about six miles shorter than the route down Salina Canyon to the same point on the Sevier. See E. G. Beckwith, "Pacific Railroad," for Gunnison's account, October 13-17, 1853. Gunnison's map shows his route from Wasatch Pass and the Spanish Trail to the Sevier River as indicated above. The same rendering appears on the map accompanying the Report (1876) of the J. N. Macomb expedition of 1859.

For the Mormon settlers moving to the Moab area in 1855, and to Castle Valley in the 1870s, Gunnison's wagon road was rough but ready made, and they used it then and for many years thereafter until a road through Salina Canyon was finally completed.

Utah's Spanish

Trail

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truly the loveliest spot, all things considered, my eyes have ever looked 5 5 24

upon.

From the Salina area the trail probably kept to the west of the river paralleling U.S. Highway 89. T h e alternate route branching from the Gunnison trail in Soldier Canyon would have come in to the main trail just above Sigurd. Passing through Richfield and Elsinore the trail left the river above Joseph to detour to the east around narrow, rocky Marysvale Canyon. The trail returned to the Sevier near Marysvale after crossing the Antelope Range at a point over a thousand feet above the river, but the way was open and presented few obstacles to passage. 20 Again in an open valley, the trail continued up the Sevier about eighteen miles to its confluence with the East Fork, about a mile east of the town of Junction, near the point where the Fish Lake branch joined the main Spanish Trail. 27 T o T H E U T A H - A R I Z O N A BOUNDARY

During the Spanish Trail days the Sevier above the East Fork was known as the Rio San Pascual. The trail followed it for about twenty-three miles through Circle Valley and Circleville Canyon, where there was no obstacle to passage, to Bear Valley Junction where it turned abruptly to the west. The way thence was across the northern end of the Markagunt Plateau by a natural route following up Bear Creek through Lower and Upper Bear Valley. Crossing a divide the trail then headed down Little Creek, a rough and rocky route which passed through the upthrust Hurricane Cliffs before dramatically breaking out in the open near the town of Paragonah in Parowan Valley.2S Passing near to the eastern shore of Little Salt Lake, travelers had an easy time of it for twenty miles as they crossed the open valley to the 25 Pratt, writing on September 26-27, 1848, in Hafen and Hafen, Old Spanish Trail, pp. 351-52. Gwinn Harris Heap, passing tbrough the valley in late July 1853, wrote that it "surpassed in beauty and fertility anything we had yet seen." See Hafen and Hafen, eds., Central Route to the Pacific, p. 219.

20 Pratt, September 28, 1848 (Hafen and Flafen, Old Spanish Trail), scarcely mentions the detour. The G. W. Heap party on July 31, 1853, attempted to go through the canyon.

Failing in this it took the detour, "passed over a steep hill" and returned to the Sevier in the vicinity of Marysvale. See Hafen and Hafen, eds., Central Route to the Pacific, pp. 218-19.

27 The branch passed directly through the town of Kingston and connected with the main trail possibly three or four miles above the confluence. G. W. Heap, at this point on August 1, 1853, mentions striking what he supposed was the "old trail from Abiquiu to California . . . so long disused that it is now almost obliterated." See Hafen and Hafen, eds., Central Route to the Pacific, pp. 219-20. The Hafens argue that the Fish Lake branch was the main route of the Spanish Trail.

28 Orville Pratt graphically describes the rough going through this section (Hafen and Hafen, Old Spanish Trail, p. 353).

ESCALANTE

The Spanisfi Trail from Junction to the Arizona border.

DESERT

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Utah Historical Quarterly

Ojo de San Jose, or San Jose Spring, "one of the finest fountains and streams of water on the entire route," wrote Orville Pratt. This watering place is identical with the once-bountiful springs bursting from the ground near the town of Enoch, first known as Elkhorn Springs.29 From this point to the Utah-Arizona boundary and beyond there is much more documentation to assist in locating the Spanish Trail. Coming from California on his second expedition in 1844, John C. Fremont followed the Spanish Trail to Saint Joseph's Spring before turning northward. His diary and map of the route provided guidance for the Mormons who, shortly after founding their wilderness kingdom on the shores of Great Salt Lake in 1847, turned the old trail into a passable wagon road all the way to Los Angeles.30 Thus, after 1848 this section of the trail came to be known as the Mormon, or Salt Lake, Trail. The journals of Fremont, early Mormon travelers, and others who knew they were traveling on the Spanish Trail, make up an impressive body of primary documents. With these sources at hand one can, with considerable confidence, follow the Spanish Trail throughout the remainder of its course in Utah.

Staying in open country for approximately forty-five miles, the trail from Enoch crossed Cedar Valley and the southern edge of the Escalante Desert to the mouth of Holt Canyon. Throughout this entire distance, S. Alva Matheson of Cedar City served as a guide for the trail researchers. He pointed out important places, including the key watering holes at Iron Springs, Antelope Spring, and Pinto Creek at Newcastle.31 29 Pratt, writing on October 2, 1848, used Choteau's spelling of the name. Hafen and Hafen, Old Spanish Trail, pp. 353, 368. O n Fremont's map of his second expedition it appears "St. Joseph's Spring." See the modern edition by Donald Jackson and Mary Lee Spence, The Expeditions of John Charles Fremont, I, Travels from 1838 to 1844 ( U r b a n a : University of Illinois Press, 1970), p. 694, and m a p no. 3. Enoch's history appears in Andrew Jenson, Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Publishing Company, 1941), p . 230. T h e spring's flow has diminished now, a result of pumping in Parowan Valley, according to local informants.

Mormon colonization in the Parowan and Cedar valleys is detailed by Luella Adams Dalton, comp., History of the Iron County Mission and Parowan the Mother Town (n.p., n . d . ) .

30 T h e Jackson-Spence (see note 29) edition of Fremont's journals is the best. LeRoy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen, some of whose other fine works have been cited here, have edited Journals of Forty-niners, Salt Lake to Los Angeles . . . (Glendale, Calif.: Arthur H. Clark Company, 1954) which includes over twenty journals and accounts. T h e Hafens' edition of Gwinn Harris Heap's account in Central Route to the Pacific, already cited, continues to be a useful guide. Some additional titles may be cited: Mary E. Foy, ed., "By Ox T e a m from Salt Lake to Los Angeles, 1850, a Memoir by David Cheesman," Annual Publications Historical Society of Southern California 14 ( 1 9 3 0 ) : 2 7 0 - 3 3 7 ; Waldemar Westergaard, ed., "Diary of Dr. Thomas Flint, California to Maine and Return, 1851-55," Annual Publications Historical Society of Southern California 12 (1923) : 5 3 - 1 2 7 ; R. H. Stanley and Charles L. Camp, eds., "A Mormon Mission to California in 1851 from the Diary of Parley Parker Pratt," California Historical Society Quarterly 14 (March, 1935) : 59-79. Ray M. Reeder's " T h e Mormon Trail, a History of the Salt Lake to Los Angeles Route to 1869" (Ph.D. diss., Brigham Young University, 1966), is a lengthy account containing references to the essential sources.

31 T h e Escalante Desert commemorates the name of Silvestre Velez de Escalante of the Dominguez-Escalante expedition of 1776, whose track crossed the Spanish Trail in Cedar Valley.

Utah's Spanish Trail

383

Riding southward up Holt Canyon for six miles, the early travelers came to Mountain Meadow, a cool (elevation about 5,900 feet) open area of abundant grass and water four or five miles long on the divide between the Great Basin and the Colorado River drainage. This was a favorite resting and recruiting place especially for those eastbound parties pulling up out of the desert country below.32 Leaving Mountain Meadow the trail generally paralleled Utah Highway 18 to Central where it turned southwest down a tributary to Magotsu (pronounced locally, Magotsie) Creek, then down that stream to Moody Wash, then down that stream to the Santa Clara River, a major tributary of the Virgin River. For about eight miles, the trail followed along the bed and banks of the Santa Clara, the home of many Paiute Indians who were frequently victimized by slave traders, and who, in turn, attacked passing caravans. Today, the village of Gunlock, founded in 1857, is a reminder of early Mormon settlement in southwestern Utah.

Downstream, the Shivwits Indian Reservation serves as a reminder of the region's first inhabitants.

In order to start the climb over the Beaver Dam Mountains, the trail left the Santa Clara River, pulled up to Camp Spring, a favorite stopping place, and then followed a course practically identical with that of old U.S. Highway 91. Crossing a pass at an elevation of about 4,800 feet, it started dowrn the long "Utah Hill," best known in the early highway days as the place on the upgrade where radiators always boiled.

The Spanish Trail left Utah in section 31 T43S R18W Salt Lake Meridian. Then it cut across the northwest corner of Arizona, traversed southern Nevada, where the good springs at Las Vegas stopped every caravan, and crossed the Mohave Desert to southern California. Threading Cajon Pass, caravans reached San Gabriel and, finally, Los Angeles, at the end of the 1,200-mile-long Spanish Trail. The distance in Utah totalled approximately 476 miles.33 Near Holt Canyon a large party of California-bound forty-niners decided to take a short cut to the gold fields a n d left the established Spanish Trail at this point. It was they who soon found themselves in Death Valley a n d whose misfortunes in escaping it gave the valley its name.

See Hafen and Hafen, eds., Journals of Forty-Niners, for details of departure from the wagon train of Jefferson H u n t w h o was guiding the party. A m o n u m e n t on the Spanish Trail ( N W J 4 sec. 2 T 3 7 S R 1 6 W S L M ) , about a mile eastward of the mouth of Holt Canyon, marks this fateful parting of the ways in 1849.

32 O n e supposes that the history of the place will always be associated with the infamous 1857 M o u n t a i n Meadow Massacre. A m o n u m e n t marking the spot is just off the Spanish Trail in SEJ4 sec. 16 T 3 8 S R 1 6 W SLM. See J u a n i t a Brooks, The Mountain Meadows Massacre (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1963), for a balanced treatment of the tragedy.

33 Some years ago the late William R. Palmer of Cedar City, U t a h , organized the Spanish Trail Association to mark the old trail. M a n y of the markers placed may still be seen on public buildings and other places in and near cities and towns along the way.

Archaeological Investigations at the Isaac Chase Mill

BY BRUCE H A W K I N S

Salt Lake's Liberty Park provides a brief example of the use of archaeological techniques to aid in the restoration of a historic structure. Historical archaeology draws together the disciplines of anthropology and preservation, making use of documentary records of the past. It differs from the familiar prehistoric archaeology in matters of time periods and disciplinary emphasis, but it employs the same excavation techniques. The restoration of the Chase Mill was undertaken by the Salt Lake City Parks Department and the Utah State Historical Society in 1978 in order to provide an accurate representation of an operating Utah mill of the 1850s for the education and enjoyment I H E ISAAC CHASE MILL IN

Chase Mill in 1897 before the 1899 restoration. Courtesy Daughters of Utah Pioneers.

Chase Mill

385

of the public. Preservation archaeologist James L. Dykman and I supervised the project.1 A primary problem associated with the restoration of the Chase Mill, a National Historic Place, concerned the location of the mill wheel, wheel pit, and the tailrace. No surface evidence of these features remains, and only one contradictory description of the wheel location could be found. On July 29, 1934, Philip J. Garn, reportedly a worker at the mill, visited the site with Emma Chase Covey and gave her the following information : "Here is a door at the west where Isaac Chase used to go into the place where the water wheel was located. It was under the original stairway you see in the SW corner and on the north of the mill. Here is the small door Isaac Chase used to come out to turn the water on the wheel to raise the gate." (Wheel under stairs by NW cornerâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;shaft of w7heel at cellar opening) ,2

In other words, the mill wheel and its associated pit and tailrace could have been on either the north or south end of the building. As a result of the lack of historical data, archaeological investigation of the locations of these mill feaures was begun. In addition to determining the original location of wheel, pit, and race, two other questions were posed: What was the level of the original grade or use surface? Is there any evidence of previously existing structures as indicated by the historical record?

The adobe brick structure known as the Chase Mill was reportedly built by Fredrick Kesler in 1852 as a grist mill, but it appears that the site was used for the purpose of milling as early as 1847. On December 24 of that year Isaac Chase began operations with a lumber mill, and orders for lumber were still being received as late as October 15, 1849.

From 1850 until 1861 the historical records show almost constant work on the structure referred to as either the Chase Mill or Brigham Young's Lower Mill at Chase's. It would appear that the machinery was in constant need of repair or the mill was being frequently remodeled or a combination of both activities. Specifics of the construction and the account books reveal that the mill was used for the production of bran,

Mr. Hawkins is an archaeologist with the U t a h State Historical Society.

Archaeological investigations at Chase Mill were conducted August 1-14, 1978. State archaeologist David B. Madsen provided archaeological guidance a n d comment; Asa S. Nielson assisted in mapping the site: Society librarians aided in the search for historical documentation: and Richard E. Fike provided an analysis of the recovered artifacts. T h e project was funded in part by the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service, D e p a r t m e n t of Interior.

2 Kate B Carter, comp., The Chase Mill (Salt Lake City: Daughters of U t a h Pioneers, 1957), p. 25.

1

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Utah Historical Quarterly

Chase Mill in the 1920s. Courtesy Bill Shipler.

shorts, flour, and cornmeal. During 1860-61 milling machinery was removed from the structure, and for the next decade, 1861 to 1871, no records could be found to indicate any activity at Chase's. Then, in 1871 the Chase Mill was listed in the Pacific Coast Business Directory. The occupant was John W. Young, and the mill was listed as having two burr stones operated by water power.3 On May 21, 1881, the land occupied by the Chase Mill was sold to Salt Lake City to be used as a park, and, presumably, any remaining mill operations ceased. The land was dedicated as Liberty Park and opened to the public on June 17, 1882. Evidently, the mill deteriorated during the next decades, for on April 4, 1899, the Committee on Public Grounds recommended that the building be torn down. The structure was in dangerous condition, the committee reported. The west wall was "hanging out about eight inches at the top, and the adobies around the bottom" s Deseret News, April 25, 1899; order for logs dated October 15, 1859, in Josephine Chase Bradshaw Papers, Archives Division, Historical Department, Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, Salt Lake City; Fredrick Kesler M e m o r a n d u m Book, Fredrick Kesler Papers, Western Americana, Marriott Library, University of U t a h , Salt Lake City.

Chase Mill had "been washed away to such an extent that the entire west side" had "to be propped up to keep it from falling." The recommendation of the committee, however, was not carried out. On May 9, 1899, Ridge & Brown was awarded a contract of $380 to repair the mill, and a month later, on June 6, 1899, A. L. Hamilin received $624 for the mill's repair.

In 1933 the building was being used as a tool shed, and in 1935 the Daughters of Utah Pioneers renovated the structure for use as a relic hall. Finally, extensive reconstruction of the mill, sponsored by the DUP, was supervised by architect Keith Richardson in 1957/ It seemed possible to answer all the questions posed earlier by mapping stratigraphic relationships exposed in a profile along the western margin of the building. In order to provide a suitable exposure, a backhoe trench was to be excavated parallel to and about 2 meters from the western wall of the mill building.

A Salt Lake City Parks Department backhoe excavated a 19.2-meter-long trench from the south end of the mill to 3 meters past the north end.

Trench sidewall profiles were drawn from measurements recorded horizontally from a datum point on the northern boundary of the trench 4 Deseret News, J u n e 18, 1882; Report of the Committee on Public Grounds, April 4, May 9, and June 6, 1899, Salt Lake City Council Minutes, City Recorder's Office, Salt Lake City and County Building; Salt Lake City Commission Minutes, November 15, 1933, p. 633, City Recorder's Office; Mclntyre to Hawkins, August 22, 1978.

387

Looking southeast at Chase Mill.

Photo taken in August 1978.

Plan map of mill excavation.

CHASE'S 42SL61 P L A N MAP SCALE: 1.100

Tt ST

CHASE'S

TRENCH

Mill

MILL

Utah Historical Quarterly

388

looking

south.

Excavating

test trench with

J^ooking north along test trench.

backhoe.

Water is due to

flooding.

Chase Mill

389

and vertically from the present ground surface. Ground elevations were measured at 1 -meter intervals along both the east side of the trench and the west side of the mill. Because of flooding problems depth measurements of level I and the trench bottom were made with a stadia rod.

The test trench at the Chase Mill revealed four levels of culturally deposited materials. These strata and their relationship to the mill structure are shown in a drawing.

Level I consists of a layer of rough-hewn sandstone blocks laid end to end upon a natural deposit of gray clay. The blocks are cemented together with a very hard white substance and extend from the north wall of the structure to a point 6.7 meters south of the north wall. At the south end the blocks are 3 meters below the present ground surface.

The stones continue north, dropping in gradient gradually until at 2.3 meters south of the north wall the stone lining drops abruptly, forming a basin shape. Maximum depth of the basin is 3.6 meters.

Level II consists of a layer of black, organic claylike soil and contains numerous lenses of red-brown soil, sandstone chunks, and clay in the area at the southern edge of the basin. These lenses continue south

North-south profile of trench superimposed in relation to Chase Mill.

Utah Historical

390

c n 1 |!|!|jlilJ!illl!lli!|MII|in!|l!l!|M!

Quarterly

|l!l! Iil|llll|l I |llll|!llljl I |!W| I '

Necks from Hutchinson patent soda bottles (ca. 1872-1905).

of the basin an additional 4 meters. Isolated fragments of bottle glass were recovered from portions of this level. Some of the fragments were embedded in the naturally deposited clay that underlies level II south of where level I terminates. An intrusive backhoe trench, 2 meters south of the north wall, has disturbed the deposits, and level I I cannot be detected north of this point. Level I I reaches a maximum thickness of 0.9 meters.

Level I I I overlies level II and consists of a grey, pinkish brown, hard, sandy soil. North of the intrusive backhoe trench level I I I appears to form the fill of the basin. It apparently extends to the maximum trench depth, north of where level I is truncated. No artifacts were noted in either the sidewall or in the backdirt of level I I I .

Level I V is the uppermost stratigraphic unit. T h e base of this level consists of a layer of plaster, stucco, or lime material that overlies level I I I . T h e soil above the plasterstucco-lime layer consists of a grey caliche and is capped by a thin layer f â&#x20AC;&#x17E; Olive green beer or stout bottle (ca.

1870-1885) and associated top.

rr

;

of soil. A high content of bottle frag-

Chase Mill

391

ments and ceramics was observed in the profile of this level. Samples were taken from both sidewalls and backdirt for analysis.

Level I is interpreted as being associated with the period of construction and operation at the Chase Mill. Since this level rests on a culturally sterile layer, it is the first culturally deposited layer in the area tested. T h e hewn stone and the method of joining indicates that building activity at the Chase Mill was the earliest historic association with the site. Thus, level I was probably laid down at the time that the mill was being constructed.

Because a portion of level I I was deposited on top of level I, level I I must postdate that of level I. T h e process and period of deposition, however, is difficult to determine. Four glass fragments were recovered that may be associated with level I I . T h e following dates of manufacture were assigned to each fragment during analysis: 1: 1870-85, 2: 1880-1915, 3 : 1895-1910, 4 : 1895-1910. Because of poor control dictated by the use of a backhoe, artifacts from later stratigraphic levels may have become mixed with those of level I I . However, since at least one of the four fragments was embedded in the underlying clay, the deposition of level I I must postdate 1870.

Although a precise date cannot be assigned to the deposition of level I I , two alternate hypotheses can be formulated regarding the deposition of the level. Level I I may represent earth moving around the mill sometime between the opening of the park in 1882 and about 1895.

Alternatively, it may simply represent earth moving postdating 1895 and may be associated with the repair work of 1899.

Level I I I is interpreted as fill deposited after the deposition of level I I and is probably the result of landscaping activities associated with the development of Liberty Park.

This landscaping may have occurred during the 1899 reconstruction. T h e material of this level is interpreted as fill due to its uniformity of color, texture, level, and lack of artifactual . , rp,

r,,

,

,

,

material, i he nil must have been de-

i White

ironstone china fragments.

That on upper left was manufactured

,,

IO-ML

V

r

T

; as

after 1870 by Knowles, 1 aylor GJ

posited after the mill ceased oper-

Knowles, E. Liverpool, Ohio.

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ation because the top of the fill level is high enough to prohibit operation of either an overshot or undershot wheel.

Level I V probably represents refuse deposition resulting from the 1899 repair activities at the mill. T h e stucco or hard lime surface underlying this level would suggest masonry construction activity. T h e majority of glass remains were analyzed as soda water bottles, the remainder being beer or stout (ale) containers. T h e ceramics included parts of bowls and plates. These materials were probably utilized and discarded by workmen on the job in much the same way as workmen practice today. T h e majority of artifacts collected at the Chase Mill come from level I V and date to the period 1895-1910. 5 Since the records indicate that considerable repair work was done on the mill in 1899 and since the artifacts cluster around this date, level I V probably represents activities of workmen associated with the repair of the Chase Mill ca. 1899-1900. T h e intrusive trenches postdate 1899 since they originate above level IV. T h e trench may be associated with the 1957 reconstruction at the mill.

T h e location of the mill wheel, pit, and associated tailrace was probably on the north end of the mill outside of the present structure. This conclusion was arrived at by a process of elimination. T h e south end was eliminated as a possibility due to the location of the entrance which, from historic photographs, was determined to be original. In addition, in order for a mill wheel to be located on the south end, a sluice would have to have been constructed to carry water from the pond to the wheel. T h e proper gradient involved in creating an operational sluice box would have been either too high or too low. T h e possibility of the mill wheel being located inside the mill structure was eliminated since the stratigraphic profile between the south and north ends of the building revealed no evidence of an associated tailrace. T h e basin portion of level I and its extension to the north was probably associated with the tailrace extending from the mill wheel pit. This, being the deepest cultural level of the trench, would be the place to which water would naturally flow. Since level I I I extended to the top of this area (and in some cases possibly below), this area was probably an original surface. This surface is lower than any other original surface encountered in the test area and is at a sufficient depth to accommodate a wheel of realistic size at a proper gradient for water flow from the pond to the wheel. 6 5 6

Richard E. Fike, Analysis Notes on Artifacts from Chase Mill, 1978.

Wheel arms used by Kesler vary in size from fourteen to nineteen feet. See, for example, the bills for materials for the Farmington Carding Mill ( 1 8 5 5 ) , the New Farmington Mill ( 1 8 5 6 ) , and other mills during 1855-59 in the Kesler M e m o r a n d u m Book.

Chase Mill

393

T h e level of the original grade or use surface appears to have been the top of the clay upon which levels I and II were deposited.

No evidence of previously existing structures was recovered during this excavation.

T h e results of the 1978 excavations at Chase's Mill point to the location of the mill wheel pit and associated tailrace as running outside of and along the north side of the present mill structure. Future investigations along the north wall could confirm this through definition of the mill wheel pit and possibly by exposing a buried wheel support stanchion.

T o determine the position of milling machinery, an interior study may be in order. Such a study would involve mapping holes, notches, existing parts considered original, etc. This could be compared to the layout of other mills of the period and to the millwright guide used by Fredrick Kesler. Caution should be exercised in utilizing such a study, however, as interior alterations may represent more than one occupant/ use of the mill.

T h e authentic reconstruction of this mill to its appearance of 1852 will be extremely difficult if not impossible to accomplish. In the exhaustive search of historic papers and documents made in preparing this paper, no descriptions or drawings of machinery and its layout were found specifically for the Chase Mill. Mills in the Utah area were frequently repaired, altered, or converted to other uses. T h e Chase Mill, as stated earlier, was repaired or altered several times between 1850 and 1861, and by 1861 significant amounts of machinery had been removed.

Thus, the changes and alterations that frequently took place in mills should be taken into account when considering an interior study.

O U T L I N E H I S T O R Y OF C H A S E M I L L O P E R A T I O N S , 1847-61

Logging Operations, 1847-49 December 24, 1847: Operations begun at mill.

December 28, 1848: Mill visited.

April-November 1849: Receipts for lumber cut at mill.

Flour Production, 1849-60 1849:

Chase supplying flour.

July 29, 1850: Samuel Ensign worked forty-nine clays at mill.

M a y 15, 1850: Daniel C a m dressed millstone.

M a y 25, 1850: Carpenters worked on bolt for flouring mill.

August 25, 1850: Phineas W. Cook spent twenty-nine and a half days at mill.

September 28, 1852: Excavation of mill pond in progress; d a m filled u p .

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April 7, 1855: B r i g h a m Y o u n g consecrated property to c h u r c h , " T h e undivided share of Chase's Mill a n d farm of 100 acres value $4000."

January

1, 1857: T o t a l a m o u n t , aggregated by Kesler, on Brigham Young's lower mills at Chase's, $200.

1857-59:

Ensign a n d Wells working at mill.

M a r c h 29, 1860: Kesler billed Chase for burrstones, sheet iron for sugar boilers a n d smut machines, a n d other materials.

N o v e m b e r 30, 1860: $81.40 expended to paint mill.

D i s m a n t l i n g of Mill M a c h i n e r y ,

1860-61

1860:

S m u t m a c h i n e r y removed from Brigham Young's lower mill.

1861:

W h e a t - c l e a n i n g m a c h i n e r y moved at Young's lower mill.

Sources: Reminiscences of R h o n d a Chase H i n m a n , ca. 1920, folder 12, and lumber receipt, folders 8 - 9 , Josephine Chase Bradshaw Papers; Journal History of the Church December 28 1848, May 25, 1850, September 28, 1852; Mill Book no. 1, 1849, a n d timesheets for July 29 and August 25, 1850, Brigham Young Papers; Great Salt Lake County Transfer Book, 1855-57, p. 1, box 99, folder 6, Trustee-in-Trust Ledgers, Brigham Young Papers, all in L D S Archives.

See also Fredrick Kesler's M e m o r a n d u m Books, Marriott Library.

S T A T E M E N T O F O W N E R S H I P , M A N A G E M E N T , AND C I R C U L A T I O N

The Utah Historical Quarterly is published quarterly by the U t a h State Historical Society, 307 West Second South, Salt Lake City, U t a h 84101. T h e editor is Melvin T. Smith and the managing editor is Stanford J. Layton with offices at the same address as the publisher. T h e magazine is owned by the U t a h State Historical Society, and no individual or company owns or holds any bonds, mortgages, or other securities of the Society or its magazine.

T h e purposes, function, and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt status for federal income tax purposes have not changed during the preceding twelve months.

T h e following figures are the average number of copies of each issue during the preceding twelve m o n t h s : 3,592 copies p r i n t e d ; no paid circulation; 2,591 mail subscriptions: 2,591 total paid circulation; 275 free distribution (including samples) by mail, carrier, or other means: 2,866 total distribution; 726 inventory for office use, leftover, unaccounted, spoiled after printing: total 3,592. T h e following figures are the actual number of copies of single issues published nearest to filing d a t e : 3,933 copies printed; no paid circulation; 2,526 mail subscriptions: 2,536 total paid circulation; 650 free distribution (including samples) by mail, carrier, or other means; 3,186 total distribution; 747 inventory for office use, leftover, unaccounted, spoiled after printing; total 3,933.

The Walker War: Defense and Conciliation as Strategy

BY HOW 7 ARD A. C H R I S T Y

Early Utah weapons. USHS collections.

1853 W A L K E R W A R I N U T A H was not much of a war by most standards. Yet a close examination of that episode reveals much more than a string of uncoordinated and ineffectual raids by the Utes. Behind descriptions of the few bloody contacts that occurred lies the fascinating story of a war in fact and the extent to which the Utah territorial government was successful in carrying out an unusual experiment in defense and conciliation as strategy in that war.

The Mormons were no strangers to either defense or conciliation.

They had consistently emphasized community security and military preparedness since launching their great westward emigration in 1846.

Mormon policy also included conciliation, although the ideal often broke IHE

Mr. Christy is the historical editor at Brigham Young University Press.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

down in practice once the settlers began to meet opposition to their accelerated expansion into the Indian domain, particularly the domain of the Utes.1 Perhaps convinced that previous offensive responses to the Ute threat had been largely unsuccessful, the territorial leadership put into effect a full-scale effort to thwart the 1853 Ute revolt by passive means.

Regardless of whatever accommodations either the Mormons or the Utes had made to each other, the Utes found themselves steadily losing in their struggle to survive. Before the Mormons came in 1847, the Wasatch oasis had afforded the Utes sufficient food, and they had augmented their livelihood by trading to Mexicans (along the Spanish Trail) horses acquired during massive raids in California and Indian slaves captured from nearby Paiutes and Gosiutes. Increasingly forced from their lands along the Wasatch, their income from the horse trade lost since the California mountain passes were closed to them, the Utes became more and more dependent on the traffic in Indian slaves. Disgusted with such traffic and the cruel manner in which it was carried out, territorial officials in 1852 moved formally to stamp out the Indian slave trade by passing legislation specifically designed to stymie the Mexican trade along the Spanish Trail.2 There is little evidence indicating the effect of such legislation, but it is apparent that some amount of covert slave trading continued into 1853. Renewed efforts to stifle the slave trade precipitated the Walker War. I On April 20, 1853, Gov. Brigham Young left Great Salt Lake City on a tour of all the southern settlements. In Provo a heavily armed mountain man approached him and asked for a private interview. Young refused the interview, and later that day word was received that the mountain man had boasted to others that he had "400 Mexicans awaiting my orders, and can have as many more if I wish, besides, the Indians here are all at my command." Apparently persuaded that a major slavetrading expedition was under way and determined to carry out previous edicts against such enterprise, Young, still at Provo, issued a proclamation calling for: a militia force to reconnoiter the southern settlements, 1 The first settlement outside the environs of greater Salt Lake Valley was Provo, in Utah Valleyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the center of a primary Western Ute living area. Provo was settled in 1849.

2 See "Journal History of the Church," (hereafter cited as J H ) March 3, 7, 1852, Archives Division, Historical Department, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City.

Utah. For information on prior moves to check the slave trade, see J H , May 12, November 3, 5, December passim, 1851; and February 10, 1852. For more information on the Pedro Leon incident, see B. H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. (1930; reprint ed., Provo, U t . : Brigham Young University Press, 1965), 4 : 3 6 - 3 8 .

The Walker War

Chief Walker and Arrapine. Route from Liverpool to Croat Salt Lake Valley.

397

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the arrest of "every strolling Mexican party and those associated with them, and other suspicious persons or parties," all militia to be in readiness, and the entire population to be on guard. In compliance with the proclamation, Capt. William Wall, with forty-four men, left Provo on April 24 on an expedition which sent a shock through all the villages south of Provo, white and Indian alike.3 Only just started, Wall arrested three Mexican traders at Payson on April 24.4 The next day Wall met Ute Chief Bateez, who told him he had heard the militia was being sent out to kill himâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and chiefs Peteetneet and Walker as well.5 Obviously the Ute Indians were alarmed.

Young, who had moved on to Nephi, then ordered Wall to ascertain the whereabouts of Walker and to take him prisoner if he was not "disposed to live peacefully with his band of Indians while in this Territory." 0 Apparently reports had been received that, in addition to continuing in the slave trade, Walker was threatening the safety of white inhabitants.

At Great Salt Lake City, militia commander Daniel H. Wells issued what was essentially a mobilization order to the entire territorial militia as a follow-up to Young's proclamation, and numerous subsequent orders were issued by the various district commanders. 7 On April 27 Wall, then at Fillmore, learned that Walker had left Parowan and was heading for Manti; and settlers at Manti reported to Young that Arrapine, Walker's brother and a leading war chief, had left Manti the day before "very mad and all the Indians left the neighborhood in a great hurry. . . ." It was also reported that at "Allred's Settlement [Spring City] the Indians kept the citizens in alarm all night, several of the men having their guns in their hands all night.'"

On April 29 an Indian messenger from Walker reported that Walker, Arrapine, and others wanted to be at peace. Governor Young responded by sending Walker "a couple of shirts some tobacco and told them to behave themselves."9 Still, more Utes headed for the mountains and a report was received that "one hundred and fifty Yampa Utes [a band east of 3 J H , April 20, 23, 1853; Daniel H . Wells to Peter W. Conover, April 23, 1853, U t a h Territorial Militia Correspondence, 1849-1863, S T - 2 7 , microfilm reels 1 and 3, document no.

231, U t a h State Archives ( A n n e x ) , Salt Lake City (hereafter cited as SA, followed by the particular document n u m b e r ) ; S A - 2 3 a ; General O r d e r no. 1, S A - 2 3 2 ; and Brigham Young conference address, M a y 8, 1853, as cited in J H , May 8, 1853.

4 Wall to Daniel H . Wells, May 11, 1853, S A - 2 4 3 .

5 Ibid. * Young to Wall, April 25, 1853, SA-236. ' G e n e r a l O r d e r no. 2, SA-237.

8 Wall to Wells, M a y 11, 1853, S A - 2 4 3 ; and J H , April 27, 1853.

Mbid., April 29, 1853.

The Walker

War

399

the Wasatch] had gone over to Walker's camp." 1 0 Young, sensing the danger of the situation and the need to be in full control if major fighting broke out, cancelled the remainder of his tour and headed north. Captain Wall continued his mission and reached the southernmost settlements on May 2, the day Young arrived back at Great Salt Lake City. 11 Five days later Young responded to a report from Isaac Morley at M a n t i that Walker and Arrapine had come into M a n t i and had again requested that there be peace. Young invited normal trade to resume, but he warned that if the Utes continued in the slave trade they would be forcefully opposed to the extent that they would continue to decrease until they become extinct, until there is n o more of them, you can tell Walker this, and also tell him to come and see me a n d trade, and be my brother; If I talk to him plain it is to do him good. 1 -

T h e next day Young explained the situation to the people in a powerfully worded address in which he admonished all to keep up their guard. H e discounted Walker's latest peace entreaty by stating that it is truly characteristic of the cunning fndian, when he finds he cannot get advantage over his enemy to curl down at peace and say " I love you."

It is enough for me t h a t Walker dare not a t t e m p t to hurt any of our settlements. I care not whether they love me or not; I a m resolved however, not to trust his love . . . a n d I shall live a long while before I can believe that an I n d i a n is my friend, when it would be to his advantage to be my enemy.

Young went on to predict that Walker would "be peaceable, and the rest of the Indians also; I have no doubt of it. Why? Because they dare not be any other way. If they dare be otherwise I know not how quick they would be at war with us; but they will be kind and peaceable because they are afraid to die, and that is enough for me." 1 3 Though Young's address was for the express purpose of stimulating defense preparedness, his choice of words indicates that he may have miscalculated how far the Utes would go in an effort to keep the slave trade alive. His dispatching of Captain Wall on a torrid trip through the southern settlements as a show of force and his veiled threats conveyed to Walker through Isaac Morley were intended to check Walker from either hostility or continued slave trading. Unfortunately they may have

10

Ibid., April 29, May 2, 1853.

Ibid., and Wall to Wells, May 11, 1853, S A - 2 4 3 .

12 Young to Morley, May 7, 1853, Brigham Young Collection (hereafter cited as BYC' LDS Archives, microfilm reel 32, box 13, folder 9.

13 Young conference address, J H , May 8, 1853.

11

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Utah Historical Quarterly

had the opposite effect. Many Indians received a bad scare, but those for whom the efforts were principally intended were enraged.14

By May 12, with the report that Ute Chief Peteetneet had taken his band out of Utah Valley "to wait and see how the battle went," the lines were drawn.15 The settlers held all their positions, increasingly on guard, and most of the Utes fled up the canyons of the central Wasatch.

A tense quiet prevailed through June.

On July 2 Walker once again demonstrated a desire for peace.

He and Peteetneet responded to Young's previous invitation and came to see him in Great Salt Lake City. The record does not indicate what was discussed or decided, but apparently the meeting did not go well.

No important commitments were made, Young probably sticking to a hard line in hopes that the Utes would not attack for fear of an overwhelming response, and Walker probably insisting on hands off the slave trade.16 The spark was struck on July 17, 1853, in Utah Valley. During a bitter squabble over the terms of a minor trade of flour for fish, a fight broke out which resulted in the death of one Indian and the serious injury to at least one other at the hands of James Ivie. The matter was reported immediately to authorities in nearby Springville and frantic efforts were made by the Mormon bishop there to make amendsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to no avail. Descriptions of the incident soon reached Walker's camp, no doubt in inflammatory terms, and the enraged Utes held a council of war.17 Walker later explained that he was angered by the Ivie incident, as the slain person was related to him, but that he counseled there be no more than the customary limited revenge for the life taken.1S Whether or not mere revenge was intended, messengers were sent out to other Ute bands warning them that war would soon ensue.10 According to the account of Orson F. Whitney, a party of Utes from Walker's camp paid an ostensibly friendly visit to the Payson settlement

11

Wall to Wells, SA-243, May 11, 1853.

Dimick B. Huntington to Wells, J H , May 12, 1853.

M J H , July 2, 1853.

17 For accounts of the Ivie incident see Peter Gottfredson, Indian Depredations in Utah (Salt Lake City: Skelton Publishing Co., 1919), pp. 45-56. Gottfredson's work covers the entire Walker War, primarily highlighting the incidents of hostile contact. Some of the accounts quote primary sources, some do not. Still, it offers the most detailed account of the war in print up to the date of this article. Also see Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah, 4 vols. (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon and Sons, Publishers, 1892), 1 :514-20.

13 See Nelson Higgins to James Ferguson, M a r c h 16, 1854, SA-1386. " G e o r g e W. Bradley to Wells, July 19, 1853, S A - 2 5 6 ; and George A. Smith to Young, July 20, 1853, S A - 2 8 1 .

15

The Walker

War

401

where they were warmly received. U p o n leaving the fort on the evening of July 18, one of the Indians without warning or provocation shot and killed Alexander Keel as he stood guard. T h e assailants then rode on to Walker's camp and the entire band broke and fled up Peteetneet Canyon, firing on outlying settlers and seizing twenty-five head of cattle as they went. 20 Although the killing of Keel was a shock, trouble had been expected for weeks and the militia was prepared to respond. T h e machinery of emergency mobilization went into gear immediately and communications were quickly sent in every direction. Throughout the night of July 18 and all the next day, militiamen throughout the territory answered to muster, and several units headed for Payson and on to the less-populated villages south of U t a h Valley.

I n 1853 the U t a h Territorial Militia numbered about two thousand men organized into brigades, regiments, battalions, and companies, both infantry and cavalry, with minimal artillery support. T h e task organization looked impressive on paper, though in reality units at the local level were small and loosely organized. However, the officers, particularly those south of Salt Lake County, were experienced and capable. Local control was complete. I n addition to containing militia organizations in every settlement, the territory was organized into military districts essentially coterminous with the several counties. T h e senior militia unit commanders doubled as military district commanders which gave them emergency authority over the civilian population in their districts. 21 Behind this organization stood the full power of the Mormon church. M a n y of the highest ranking militia and civil leaders were also ranking church officials.

Col. Peter W. Conover, commander of the U t a h Military District, received word at Provo at about 11:00 P.M., July 18, of the killing of Alexander Keel, and immediately began forming up a force to move toward Payson. H e also sent messengers to militia headquarters in Great Salt Lake City and to all outlying settlements both in and out of U t a h County. Within an hour he was in Payson with fifty mounted troops, where he was soon joined by M a j . Stephen M a r k h a m with an even larger

20 Whitney, History of Utah, 1:514; and Conover and Stephen M a r k h a m to Wells, July 19, 1853, SA-257.

21 No definitive work on U t a h Territorial Militia organization exists See J H , May 19. 1849, December 13, 1852, October 15, December 8, 1853, February 28, 1854; SA-229, SA-239A, SA-320, SA-346, SA-357, SA-407, SA-1334, SA-1346, S A - 1 3 5 2 ; Paul Bailey. Armies of God (Garden City: Doubleday, 1 9 6 8 ) ; Brigham Young Manuscript History, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City (hereafter cited as H B Y ) , October 1853; and Roberts, Comprehensive History 3:456-57.

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Daniel L?SHS

H. Wells. collections.

Chief USHS

Quarterly

Kanosh. collections.

force recruited in Springville and Palmyra (near present-day Spanish F o r k ) . T h e two officers left at dawn with 150 men and headed for Manti, sixty miles distant, guessing that Walker might be headed that way for an attack. T h e force arrived at Nephi at two in the morning, July 20, left five hours later, and arrived at M a n t i by dark, less a small detachment dropped off to aid the hamlet at Pleasant Creek (Mount Pleasant), which lay along the line of possible U t e approach. They made no contact with Indians. 22 Concern intensified as dispatches circulated telling of seemingly coordinated probes by Indians at Springville, Spanish Fork, and at Pleasant Creek. Conover later reported that his scouts h a d found signs indicating that a large number of Indians h a d in fact approached Manti but that the militia h a d probably arrived just in time to discourage an attack. Reports were sent north estimating that Walker h a d amassed from two to three hundred warriors and that heavy militia reinforcements from other districts were urgently needed. 23

22

Conover and M a r k h a m to Wells, July 19, 1853, S A - 2 5 7 ; and Conover to Wells, August 21, 1853, SA-1357.

23 Conover a n d M a r k h a m to Wells, July 19, 1853, S A - 2 5 7 ; Conover to Wells, August 2 1 , 1853, S A - 1 3 5 7 ; E. M. Greene to David Evans, July 20, 1853, S A - 2 7 8 ; G. G. Potter to Higgins, July 20, 1853, S A - 2 8 0 ; and Conover to Wells, July 23, 1853, SA-284.

The Walker War

403

General Wells, in Great Salt Lake City, issued a flurry of orders to commands throughout the territory. Special Order no. 1 tasked a force of one hundred men under Lt. Col. William H. Kimball to proceed south immediately to link up with Conover. Special Order no. 2 instructed Markham, who unbeknownst to Wells had already left for Manti with Conover, to raise a force of sixty men to "march in pursuit of the Indians."

Conover was also ordered to pursue the Indians and to "capture Walker the Chief of the Utahs." However, an all-important caveat was attached.

Conover's orders continued: "He will be careful as far as the execution of these instructions will admit, to preserve the lives and health of his command, and in no case act upon the offensive, but where a sure and effective blow may be struck." To Markham, Wells was even more explicit: H e will in his encounters with the Indians avoid as m u c h as possible the shedding of blood, but endeavor to obtain the desired object and prevent by mildness and judiciary m a n a g e m e n t a recurrence of the present hostilities."

These fragmentary orders were followed two days later by General Order no. 1 putting the entire southern sector on the defense and pointedly ordering Conover and Markham to "forthwith bring their expedition to a close . . . ." The order closed with the admonition: . . . we wish it distinctly understood that n o retaliation be m a d e a n d no offense offered but for all to act entirely on the defense until further orders. . . . I t is desireable in order to completely carry out the policy indicated in the foregoing that n o threats or intimidations be m a d e or exercised toward the Indians no more than nothing unusual had occurred.

Governor Young signed the order.25 A strategy of defense and conciliation was put into effect at the outset. Though the orders published by General Wells were somewhat contradictory, the language of General Order no. 1 was clear and decisive.

Had that order been received in time, and had it been assiduously obeyed, the revolt could have been short-circuited then and there and virtually no bloodshed need have occurred beyond the death of Alexander Keel.

Unfortunately the orders were to be carried out by men of little patience and understanding, and a real war, although one dominated by de21 Wells to Jedediah M. Grant, July 19, 1853, S A - 2 5 4 ; and Special Orders no. 1 and 2, SA-258, SA-259.

25

General Order no. 1, July 21, 1853, SA-1335.

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fensive strategy, dragged out over several months, punctuated by several more bloody engagements.

II Colonel Conover was in all likelihood dismayed when both Special and General orders no. 1 finally caught up with him at Manti on July 23.

Both Conover and M a r k h a m h a d offensive action in mind when they departed Payson without waiting for orders. Upon their arrival at Manti, offensive patrols were sent out, and two such patrols were dispatched just hours before the express arrived with the orders canceling the expedition. As fate would have it, one of those patrols attacked a Ute c a m p east of Pleasant Creek and six Indians were killed. With that, any chance for an early return to peace was probably lost. T h e Utes, whatever their designs might have been up to that moment, now had cause for retaliation. 26 In the meantime, in response to the Indian threat and instructions in General O r d e r no. 1, settlers began to abandon hamlets and outlying farms considered too small or exposed to defend. T h e hamlets of Summit Creek (Santaquin) and Clover Creek were the first to be evacuated, in response to orders issued by Colonel Conover on July 19.27 T h e settlements of Hamilton's Mill and Pleasant Creek were next, the people joining the families at nearby Allred's Settlement. M a j . Nelson Higgins, in command at Manti, advised withdrawal to M a n t i of the now-combined settlement but allowed them an option. They chose to stay but later regretted the decision. 2S T h e Utes, having suffered painful losses east of Pleasant Creek, fell back and considered their next move. A few Indians entered abandoned Summit Creek where they fired on a surprised express riding through, wounding two. 29 O n July 25 Conover and M a r k h a m , their wings clipped, departed Manti for the return trip to U t a h Valley, the fate of the war apparently no longer in their hands.

Meanwhile, on July 21, George A. Smith, an apostle in the elite Q u o r u m of the Twelve of the Mormon church and prominent figure in southern settlement affairs, wrote to Governor Young requesting that

20 Conover to Wells, August 21, 1853, S A - 1 3 5 7 ; and Conover to Wells, July 26, 1853.

SA-1339.

2T Conover to Wells, August 21, 1853, SA-1357.

23 Higgins to James T. S. Allred and Gardner G. Potter, July 20, 1853 SA-277. Potter to Ferguson, July 21, 1853, S A - 2 7 5 ; and Conover to Wells, July 26, 1853, SA-1339.

29 Canfield to Smith, July 24, 1853, SA-286.

The Walker

War

405

another commander be assigned to the Provo Military District "as Colonel Conover is the other side of Mt. N e b o " and that "if it is thot [sic] adviseable to follow Walker into the mountains a heavy additional force of men is necessary." H e also reported that a great deficiency of arms and ammunition existed. 3 " It was obvious that Smith was not satisfied with the manner in which Conover h a d handled his military responsibilities so far. Action on his request came four days later in the form of General O r d e r no. 2, which formed all militia elements south of Salt Lake County into the Southern Militia Department and directed Smith (also a militia colonel) to take command. T h e order, as agonizingly to the point as its antecedent, further spelled out to what extent the defensive was to be carried out.

I I . I t is distinctly understood that all the people shall assemble into large and p e r m a n e n t forts a n d no m a n is at liberty to refuse to obey this order without being dealt with as an enemy.

I I I . All surplus stock t h a t is not particularly needed for teams and milk must be driven to this city and placed in the charge of the Presiding Bishop of this city until further orders. ! 1

Having thereby nailed down the defense, Young the same day dispatched to Chief Walker a classic letter of conciliation accompanied by a pouch of tobacco. 32 O n July 26 Colonel Smith firmly asserted his new authority with several special orders and then departed on a whirlwind tour of all the southern settlements with General O r d e r no. 2 in hand. During the next twenty-seven days Smith covered nine hundred miles, visited every settlement at least once, and forcefully put the general order into effect in all its particulars. H e also issued thirty orders of his own along the way. 33 If Governor Young intended full enforcement of his defensive strategy he selected the right man to carry it out. Young's edicts, drastic in the tremendous effort they required, were strongly opposed by many settlers.

T h e success with which Smith put those edicts into action can be credited to his remarkable force, mettle, and sense of duty. Governor Young excused no one in the territory from full compliance with his orders. Settlers as far away as Ogden and Cedar City had difficulty in seeing the need for such stringent measures. O n several occasions letters were sent by 30

Smith to Young, July 21, 1853, SA-1336.

General O r d e r no. 2, July 25, 1853, SA-288.

32 Young to Walkara, July 25, 1853, SA-289. This "I send you some tobacco for you to smoke in the mountains when you get lonesome" letter has been quoted often by historians.

33 HBY, August 19. 1853, and Smith to several militia commanders, SA-1338.

31

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ecclesiastical and military leaders in response to complaints. An open letter from the First Presidency of the Mormon church was even provided Colonel Smith for use when confronted, as he often was. One colorful though stern letter was sent to settlers near Tooele from the First Presidency which stated: "If they do not give heed to the counsel of the First Presidency of the Church Captain Walker [Ute Chief Walker] will no doubt teach them their duty."31 Ill Upon striking south beyond Nephi (and out of Ute-dominated terrain) , Colonel Smith reflected in a report to Governor Young on July 28 that, although all reports from further south indicated a peaceful posture on the part of the Indians there, he was "still of the opinion that our policy of forting and calling all small settlements into the larger forts is the thing that will preserve peace." Smith went on to report that Chief Kanosh, of the Pahvant Utes near Fillmore, "says he is ready to fight for the Mormons," indicating that Walker had fewer allies than expected and that Governor Young's policy was beginning to have an effect.

Smith stated, "I have not much confidence in any Indian professions of faith yet we shall try to open a treaty with those southern bands of the Utes [San Pitch Utes] through the Pah Vants." 35 That same day, Smith, as if he had a premonition, sent off an express to Major Higgins at Manti instructing him to "remove all the families residing at the Allred Settlement forthwith into Manti with all their stock, grain and effects."3'1 He was too late. The express met messengers speeding in the opposite direction with news that a large number of Utes had descended on Alfred's Settlement and had driven off some two hundred head of cattle and horses, virtually all that were there. Though as many as thirty-five cows were eventually recovered, the loss, and the realization of the Utes' demonstrated ability to carry off a letter-perfect raid in broad daylight, was staggering.37 If Governor Young, General 31 First Presidency to Allen Weeks and Brethren at C e d a r Valley, July 26, 1853, S A - 1 3 3 7 ; First Presidency to Smith, July 30, 1853, S A - 3 1 4 ; Wells to William Wadsworth and Charles S. Peterson, August 9, 1853, S A - 3 2 8 ; Wells to Evans, August 24, 1853, S A - 1 3 5 9 ; Kimball to Wells, August 1, 1853, S A - 3 1 7 ; Henry Standage to Ferguson, October 30, 1853, S A - 4 1 0 ; and Young to Standage, December 10, 1853, SA-424. T h e Weber military district commander had his hands full also. One of his admonitions was t h a t "if men resist or refuse to obey orders like Jas. Davis put them in irons with ball a n d chain." Wells to David Moore, September 1, 1853, SA-375.

33 Smith to Young, July 28, 1853, S A - 2 9 9 .

38 Smith to Higgins, July 28, 1853, S A - 3 0 3 .

37 Higgins to Ferguson, Conover, a n d M a r k h a m , July 29, 1853, S A - 3 0 5 ; and Bradley to Wells, August 1, 1853, SA-1344.

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Chief Antero.

Courtesy Smithsonian Office of Anthropology.

George A. Smith.

C. R. Savage photograph, USHS collections.

Wells, or Colonel Smith needed further justification for their defensive policy, they now had it. Chief Walker later reported that the attack was in retaliation for the killings of July 23. It had been proposed to slaughter all the settlers at Alfred's Settlement, but Walker claimed he gave his support for the raid only after he was promised that all lives would be spared.38 A week later Smith's resolve was sorely tested when the settlers at Cedar City openly rebelled against carrying out the provisions of General Order no. 2. Several settlers refused to allow their cattle to be herded to Salt Lake Valley and threatened to shoot anyone who tried to move them. Only five individuals were arrested, but the entire town was in sympathy. Smith, quartered in Parowan, made several trips to Cedar City to admonish the settlers there to obey the governor's orders. They stiffly resisted. Finally, at a meeting called by him seven days after the mutiny broke out, Smith for the last time attempted to convince the people to carry out their orders. He was met by defiance and insult. At the same meeting the Cedar City militia commander, Maj. Mathew Caruthers, tendered his resignation which Smith accepted before he 38

Higgins to Ferguson, March 16, 1854, SA-1386. Also see Smith's Special Order no. 19, SA-1338.

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stalked off, leaving Lieutenant Colonel Kimball behind to assure compliance with General Order no. 2. (The next day the surplus stock at Cedar City joined the combined herd on its way north.) 3 9 Not all of Smith's energies were expended at Cedar City. H e also supervised the withdrawal of all outlying settlements, farms, and mining camps to Parowan and Cedar City, the only two towns selected for fortification in that sector. T h e hamlets at Paragonah, New Harmony, Shirt's Settlement, and Johnson's Settlement were not only abandoned, they were dismantled, and every movable piece carted or dragged back to the forts. I n contrast to Cedar City, however, at Paragonah and Parowan "the citizens assisted in the work of taking down their own buildingsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; there was not a murmuring word against taking down houses, or sending of stock from any person." 10 I n the meantime, on August 9, Chief Sowiette came into Springville, "for the purpose of making peace." T h e gesture nearly caused disaster when the edgy townsmen sounded a general alarm at the Indians' approach. All in his party fled and Sowiette "nervously asked to be allowed to follow his family, though he was treated kindly. H e promised 'that he would return with them and make a treaty which will be satisfactory.' " 41 By then it was apparent that Walker had not near the full support of the several Ute bands.

By mid-August the massive white retrenchment was in full swing.

T h e scene all along the Wasatch was one of tearing down, forting, harvesting under guard, and herding hundreds of cattle to the safety of the Salt Lake Valley meadows. Several detachments of militia were sent out from Great Salt Lake City (and the northern communities of U t a h County) to act as pickets in the harvest fields and to help herd the surplus cattle. 42 Those Utes still in war paint, their ranks growing ever 30 Kimball to Wells, August 7, 1853, S A - 1 3 5 0 ; Post O r d e r no. 3, S A - 3 0 0 ; Smith to Wells.

August 8, 1853, S A - 1 3 5 1 ; Smith's Special O r d e r no. 26, S A - 3 3 2 ; and Smith to Wells, August 27, 1853, S A - 3 5 7 . General Wells ordered all charges dropped on August 25, 1853, with the warning, "let no one presume t h a t it can be repeated with impunity." See Wells to Little, S A 355. O n November 20, 1853, Mormon church members of Cedar City voted to excommunicate twenty m e n a n d six women who had left for California as a result of the dispute. Of the twenty men who left, seven h a d been previously court-martialed for breaches of discipline during the war.

See J H , November 20, 1853; and S A - 3 2 7 , S A - 3 3 2 , a n d SA-416.

40 Smith to Wells, August 27, 1853, S A - 3 5 7 ; Kimball to Wells, August 4, 1853, S A - 1 3 5 0 ; S A - 1 3 4 7 ; and August 7, 1853, S A - 1 3 5 0 ; and HBY, August 4, 1853. T h e dismantling of Paragonah was a major task as it was a small town containing seventeen families. Smith reported "8 adobe houses [out of 31] and 10 log houses [out of 43], 1 tannery, and 1 machine shop torn down. Here is 211 acres of land fenced and improved, the buildings destroyed in moving this post was worth $4,320.00." See Smith to Wells, August 27, 1853, S A - 3 5 7 .

41 SA-329.

42 Special O r d e r no. 3, S A - 2 6 3 ; Smith to Wells, July 27, 1853, S A - 2 9 5 ; July 28-August 13, 1853, S A - 1 3 4 3 ; Bradley to Wells, August 1, 1853, S A - 1 3 4 4 ; Kimball to Wells, July 27, 1853, S A - 2 9 6 ; ' H i g g i n s to Ferguson, no date, S A - 3 1 9 ; Higgins to Wells, August 3, 1853, S A - 3 2 1 ;

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thinner, were by then capable only of guerrilla-type raids on targets of opportunity, their ability to effect a telling blow on any of the forts virtually beyond possibility.

T h e most vulnerable targets were the herding and harvesting parties and, later, parties tasked with hauling newly harvested grain from the fields and between settlements. O n August 11 a detachment driving surplus cattle was attacked at Clover Creek. T h e militia escort reported that they may have killed as many as five Utes in the return fire. One militiaman was wounded. 43 Four days later, however, the war took a decidedly vicious turn when four men were caught in an ambush in the vicinity of Parley's Park (Park City) while hauling lumber. Two of them, John Dixon and John Quayle, were killed, and the other two, one of them wounded, barely escaped on horseback. Apparently they had gone to Parley's Park without militia escort, thinking themselves safe because they were in friendly Shoshoni country, far from the center of trouble.

A forty-seven-man militia detachment was sent out from Great Salt Lake City with orders to "route the Indians secreted in the various Kanyons."

T h e commander was, however, "authorized to treat with them and endeavor to carry out his orders without the shedding of blood." 44 T h e conciliatory policy still held, although clamps were further tightened three days later when Governor Young issued another proclamation revoking all previously issued licenses to trade with the Utes and strictly forbidding any sort of trade with them unless otherwise permitted by the superintendent of Indian affairs or one of his agents. 45 Colonel Smith, having completed his work in the south, departed Parowan on August 17 and traveled quickly north, reaching Provo in four days. En route he met with several small bands of Utes, all desiring peace. They reported that Walker had gone to the Colorado River to trade with Mexicans and that the war was being continued by another chief by the name of Wyonah, a brother of the Indian killed by James Ivie on July 17.4G

Higgins and Isaac Morely to Wells, August 7, 1853, S A - 3 2 5 ; Higgins to Ferguson, August 7, 1853, S A - 3 2 6 ; and Heywood to Young, August 20, 1853, SA-1355. A massive effort to wall in Salt Lake City was begun in late August 1853, perhaps as an example to the outlying settlements.

Although the project was not completed, about six miles of walling was constructed. See HBY, August 1853.

43 Bradley to Wells, August 11, 1853, SA-334.

4!

Special Order no. 13, August 16, 1853, S A - 2 3 0 ; and Whitney, History of Utah, 1:517.

45 J H , August 19, 1853.

10 Smith to Wells, August 27, 1853, SA-357.

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Smith was not happy with the conditions at Provo. Apparently due to a combination of complacency and intransigence on the part of settlers there, and inattention to duty on the part of Colonel Conover, little had been done to comply with either General Order no. 2 or the well-defined special orders Smith had addressed personally to Conover. Smith angrily departed the next day for Great Salt Lake City to report his trip to the governor and to request that action be taken against Conover. Three days later Colonel Conover was relieved of his command and placed under arrest, charged with "neglect of duty in noncompliance with General and Special Orders." 47 As at Cedar City, Smith responded to the challenge to authority with resolution and force. (Governor Young dropped all charges against Conover a month later and restored him to command.) 48 IV Discipline cracked under the strain in September, probably due to a number of factors including weeks of tension, summer heat, fatigue, and the willingness of some to shed more blood. The result was a spate of ugly killings on both sides that nearly destroyed the entire defense and conciliation effort.

The first week was quiet. In fact there were indications that peace was near at hand. White Eye, principal chief of the Utes, and Antero, chief of the Yampa Utes, visited Governor Young on September 10 and professed their desire for peace.49 That visit, combined with knowledge that Chief Walker had left, persuaded territorial officials that only a few hostiles representing bands from the Utah and Sanpete valleys remained in the fight. Hope of a quick peace was dashed, however, when a party of Pahvant Utes, thought to have been friendly, killed a militiaman standing guard at Fillmore Fort early in the morning of September 13.d0 That same day at Manti, a group of Utes came into the fort and professed friendship. Suspicious of their identity, Major Higgins surreptitiously sent out a patrol to inspect the Indians' camp. The patrol returned reporting that recently stolen goods were found in the camp, and the Indians at the fort were confronted with that fact. What occurred next is unclear except that the ensuing argument led to slaughter. Higgins 47

Smith to Wells, August 25, 1853, SA-356; and Wells to Conover, August 25, 1853.

SA-353.

43

Special Order, September 12, 1853, SA-383.

JH, September 10-12, 1853.

511 Standage to Smith, September 13, 1853, SA-384.

40

The Walker

War

411

later reported that "one of them turned to Isaac Morley . . . for fight, where upon two of the guard immediately shot him down. [A]t the same time the other four made a break to escape when the remainder of the guard fired upon them and brought them to the ground." 5 1 Regardless of the evidence of theft found, it is clear that the most critical element of the general orders had been violated. It was well known that both the Shoshonis and Utes traditionally sought revenge for any death they perceived as unprovoked. This knowledge was intrinsic in the decision to carry out a policy of conciliation in the first place. In this case, the shooting down of Indians inside the fort while on a mission of peace, whether sincere or not, demanded revenge. Retaliation was probably assured when during the next several days three Ute women who had accompanied those slain to the fort either escaped or were allowed to leaveâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and to tell their story.

A potentially crucial note of foreboding was sounded on September 22 when a report circulated that Arrapine said he had "killed a squaw and two horses in consequence of the war, and that he never would make peace but wanted to fight."52 Unfortunately the import of that was lost â&#x20AC;&#x201D;either disbelieved or dismissed as nothing more than savage bravado.

Concern over the possibility that Arrapine, as the second-ranking Ute war chief, had sworn a vendetta might have restrained further aggressive action on the part of the militia, thereby dramatically reducing the excesses soon to come.

O n September 25 Major M a r k h a m , again in direct violation of the general orders, sent out a punitive force from Palmyra to make contact with a nearby band of hostile Utes. T h e force, under Capt. Charles Hancock, came upon and surrounded the Ute camp in the vicinity of the Goshen marshes south of U t a h Lake. T h e militia assaulted the camp and killed an estimated four or five and perhaps several more. Survivors escaped by hiding in the marshes until the attacking militia left.53 Retaliation was vicious. On October 1 William Reed, James Nelson, William Luke, and Thomas Clark, serving as teamsters taking a load of grain to Salt Lake City from Manti, missed connections with their assigned militia escort and went on alone to Uintah Springs (Fountain Green) where they made camp. Sometime during the night Utes crept up to the unguarded camp and brutally slaughtered the men, probably

51

Higgins to Ferguson, September 29, 1853, S A - 1 3 7 1 .

Joseph L. Heywood to Young, September 22, 1853, SA-397.

53 M a r k h a m to Wells, October 5, 1853, S A - 3 9 5 ; SA-397.

52

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in their beds. T h e horribly mutilated bodies were found by a detachment from Manti and brought into Nephi Fort the next day.54 T h e sight sickened and enraged those in charge at Nephi.

Shortly thereafter eight friendly Ute Indians camped nearby were brought into the fort "to have a talk." According to Major Bradley: I told the Indians to lay down their arms but they refused and showed fight. I ordered their arms taken whereupon two shot arrows and wounded one white in the arm and one arrow went through the coat of another upon which I ordered them to be fired upon. Seven Indians were killed and the Squaw wras taken prisoner. About an hour later one other Indian and a boy came up[. T]he Indian was shot and the boy taken prisoner. . . .

This evening at 8 o'clock the G u a r d discovered an Indian and fired upon him and suppose they killed him. 5 5

T h e above report formed the basis of the formal record. In Brigh a m Young's manuscript history can be found only the brief account that "in a skirmish at Nephi, J u a b Valley, eight Indians were killed and one squaw and two boys taken prisoners." 51 ' However, two other eyewitnesses left records telling a far different story. M a r t h a Spence Heywood wrote in her journal that the murder at Uintah Springs "actuated our brethren, counselled by Father Morley of San Pete . . . and President Call of Filmore, to do quite as barbarous an act the following morning, being the Sabbath. Nine Indians coming into our camp looking for protection and bread with us . . . were shot down without one minute's notice." 57 Her account is backed u p by that of Adelia Almira Wilcox, who wrote in her memoirs that the Indians were "shot down without even considering whether they were the guilty ones or not. . . . They were shot down like so many dogs, picked up with pitchforks [put] on a sleigh and hauled away."" 8 Adelia might have had reason to be less denunciatory: William Hatton, killed by Indians just two weeks before, was her husband.

O n October 4 John E. Warner and William Mills, working alone at the grist mill just outside Manti, were ambushed, killed, and mutilated as the grisly cycle of mutual retaliation continued to grind. 59 64 These were the first mutilations to occur. The two men killed at Parley's Park on August 15 were found two days later; their bodies had not been mutilated. It is interesting to note that mutilation did not occur until after Indians had been murdered in Manti Fort on September 13.

"Bradley to Wells, October 2, 1853, SA-396.

M HBY, October 1, 1853. "' Juanita Brooks ed., Not By Bread Alone: The Journal of Martha Spence Heywood 1850-56 (Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1978), p. 97.

53 Adelia Almira Wilcox Memoirs, October 2, 1853, Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City.

59 Higgins to Wells, October 4, 1853, SA-399.

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T h e situation apparently out of control, General Wells ordered out another large force from Great Salt Lake City to "search for and if possible break up and discourage the several bands of hostile Indians."

Once again, however, the olive branch was held out. In an almost plaintive tone, commanders selected to lead the expedition were admonished that they "in all their encounters with the Indians . . . will avail themselves of every opportunity wherein the Indians show of friendship or sue for peace, to treat and endeavor by every means in their power to bring about friendly relations between them and the whites." ( More blood was to be let. O n October 14 Firney L. Tindrell, spading up potatoes near the abandoned Summit Creek settlement, was caught unprotected and killed. His body also was mutilated. 6 1 No doubt disgusted with the continued violence, and convinced that killing more Indians would only trigger more retaliation, Governor Young wrote the militia commanders most responsible on October 16, pleading for compliance with his orders.

Brethren we must have peace. We must cease our hostilities and seek by every possible means to reach the fndians with a peaceful message.62

T h e n another senseless killing of an Indian sent a shock through the territory. T h e retaliation in this instance gained national attention. O n the night of October 26 a vengeful war party of Pahvant Utes crept up on a team of U.S. Army topographic engineers near Fillmore and brutally slaughtered seven of them as they were arising for breakfast, and the now well-known Gunnison Massacre was history. T h e massacre was carried out as revenge for the murder of an old and respected Pahvant Indian by members of a passing wagon train on October l.63 Though the incident h a d no direct relationship with the Walker War, the general atmosphere of hostility and tension no doubt had an influence.

T h e n the killing stopped. W h e t h e r because of the threat of more militia coming from Salt Lake City, or fear of U.S. Army intervention as a result of the Gunnison Massacre, or because sufficient revenge had been meted out, the Utes once again pulled back. Governor Young continued attempts to treat with the Utes while at the same time working to

00

Special O r d e r no. 2 1 , October 5, 1853, SA-398.

M a r k h a m to unknown, October 15, 1853, S A - 4 0 1 . u2 Young to Conover, M a r k h a m , and Bradley, HBY, October 16, 1853.

83 There are numerous accounts of the Gunnison Massacre. See J H , October 26 and December 6, 1853, for early reports of the tragedy. Also see Roberts, Comprehensive History, 4 : 4 0 - 4 6 . ,;1

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Dimick USHS

Huntington. collections.

Brigfiam Young in 1850.

USHS collections.

assure their isolation. Interpreter Dimick B. Huntington, sent out to contact any Utes who cared to talk, returned November 9 and reported having had friendly meetings with small groups at Chicken Creek, Peteetneet, Summit Creek, and Battle Creek. He also reported to everyone's relief that "Walker and his band had fought one another, and split up, and that Walker had gone to the Navajoes."64 The now seriously weakened hostile Utes, probably under Arrapine, shifted their operations north to Utah Valley and nipped at exposed points in the vicinity of Spanish Fork and Provo, burning a mill near Manti as well as several abandoned houses at Summit Creek en route. 6j Young continued his containment strategy by sending out a mission to take control of the Green River crossings in the northeast corner of the territory and by announcing major missionary efforts among the Paiutes in the far-southern sector. At the same time Colonel Smith called up 120 families residing in Utah Valley and ordered them south to strengthen the Parowan and

01

JH, November 11, 1853.

Bradley to Ferguson, November 7, 1853, SA-423; Conover to Wells, November 14, 1853, SA-414; and JH, November 24, December 1, 1853.

05

The Walker War

415

Cedar City settlements, this in response to instructions from the Mormon First Presidency in October to strengthen outlying communities throughout the territory.66 On December 3 Governor Young took a major step toward peace by offering total amnesty to all the Utes in the recent hostilities. The letter was another masterpiece of conciliation. Opening with the statement, "I am the best friend you have got on earth," Young proffered: L e t . . . t h a t [the killings on both sides] all pass. I . . . say . . . no I n d i a n w h o has killed any of my people, n o r any of m y people w h o have killed a n I n d i a n shall be h u r t by either p a r t y for such conduct.

The governor also extended aid.

If the I n d i a n s will all be quiet a n d friendly, I will try to induce my people to furnish t h e m bread, clothing, a n d other articles for their comfort, a n d some p o w d e r a n d lead to h u n t with, b u t I shall w a n t the I n d i a n s to work for w h a t they get from the whites, as we h a d to do, or pay in skins, a n d quit begging. 6 7

There was no immediate response; hostile acts continued for several more weeks, the last significant raids being the burning of Alfred's Settlement (abandoned July 29) on January 6, 1854, and the theft of sixty to eighty cattle near Spanish Fork on February 26.6S A more immediate response might have been expected considering the generous terms offered, particularly the food, clothing, and ammunition, on the eve of what was sure to be a lean winter for the Utes remaining "in the mountains." Still, two more Ute bands came in and expressed a desire for peace. Ammon and his band set up winter camp adjacent to the southern settlements, outside the Ute domain, and Chief Migo and his band came into Manti in early February.69 00 J H , November 15, 3 0 ; December 29, 1853. Also see Roberts, Comprehensive History, 4 : 5 4 - 5 5 . T h e Southern Indian Mission, called in December 1853, departed for New Harmony on April 14, 1854, under Parley P. Pratt. See J H , December 26, 1 8 5 3 ; April 14, May 19, 1854.

"7 Young to Sowiette, White Eye, Peteetneet, Arrapine, and Teesharnosheegee, December 3, 1853, BYC, reel 92, box 57, folder 1. Young's words, " I will try to induce my people to furnish bread," etc., indicates some doubt as to whether the settlers would be obedient to his instructions, or appeals, to further conciliate. O n December 10, 1853, Young instructed Bradley to reward Kanosh for his prompt assistance in recovering the property of the Gunnison survey p a r t y â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a n d as a gesture to retain his friendship. Young to Bradley, December 10, 1853, BYC, reel 92.

"3 First Presidency 11th General Epistle, April 10, 1854. Twenty-five head were soon returned at the insistence of Chief Peteetneet. Regarding the burning of Allred's Settlement, it is ironic that original settlers began to return to that ill-fated hamlet without permission in October. Major Higgins even requested authority to reestablish a militia element there.

Instead of getting such authority they were summarily ordered back out in November. Resettlem e n t was not again attempted until 1859. See Higgins to Ferguson, October 25, 1853, S A - 4 0 8 ; and W. H . Lever, comp., History of Sanpete and Emery Counties: Utah (Salt Lake City: Press of the Tribune Job Printing Co., 1889), pp. 203-4, 4 7 2 : and Higgins to Ferguson, January 2, 1854, SA-1381. *9 J H , February 13, M a r c h 1, 1854.

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T h e ice was broken on M a r c h 12 when Walker, since returned from spending the winter with the Navajos, sent an emissary to Manti requesting Isaac Morley (or some other) to come to his camp "and have a talk." Morley responded by sending out Lt. James T. S. Allred, who could speak the Ute tongue, and three others, with a wagonload of gifts.

Allred presented a letter from Morley and the two h a d a long and friendly meeting, during which Walker explained the war as h e saw it, and then presented his conditions for peace. As reported second-hand by Higgins, Walker pleaded the cause of his people saying that we have taken his land and fishing places and now he wishes the M o r m o n s to purchase his land and make peace.

H e wishes Gov. Young to send D. B. H u n t i n g t o n immediately to meet him at Fillmore to make a treaty with him and purchase his land. H e also wishes him to send guns, ammunition, and blankets to trade h i m (Walker) for horses.

H e promises to be at peace until he hears from Gov. Young. 7 0

Whether or not Young had yet received Alfred's report, on March 24 he dispatched M a j . E. A. Bedell, Indian subagent, to "enquire of them [the Indians] in relation to holding a treaty for the sale of their land preparatory to such times as we may be authorized to treat with them for that purpose by the General Government." 7 1 T h e continued failure by the government to authorize extinction of title by purchase weakened Young's hand considerably, yet the issue proved not to be crucial to peace as Walker himself, perhaps wary of taking such a permanent step, backed off in that regard during his meeting with Bedell on March 31. "Walker said he would prefer not to sell if he could live peacefully with the white people which he was anxious to do." 72 April was a testing period. Walker showed up at the southern settlements and threatened trouble if a militia party there carried out its intention of pursuing Indians who had stolen cattle. Utes also stopped travelers and demanded tribute for safe passage. O n April 14 Governor Young sent another letter to Walker gently prodding him. "[If] you wish to throw me, and my people away, just say so, and let me know that this is what you wish; but if you do not wish to throw me away, and blot

70 Higgins to Ferguson, March 16, 1854, SA-1386. This report indicates that Walker was not yet aware of the letter of amnesty sent by Governor Young to Chief Sowiette (and others) on December 3. " Y o u n g to Bedell, March 24, 1854, BYC, reel 84, box 1, pp. 6 0 - 6 1 . Young dispatched a friendly letter to Walker the same day. See Young to Walker, March 24, 1854, HBY. 72 Bedell to Young, April 6, 1854, BYC, reel 93, box 58, folder 3.

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your name off from my books, you must be friends with me and my people." H e went on to state that he would soon begin a trip south and that he expected to meet Walker "somewhere on the route; when we will have a friendly talk as usual." 73 T h e letter was delivered by another interpreter (George Bean), more talks were held, and Bean copied down a letter from Walker to Young in which Walker again presented peace terms, this time in considerable detail. No reservations whatever were to be placed on trade; Young "must bring 2 oxen and some flour [,] some good guns and ammunition and a little whiskey"; cattle and horses, the number to be negotiated, were to be given annually for twenty years for "portions of his lands"; and "many presentsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;much more than is comm o n " were to be provided. Walker added that he had "sent Ammon to the piedes [Paiutes] to get some children which if we do not buy he will sell to the Mexicans." No fool as a negotiator, Walker had demanded a virtual status quo antebellum. 74 Governor Young departed for his southern tour with a large entourage that included seven members of the Quorum of the Twelve and several women and children. 7 ' At Provo he ordered that four fat beeves be sent ahead to Walker. 76 Walker's party left Fillmore and headed north, visiting Nephi before dropping back to a camp at Chicken Creek. At Nephi they were warmly received; they even "partook of an entertainment got up for them and appeared to have a very good spirit indeed." 77 Final arrangements were made for a meeting at Chicken Creek, letters being sent from Provo to Walker and Arrapine to that effect, with explanatory letters and tobacco also being sent to the principal Paiute chiefs as a token to demonstrate that the Paiutes would not be forsaken in the treaty to be worked out.78 Governor Young's party arrived at Chicken Creek at noon on May 11, 1854, and extended opening courtesies. Walker, however, refused to leave his tent. Negotiations proceeded only after Young entered Walk-

73 Young to Walkara, April 14, 1854, HBY. Young sent a friendly letter with a shirt and some tobacco to Chief Peteetneet on April 8. HBY, April 6, 1854.

74 George W. Bean to Young (for Walker), May 1, 1854, HBY. 73 J H , May 4, 1854. The party included Parley P. Pratt, Heber C. Kimball, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Ezra T. Benson, Lorenzo Snow, Erastas Snow, Thomas E. Bullock (82 men total), fourteen women (wives of several of the m e n ) , five children, ninety-five animals, and thirty-four carriages.

70 J H , May 7, 1854.

77 Brooks, Not By Bread Alone, p. 100.

7s Wall to Young, May 1, 1854, S A - 4 3 7 ; Young to Walkara, May 7, 1854, HBY; to Grosepene, May 7, 1854, ibid., and to Tutseaperts and Tochints, May 9, 1854, ibid., and also Young to Arrapine, May 7, 1854, BYC, reel 92, box 57, folder 1.

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er's tent where he and George A. Smith laid their hands upon the head of Walker's daughter, who was ill, and gave her a blessingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;another conciliatory gesture in response to Walker's gesture of pride.79 A full account of the negotiations has not survived, only vignettes describing long and emotional speeches and spirited bargaining in the exchange of stolen horses for gifts. Governor Young, apparently willing to pursue the course of conciliation to a point just short of capitulation, purchased an Indian slave from Walker for a gun and two blankets.50 Obviously the question of slavery was not settled, nor was that of the purchase of Indian landsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the two major issues at hand. Yet somehow a meeting of minds was reached that at least allowed cessation of hostilities. Walker knew that he was beaten, and he probably understood that Young's commitments to the Paiutes would not be compromised.

On the other hand, Young knew he had neither the means nor the authority to buy the Ute lands. The peace was therefore won in large measure by the long and patient application of conciliation, culminated by a gesture on the part of the victor that, though appearing to be a reversal of policy and principle, allowed his adversary to accept defeat without humiliation. Negotiations over, gifts presented, and a large feast in celebration of the peace completed, Governor Young's party departed on the road south. Walker accepted Young's invitation to ride along for at least part of the way, and the war was over.81 V In nearly every instance of Indian revolt on the American frontier, the Indians were checked either by extermination or removal. It seems that conciliation, though often proposed, was invariably engulfed in the relentless flood of white expansion and greed. The experience in Utah had been little different before 1853. Extermination of hostile Utes in Utah Valley was attempted, though unsuccessfully, in 1850. Removal was also attempted, again unsuccessfully, as repeated requests to that end were ignored by the federal government. Conciliation had also been extended, although haphazardly.*2 What made the Walker War experi79

J H , May 11-12, December 3, 1854, J H , May 11-12, 1854. hl Ibid., and Young to John M. Bernhisel, May 31, 1854, BYC, reel 32, box 13, folder 12.

82 T h a t a campaign of selective extermination was launched in 1850 (by the militia of the State of Deseret) is not commonly known. Primary documentation indicating such a campaign is found in BYC, microfilm reel 80, box 47, folder 6; and S A - 5 , SA-1309, SA-1311, SA-1312.

For an in-depth discussion of that episode, and other militia actions under similar instructions as late as March 1852, see Howard A. Christy, "Open Hand and Mailed Fist: Mormon-Indian Relations in Utah, 1847-52," Utah Historical Quarterly 46 (Summer 1 9 7 8 ) : 216-35.

M

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ence different was a determination to carry out conciliation, founded upon a strong defense, to a successful end at almost any cost.

Surely the strategy adhered to in the Walker War was unprecedented as far as the Mormons were concerned. That such a strategy was carried out to a successful conclusion may also have been unique in the general western experience. Could that effort have served as a model for restraining bloodshed between the Indians and whites on the western frontier after 1853? Probably not.

The Walker War defense and conciliation strategy was tested under conditions that seem from hindsight to have offered every chance for success. The Ute Indians were greatly outmatched in numbers, firepower, and military savvy from the outset. They would have been defeated soundly no matter what strategy was used against them. The highly cohesive settlement pattern effected by the Mormons greatly simplified problems of defense and control in the face of a hostile threat, especially considering the additional fact that the Mormons had established a strong tradition of excellent local leadership, civil and ecclesiastical as well as military. And perhaps most significant, the Utah territorial government was highly organized and powerful. At the helm of that government

Indian War veterans reunion.

George E. Anderson photo, courtesy Rell G. Francis, Heritage Prints.

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Governor Young, architect of the defense and conciliation strategy, capitalized on a combination of formidable personal ability and drive, a charisma ideal for a leader on the rough and dangerous frontier, and a near-dictatorial control over the majority of the people by virtue of his position as the prophet and president of the Mormon church.

Yet the strategy nearly failedâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;not due to the actions of the Indians â&#x20AC;&#x201D;but because it was so difficult to enforce. Governor Young met strong and persistent opposition on the part of many Mormon settlers and militia leaders. Policies supporting the strategy had to be figuratively forced down their throats; and the emotional costs of that were high. Defiance of explicit orders led to numerous courts-martial, reliefs of command, much h a r d feeling, and, in the case of the community at Cedar City, mutiny and the subsequent emigration out of U t a h (and eventual excommunication) of several families. Offensive operations by militia units, in utter disregard of orders to the contrary, led to most of the deaths suffered by both sides, probably accompanied by feelings of guilt and outrage.

Abandonment, dismantling, or destruction of entire communities and numerous outlying farms also brought hardship and no little bitterness to many families, some having just completed the exhausting emigration out~of Euiope^ttnd across the American plains. Frequent admonishment and threats from ecclesiastical leaders must have sorely tried the faith of those who could not, or would not, understand the necessity of the stringent measures taken in order to quell, or mollify, a perceived mere handful of Indians.

T h e strategy therefore required unparalleled tenacity on the part of the leadership and enormous effort and sacrifice on the part of the people, even against a limited threatâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;requirements well beyond the capability of most communities on the cutting edge of the frontier. Successful as the Walker W a r experiment was by comparison, it still seems to prove the thesis forwarded by a number of historians who have asserted that, given the nature of the westward expansion movement in the nineteenth century, and the deeply ingrained antipathy toward the Indians held by the overwhelming majority of whites on the frontier, the demise of the Indian people through bloodshed and removal was inevitable.

The Buffalo Soldiers: Guardians of the Uintah Frontier 1886 - 1901

BY R O N A L D G. C O L E M A N

l H E R E HAVE B E E N SEVERAL

STUD-

ies on the history of black soldiers in the post-Civil War years.1 More than one historian has noted their presence at Fort Duchesne, Utah, but none has examined the soldiers' on-duty as well as off-duty activities during their years on the Uintah Mr. Coleman is an instructor of history at the University of Utah.

1 For examples see Jack D. Foner, Blacks and the Military in American History (NewYork, 1 9 7 4 ) ; William A. Leckie, The Buffalo Soldiers: A Narrative of the Negro Cavalry in the West ( N o r m a n : University of Oklahoma Press, 1967).

Frederic Remington

drawing.

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frontier. 2 T h e population of this region of eastern Utah was heterogeneous; Native Americans and whites were in substantial numbers. Various companies of soldiers, white and black, were stationed at Fort Duchesne in the last decade and a half of the nineteenth century. White troops were from the Twenty-first and Sixteenth Infantry and the Seventh and Fifth Cavalry, while the black units were all from the Ninth Cavalry.

Except for a six-month period in 1898 when the troops were fighting in the Spanish-American War, the post from September 1892 until March 1901 was garrisoned entirely by the Ninth Cavalry's "buffalo soldiers."'

Black soldiers at Fort Duchesne gave Uintah County the second largest black population in Utah from 1890 until early in 1901. Thus, the stationing of black troops in the region provides an example of interracial adjustments on the western frontier. 4 With the exception of racial antipathy from Indians and whites, the experiences of black soldiers there and in other western stations were similar to those of white soldiers. Black troops were used to subdue and control Native Americans. They assisted in quelling disputes among whites, protecting stage and railway lines, building and maintaining military posts, opening and clearing roads, and seeing to the general wellbeing of frontier settlers. All military units practiced their skills in horsemanship, marching, and marksmanship. Drill exercises, inspections, and annual marches kept the men in a state of preparedness. Black troops, like their white counterparts, performed ceremonial duties, such as participating in parades and serving as honor guards at Memorial Day observances. 5 2 See Marvin Fletcher, The Black Soldier and Officer in the United States Army, 18911917 (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1974), p. 80; Thomas G. Alexander and Leonard J Arrington, " T h e U t a h Military Frontier, 1872-1912, Forts Cameron, Thornburgh, and Duchesne," Utah Historical Quarterly 32 (1964) : 344-52.

2 Returns from United States Military Posts, Fort Duchesne, 1886-1902. Microfilm copies of the holograph post returns are available at the Marriott Library, University of Utah.

Some claim the term "buffalo soldiers" originated when Native Americans first came in contact with black soldiers. One story says the term started when black troops serving in the northern plains area started wearing buffalo hides as overcoats on cold winter marches. The black faces peering from the hides resembled the buffalo. Another story says the name was given by Native Americans to black troops because of the similiarity between the hair of black soldiers and the mane of the buffalo. Noting that the buffalo was sacred to the Indians, historian William Leckie says: ". . . it is unlikely that he would so name an enemy if respect were lacking." At times the term applied to all black soldiers but was more often associated with the cavalry units. The men of the T e n t h Cavalry had a regimental coat of arms with the head of the buffalo for an insignia.

John M. Carroll, ed., The Black Military Experience in the American West (New York, 1973), pp. 179-80; Leckie, Buffalo Soldiers, pp. 25-26.

4 I n 1890 there were 127 blacks in Uintah County; by 1900 the population had increased to 214. See George Ramjoue, " T h e Negro in U t a h : A Geographical Study in Population" (M.A. thesis, University of Utah, 1968), pp. 9-10, 12.

'Fletcher, The Black Soldier and Officer, pp. 80-82, 8 5 - 9 0 ; Arlen L. Fowler, The Black Infantry in the West, 1869-1891 (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1971), pp. 10-11.

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Soldiers

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O P P O S I T I O N FROM T H E U T E S

Reports of conflict among the White River, Uncompahgre, and Uintah bands of U t e Indians, the Utes' lack of respect for government employees, and concern for the safety of white settlers had influenced the W a r Department to build a military post on the Uintah frontier in 1886.6 A site was selected between the Indian agencies of Whiterocks and Ouray on the Uinta River, approximately eight miles above its confluence with the Duchesne River.

Troops B and E of the Ninth Cavalry under the command of M a j .

Frederick W. Benteen were sent from Fort McKinney, Wyoming, to join four companies of the white Twentyfirst Infantry from Fort Steele, Wyo- Frederic Remington drawing. ming, and Fort Sidney, Nebraska, for duty at the new post. 7 T h e Utes were disgruntled over the decision to build a military post in their midst. A few white men circulated rumors among the Indians that the soldiers were coming to kill several of the Ute chiefs, place others under arrest, and remove the remaining Utes to another area, following which the reservation lands would be given to settlers. T h e white men urged the Utes to drive all the whites away from Uintah and Ouray, take whatever beef and supplies they wanted, and then attack the soldiers in the canyons. Spurred by the rumors, some Uintah Utes joined the Uncompahgre and White River bands. Women and children were sent to the mountains and the men prepared for war.

Several Uintah chiefs rode to the Uintah Agency in Whiterocks and told special Indian agent Eugene E. White of the impending crisis.

"Alexander and Arrington, " T h e U t a h Military Frontier," pp. 3 4 3 - 4 4 ; Floyd A. O'Neil, "A History of the Ute Indians of U t a h until 1890" (Ph.D. diss., University of Utah, 1973), pp. 171-75.

'Alexander and Arrington, " T h e U t a h Military Frontier," pp. 3 4 4 - 4 6 ; Special Post Return, Fort Duchesne, August 24, 1886; Post Return, Fort Duchesne, August, 1886; Provo Sunday Herald, March 14, 1954.

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White called for a council the following day with all of the White River and Uintah Utes and also asked that an invitation be sent to the Uncompahgres for a council in Ouray the day after that. T h e Utes agreed to hear White in council. 8 In the meetings with the Ute bands, White sought to allay their fears concerning the soldiers. They were not, he told them, a threat to the Utes as long as the Indians behaved themselves. An attack on the soldiers by Ute warriors would only bring more soldiers, and eventually the Utes would be subdued and removed from their land. White told the Ute bands that their alleged white friends wanted their land and knew it would become available if the Utes initiated an attack against the United States Army. As an example of what would happen to the Utes if they attacked the soldiers, White pointed out that Geronimo, the Apache chief, had been relentlessly pursued by the army, captured, and sent to Florida where he was away from his people and probably plagued by mosquitoes and alligators.* White asked the Utes for help in keeping peace and suggested that they return their women and children from the mountains. He promised to arrest the whites who had circulated the rumors if they came on the reservation again and admonished the Utes to put away their weapons except when hunting game and to behave "like sensible men." The Utes accepted White's counsel and Chief Sowawick of the White River band said, "If the soldiers want to sit down on the Reservation, all r i g h t just so they do not try to hurt us without cause or take our country away from us."

Apparently, the Utes had assumed that all of the soldiers stationed at Fort Duchesne would be white men. As agent White returned to Uintah from his council with the Uncompahgre he was met by five fastriding Utes coming from Uintah, among them an old headman named Sour who shouted excitedly: Buffalo soldiers! Buffalo soldiers! Coming. Maybe so tomorrow, f ndians saw them at Burnt Fort yesterday, coming this way. Don't let them come! We can't stand it! It's bad very bad! . . . You did not tell us that buffalo soldiers wrere coming, and we did not agree for t h e m to come. We did not think about them at all. O u r arrangement applies only to white soldiers. T h a t is all right. We told you they might come, and they may.

s E. E. White, Experiences of a Special Indian Press, 1965), pp. 122-31, 145-46.

9

Ibid., pp. 134-39.

Agent

( N o r m a n : University of Oklahoma

Buffalo Soldiers

425

But all the Indians want you to come back quick and send them back. We cannot stand for them to come on our Reservation. It is too bad. . . .

Leaping from his pony, Sour rushed up to White's buggy, grabbed White's black coat sleeve, and rubbing it over his (Sour's) hand and face, exclaimed, ". . . All over black! All over black, buffalo soldiers! Injun heap no like him!!" With a jerk of his hand, the old man then rubbed his head all over and shouted, "Wooly head! Wooly head! All same as buffalo! W h a t you call him, black white man? N I G G E R ! NIGGER!" 1 " White was surprised to learn of the Utes' dislike for the black soldiers. H e tried to mitigate Sour's fears by telling him that the leaders of the black soldiers were white men. He promised Sour that the black soldiers would conduct themselves honorably. Somewhat relieved, "Sour agreed that they might come and gave . . . his word that he would hurry back and satisfy all the Indians." Upon returning to the agency, White learned "that Sour's excitement had been shared by the entire tribe."

H e was told: T h e Utes had a strange and irreconcilable antipathy to negroes. U p to that time they had never suffered one to live on their Reservation.

Several had dropped in among them from time to time in the past, but only to soon disappear and never be heard of again.

When the four companies of the Twenty-first Infantry arrived to establish the post, the Indians gathered at several high points and with anxiety watched the men organize the camp or "sit down" as the Utes called it. The next day Major Benteen and approximately seventy-five buffalo soldiers arrived, increasing the military personnel to nearly two hundred fifty men. 11 O n August 23, 1886, Fort Duchesne was officially established. 12 T h e Utes harangued agent White, several of them intimating a violent confrontation if the soldiers were not kept within their cantonment area. 13 O n the second night following the arrival of the black troops, a commotion spread through Sowawick's village and several camps near the agency. Rumors that the soldiers were coming toward their encampment and that they might be buffalo soldiers ran throughout the reservation.

Women and children fled toward the mountains. White left his home

in

Ibid., pp. 139, 141, 146-47, 147-48.

Ibid., pp. 148, 149.

12 Post Return, Fort Duchesne, August 1886.

13 White, Experiences of a Special Indian Agent, p. 149.

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to investigate the rumors; puzzled that soldiers would be out at night, he sent a message to Sowawick, asking him to send several of his chiefs to accompany him (White) to discover the facts. T h e party left the agency and rode toward Antero's camp, located five miles away in the direction of Fort Duchesne. When they arrived at Antero's they discovered that the camp had been abandoned in haste.

T h e Utes in the party surmised that the Indians had all been captured by the soldiers. They wanted to return immediately, but the agent suggested they make an inquiry at the garrison. Although apprehensive, the Utes agreed. As they rode toward the post they encountered other Utes who had heard the rumors and were searching for the soldiers.

T h e commanding officer of the post assured White and the Utes that all of the soldiers were present at the fort and that the officers would make â&#x20AC;&#x201D; sure the men remained orderly.

White returned to the agency and learned that a young herder from Antero's camp had seen a party of Uncompahgres coming from Ouray and in the dark had mistaken them for soldiers. H e then ran to the c a m p and sounded the alarm, thus explaining the hasty abandonment of the c a m p by Antero and his people. 14 Although clearly a "false alarm," the episode indicates the nervousness in the Indian community caused by the presence of the new troops.

There are two possible explanations, or a combination of the two, that may shed some light on why the Utes showed a greater aversion to black soldiers than to their white counterparts. T h e buffalo was an important symbol for Plains Indians zzzz and figured prominently in their suFrederic Remington

drawing.

Ibid., pp. 150-57.

Buffalo Soldiers

427

perstitions, taboos, dances, societies, visions, and cures. 15 Perhaps the Northern Utes had a particular fear of black soldiers based upon the similarity of the mane of the buffalo and the "woolylike" hair of many blacks.

T h e second possibility is that the White River Utes remembered that black soldiers had come to the aid of M a j . T. T. Thornburgh in the fall of 1879 during the Battle of Milk River in western Colorado. In that action, Capt. Francis Dodge, who had been commanding a scouting party near Milk River, learned that Thornburgh's command was under siege and led Company D of the Ninth Cavalry to the battle. Thirty-five buffalo soldiers and their officers joined the beleaguered men in trenches at Milk River. T h e soldiers were able to sustain themselves for three additional days until a large contingent of soldiers from the Fifth Cavalry arrived and forced the Utes to retreat. 16 T h e Battle of Milk River, together with the killing of Indian agent N a t h a n C. Meeker at the White River Agency, influenced the decision to remove the White River Utes as well as the Uncompahgre from their lands in western Colorado to reservations in eastern Utah. 1 7 There may well have been in the minds of reservation-dwellers an association of blacks with these earlier unhappy events.

Although the Utes did not like having black troops nearby, their initial fears were allayed so that within a few weeks of their arrival the Indians were "harvesting quietly and going about their usual occupations." Commenting on the Utes' attitude toward black soldiers, the post trader said, "the dislike is not sufficient to cause apprehension." Within several years the initial distrust was diminished and the Utes no longer feared coming to the post. ls R O U T I N E AT T H E P O S T

With the immediate threat of conflict with the Utes abated, the soldiers' attention and efforts were turned to regular garrison duties and the building of the fort. Canvas tents, banked with soil for warmth, were 15 T o m M c H u g h , The Time of the Buffalo (New York: Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1972) pp. 110-11.

10 T h e Southern Utes did not oppose the presence of blacks. John Taylor, a black man who had served in the Union army was accepted by the tribe. He married a Ute woman and they had several children. T h e descendants are recognized and accepted as members of the tribe. This information was given to me by Dr. Floyd O'Neil, an authority on the Ute Indians. For information on the Battle of Milk River, see Carroll, The Black Military Experience, pp 223-43 381-87.

17 Alexander and Arrington, " T h e U t a h Military Frontier," pp. 339-40.

18 Salt Lake Tribune, September 12, 1886; Salt Lake Herald, June 13, 1897.

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used as temporary housing until more permanent quarters could be built.

Each tent also contained a stove.19 T h e daily routine for soldiers throughout the army began with reveille at 5 :45 A.M. Following breakfast, the men had a fatigue call at 7:30 A.M., lunch at 12:15 P.M., and a return to fatigue or school for some of the enlisted men and N C O s at 1:00 P.M. At 4 : 3 0 fatigue duty ended, and from 4 : 4 5 to 5:15 P.M. the men went through drills and h a d guard mount at 5:30. After dinner the men were free until tattoo at 9 : 0 0 P.M. followed by taps. This routine was broken on Sundays and holidays when officers relieved the troops of all but the necessary fatigue and guard duties. 20 T h e foods eaten by soldiers were basically the same during the years of the Indian wars: beef or bacon, beans, potatoes, fresh vegetables from the post garden, fruits, a n d bread. 21 I n the years after the Indian wars some of the food served black regiments was different from that of white regiments a n d reflected the cultural differences between the races. Mostly the different foods were served on holidays, but at times they were included on the regular menu. A typical menu for a black regiment by 1895'was: Breakfast:

puffed

rice, sugar a n d cream, stewed beef, baked potatoes,

toast, tea or coffee L u n c h : c r e a m of p o t a t o soup, oyster crackers, beef p o t pie, steamed rice, lima beans, radishes, steamed p u d d i n g , vanilla sauce, bread Dinner: a n d tea.

pickled pigs' feet, chile con carne, hot biscuits, butter, syrup, 22

T h e soldiers' living quarters were typical of most military posts built during the period. I n 1890 they were described as being good, except for water leaking in several of the quarters occupied by married men. Bathing facilities at the post were poor. Weather permitting, the soldiers bathed in the nearby "mosquito-infested, rocky-bottomed river." T h e

19 Alexander and Arrington, " T h e U t a h Military Frontier," pp. 3 4 4 - 4 5 ; Stephen Perry Jocelyn, Mostly Alkali (Caldwell, Ida., 1953), pp. 311-12. Capt. Stephen Jocelyn was an officer with the Twenty-first Infantry. H e served at Fort Duchesne from 1886 until the spring of 1888. At that time he was transferred to Fort Douglas. His son, Stephen Perry Jocelyn, the author of Mostly Alkali, made extensive use of his father's diary in writing the biography.

20 Fletcher, The Black Soldier and Officer, p. 80. Fatigue duty included repairing roads and clearing snowbreaks between the fort and Price as well as between the fort and other points.

Details were also sent to work at the sawmill, and there were various jobs within the fort itself.

See Post Returns, Fort Duchesne, January 1888, February 1889, March and December 1890.

21 Carroll, The Black Military Experience, p . 178.

22 Fletcher, The Black Soldier and Officer, p. 80.

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post surgeon reported that the "lack of bath tubs, lack of conveniences for warming water . . . and lack of privacy makes bathing uncomfortable, so it is frequently neglected." 23 I n anticipation of the coming winter the garrison was a beehive of activity. By the end of October 1886 a sawmill was installed thirty miles north of the post and operated around the clock, cutting lumber obtained from the nearby canyons. A quarry and kiln were also established, and the quarried stone was hauled to the fort. M a n y soldiers were assigned the duty of improving the road between Fort Duchesne and Price for hauling supplies. Others worked on building a telegraph line between the two points. 24 New recruits, civilian employees, a n d a few women increased the garrison's population to approximately three hundred fifty by the end of the autumn. T w o or three of the women were black, the wives of soldiers. They supplemented their husbands' income by taking in washing for post residents. Five of the six white women were wives or relatives of military personnel, the sixth was the wife of the post trader.

T h e winter of 1886-87 was difficult for residents of Fort Duchesne, as wrell as for settlers throughout the West. T h e temperature often fell to twenty degrees below zero or lower. T h e continual winds blew sand into the tents from all directions. Despite the harshness of the weather the garrison was relatively free of sickness, and as spring approached construction of the post resumed. Building plans called for construction of a hospital, commissary, storehouse, and larger quarters for both officers and enlisted men. After visiting the fort in July 1887 Gen. George Crook, commander of the Department of the Platte, expressed satisfaction over the developments. 25 Military duty at Fort Duchesne was typical of frontier duty throughout the West. T h e reservations had to be patrolled and disturbances quelled. Potential danger arose every year when some of the Ute bands came back to hunt deer and other game on their old hunting grounds in western Colorado. White Coloradans resented the Utes' annual return, 23 Herbert M. H a r t , Old Forts of the West (Seattle: Superior Publishing Co., 1965), p.

135; Fletcher, The Black Soldier and Officer, p. 80.

21 Jocelyn, Mostly Alkali, p. 314; Provo Herald, M a r c h 14, 1954. Shortly after the telegraph line was completed, several young Utes cut the line and made firewood from the poles.

A group of cavalrymen were sent to apprehend the culprits and bring them to the fort. Their punishment was a brief stay in the guardhouse on a bread and water diet. See Builders of Uintah: A Centennial History of Uintah County, 1872-1947 ( U i n t a h County: Daughters of U t a h Pioneers, 1947), pp. 187-88.

23

Tribune,

Jocelyn, Mostly July 16, 1887.

Alkali,

pp. 312, 3 1 5 - 1 7 ; Provo Herald,

March 14, 1954; Salt

Lake

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and the cavalrymen were assigned to locate and send the Utes back to the Utah reservations.26 Sometimes the Coloradans attempted to drive the Utes out without. the help of Fort Duchesne cavalrymen. In August 1887 the Colorado militia pursued a group of Utes, led by Colorow, from the former hunting grounds to the eastern boundary of the reservation. There the militiamen encountered black soldiers who had been sent to prevent the Coloradans from invading the reservation lands. On another occasion a company of buffalo soldiers commanded by Capt. Henry H. WTright was sent to investigate rumors that two white men and five Indians were killed during a fight on the Snake River near Lily Park, Colorado. On their way to Lily Park the soldiers met a party of Utes who had just left there.

According to the Utes, the Colorado game warden and twenty-four deputies rode into a camp of seven Indians and started shooting. Two Ute women were wounded and two men were killed. Another account said a dispute arose between the game wardens and the Utes over hunting rights, and the Coloradans used the argument to start a fight. The returning black soldiers "were of the universal opinion that the Indians killed . . . were wantonly massacred by the game warden and his deputies."27 Rumors kept the buffalo soldiers busy. Reports that part of the Uncompahgre reservation land was to be opened for non-Indians brought hundreds of "sooners" into the area. Many left the reservation on learning they had been misled. However, two to three hundred decided to remain, and twenty buffalo soldiers under the command of Capt. M. W. Day were sent to eject the intruders. Recognizing that many of the trespassers were there because of a misunderstanding, Captain Day was ordered to avoid, if possible, any conflict that might lead to bloodshed.

All but about twelve men heeded the soldiers' orders to leave. Those who refused were arrested and taken to the fort. After removing the "sooners," the troops and agency officials destroyed the locations and monuments posted by the intruders.28 Providing escort for Indian agents when large amounts of money, annuities to the Indians, were being transported was an important duty for black cavalrymen. Extra precautions were taken in March 1898 20 Salt Lake Tribune August 13, 1887; Vernal Express, November 17, 1895; Salt Lake Herald, October 27, 1897.

27 Post Return, Fort Duchesne, August 1887; Salt Lake Herald, October 27, 1897; Vernal Express, October 28, November 4 and 11, 1897.

23

Salt Lake Tribune,

March 10, 12, 1897.

Buffalo Soldiers

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when hearsay of an impending robbery attempt began circulating between the fort and Price, U t a h . T h e reports were reinforced by the sighting of several members of the Robbers Roost gang in the vicinity of Price and Helper. It was said that the thirty thousand dollars to be paid to the Indians was lucrative enough to justify the robbery attempt. 2 9 Captain Wright and Troop F were sent to the railroad depot at Price, and a detachment was sent from Price to Helper when the officer in charge heard that the attempted robbery was to take place at the second depot. W h e n the train arrived at Helper it was guarded by the Ninth Cavalry troops, and no attempt was made to rob the train. T h e buffalo soldiers returned quickly to Price making sure that a holdup did not occur between stations. When the train arrived in Price approximately forty armed soldiers stood guard on the platform while the money was transferred to an open government wagon. T h e soldiers then escorted the Indian agent, Capt. G. A. Cornish, and the money from Price to Fort Duchesne. Although rumors persisted that the Robbers Roost gang would attack between Price and the fort, the holdup did not take place. 30 B L A C K - W H I T E RELATIONS

Relations between black and white soldiers stationed at the post were generally amicable. A visitor to the fort said, " T h e white infantrymen and the black cavalrymen at the fort fraternize without any fine discrimination as to color." T h e men associated with one another, ate together, and according to the same visitor may have slept and fought "the festive bed bug together." 3 1 During the summer of 1888 the two companies of black cavalrymen participated along with white companies from Fort Duchesne, Fort Douglas, and Fort Bridger in extensive maneuvers held in Strawberry Valley. T h e maneuvers took place near the reservations to demonstrate the military force that could be brought against the Utes should they break the peace. Later, with the closing of the post at Fort Bridger, 29 Robbers Roost was plateau near the summit of hideout. Butch Cassidy was Charles Kelly, The Outlaw Devin-Adair Co., 1959), pp.

30

an outlaw refuge in eastern Wayne County, U t a h , on an elevated the San Rafael Swell. It was difficult to approach and thus an ideal the most famous outlaw to use the Roost. For more information see Trail: Butch Cassidy and His Wild Bunch, rev. ed. (New York: 141-47, 3 0 2 - 3 ; Salt Lake Tribune, M a r c h 1, 1898.

Salt Lake Tribune, M a r c h 1, 5, 1898.

T h e relationship between black and white soldiers at Fort Duchesne was typical. See Carroll, The Black Military Experience, p. 185. Salt Lake Tribune, October 28, 1886. It is unlikely that black and white soldiers shared the same sleeping quarters, even in tents. By 1888 the fort h a d permanent quarters and the soldiers, except for married men, would have been quartered according to units. See H a r t , Old Forts of the West, p. 135.

31

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Wyoming, in 1890, the Fort Duchesne troops would become responsible for guarding the entire Indian frontier areas of eastern Utah, western Colorado, and southwestern Wyoming. 32 T h e cooperation between black and white soldiers stationed at Fort Duchesne does not imply that racial prejudice was nonexistent. M a j .

F. W. Benteen, who was commander of Fort Duchesne from August 23 to December 18, 1886, commented in a letter written after his retirement that in 1866 he had turned down a promotion to major in the Tenth Cavalry and had remained a captain in the Seventh Cavalry rather than be associated with black troops. Blaming fate for his later association with the Ninth Cavalry, Benteen felt secure enough financially to retire after thirty years, saying, "it was not proper to remain with a race of troops that I could take no interest in and this on account of their 'lowdown,' rascally character." 3 3 T h e ill-disguised contempt that some white officers felt toward blacks was not limited to black enlisted men but to black officers as well. Between 1866 and 1917, a commission in the army could be obtained by three methods: graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point, which supplied most of the officers; by enlisted men with at least two years of army service passing a qualifying examination; and by civilians successfully completing the same examination. Very few blacks applied for qualification in the last two categories, but blacks did seek appointments to West Point. Of the twenty-three who received appointments betwen 1870 and 1889, twelve passed the entrance examination. Only three graduated. 3 4 I n 1880 Gen. J. M. Schofield, superintendent of the academy, said: T o send to West Point for four years' competition a young m a n who was born in slavery is to assume that half a generation has been sufficient to raise a colored m a n to the social, moral, and intellectual level which the average white m a n has reached in several h u n d r e d years. As well might the common farm horse be entered in a four-mile race against the best blood inherited from a long line of English racers. 3 5

Blacks at the academy were ridiculed and harassed by white cadets.

Between 1866 and 1900 West Point graduates filled all available posi-

32 Jocelyn, Mostly Frontier," pp. 345-46.

33

Alkali,

pp. 3 2 3 - 2 4 ; Alexander and Arrington, " T h e U t a h Military

Carroll, The Black Military Experience,

pp. 191-92.

31

Fletcher, The Black Soldier and Officer, p. 72.

33

Foner, Blacks and the Military

in American

History, p. 65.

433

Buffalo Soldiers

Fort Duchesne, 1883. U.S. Signal Corps photograph, National

Archives.

tions for officers in the army. The antipathy shown blacks at the academy would be extended to black officers and enlisted men in the military garrisons of the West.36 Two of the three black West Point graduates, John H. Alexander (1887) and Charles Young (1889), served at Fort Duchesne between 1888 and 1901. Both men were from Ohio; Alexander's success inspired Young to emulate him. John Alexander was stationed at Fort Duchesne from June 1888 to October 1891. During that time he performed the regular duties assigned an officer. He directed fatigue details, led a patrol to remove intruders from the reservations, and took the soldiers on practice marches. 3 ' Col. Edward Hatch, commander of the Ninth Cavalry, protested when he learned that Lt. Charles Young was to be assigned to his regiment. Noting that Lieutenant Alexander was already assigned to the 30 Henry O. Flipper (1877) was the first black graduate from West Point. During his years at the academy, the white cadets ignored his presence. Flipper was court-martialed in 1882 and dismissed from the service. It was alleged that some irregularities occurred in the records of the commissary when Flipper was in charge of the books. H e was cleared of the charges in 1978, and his remains were reburied with full military honors. Johnson Parker was assaulted by white cadets in 1880. See Ibid., p . 6 4 ; Fletcher, The Black Soldier and Officer, pp. 7 2 - 7 3 , 74.

37 Post Returns, Fort Duchesne, 1 8 8 7 - 1 9 0 1 ; Fletcher, The Black Soldier and Officer, 7 3 - 7 4 ; Post R e t u r n s , ' F o r t Duchesne, June and July 1888, April, June and October, 1890.

pp.

434

Utah Historical Quarterly

Ninth, Hatch said the addition of Young might cause white "officers not to apply for assignment to the regiment." The War Department responded that Young was one of several new West Point graduates who had not been assigned to a regiment. To avoid the possibility that the next available cavalry vacancy might be in a white regiment, the War Department had assigned Young to the black Twenty-fifth Infantry with the agreement that he would be transferred to a black cavalry regiment when a vacancy became available. The next vacancy was in the Ninth, Young's new assignment. Charles Young arrived at Fort Duchesne in October 1890.38 Although the two Ohioans were stationed at Fort Duchesne together for nearly a year, they had little time to fraternize. Lieutenant Alexander was in charge of the government sawmill seven of the twelve months.

Young was on leave for six weeks, and Alexander spent the month of September 1891 on detached duty in North Carolina. The following month Alexander was transferred to Fort Robinson, Nebraska.39 Lieutenant Young was stationed at Fort Duchesne until the fall of 1895. He later was reassigned to Fort Duchesne after the SpanishAmerican War but did not return to the fort until September 1899.

He remained there until January 1901 but was periodically assigned detached service duty away from Utah. As professor of military science he taught at Wilberforce University in Ohio. During the Spanish-American War he took a leave of absence from the regiment in order to become a major with the Ninth Battalion Colored Ohio Volunteers.

After the war ended he served as assistant mustering officer in Macon, Georgia, and once again taught at Wilberforce University before returning to Fort Duchesne. While on duty at Fort Duchesne Lieutenant Young, like Alexander, carried responsibilities common to junior officers throughout the army. In addition to leading patrols, he served as commissary officer, summary court officer, post exchange officer, and was in charge of the post school at various times.40 13

Fletcher, The Black Soldier and Officer, p. 84.

Post Returns, Fort Duchesne, October 1890 to October 1891. Alexander died of natural causes in 1894. See Fletcher, The Black Soldier and Officer, p. 73.

40 Post Returns, Fort Duchesne, J a n u a r y 1894 to February 1901 ; November 1890; October 1891; April 1892; September 1899 to J a n u a r y 1901.

Young tutored and encouraged Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., who had joined the regular army after serving as an officer in one of the black volunteer regiments during the Spanish-American War. At Fort Duchesne, Davis studied, with Young's help, for the qualifying examination given for commission in the U.S. Army. He scored 91 percent on the final examination, received his commission, and was transferred to the T e n t h Cavalry. Davis was the first black general in U.S. military history. His son Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., graduated from West Point in 1936 and later became a general in the U.S. Air Force. See Fletcher, The Black Soldier and Officer, p. 74: Foner, Blacks and the Military, pp. 93-94.

19

Buffalo Soldiers

435

A deterioration in the relations between black and white residents of Fort Duchesne appeared in 1896 and could have been the result of racial prejudice by white officers. During the spring of that year many of the black troops began to clamor for a change of station. They complained that the post had become "a prison instead of a military reservation." T h e white population of the garrison organized the Owl Club in August of that year and blacks were excluded. T h e club was to provide social activities such as card parties, theatrical performances, and other amusements during the coming fall and winter. 41 Relations between the black soldiers at Fort Duchesne and civilian citizens in the area continued to be amicable, however, and there was a general absence of the blatant contempt for black soldiers expressed in some frontier communities such as San Angelo, Texas, and Johnson County, Wyoming. It has been suggested that "racism may have been mildest and whites most tolerant of black soldiers in communities near Indian reservations." White residents of the Uinta Basin firmly believed there was a need for military protection and vigorously opposed any plans that might lead to a removal of the troops. In addition, the fort and its military personnel contributed handsomely to the local economy. Yet, white civilians referred to the black soldiers as "darkeys" and "coons."

During a dispute in a saloon Jack Thomas, a local white rancher, drew a gun a n d said, "You black son of a bitch, I will kill you." Racist manifestations, while few, leave little doubt of the existence of race prejudice among civilians. 42 Nevertheless, prejudice did not prevent the black soldiers and white civilians from occasionally engaging in social activities. T h e troops might entertain the residents of Vernal with an evening of comedy at the local opera house, and before the performances the post band would play and march in a street parade. Capt. F. H. E. Ebstein of the Twenty-first Infantry had organized a band comprised of both black and white soldiers at the fort during the winter of 1887-88, and both officers and enlisted 41 New officers were transferred to Fort Duchesne during this period. See Post Returns, Fort Duchesne, March to August 1896; Vernal Express, May 28 and August 6, 1896.

42 Carroll, The Black Military Experience, pp. 1 8 6 - 8 7 ; Frank N. Schubert, " T h e Suggs Affray: T h e Black Cavalry in the Johnson County W a r , " Western Historical Quarterly 4 (1973) : 5 7 - 6 8 ; Frank N. Schubert, "Black Soldiers on the White Frontier: Some Factors Influencing Race Relations," Phylon 32 (1971) :415 [for a similar opinion see Thomas A. Phillips, " T h e Black Regulars," in The West of the American People, ed. Allen G. Bogue, Thomas D. Phillips, and James Wright (Itasca, 111., 1970), pp. 138-40]; Vernal Express, November 17, 24, December 1, 29, 1892; Alexander and Arrington, " T h e U t a h Military Frontier," p. 3 4 6 ; Salt Lake Tribune, July 10, 1887; Provo Herald, M a r c h 14, 1954; Phillips, " T h e Black Regulars," p. 140, suggests that merchants in towns near forts manned by blacks allowed economic consideration to overcome race prejudice; Vernal Express, May 4, November 25, 1899.

436

Utah Historical

Quarterly

men had contributed money for the instruments. Also, on occasion, a racially mixed group sang for post residents. Sports brought the races together as well. Black and white companies competed against each other in baseball contests, and the Fort Duchesne baseball team competed with the team from Vernal. 4 3 In May 1897 Troop B was sent on a practice march to Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City. There the cavalrymen played a baseball game with the Twenty-fourth Infantry team. Although previously strong competitors, they could have suffered fatigue from the long trek, for they lost by a score of 23 to 9. Two months later Troop F received orders to travel to Fort Douglas on a practice march. T h e actual purpose of the trip was for the cavalrymen to participate in Utah's Jubilee Celebration. T h e men were absent from Fort Duchesne from July 13 to August 2. T h e brief duty in Salt Lake City probably seemed like heaven to soldiers accustomed to the isolation of the Uinta Basin. O n the evening of July 24 Troop F gave a "thrilling exhibition of horsemanship" for the civilians and soldiers in attendance on the lower parade ground at Fort Douglas. 44 OFF-DUTY

HOURS

T h e off-duty activities of black soldiers at Fort Duchesne were similar to those of soldiers at other frontier posts. Some spent their off-duty hours drinking and gambling. Others sought the temporary companionship of prostitutes who frequented the saloon in an area known as the Strip. T h e Strip encompassed a triangular-shaped piece of land between the Uncompahgre and Uintah reservations, approximately one and a half miles from Fort Duchesne. Federal, state, and county law enforcement agents were uncertain as to who had jurisdiction over the area, and this proved an advantage to the Indians, whites, and blacks who visited there for liquor, gambling, and other pleasures. 45 Tempers often flared in the Strip, and soldiers were sometimes involved in the ensuing disputes. T h e previously mentioned Jack Thomas, a white rancher, was killed there. Thomas often gambled in the Strip with members of the black troops. H e was killed and a black soldier 43 Salt Lake Herald, March 22, 1898: Vernal Express, March 24, 1898; Jocelyn, Mostly Alkali, pp. 320, 322; Uintah Papoose, May 29, 1891: Eastern Utah Telegraph, April 16, 1891; Vernal Express, June 23, July 7, 1898, June 23, 1900.

"Salt Lake Herald, May 24, 1897; Post Returns, Fort Duchesne, July and August 1897; Salt Lake Herald, July 24, 1897.

"Salt Lake Herald, May 2, 1899.

Buffalo Soldiers

437

wounded in the brothel adjoining the saloon. T h e incident occurred when Thomas intervened in a dispute involving black soldiers. T h e white m a n drew his gun and struck William Carter before shooting him.

T h o m a s was then shot and killed by the wounded Carter. During the melee A b r a h a m M c K e e , another black soldier, joined in the shooting spree. At the inquest the jurors ruled that the shooting was justifiable and Carter was exonerated. T h e less-fortunate M c K e e was taken to Fort Logan, Colorado, where he faced a military court for his participation in the affair. 46 T o prevent black troops from going to the Strip, a guard was placed on the Duchesne bridge. Soldiers evaded the guard by walking beyond the bridge and swimming across the river. When the soldiers returned to the bridge, they were arrested, taken to the guardhouse, and fined a month's pay. T h e men were angered at Capt. J o h n Guilfoyle's attempts to keep them from the Strip. T h e r e were rumors that a recent fire at the post h a d been deliberately started in retaliation. O t h e r rumors blamed the fire on Indians or white businessmen on the Strip who were equally incensed with Guilfoyle. 47 Almost all of the disputes involving black soldiers, however, were with their own army mates. For example, the two cooks of Troop I became embroiled in an argument that led to a fight. O n e of them died as a result of his injuries. Some of the fights did not involve soldiers.

Dennis Ford, a black employee of the post trader, quarreled with the Chinese H o Sing at the latter's restaurant. Ford stabbed H o in the breast, wras arrested, and placed in the guardhouse. Violence was a regular occurrence on the Strip and was by no means limited to blacks. 4S Off-duty hours were also spent in activities other than drinking and gambling. A number of soldiers used their free time to further their education at the post school. T h e troops had a Masonic military lodge on the post. T h e isolation from a black civilian population forced black soldiers and their families residing on military garrisons to initiate their own social activities. O n special occasions, such as holidays or when a favorite

J< ' Ibid. T h e circumstances that led to the shootings are confusing. One report claims that two soldiers were arguing when one drew a gun. Orrin Curry, an employee, was attempting to get the gun when Thomas entered the room {Vernal Express, May 4, 1899). Another report (Salt Lake Herald, May 6, 1899) says the black soldiers were arguing with prostitutes when Thomas entered the room and confronted the soldiers. O n May 2, 1899, the Herald had reported that the dispute was over the attentions a white prostitute, Sarah Allred, was paying to the black soldiers.

See also, Vernal Express, May 4, 1899; Salt Lake Tribune, May 26, 1899.

17

Salt Lake Herald, July 10, 17, 1899.

13

Vernal Express, April 21 and 28, 1900; December 29, 1892.

438

Utah Historical

Quarterly

member of the company was leaving the post, a dinner party and dance were often given and all of the black residents joined in the festivities. 49 Black soldiers organized a brass band and others performed in a minstrel group. Baseball, boxing, and track attracted the interest of many troops. Baseball was by far the most popular athletic activity of the black troops at Fort Duchesne as well as of other black regiments. As noted earlier, the company teams played against one another and with white company teams when they were stationed at Fort Duchesne, and sometimes challenged the local team from Vernal. Besides competing in team sports, many soldiers spent their leisure hours swimming or fishing in nearby rivers. 50 DEPARTURES

Citizens from Price and nearby towns turned out in large numbers to say farewell to the buffalo soldiers in April 1898. T h e men of Troops B and F were leaving for Tennessee before going to Cuba to fight in the Spanish-American War. T h e companies, including officers, numbered about 127 men. In Price the soldiers were feted by the local community with a lunch at the town hall. As the soldiers entered the hall they were serenaded by two lines of children from Wellington and Price singing "Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys" and other patriotic songs. After lunch soldiers and civilians played baseball. T h a t evening both the civilians and soldiers entertained the community. T h e troops departed the next day by train amidst cheers and best wishes for their success. 51 T h e black troops were replaced at Fort Duchesne by two companies of white soldiers from the Seventh Cavalry. Then, in October 1898 Troops C and I of the Ninth Cavalry arrived at Fort Duchesne from Montauk Point, Long Island, New York. Black troops from the regular army units h a d been sent to Montauk Point for rest and recuperation after a gallant display of bravery and patriotism in Cuba. T h e new men quickly adjusted to the rigors of a frontier post/ 2 19 T h e educational opportunities at posts varied, depending on facilities and personnel.

Lt. Charles Young was in charge of the Fort Duchesne school from November 1899 to January 1901. According to the 1900 census schedule all the black soldiers at Fort Duchesne were able to read a n d write. See also Post Returns, Fort Duchesne, 1899 to 1 9 0 1 ; Fletcher, The Black Soldier and Officer, pp. 74, 1 0 4 - 5 ; Broad Ax, October 9, 1897; Vernal Express, January 11, 1894, May 7, 1896.

50 Vernal Express, M a r c h 24, 1898; Fletcher, The Black Soldier and Officer, pp. 1 0 4 - 5 ; Uintah Papoose, M a y 29, July 17, 1891 : Eastern Utah Telegraph. April 30, 1891 : Vernal Express, J u n e 8, 1893, June 28, 1894, July 7 and 28, 1900.

51 52

Eastern Utah Advocate,

April 28, 1898.

Post Returns, Fort Duchesne, Special Returns, April, October, and November 1898; Fletcher, The Black Soldier and Officer, pp. 4 4 - 4 5 .

Buffalo Soldiers

439

Rumors of an impending departure from Fort Duchesne begin circulating among the troops in June and July 1900. In June 1899 Troop C had been sent to Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City to replace members of the Twenty-fourth Infantry who were being sent to San Francisco and from there on to the Philippines. It was widely believed that the Ninth Cavalry would be going to the newly acquired colonial possession. Many soldiers were excited over moving from Fort Duchesne, but the rumors were premature and the troops remained at the post. The disappointment was short-lived. In March 1901 Troop H of the Fifth Cavalry was sent to Fort Duchesne from Fort Wingate, New Mexico, and Troops I and K of the Ninth Cavalry were dispatched to the Philippines via San Francisco. The 192 buffalo soldiers and their 2 officers left the post on March 4, 1901, bringing to a close nearly fifteen years of black military duty on the Uintah frontier.53 S3 Vernal Express, June 16, July 18, 1900; Salt Lake Tribune, June 21, 1899; Vernal Express, July 28, 1900; Post Returns, Fort Duchesne, March, April, and July 1901. T h e main body of black soldiers left the post in M a r c h ; however, eight men remained at the fort until July 1901.

Fort Duchesne, ca. 1890, with cairns marking entrance. Courtesy National Archives.

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Book Reviews Prehistory of Utah and the Eastern Great Basin. By J E S S E D . J E N N I N G S . University of U t a h Anthropological Papers, no. 98. (Salt Lake City: University of U t a h Press, 1978. Xii 4-263 p p . Paper, $15.00.)

An evaluation of Jesse D. Jennings's Prehistory of Utah and the Eastern Great Basin is difficult since I a m of several minds about its aim and quality.

O n the positive side, the monograph is w h a t it was intended to b e : a general review of U t a h prehistory directed toward the intelligent nonprofessional.

O n the negative side, the monograph is not w h a t it could have been: it falls short of what we have come to expect from an archaeologist of Jennings's stature, experience, and ability.

Readers with an interest in U t a h ' s unique prehistoric cultural heritage will find this volume to be a necessary foundation for any collection of references. It contains a relatively complete guide to all the most important archaeological sites in the state. I t is replete with diagrams, site photographs (a few of which are upside d o w n ) , and photographic displays of utilitarian and unique artifacts in a measure sufficient to give even a novice an adequate feel for material and technological aspects of past cultures. T h e m o n o g r a p h is well organized on a simple, straightforward, readily grasped, chronological basis.

Most importantly, the prose style avoids the technical jargon, without in any way being condescending, that so often clouds archaeological monographs.

O n e of the major drawbacks to the monograph is the rather limited treat-

ment given prehistoric subsistence patterns and techniques. From the monograph the reader can learn what kind of houses prehistoric peoples built or what kind of pottery they made, but it is difficult to determine how they lived or how they adjusted to changes in both their natural and cultural environments.

I personally find people more interesting than potsherds; and an investigation into what made past cultures tick, even had it involved descent into the realm of speculation, would have been welcome in a general introductory treatment of this sort.

Actually, this lack of sufficient treatment of subsistence is derived from what I see as being the monograph's most serious fault. T h a t is simply that it is out of date. I n the last ten years a variety of work, primarily oriented toward the procurement of information on past subsistence and settlement systems, has produced a n u m b e r of alternative interpretations of Utah's prehistoric past. But Jennings has completely avoided any discussion of this recent work, and, as a result, the monograph presents an interpretation to which many practicing archaeologists could not fully subscribe. T h e r e is an attempt to excuse this failure with an introductory caveat that the manuscript was submitted to the press in 1973. Unfortunately, it is clear that the failure to include this

441

Book Reviews and Notices new material is a product of intent rather than time, since the references contain citations published as late as 1977. Obviously, the manuscript was updated after its initial submission, and the selective exclusion of material seems unusual even in a general overview.

For all that, Prehistory of Utah and the Eastern Great Basin is an excellent introduction to the archaeology of the state. Although aimed at the layman, it is useful to the professional. It is the product of a man w h o has given much of his life to the archaeology of U t a h .

By far the great majority of research so succinctly summarized in this mono-

graph is the direct or indirect result of Jesse Jennings's commitment to understanding prehistoric cultures of western North America. T h a t that research has been both extensive and consistently excellent is obvious from the monograph.

W h a t is not obvious is that that work has had a tremendous impact on archaeological thought far beyond the borders of Utah. T h e simple, straightforward presentation of this work belies its unusual quality, and readers should be aware that this summary is rooted in well-fertilized soil.

DAVID B. M A D S E N

Utah State Historical

Society

The Mormon Landscape: Existence, Creation, and Perception of a Unique Image in the American West. By RICHARD V. FRANCAVIGLIA. (New York: A M S Press, Inc., 1978. Xviii + 177 pp. $12.50.)

T h e uniqueness of the Mormon settlements in the western United States has been recognized by both Mormon and non-Mormon visitors since the initial occupancy of the Salt Lake Valley.

For early migrants Mormonland was the new Zion in the tops of the mountains, for Gentile travelers and migrants it was the oasis between the Missouri and the West Coast. For the generations of visitors, migrants, and residents since that time, Mormonland has represented diverse things, ranging from cultural center to Mecca; from diversion from the monotony of Nebraska, Wyoming, and Nevada to center for a quaint religious sect. Implicit in all of the descriptions of Mormonland through the years has been the concept of a unique group occupying an unusual environment upon which they made a unique and permanent imprint. T h e purpose of Francaviglia in writing his book is to examine the region of Mormon settlement to determine if there is in fact a unique Mormon landscape and to specify the characteristics that contribute to it.

T h e book consists of five short chapters that attempt to provide a definitive statement on the M o r m o n landscape.

T h e first chapter provides an introduction to the Mormon landscape by describing a "typical" Mormon town. T h e author uses a hypothetical community called Canaanville as a vehicle for describing the Mormon landscape. T h e landscape is described in stereotypes of lombardy poplars, irrigation ditches, block letters on mountainsides, mountain-valley relationships, hay derricks, scripturally based place names, dilapidated fences and farm buildings, wide streets, and unique architectural style for church and home. Chapter two represents a quasi-scientific analysis of the Mormon landscape based on a sample of forty-two Mormon, non-Mormon, and partially M o r m o n towns. T h e chapter presents maps showing the incidence of the features Francaviglia has specified as part of the Mormon landscape and concludes they are in fact associated with M o r m o n towns. Based on his analysis, the author constructs a m a p showing the relative preponderance of the

Utah Historical Quarterly

442 landscape features "unique" to Mormondom.

T h e remaining three chapters of the book consist of the author's impressions of the causes of the Mormon landscape (three) ; impressions of the Mormon landscape in art and literature (four) ; and a superficial attempt to show how present-day Mormons perceive their landscape (five).

Francaviglia's book is something of an enigma. Although published in 1978, the most recent reference is to anecdotal material from newspaper sources in 1969. Remarkable for their absence are important seminal articles on elements of the Mormon landscape published in the Utah Historical Quarterly and elsewhere in the last decade. It seems highly unusual for someone undertaking a definitive work on the landscape of a region as widely recognized as the Mormon region to ignore key articles on architectural styles, village morphology, and farming patterns.

T h e quality of the work itself reflects that of the bibliography. T h e author has recognized some of the key features associated with small rural communities in areas settled by the Mormons and does an adequate job of describing them.

His explanation of their origins and motives for their existence is at best questionable, however. For example, he concludes that the generally unkempt nature of fences in rural M o r m o n d o m reflects encouragement of church leaders to be thrifty and conserve resources. He also indicates that m u c h of the encouragement by church leaders to clean u p rural M o r m o n towns by demolishing old barns, removing junk equipment, etc., stems from Lady Bird Johnson's beautification programs. H e is obviously unaware of recurrent pleas by church leaders from Brigham Young to the present on the same theme. Of greater concern are statements such as the one claiming the City of Zion plan "is perhaps the most important single docu-

ment in the history of the settlement of the west" and that Salt Lake City and other Mormon communities followed its guidelines. Erroneous statements such as this are too numerous to catalog in a short review but generally indicate the quality of the book.

I n general, the book can be characterized as a subjective, impressionistic attempt to describe an important geographical region without adequate research or documentation to do justice to the area. T h e sense of place, particularly characteristic landscapes, is an integral part of geography. This book does justice neither to the concept of landscape in the discipline nor to the unique area it attempts to describe.

There is not one Mormon landscape, but several, and all are evolving. Francaviglia describes a relic landscape, that of rural, preindustrial, small town U t a h , Idaho, and Arizona. This landscape represents only a fragment of the Mormon landscape, one which is increasingly atypical. Moreover, even the elements that constitute the landscape Francaviglia describes are largely drawn from the broader American culture. Mormon isolation and poverty prior to the twentieth century led to their establishment, and the marginal resource base of the small rural towns Francaviglia examines ensures their survival. T h e author's failure to recognize the relationship of the landscape he describes to the broader process of American settlement, his unwillingness to look beyond those elements recognized by even casual tourists, and the limited nature of the supporting research, seriously flaw the volume. There is a Mormon landscape, and this volume describes a portion of it in an uneven manner. Hopefully, it will not deter other authors from undertaking a definitive study of what is widely recognized as one of America's most distinctive regions.

RICHARD H.

Brigham

Young

JACKSON

University

Book Reviews and Notices Wells

Fargo

in Arizona

Territory.

443

By J O H N

T H E O B A L D and LILLIAN

THEOBALD.

Edited by BERT M . FIREMAN. ( T e m p e : Arizona Historical Foundation, 1978. Xiv + 210 p p . Cloth, $12.50; paper, $10.00.)

T h e Americanization of Arizona proceeded via many routes. During the latter half of the nineteenth century the Wells Fargo Express Company often carried forth this process at a canter.

For over two decades J o h n and Lillian Theobald explored Arizona history where it should be studied: on the land, in the archives, and especially among the people. T h e result is Wells Fargo in Arizona Territory, a monograph that contributes mightily to understanding pioneer Arizona's complex transportation frontier. I t is a local history of the famous express company that brought commerce and culture to Arizona a n d linked the territory to the rest of the nation.

From 1859, when Wells Fargo first entered Arizona, until 1912, when the American Railway Express absorbed its express division, Wells Fargo economically tied Arizona's destiny with eastern and California financial interests. This bond, forged in territorial times, has remained a crucial factor in the state's commercial lifeline. Generally, Wells Fargo offered a dependable a n d speedy express service across Arizona's deserts, mountains, and plateaus, frequently reaching remote areas before the United States Postal Service. T h r o u g h o u t their volume the Theobalds' sympathy remains with Wells Fargo, especially when pitted in competition with the monopolistic a n d heavily subsidized government post office.

T h e authors conscientiously investigate the multifaceted company throughout territorial Arizona. They counter the movie-made stereotype which often depicts Wells Fargo history as a continuous series of bloody stage and train robberies. As a matter of fact the Wells Fargo Company used public and private carriers a n d did not own stage lines

in Arizona. While noted for delivering bullion and payrolls, Wells Fargo also pioneered the use of refrigerated cars which stimulated the expansion of irrigated agriculture. T h e express company transported everything from gila monstersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;at double the ordinary rateâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to citrus fruits. I n isolated areas it often served as the only local bank. Indeed, the Wells Fargo Express Company exerted a vast impact on the territory.

Almost half of the book consists of pictures, tables, and biographical sketches. Whenever possible the text is illustrated with black-and-white photos of agents a n d individuals w h o worked for Wells Fargo. Although one is advised to read the volume with a good road m a p at hand, Don Bufkin's cartography adds some spatial perspective. As a result of painstaking research the authors list over six hundred agents, their locations, and duration of service. T h e T h e o balds' h u m a n approach to history emerges in their brief biographical sketches of over forty expressmen. They aptly portray the diverse individuals w h o contributed to Arizona's multicultural heritage.

Wells Fargo in Arizona Territory could be an indispensable reference for students of territorial history if it included a bibliography, index, a n d footnotes. Any future edition should provide these aids to researchers. At times the authors' antiquarian outlook prohibits them from pondering the significance of their data. T h e overall writing style is a bit irritating because the quality varies from an engaging, flowing introduction to other sections that a p pear tedious a n d patched together. Although the authors' purpose is to describe the Wells Fargo experience in Arizona, a brief analysis a n d comparison of its history beyond the territory's

444 borders would give the reader a welcomed perspective. For example, was the Arizona story unique or common?

While writing Wells Fargo in Arizona Territory John O r r Theobald passed away, but his book will be used by serious investigators of Arizona terri-

Utah Historical Quarterly torial transportation. It is a fine memorial to a m a n who deeply loved his state and its varied heritage.

J O H N F.

Central Arizona

YURTINUS

College-Aravaipa Winkelman

The Black Towns. By NORMAN L. CROCKETT. (Lawrence: Regents Press of Kansas, 1979. X v i + 244 pp. $14.00.)

Between 1877 and 1915 American blacks experienced the most intense period of overt racial prejudice and discrimination since the Civil War. AfroAmericans responded to this heightened racism in a variety of ways, including vigorous protest, economic self-help, political accommodation, and even flight to Canada, Mexico, Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;any land that offered blacks a chance for decent treatment. These alternatives have been analyzed by historians in some detail since the late 1960s. N o r m a n L. Crockett's The Black Towns surveys for the first time another alternative adopted by some Afro-Americans during this period, the establishment of all-black urban settlements.

Crockett selects five towns, M o u n d Bayou, Mississippi, Nicodemus, Kansas, and three O k l a h o m a communities, Langston, Boley, and Clearwater, as representative of the sixty or more allblack towns founded during this period from Alabama to California. Virtually every phase of town life is skillfully covered, including politics, economic growth and boosterism, and cultural and social life. T h e author analyzes the motives of town founders and finds them a curious mix of racial goals peculiar to Afro-Americans during that period and civic boosterism endemic to all town promoters of that era. Thus, Nicodemus would represent the "salvation of the race," but it would also, after securing either the Union Pacific or Missouri Pacific Railroad, be the "metropolis of Northwestern Kansas."

T h e author is at his best when he points out the contradictions and ambiguities inherent in black town development, namely the establishing of allblack communities in areas surrounded by hostile whites; the founding of towns when industrialization, mass transportation, mass advertising, and even agricultural technology rendered many of the town functions obsolete; and, finally, the acceptance of the temporary segregation that the all-black towns represented in order to prove black economic and political capabilities and thus facilitate the full integration of the residents into the American mainstream, f n short, most of the factors that originally encouraged the creation of these communities ultimately brought about their demise.

For the most part the book reads extremely well. A tremendous amount of material on five widely disparate towns is handled deftly and succinctly. Yet there are problems. T h e book is structured around topics common to all five towns. Thus, a discussion of politics in Mound Bayou will immediately be followed by a similar discussion for Nicodemus or Boley. Unfortunately, there is no transition from one paragraph to the next. O n e paragraph explains the lack of interest in M o u n d Bayou politics in 1904, and the following paragraph abruptly moves to the election of the Nicodemus town council in 1886. Chapter four is unwieldy, moving from a discussion of the cotton economy to local business ventures, social stratification, civic and fraternal life, and, finally, intellectual and

Book Reviews and Notices cultural strivings. Although this chapter is not significantly longer than the others, its widely divergent topics might have been better handled in two chapters.

T h e r e are a few factual errors, such as the reference to Bishop " J a m e s " McNeal T u r n e r (p. 170) that should have been Henry M c N e a l T u r n e r . Finally, the overall discussion of the towns would have been enhanced by the inclusion of population tables giving the reader some idea of the comparative size of these towns, their periods of greatest growth and sharpest decline.

445 Nevertheless, the deficiencies of The Black Towns are far outweighed by its major contributions. I t analyzes an aspect of black u r b a n history that has been ignored and in the case of the K a n s a s a n d O k l a h o m a towns documents the struggles of Afro-Americans on the frontier. Those interested in Afro-American, urban, and western history will find this book well worth reading.

QUINTARD TAYLOR

California

Polytechnic

State University San Luis Obispo

Railroads in the West. Edited by D O N L. H O F S O M M E R . M a n h a t t a n , K a n . : Sunflower University Press, 1978. 120 pp. Paper, $8.00.)

This volume appears to be one of the strangest books on railroads to be p u b lished for general readership. T h e front cover, with a bold "frontier" type-face title and close-up view of a narrowgauge Rio G r a n d e Railroad steam engine, and a back cover picture of a huge U n i o n Pacific diesel locomotive suggest that the volume m a y be a photographic essay on some or many western American railroads, similar to such books as George Abdill's Rails West, Ehrenberger's and Gschwind's Smoke across the Prairie, or several of Lucius Beebe's works. T h e n one reads the title of the first chapter, "Employee Alcoholism on the Burlington Railroad, 1876-1902."

W h a t kind of book is this, anyway?

O t h e r chapters deal with James J. Hill, founder of the Great N o r t h e r n Railway, competition between railroads and Missouri River steamboats, depot architecture, railroad ambitions, and a b a n d o n m e n t s in the Midwest. Distinctly, this is not the typical pictorial review of railroads or railroad history. W h a t it is, is a compilation of nine completely unrelated theses, written by professors of history at several American universities and colleges, a doctoral candidate, an economist, and some railroaders. O n e of the articles was written by H . Roger

Grant, w h o co-authored The Country Railroad Station in America, which was reviewed in the Utah Historical Quarterly, spring 1979. E a c h a u t h o r has included photographs, maps, and captions pertaining to his subject: and the editor has interspersed some unrelated railroad material, such as poster reproductions, where there was some extra space on a page.

T h e editor states that the research contained within the volume is not comprehensive but is current and provider newly found information. H e suggests that the articles will serve as a catalyst for further research, as, indeed, good research should. Each chapter (article) is written in a scholarly m a n n e r and shows the result of m u c h work. Several of t h e m include excellent lists of references.

W h a t is not clear, however, is why the material has been brought together a n d published as a book rather than having been included in history journals.

Admittedly, there is a paucity of scholarly journals on railroad history, and this book serves as a forum for p u t t i n g research into print, but if it has been produced for the general "railroad-reading" market, it is on the wrong track.

446

Utah Historical Quarterly

Also, despite the book's title, a rather substantial part of it concerns midwestern railroad activities. Of course, several purely "western" railroads, of necessity, extend part way into the Midwest to such rail centers as O m a h a , Kansas City, Saint Louis, and Chicago; but some of the articles are concerned solely with railroading in the Mississippi River Valley, Iowa, and Missouri, and a couple of others are heavier midwestern than western.

T h e editor has provided an extensive bibliography, although the way it has been p a r a g r a p h e d makes it h a r d to read.

References include numerous available railroad books, western and general; numerous articles from various state historical publications; surveys; biographies; labor relations; land g r a n t s ; corporate histories. T h e index is small but basically adequate. T h e r e is an irritating advertisement on the inside front cover.

T h e last section before the index is entitled "A Nostalgic Portfolio of Western Railroads" and is simply eighteen

The Plams Across: 1860.

The Overland

By J O H N D .

U N R U H , JR.

pages of photographs with one-line captions. Again, the photographs bear no specific relationship to any of the preceding chapters, and all but three or four pictures are standard publicity views of locomotives and trains taken from the railroads' own files. Most have appeared several times in other publications. Only the few pictures of a steampowered tourist railroad on the Coloradoâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;New Mexico border appear to be original. A question might be: Have the pictures been included in order to broaden the appeal of w h a t is otherwise a publication of limited scope?

I n summary, the work appears like an issue of a scholarly journal, with more t h a n the usual n u m b e r of typographic and caption errors, rather than a book on a more specific topic. It does not treat railroads in the West only and will possibly be disappointing to many but of value to those readers and researchers really interested in the limited topics.

S T E P H E N L.

Salt Lake

CARR

City

Emigrants and the Trans-Mississippi West, 1840University of Illinois Press, 1979. Xviii

(Urbana:

+ 565 p p . $22.50.)

I n today's jet age, it takes about three hours to travel through the friendly skies from Kansas City to California or O r e gon. Over a century ago, in the period from 1841 to 1860, a n overland journey from the Missouri River jumping-off points to a California or Oregon destination averaged about 125 days. W h a t were the realities of travel in the antebellum years as the pioneers struggled to make that arduous journey? This was the question addressed by the late Professor U n r u h as he endeavored to move beyond generalizations into a new study dedicated to telling it like it really was.

Although m u c h has been written about the great migration, U n r u h found that previous accounts tended to stress

either the narrowly particular or the broadly general. T o provide a middle ground for a meaningful synthesis, he decided to utilize the organizing principles of change over time, emigrant cooperation, a n d interaction between the emigrants. Using these guidelines, and working with a multitude of contemporary newspapers, letters, diaries, and reminiscent accounts, U n r u h has succeeded admirably in his quest to recreate the spirit of the times on a framework of reality.

A cogent introduction devoted to a survey of the present status of historical writing about the overland emigrants is followed by an examination of public opinion as it was expressed at the time

Book Reviews and Notices in arguments either supporting or deriding both the feasibility and the necessity for the migration. T h e major portion of the book takes the reader through a systematic analysis of the changing role over time of those w h o provided assistance to the emigrants: the Indians, the federal government, private entrepreneurs, the M o r m o n settlements in the Salt Lake Valley, and the emerging settlements on the West Coast. O t h e r chapters deal with journey preparation, motivations for traveling west, and incidences of emigrant cooperation and interaction. A final summation by the author reiterates and reinforces his thesis that "the emigrant experience was ever changing; each travel year evidenced distinctive patterns, unique d r a m a s of t r i u m p h and tragedy, new contributions to the mosaic of western development" (379-80).

T h e key words in U n r u h ' s conclusions are "ever changing." T h e r e were no typical years in the great migration.

Composition of the traveling community changed each year, depending upon the particular blend of factors motivating the travelers. By 1860 the gradual increase of public and military way stations and the assistance provided for those in need by the growing coastal settlements ensured that the great majority of those who planned with care would arrive safely at their destinations. H o w ever, the a u t h o r shows clearly that it would be a mistake to assume that there

447 was always a progressive growth pattern in the improvement of conditions favoring a safe journey. I t is in the development of this p a r t of his thesis that readers interested in M o r m o n history will appreciate U n r u h ' s meticulous examination of the ebb and flow of Mormon assistance, depending upon fluctuations in the relative a b u n d a n c e of the annual harvests and upon the vagaries of the a n t i - M o r m o n political climate.

This book is well deserving of the plaudits that it has received. H e r e is, indeed, a providential juxtaposition of historical evidence and skillful interpretation. If there is a weakness to be found in this work, it may be discerned in the great preponderance of quotations selected to sustain the author's arguments. T h e overkill syndrome is often hard to avoid in the preparation of a doctoral dissertation for publication.

Each and every note card gathered from years of research appears to have a significance to the story t h a t cannot be callously abandoned. But this criticism pales before the truly excellent contribution m a d e by the a u t h o r to the scholarship in his field. A judicious selection of maps a n d illustrations, along with copious end notes and an impressive bibliography, makes this a complete historical study in every respect.

N O R M A N J.

BENDER

University of Colorado Colorado Springs

Photography and the Old West. By K A R E N C U R R E N T and W I L L I A M R. C U R R E N T .

(New York: H a r r y N . Abrams, Inc., and the A m o n Carter M u s e u m of Western Art, 1978. 272 p p . $19.95.)

As m u c h as any diary-keeper or journalist, the nineteenth-century photographers recorded the West as it was being won by means of the camera lens.

They captured the atmosphere of mushrooming towns and the sod houses of the gritty Nebraskan homesteaders. They photographed the life of the open range,

the Indian, the railroad; the rivers, the sea, and the virgin quality of untouched wonderlands; the devastation rent by the elements a n d m a n - m a d e massacres; the hardships and despair engraved on the faces of the people. Countless camera lenses chronicled the d r a m a and the cast of characters.

448 T h e authors begin with a n essay on the importance of the early photogr a p h e r as a conscious historian and his role in documenting the western scene.

Of particular interest to today's photogr a p h e r are the descriptions of cameras, tools, and processes used during the development of photographic history.

T h e book is directed to a selective look rather than a comprehensive survey of the imagery of the West. T h e 170 photographs represent the work of nineteen photographers. T h e authors' intent is to convey how a few of t h e m learned to use the camera and became camerawise in their own individual ways and w h a t they hoped to express.

Included is a section on the photographers who accompanied the U.S. government surveys: T i m o t h y H . O'Sullivan ( K i n g and Wheeler surveys), J o h n K. Hillers (Powell S u r v e y ) . a n d William H . Jackson ( H a y d e n Survey). Loaded with heavy and awkward equipment, they braved the n a r r o w defiles, treacherous rivers, and precarious m o u n t a i n ledges to portray the new land. Of particular interest to U t a h , the enormously productive William H e n r y Jackson and J o h n K. Hillers m a d e tremendous contributions with views of both geographic features a n d I n d i a n culture of the state.

Such masters as Darius Kinsey (Northwest lumber c o u n t r y ) , E d w a r d S. Curtis ( I n d i a n s ) , T h o m a s M c K e e (Mesa V e r d e ) , and Arnold G e n t h e (San Francisco e a r t h q u a k e a n d C h i n a t o w n ) are not found in this work. But those selected have left a contribution in documenting various facets of the American West.

T h e building of the transcontinental railroad brought fame to A n d r e w J. Russell w h o was hired by the Union Pacific to make a photographic series in order to publicize its railroad. Not relevant to the railroad is some fine work he also did on the peripheral areas, including views of interest and importance to U t a h n s .

Utah Historical Quarterly F r o m M o n t a n a to Texas, Andrew Alexander Forbes roamed the cattle country, capturing with his lens the aching isolation of the ranges and the dreary monotonous days cf the cowpuncher. A unique contribution was his epic series on one of the wildest and most chaotic manifestations of the settling of the Westâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the opening of land for settlement in Guthrie, Oklahoma, where a town literally sprang u p over night. T h e numbers that waited to claim a piece of O k l a h o m a soil burgeoned into legions. Forbes waited with his camera to record that one moment in timeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the mad, m a d rush for land as O k l a h o m a offered a last chance for the m a n y would-be homesteaders.

T h e frontier was a fleeting dream, and one who keenly sensed it was J o h n C. H . Grabill. Few of his works have been found, but his contributions to frontier history are vital. H e was at the scene shortly following the tragedy at W o u n d e d Knee, and, later, his most compelling portrayal of the last frontier was a series on Indian-military relationships.

O n e of the finest collections to come out of the West is that of pioneer photographer George E d w a r d Anderson.

Anderson photographed the scenes around him, the life of rural U t a h . H e posed his subjects going about their labors, their tools an important part of the scene. T h e r e is a sense of activity and vitality that few photographers achieved. At the time of the coal mine explosion near Scofield, U t a h , where 199 men a n d boys were killed, he hastened to the scene to record the events, from the charred bodies being hauled from the mines to the day of the mass funeral. Better than any artist he captured the tragedy written in the faces of the survivors. For the L D S church, of which he was a member, he photographed a series on the church's movements from New England to Salt Lake Valley. Incredibly prolific, Anderson

Book Reviews and Notices

449

remains one of the best photographers to emerge from the dry-plate era. These synopses represent but a portion of the text.

This handsome work is part of the p r o g r a m of the Anion C a r t e r M u s e u m of Western Art in Fort Worth, Texas.

T h e late Mitchell A. Wilder did a m a g nificent j o b during his eighteen years as director of the m u s e u m in bringing forth obscure works as well as those of the many well-known artisans of the West.

Although some photographs in the book have been used m a n y times in other publications, they d o serve a purpose in illustrating the photographers' works.

T h e book is readable a n d well written and is complete with a bibliography, an index, a n d an informative chronology concerning the life a n d times of the photographers.

MARGARET D.

LESTER

Salt Lake City

Book Notices Zuni: Selected Writings of Frank Hamilton Cushing.

Edited by J E S S E G R E E N . (Lincoln: University of N e braska Press. 1979. Xiv + 440 p p . $16.95.)

Frank H a m i l t o n Cushing was one of those marvelous eccentrics, like Sir Richard Burton or T . E. Lawrence, sometimes encountered in either the British army or foreign service. Although the British eccentrics always seemed to leave a trail of superiors muttering, "Good Lord, the blighter's gone native on us," Cushing was fortunate at the Bureau of Ethnology to work for J o h n Wesley Powell w h o appreciated his genius. T h e first professional anthropologist to live with "primitives," Gushing was renown for his linguistic gifts a n d his skill in I n d i a n crafts such as potteryand arrowhead-making.

Jesse Green has done a splendid j o b of gathering various Cushing writings together into one volume. Equally splendid is the editor's introduction, one section of which concludes: "All these episodes illustrate that Cushing's role at Zuni

went well beyond that of a collector of ethnological material. T h e first professional ethnologist in the field, he was n o doubt the last to collect his own scalps."

The

Artifact

Hunter's

MICHAEL

HUDOBA.

Handbook.

(Chicago:

By Con-

temporary Books, 1978. Viii + 163 p p .

Cloth, $12.95; paper, $5.95.)

M r . H u d o b a should know better. As a veteran newspaper columnist with professed interest in conservation, natural resources, a n d the environment, he should be ashamed to use preservation-archaeology terminology a n d resources to authenticate w h a t is essentially the sport of the p o t h u n t e r â&#x20AC;&#x201D; t r a ditional enemy of the professional archaeologist a n d historian. While admitting that "unsupervised disturbance at the site of a n ancient home of m a n has taken place enough times to leave gaps of information in archaeological history all over the world," by his very avocation of artifact h u n t i n g M r . H u d o b a contradicts himself. W h o m does he think

Utah Historical Quarterly

450 restrictions on unauthorized digging a n d taking of artifacts are aimed atâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;if not himself a n d his confreres? Nevertheless, he maintains, such restrictions "should not discourage you in your pursuit of artifact h u n t i n g . " Instead of providing a m a t e u r artifact hunters with "memories of many pleasant, healthful, a n d exciting days of exploration," the remnants of the past should be studied by professional archaeologists a n d historians to determine their real significance. A caption that reads " I n d i a n h a m m e r , " for example, tells us nothing a n d robs the public of a portion of man's rightful heritage.

Heaven Knows Why. By SAMUEL W. TAYLOR. (1948; reprint ed., T h o u sand Oaks, Calif.: Millennial Productions, 1979. 213 pp. Paper, $3.95.)

Women, Edited

Women

MERRILL

Journey

Home.

By Y O S H I K O

UCHIDA.

(New York: Atheneum, 1978. Viii + 131 p p . $7.95.)

I n this, her eleventh book, Yoshiko U c h i d a describes the lives of twelveyear-old Yuki a n d her parents w h o have just been released from the relocation c a m p at Topaz, U t a h . T h e a u t h o r based this work a n d an earlier book for young readers, Journey to Topaz, on her own experiences at the camp. Miss Uchida tells the story graphically a n d candidly.

Young readers will see the dust of the western desert swirling around the tarpaper shacks a n d share Yuki's anxieties.

Although this is historical fiction, it would be a most appropriate reading for U t a h history students in the seventh grade.

E.

LEWIS.

L.

L E E and

(Troy,

NY.:

Whitston Publishing Co., 1979. Xiii + 252 pp. $15.00.)

A provocative collection of eighteen essays on the image of women in the literature of the western experience, the book also treats the works of such major American writers as Willa Gather and Wallace Stegner. Vardis Fisher and Virginia Sorensen are among the authors with a U t a h connection who are considered, the former in a challenging piece that compares the nurturing females of the Mountain Man with Ken Kesey's Big Nurse.

Challenge and Response: The First Security Corporation First Fifty Years, 1928-1978.

Sam Taylor's first novel, called by some the only humorous M o r m o n novel, has been reprinted a n d should delight a new generation of M o r m o n readers.

Its innocent, light-hearted plot provides many chuckles, a n d its gentle pokes at religious foibles are obviously done with love.

Writers, and the West.

by L A W R E N C E

By SIDNEY H Y M A N . (Salt

Lake City: First Security Foundation and G r a d u a t e School of Business, University of U t a h , 1978. Xxiv + 462 pp. $15.00.)

Although corporate histories are not the lifeblood of historical society libraries, they can round out the historical picture by providing a n aspect of the story not always considered. They can be microcosms of an area's financial story and place prominent figures in true perspective, as this study ably demonstrates. Challenge and Response is the story of a Utah-based corporation that not only weathered the volatile 1920s and the following depression b u t helped to check the financial collapse of the Intermountain West.

California Catholicity.

By FRANCIS J. W E B E R . (Los Angeles: Dawson's Book Shop, 1979. xv + 207 pp.)

This compilation of weekly miniessays should have remained in the uncollected works of Father Weber since they are scarcely informative of either Catholicism or California.

INDEX Numbers in italics refer to illustrations.

Adams James B., Forest Service official, 295— 96 Agriculture, lands for, converted to other uses.

305-9, 312. 316-17, 317 Aird, John, imprisoned polygamist, 28 Aler, Margaretta, mother of Nathaniel Baldwin, 43 Alexander, John H., Black army officer at Fort Duchesne, 433-34 Allen Clarence E., Utah congressman, 264, 270 Allen, Rufus C , report of on Colorado River, 112 Allied Forces for Prohibition, 9 Allied Youth, 9 Allred, Glen O., Prohibition repeal candidate, 12 Allred, James T. S., lieutenant, during Walker War, 416 Allred Reddick, imprisoned polygamist, 27 Alta, mining in, 239, 241,242 Alta Independent, 243 Americanization Act, 190-91 American party, success of, in Salt Lake City, 271-72 Ammon, Ute chief, 415, 417 Anderson, Sarah, state legislator, 272 Anderson, C. C . imprisoned polygamist, 28 Antero, Yampa Ute chief, 407, 410, 426 Archaic lifeway on northern Colorado Plateau, 344-60, 344 Armijo, Antonio, expedition of, 116 Arnold, Henry H. ( " H a p " ) , and Hill AFB, 302-4 Arrapine, Ute chief, 397. 398-99, 411, 414, 417 Arthur, Christopher J., imprisoned polygamist, 26, 34 Associated Forces for Repeal, 8 Ayres, Rollin H., Methodist pastor, 9, 13 Azalia Society, LDS cultural organization, 89 B Baker, Newton D., secretary of war, 298 Baldwin factory, 43, 48-49, 50, 53, 53 Baldwin, Kelvin (son), 49 Baldwin, Nathaniel, 42; birth and education of, 4 3 - 4 4 ; factory of, 4 8 - 5 3 , 53; financial difficulties of, 5 2 - 5 3 ; inventions and patents of, 42-43, 46-47, 47, 48-51, 50, 5 2 5 3 ; marriage of, 46; and Mormon fundamentalism, 44-46, 47, 51, 52, 53 Baldwin, Nathan Bennett (father), 43 Bamberger, Clarence, and Prohibition repeal, 8 Banker's Trust Company, receiver for Baldwin's business, 52 Baptist church, opposition of, to Prohibition repeal, 9 Barlow, Albert, Mormon fundamentalist, 51 Barlow, Ianthus, Mormon fundamentalist, 51 Barlow, Israel, Mormon fundamentalist, 51 Barlow, John Y., Mormon fundamentalist, 51 Barson, Peter, prison initiation of, 28

Basque sheepmen, 187-88 Bassett, Charles H., Polysophical Society officer, 77 Bateez, Ute chief, 398 Bateman, Daniel, Mormon fundamentalist, 51 Bates, Nephi J., and polygamists, 26 Battle of Bear" River, 198 Battle of Milk River, 427 Bautista, Margarito, Mormon fundamentalist, 51 Baxter, George, and Emma Mine scandal, 242-43 Beach, Nathanial, log cabin of, 140, 141 Bean, George, interpreter, 417 Bear Lake monster, myth of, 203 Bear River, geography of, 105, 194-95, 212 Bear River Hotel, 194 Bear River Valley, history of settlements in, 106, 194-214 Bedell, E. A., Indian subagent, 416 Bennion, Milton, foe of Prohibition repeal, 14 Benson, A. L., Socialist candidate, 271 Benson, Ezra T . : Cache Valley settler, 202, 203; and Universal Scientific Society, 71, 73 Benteen, Frederick W., commander at Fort Duchesne, 423, 425, 532 Bidamon, Lewis A., husband of Emma Smith, 65 Biddlecome, — —, prisoner, 39 Bingham, mining at, 237, 239, 241, 250 Bingham & Garfield Railroad, 249 Black, Joseph, imprisoned polygamist, 29 Black, Joseph Smith, imprisoned polygamist, 27, 40 Blacks: as Masons, 437; military rations for, 428; racial antipathy toward, 422, 424-27, 432-33, 4 3 5 ; as soldiers, 421, 421-22, 423, 426, 432-34. See also Fort Duchesne, Ninth Cavalry Blood, Henry H., governor, and Prohibition repeal, 7-8, 7 Bloomington, new town of, 312, 314, 319, 323 Book of Mormon, use of on gravestones, 1 3 7 38, 138, 139 Bonacci, Frank, union organizer, 187 Bossard, Gisbert, and temple photograph scheme, 54, 58-60, 61-62 Bowman, Isaac, officer in Polysophical Society, 77 Bowman, John F., foe of Prohibition repeal, 9, 12, 15 Bowring, Henry E., actor, 81, 83, 84 Boyle, John A., Ogden city councilman, 263 Bradley, [George W.], militia officer, 412 Brewer, Harry F., and Americanization movement, 191 Brewer, Myron, speaker on home industry, 74 Briggs, Robert, grave of, 134, 136 Brimhall, George Washington, Dixie settler, 112, 129 Broadbent Leslie, Mormon fundamentalist, 5t Brown, , expressman, 62 Brown, , warden, 36

452 Brown, A. S., and naval depot, 307 Brown, Frank, and Dixie railroad idea, 122 Brown, James, Ogden magistrate and LDS bishop, 255 Brown, John, Universal Scientific Society member, 75 Bryan, William Jennings, presidential candidacy of, 266, 268 Bryce Canyon National Park, visitors to. 322 Buffalo soldiers, origin of name of. 426-37.

See Ninth Cavalry Bullock, Thomas, cultural activities of, 72-73 Bundy, Ora, chairman of Ogden Chamber of Commerce, 300-301 Burials, motifs and customs of, in SanpeteSevier, 135-38, 136-39 Burt, H. P., Socialist candidate, 271 Burton, Robert T., cultural activities of, 81 Butler, Elizabeth, wife of Nathaniel Baldwin.

46 Butt, Herman U., Monticello resident, 36 1 65, 365 Byvvater, James, imprisoned polygamist, 40

Caine, John T., and theatre, 82, 84 Calder, David O., and theatre, 82 California Volunteers, arrival of, in Utah, 238 Call, Anson: in Dixie, 125: in Walker War, 412 Campbell, , president of Youth's Theatrical Society, 85 Campbell, Robert L., cultural activities of, 7t, 73, 88 Candland, David, cultural activities of, 73.

74, 75, 77, 78 Cannon, Frank J., U.S. senator, 264-65, 267, 272 Cannon, George Q., imprisoned polygamist, 25, 29, 34 Carbon County, acculturation of immigrants in, 178-93 Carrington, Albert, officer of Universal Scientific Society, 71, 75 Carter, William, black soldier, 437 Caruthers, Mathew, resignation of, from militia, 407 Castle Gate, 107 Cathedral of the Madeleine, 253 Cedar Breaks National Monument, 322 Cedar City, as a regional center, 234 Cedar Valley, 361 Chapman, C. S., assistant forester, 295 Chase, Isaac: archaeological findings at mill of, 384-94, 388, 390, 391 ; history of mill of, 385-87, 393-94; mill of, 384, 386, 387.

389 Chisholm, Robert, and Emma Mine, 241 Christensen, Benjamin Franklin, grave of, 137-38, 138 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: control of elections by, 255-56; and Nathaniel Baldwin, 43, 44, 45, 52; People's party formed by, 256; prison services of, 38; and Prohibition repeal, 9, 9, 10, 16-17: and temple photograph scheme, 55-56, 6 0 6 1 ; and territorial militia, 4 0 1 ; urbanization encouraged by, 2 9 3 : and Walker War, 395, 406, 415, 420

Utah Historical Quarterly City Creek Canyon, road built in. 65 City of Zion, 293 Clark, Ezra T., imprisoned polygamist, 32 Clark, John T., Mormon fundamentalist, 44, 45, 46, 51 Clark. Thomas, Walker War casualty, 411 Clawson, Hiram B.: cultural activities of, 81 ; imprisonment of, for polygamy, 32, 34 Clawson, Rudger. imprisoned polygamist, 28, 29. 31. 3 3 , 3 4 , 35, 3 8 , 4 0 Clayton, William, cultural activities of, 81 Clear Creek, bar at, 189 Clearfield Naval Supply Depot, 290-91, 295, 304, 309; establishment of, 3 0 5 - 7 : site of, opposed by farmers, 306, 307-9 Clements, Gilbert, cultural activities of, 76, 77, 79, 88 Cluff, Benjamin, Jr., president of Brigham Young Academy, 45 Cluff, Harvey, imprisoned polygamist, 31, 40 Collinston Bridge, 194 Colorow, Ute leader, 430 Colton, Don B., election of, 270 Cook, Phineas W., mill worker, 393 Cook, Sarah, actress, 83 Connor, Patrick E.: and Battle of Bear River, 198, 2 0 1 - 2 : and California Volunteers, 238: and mining, 237: sword of, 200-201 Conor, Helen, mother of J. C. Livingston, 65 Conover, Peter W., militia officer in Walker War, 401, 402, 403, 404-5, 410 Cooper , imprisoned polygamist.

30 Cornish, G. A., Indian agent, 431 Corn mill, 126 Cotton Mission, 124-25, 127 Cottonwood Observer, Alta newspaper, 243 Council of Fifty, secret LDS group, 256 Council of the Friends of God, Mormon fundamentalist group, 51 Covey. Emma Chase, history of Chase Mill by, 385 Cowboy Cave, Archaic site in eastern Utah, 359, 360 Cowley, Matthias F., Mormon fundamentalist, 51 Crane. C , Socialist candidate, 271 Crook, George, commander, Department of the Piatt, 429 Crosby, Jesse W., member of Universal Scientific Society, 75 Crossing of the Fathers, 115 Crusaders, Prohibition repeal organization, 8

Daughters of Utah Pioneers, and Chase Mill, 387 Day, M. W., Ninth Cavalry captain, 430 Debs, Eugene V., Socialist candidate, 271 Defenders, organization to oppose Prohibition repeal, 9, 10 Defense Depot Ogden, 295, 301, 308, 309 Democratic party: organization of, in Utah, 263-64; and Prohibition repeal, 8-9 Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, effect of, in Carbon County, 179 Dern, George H . : and Americanization, 190; as secretary of war, 11, 300-302

Index Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing Society ( D A M S ) , 87 Deseret Alphabet, 70, 74, 81 Deseret Dramatic Association, 7 1 ; founding and activities of, 8 1 , 8 2 ; reorganization of, 83, 84 Deseret Land and Livestock Company, 197 Deseret Literary and Musical Association, 71.

86 Deseret Musical Association, 71 Deseret News: opposition of, to Prohibition repeal, 10, 1 1 ; and temple photograph scheme, 5 6 - 5 7 , 6 1 , 62 Deseret Philharmonic Society, 71, 86 Deseret Sunday School Union, opposition of, to Prohibition repeal, 9, 10 Deseret Telegraph office, 121 Deseret Theological Institution, 71, 73, 79-80 Deseret Typographical Association, 71, 86 Dickeman, Charles T., naval engineer, 307 Dinwoody, , imprisoned polygamist, 30 Dixie (southwestern U t a h ) : development of, as a regional center, 311â&#x20AC;&#x201D;27; exploration and settlement of, 110-29 Dixie College, 324 Dixie National Forest, visitors to, 322, 323 Dixon, John, Walker W a r casualty, 409 Dodge, Francis, army captain, 427 Dominguez, Atanasio, in Dixie, 115 Draper, Delbert M., Democratic party chairman, 8-9 Dry-farming, 174, 212-13 Dundes, Alan, folklorist, 147 Dyer, Frank, marshal 31 Dykman, James L., archaeologist, 385

Ebstein, F. H. E., captain, at Fort Duchesne, 435 Eccles, David, financier, 234 Eddington, William, cultural activities of, 7 6 77 Edmunds Act, effects of, 23, 259-60 Edmunds-Tucker Act, effects of, 260 Eighteenth Amendment. See Prohibition, repeal of, in U t a h Elections: early procedures for, under Mormons, 2 5 5 - 5 6 ; under Edmunds Act, 2 5 9 60 Elite T h e a t r e , 57, 63 Elk Mountain Mission, 369 Ellsworth, Edmond, cultural activities of, 81 Elocution Society, 8 4 - 8 5 Elsinore, livery stable in, 155 Emery Gounty, coal mine in, 170 E m m a Mine, history of, 241-43 Enabling Act, 264 Ensign, Samuel, mill worker, 393 Ephraim, residents of, 176 Ephraim United O r d e r co-op store, 160 Epworth League, foe of Prohibition repeal, 9 Erwin, E. B., Salt Lake City mayor, 303 Escalante, Silvestre Velez de, in Dixie, 113, 115 Ethnic groups, populations of, in mining camps, 180-81, 250 Evans, Joseph, polygamist song by, 26

453 Fairview, 136, 141-42, 143, 144 Farley, James, postmaster general, 11, 12 Farmington Canyon, 52 Farr, Lorin, Ogden mayor and LDS leader, 255, 256, 2 5 7 - 5 8 , 258 Fausett, Lynn, murals of, 179 Feil, Paul, Mormon fundamentalist, 51 Ferguson, James, cultural activities of, 81 Ferron, Augustus D., surveyor, 377 Ferry, E. P., and Park City mining, 247 Fife, Austin, folklorist, 142 Findlay, Hugh, officer of Polysophical Society, 77 First Methodist Church, 12 Fisher, A r t h u r G., colonel, and Hill AFB. 299, 302 Fjeldsted, E. J., secretary, Ogden C h a m b e r of Commerce, 302, 303, 306, 307, 309 Flagstaff Mine, 243 Florence, Celia (wife), 57 Florence, Max, 54; scheme of, to sell photographs of L D S temple interior, 5 4 - 6 3 Folklore: in Carbon County, 185-86; material culture of, 1 3 0 - 4 7 ; Scandinavian stories of, 148-66 Ford, Dennis, arrest of, for assault, 437 Forrestal, James V., and naval supply depot, 306 Fort Bridger, maneuvers of troops from, 431 Fort Douglas: baseball team from, 4 3 6 ; founding of, 2 3 8 ; maneuvers of troops from, 4 3 1 ; and Union Vedette, 239 Fort Duchesne: 433, 439; black-white relations at, 4 3 1 - 3 6 ; maneuvers of troops from, 4 3 1 ; military routine at, 4 2 7 - 3 1 ; social activities at, 4 3 5 - 3 6 ; Utes oppose establishment of, 4 2 3 - 2 7 ; women at, 429 Foster, Warren, Populist candidate, 271 Foster, William, and Polysophical Society, 76 Foulger, Herbert, imprisoned polygamist, 30 Fratellanza Minatori, fraternal organization, 185 Frazee, W. D., Seventh-day Adventist, 13 Fremont Indians, in Dixie, 114 Fremont, John O : explorations of, in Dixie, 118; second expedition of, 382

Garfield, company town at, 249 G a m , Daniel, mill worker, 393 Garn, Philip J., mill worker, 385 Geertz, Clifford, anthropologist, 130 Glassie, Henry, folklorist, 140, 143 Glasmann, William: Ogden Standard editor, 265, 267; political influence of, 265-69, 272 Godbeites, and Utah Magazine, 252 Gosiute Indians, enslavement of, 396 Gould, Jay, railroad entrepreneur, 201 Gourlay, Paul, Mormon missionary, 65 Gramb, boardinghouse of, 174 Granger, Walter K., U t a b congressman, and naval depot, 306 Grant, George D., cultural activities of, 81 Grant, Heber J., foe of Prohibition repeal, .9, 10, 16, 21

Utah Historical Quarterly

454 Grant, Jedediah M., cultural activities of. 74, 79, 80-81 Grant, William, imprisoned polygamist, 38, 41 Greek Orthodox church, 193 Gudmundson, Moses, Mormon fundamentalist, 45 Guilfoyle, John, captain, at Fort Duchesne, 437 Gunnison, 140, 141 Gunnison, John W., railroad survey of, 3 7 1 73, 376-79 Gunnison Massacre, and Walker War, 413 Gypsum Cave, Archaic site in Nevada, 357

I Improvement Era, foe of Prohibition repeal, 10 Indianola, log structure at, 140, 142 Indians, folklore about, in Sanpete-Sevier, 152-53. See also specific tribes Intermountain Hotel Association, Prohibition repeal favored by, 9 Irrigation, techniques of, in Utah and Idaho, 213 Italian Americanization Club, 192 Italian Socialist Federation, 185 Ives, Joseph O , survey of, 119 Ivie, James, and Walker War, 400, 409 Ivins, Anthony W., St. George home of, 174

H Haggin, J. B., and Park City mines, 246 Hamblin, Jacob, activities of in Dixie, 118, 720, 124, 129 Hamlin, A. L., Chase Mill repaired by, 387 Hancock, Charles, militia captain, 411 Hansen, Allen, harness shop of, 769 Hansen, P. O., grave of, 137-38, 735-39 Hardy sisters, Polysophical Society and, 76 Harriman, R. D., member of Americanization committee, 191 Harrison, Elias L. T., lecture of, 88 Hashimoto, Daigoro, labor agent, 180 Hatch, Edward, Ninth Cavalary commander, 433 Hawkins, Bruce, archaeologist, 385 Hawkins, Leo, Polysophical Society member, 77 Hayakawa, S. I., and symbolism, 131, 133 Hayden Survey, camp of, 200-201 Hay derrick, 146 Hayne, Julia Dean, actress, 84 Hearst, George, and Park City mines, 246 Heywood, M a r t h a Spence: Walker War incident reported by, 4 1 2 ; cultural activities of, 84^85 Hickman, Josiah, Mormon fundamentalist, 45, 51 Higbee, Isaac, schedule of, 87-88 Higgins, Nelson, militia major, 404, 406, 410â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 11, 416 Higginson, Don, mine supplier, 770 Higginson, John Henry, mine supplier, 770 Hill Air Force Base, 300; employees of, from Ogden, 294; as largest enterprise in Utah, 295; location and establishment of, 2 9 8 304 Hill, Joe, I W W organizer, 250 Holt, G. Harold, Clearfield mayor, and naval depot, 306-7 Hopt, Fred, execution of, 35-36 Horn Saloon, Silver Reef, 727 Horticultural Society, 71, 87 Ho Sing, restaurant owner, 437 Hotel Burgoyne, Montpelier, Idaho, 772 Howell, Joseph, U t a h congressman, 270 Huntington, Dimick B., interpreter, during Walker War, 414, 414, 416 Hutton, William, Walker War casualty, 412 Hyde, John, cultural activities of, 73, 86 Hyde, Mrs. John, drama group member, 82 Hyde, Orson, lecture of, 77, 80

Jackling, Daniel O , and Utah Copper, 249 Jansen, B., Socialist candidate, 271 Jenkins, Edward E., and Ogden Arsenal site, 298 Jennings, William, pioneer entrepreneur, 200 Jessop, Lyman, Mormon fundamentalist, 51 Jessop, Moroni, Mormon fundamentalist, 51 Johnson, Tillman D., judge, 63 Jones, John Lee, imprisoned polygamist, 27, 30, 40 Jones, John M., musician, 86 Jorgensen, John L., Castle Dale teacher, 377 Jorgensen ranch, 343 j u d d , John W., judge, 27 Judge, Jennie, wife of Thomas Kearns, 248 Judge, John, and Park City mines, 247, 248 Judge, Mary, and miners' home, 252 Judge Memorial Home for Miners, 252 Jugoslav Socialist Federation, 188 Jung, C. G., and symbolism, 138 K Kanosh, Pahvant chief, and Walker War 402, 406 Kay, John, cultural activities of, 81 Kay, Sarah, cultural activities of, 76 Kearns, Thomas, entrepreneur, 247, 248, 2 5 2 53, 272 Keef, D. N., Socialist candidate, 271 Keel, Alexander, Walker War casualty, 401, 403 Keith, David, entrepreneur, 247, 248, 252 Kelly, John B., cultural activities of, 77 Kesler, Fredrick, mill builder, 385, 393, 394 Keyser, Mrs Paul, Prohibition repeal leader, 8 Kiesel, Fred J., Ogden businessman and mayor, 263, 297, 308-9 Kiesel building, 262 Kimball, Abrabam Alonzo, imprisoned polygamist, 29 Kimball, Heber C.: cultural activities of, 76, 79, 80, 8 5 ; prophecy of, 113 Kimball, J. Golden, folk hero, 203 Kimball, Sarah, and Polysophical Society, 76 Kimball, William H., militia lieutenant, 403, 408 King, H a n n a h T., and Polysophical Society, 76, 78-79 King, M., Socialist candidate, 271 King, William H., election of, 270

Index

455

Kirby, Thomas, imprisoned polygamist, 2 8 29 Kirkham, George, imprisoned polygamist, 40 Kirkham, James, imprisoned polygamist, 27, 31, 40 Knerr, Hugh J., major, and Hill AFB, 299 Knerr, W., Socialist candidate, 271 Kniffen, Fred, folklorist, 140 Knight Power Company, 47 Knox, Frank, secretary of the navy, 306 Ku Klux Klan, in Carbon County, i 92

La Follette, Robert, Progressive party candidate, 270 Lambert, Charles, Polysophical Society officer, 77, 79 Leavitt, Clyde, Forest Service official, 296-97 Leavitt, Dudley, Dixie settler, 118, 129 Lee, John D., Dixie settler, 727, 124, 129 Leone, Mark, anthropologist, 132 Liberal party: disbanding of, 264; election wins and losses of, 260, 2 6 2 - 6 3 ; headquarters of, in Ogden, 260; organization of, 259 Little Cottonwood Canyon, mining in, 241 Livingston, Archibald (father), 65 Livingston, Charles (brother), 65 Livingston, James Campbell, immigrant Scot, account book history of, 64-69, 67 Livingston, Janet ( d a u g h t e r ) , 67 Logan, Ephraim, mountain man, 205 Logan-Hyde Park-Smithfield canal, 209 Log buildings, Sanpete-Sevier examples of, 138-41, 140-43 Louma brothers, Clear Creek home of, 793 Lowder, James H., store of at Silver Reef, 727 Ludwig, Alan I., and grave symbolism, 135 Luke, William, Walker War casualty, 411 Lund, Anthon H., LDS leader, 61 Lyceum, pioneer cultural organization, 87-88 Lyman, Amasa, lecture of, 77 Lyman, Francis M., L D S leader, 61 Lyon, John, lecture of, 72

M McAllister, D. M., LDS author, 61 McCune, A. W., entrepreneur, 253 McKay, David O., and naval depot, 307 McKay, James Gunn, Prohibition repeal candidate, 14 McKee, Abraham, black soldier, 437 McKenzie. David, cultural activities of, 76, 82 McKinley, William, elections of, 266, 268 McKnight, James, Polysophical Society officer, 77, 79 McLaughlin, E. P., and Park City mines, 247 Macomb, John N., mapping expedition of, 364-67 Maeser, Karl G.. lecture of, 88 Manifesto, effects of, 4 0 - 4 1 , 44, 45, 263 Manti, 148-49; cemetery markers in 738, 739; and L D S temple, 155-58, 767, 7 72; as regional center, 234; stone house in, 144 Marcus, Louis, mayor of Salt Lake City, 300 Margetts, Philip, actor, 75, 81, 8 1 , 83

Markham, Stephen, militia major, 401, 403, 404, 411 Martin, Edward, cultural activities of, 81 Matheson, A. O , director of immigrant registration, 191 Matheson, S. Alva, Cedar City resident, 382 Maw, Herbert B., governor, and naval depot, 306-7, 309 Mechanic's Dramatic Association, 83 Meeker Nathan O , Indian agent, death of, 427 Mercur, mining in, 239, 240, 244, 245 Methodist church, foe of Prohibition repeal, 9 Mexicans, Indian slave trade of, 396, 398 Miera, Bernardo, m a p of, 115 Migo, Ute chief, 415 Mill Creek Canyon, Nathaniel Baldwin's activities in, 4 2 , 4 6 , 4 7 - 4 8 , 51 Mills, William, Walker War casualty, 412 Mills, William G., Polysophical Society officer, 77 Mining: in Bingham, 2 4 8 - 5 0 ; Brigham Young's attitude toward, 2 3 6 - 3 8 ; in Brighton, 2 4 3 - 4 4 ; and Dixie, 119, 122; early discovery and development of, 238â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 41 ; and environment, 250-51 ; and immigrant labor, 249-50, 252; impact of, on Salt Lake City, 2 5 2 - 5 3 ; in Little Cottonwood, 2 4 1 - 4 3 ; in Park City, 2 4 6 - 4 8 ; in Tooele County, 244-46 Mitchelson, A. T., Forest Service engineer, 296 Moab, history of, 369-70 Montpelier, idaho, railyards at, 769 Moreell, Ben, rear admiral, and naval depot, 305-7 Morgan, Dale, historian, 195 Morley, Isaac, and Walker War, 399, 411, 412, 416 Mormon Battalion, 118-19 Mormons: disfranchising of, 259-62; Fundamentalist movement among, 4 4 - 4 5 , 5 1 , 5 2 ; and mining, 236-39, 244, 2 4 9 - 5 0 ; People's party of, 256, 260, 2 6 2 - 6 3 ; political conservatism of, 255, 272; political influence of, 254-56, 263, 269; and Prohibition repeal, 17-18, 19, 20, 21 Morris, Joseph, and Morrisites, 202 Mountain Lake mine, 46, 47 Mount Nebo Literary Association, 85 Mount Pleasant, rag bee at, 7 73 Murdock, Abe, U t a h congressman, and military installations, 301, 307, 309 Music, early Mormon tastes in, 86-87 Musical and Dramatic Association, 81 Musser, Joseph W., Mormon Fundamentalist, 51 Mutual Mercantile Company, 187

N Naisbitt, Henry W., lecturer, 77, 88 Narrienta, Tewip, Ute guide for Gunnison expedition, 378 Nauvoo Brass Band, 81 Navajo Indians, in Dixie, 114 Nebeker, Henry, imprisoned polygamist, 29 Neilson, Clyde, Mormon Fundamentalist, 51 Nelson, James, Walker W a r casualty, 411

456 Nelson, James H., imprisoned polygamist, 40 Newberry, J. S., geologist witb Macomb expedition, 365-66 Newhouse, Samuel, entrepreneur, 249 Nicholson, John W., cultural activities of, 88-89, 89 Ninth Cavalry: activities of, on frontier, 422, 427-31 ; at Battle of Milk River, 427; offduty activities of, 4 3 5 - 3 8 ; racial tensions in, 4 3 2 - 3 3 ; rations for, 428; in SpanishAmerican War, 422, 4 3 8 ; stationing of, at Fort Duchesne, 423, 4 2 5 ; Utes oppose presence of, 424-27. See also Fort Duchesne, Blacks Notre Dame, Price, 193 Nouman, James, tie cutter, 202

Ogden, 227, 229, 231, 254, 274-75, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281; army arsenal near, 298 ; election ordinances of, 257; election results in, 2 7 0 - 7 2 ; and establishment of Hill AFB, 298-304; and establishment of Naval Supply Depot, 3 0 5 - 7 ; federal government activity in, 233, 234, 292, 294-95, 309 growth of, 259; incorporation of, 255 locating Forest Service office in, 295-98 Mormon control of early politics in, 2 5 5 5 6 ; politics in, 2 5 4 - 7 2 ; travelers' descriptions of, 274, 277, 278, 279 Ogden Arsenal, establishment of, 298 Ogden Chamber of Commerce: and Hill AFB, 300, 302, 304, 309; and Clearfield Naval Supply Depot, 306, 307, 309 Ogden City Council, election ordinances passed by, 257 Ogden Standard, 262, 267; Republicanism of, 265-69 Ogden Tabernacle, 41 Old Rock Schoolhouse, Spring City, 730, 131-33 Olson, Ray L., advocate of Prohibition repeal, 8 Omega Investment Company, 51 Ophir, and mining, 239, 239 Oquirrh Mountains, mining in, 239 Oregon Short Line Railroad, 200 Ottinger, George M., artist, 89 Ox yoke, 754-55

Paiute Indians, enslavement of, 114, 396 Pan Hellenic Union, 185 Park City, mining in, 239, 246-48 Park Record, 247 Park Trevor, and Emma Mine scandal, 2 4 2 43 Pattie, James Ohio, in Dixie, 116 Paul, William, lecturer, 74 Paxton, J. M., imprisoned polygamist, 32-33 Peery, H a r m a n W., Ogden mayor, 300 People's party: disbanding of, 264; 1889 Ogden election loss of, 2 6 2 - 6 3 ; election success of, 260; formation of, by LDS church, 256 Penrose, Charles W., LDS leader, 61, 88 Pessetto, Barbara, home of, 782

Utah Historical Quarterly Pessetto, Paul, home of, 782 Peteetneet, Ute chief during Walker War, 398, 400 Petersen, James M., funeral of, 767 Peter's Leap, 114 Peterson Block, Richfield, 704 Phelps, W W., cultural activities of, 71. 72, 73 Pinchot, Gifford, Forest Service administrator, 295, 296, 297 Pinto ward and school, 777 Pitt, William, musician, 81 Politics in Ogden and Weber County, 2 5 4 72 Polygamy: folklore of, 142, 745, 158-65; imprisonment for, 22-41 ; post-Manifesto practice of, 43, 45, 51 Polysophical Society, pioneer cultural organization, 71, 75-76, 77, 78, 79 Pomeroy, Earl, historian, 228, 234 Populist party, in Weber County, 270-71 Powell, John Wesley, in Dixie, 7 7 7, 120-21 Pratt, Orson, cultural activities of, 74, 75, 80.

88 Pratt, Orville C , Spanish Trail diary of, 365, 370, 378-79, 382 Pratt, Parley P.: in Dixie, 124; lecture of, 74 Pratt, Teancum, imprisoned polygamist, 35.

38 Presbyterian church, foe of Prohibition repeal, 9 Preston, Idaho, as a regional center, 213 Preston, William, Cache Valley settler, 202, 203 Principe Di Napoli, fraternal organization, 185 Progressive party: state convention of, in Ogden, 268; Weber County support for, 270 Prohibition, repeal of, in Utah, 5-21, 27 Provo, 45, 229, 230 Provo Territorial Enquirer, 247

Quayle, John, Logan residence of, 208 Quayle, John, Walker War casualty, 409

Railroad: election threat of workers on, 2 5 6 59; section gang on, 7 78 Raleigh Alonzo H., cultural activities of, 8 1 82' Reardon John D., lieutenant colonel, and Hill AFB, 302 Red Butte Canyon, quarry in, 65, 66, 68, 69 Reed, William, Walker War casualty, 411 Republican party: Ogden Standard support of, 265-69: organization of, in Utah, 2 6 3 64 Reynolds, Ira Lester, Weber Club secretary, 296 Rich, Ben E., LDS representative, 60 Rich, Charles C , LDS leader, 77, 202, 203 Rich, Joseph, and Bear Lake monster, 203 Richards, Emily S., suffragist, 272 Richards, Franklin D., Weber County official and LDS leader, 88, 257-58, 263, 272

Index Richards, Jane S., suffragist, 272 Richards, Levi, cultural activities of, 75 Richards, Mrs. Franklin D., cultural activities of, 88 Richards, Phinehas, cultural activities of, 75, 87 Richards, Samuel W., cultural activities of, 71, 73, 74, 75, 76-77, 79, 80-81 Richardson, Dr., lecture of, 74 Richardson, Keith, architect, 387 Richfield, 760; as a regional center, 234 Ridge & Brown, Chase Mill repaired by, 387 Riter, Franklin, advocate of Prohibition repeal, 8, 18 Robbers Roost gang, 431 Roberts, Brigham H., 9; election of, 270; and Prohibition, 17-18 Robertson, Frank, 206 Robison, Louise Y., LDS Relief Society president, 9, 10 Robinson, El'anor, cultural activities of, 76 Robinson, J. W., congressman, and naval depot, 305 Rockwood, A. P., cultural activities of, 75 Roosevelt, Franklin D., and Prohibition repeal, 11-12 Roosevelt, Theodore, campaigning of, in Ogden, 268-69

Saint Ann's Orphanage, 252-53 Saint Anthony's Church, 193 St. George, 310-11, 326-27; development of, as a regional capital, 235, 312, 373, 378, 319, 324, 325, 326; LDS church buildings in, 705, 720, 777, 370-77, 317, 324-25, 325; population of, 313 Salt Lake City, 228, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289; effect of mining on, 2 3 6 53 ; as a regional center, 229-31 ; travelers' descriptions of, 283, 285, 287, 288 Salt Lake City Parks Department, Chase Mill and, 284, 286-87 Salt Lake Eighth Ward choir, 38 Salt Lake Federation of Labor, 9 Salt Lake Stock & Mining Exchange, 253 Salt Lake Tabernacle, 46 Salt Lake Temple, 59; photographs of interior of, 55-60 Salt Lake Theatre, 84, 85 Salt Lake 'Tribune, 251 ; American party supported by, 272; and LDS temple photographs, 56, 58, 62; and mining, 251, 252; and Prohibition repeal, 11, 15, 19 Salina, 769, 7 73 Sanpete County: folklore of, 130-66; 1926 fair in, 773 Sanpete Valley Railway, 775 Savage, Charles R., photographer, 88, 89 Savage, Ralph, photographer, 61 Scandinavian immigrants: acculturation of, 133-34; folklore of, 162-65 Schenck, Robert O , and Emma Mine scandal, 243 Schofield, J. M.. West Point superintendent, 432 School of the Prophets, LDS organization, 256

457 Scofield school, 182-83 Scythe, 208 Sears, Septimus W., cultural activities of, 8 8 89 Serbian musical instruments, 782, 188-89 Seventh-day Adventist church, foe of Prohibition repeal, 9 Seventies Hall, 77, 88 Sevier County, folklore of, 130-66 Sheep shearing, 768 Sheppard, Morris, U.S. senator, and Hill AFB, 303 Shirts, Peter, route of, in Dixie, 113-14 Shock, W. H., Socialist candidate, 271 Shoshone Indians, 7 76 Simmons Hardware Co., Ogden, 296 Simmons, Joseph M., actor, 82 Sjodahl, J. M., Jr., LDS author, 61 Skliris, Leonidas G., Greek labor agent, 180 Slovenska Narodna Podporna Jednata, Slovenian society, 185 Smith, Andrew, imprisoned polygamist, 28 Smith, David A., LDS official, objection of, to Hill AFB, 303 Smith, Emma, widow of Joseph Smith, Jr., 65 Smith, George A.: colonel during Walker War, 404-10, 407, 414, 418; cultural activities of, 71, 72, 79; and settlement of Dixie, 112, 122 Smith, Hyrum, LDS leader, 61 Smith, J. A., Socialist candidate, 271 Smith, Jedediah, explorer, 114, 115-16 Smith, John Henry, and temple photographs, 61 Smith, Joseph F . : Republicanism of, 269; and temple photographs, 55, 60, 61 Smith, Joseph Fielding: opposition of, to Prohibition repeal, 13; and temple photographs, 61 Smith, Ralph, imprisoned polygamist, 29 Smith, S. H. B., imprisoned polygamist, 30 Smith, Thomas "Pegleg," explorer, 116 Smithers, James, choir leader, 86 Smoot, A . O . , Provo official, 300 Smoot, Reed: and federal installations in U t a b , 297, 298; political dominance of, 266, 2 7 1 ; U.S. Senate hearing on, 45 Snow, Eliza R., cultural activities of, 75-76, 77, 78, 88 Snow, Lorenzo: and Brigham City co-ops, 202, 2 0 3 ; cultural activities of, 71, 75, 75; imprisonment of, for polygamy, 28, 33 Social Hall, 70, 77, 80, 82 Socialist party, Weber County activities of, 270 Societa Cristoforo Colombo, Italian lodge, 185 Sour, Ute leader, 424^25 Southern Paiutes, 114 Sowawick, Ute chief, 424, 426 Sowiette, Ute chief, 408 Spanish-American War, Ninth Cavalry in, 422, 438 Spanish Trail, Utah portions of, 116, 118, 361-83, 361,363,367, 368. 370, 373, 37475, 376, 380-81 Spencer, Claudius V., and Polysophical Society, 76-77

458

Utah Historical Quarterly

Spencer, Orson, cultural activities of, 71 Spring City: cemetery marker at, 7 3 9 ; log cabin at, 740; schoolhouse at, 730, 131—33 Spry, William, and Joe Hill case, 250 Stella D'America, Italian lodge, 184 Steward, William M., and Emma Mine scandal, 243 Stewart, C. B., secretary, U t a h Wool Growers, 296 T h e Strip, Uinta Basin vice area, 436-37 Sudden Shelter, Archaic site in central U t a h , 347-60, 348, 350, 351, 352, 354, 355, 357, 358; excavation of, 347—48: geography of, 3 4 8 - 4 9 ; inhabitants of, 349-50, 3 5 2 - 5 3 , 354-57, 359 Sutherland, George, election of, 270

Taft, William Howard, and 1912 election, 268-69 Talmage, James E., and L D S temple book.

60-61 Taylor, Ellen, wife of John W., 51 Taylor, John, cultural activities of, 71, 75 Taylor, John W., Mormon Fundamentalist, 51 Taylor, Rhoda, wife of John W., 51 Teller, Henry M., secretary of the interior, 259 Terracor, land development company, 312, 317-18 Thatcher, Moses: lecture of, 8 8 : and U t a h Northern Railroad, 201 Thomas, Elbert D., U.S. senator, and military installations in U t a h , 302, 303, 307, 309; and Prohibition repeal, 11, 77, 13-14, 18 Thomas, Jack, Uinta Basin rancher, killed in racial incident, 435, 436—37 Thompson, James, family of, 7 77 Thomson, C. S. Cecil, Moab resident, 370 Thornburgh, T. T., major, at Battle of Milk River, 427 Three Nephites, folklore about, 153, 156 T h u r m a n , Arch M., and Americanization program, 190 T h u r m a n , V. E., and Prohibition repeal, 8 Times of the Gentiles—Fulness of the Gentiles, Mormon Fundamentalist tract, 47 Tindrell, Firney L., Walker War casualty, 413 Tithing store, 64, 66-69 Tooele County, mining and smelting in, 239, 244 Toponce, Alexander, trader, 199 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 196 Trenton farm, 7 68 Tuckett, Mrs. Henry ( M a r c y ) , actress, 82 Twentieth Ward Institute. 8 8 - 8 9 , 89 Twenty-first Infantry, stationing of, at Fort Duchesne, 423, 425

u U t a h : federal government activity in, 294; urbanization of, 292-94 U t a h and Idaho Sugar Company, 212 U t a h and Northern Railroad, 7 68 U t a h Commission, duties of, 259, 261-62.

264

U t a h Copper Company, 249 U t a h Expedition, 8 2 - 8 3 , 198 U t a h Fuel Company, 179 U t a h League for Prohibition Repeal, 8 Utah Magazine, founding of, by Godbeites, 252 U t a h Northern Railroad, 201 U t a h Power and Light, plants of, 47-48 U t a h Prohibition Committee, 7-8 U t a h State Historical Society, 228 U t a h State Legislature, and Prohibition, 6, 7-8 U t a h State University, 228 U t a h Territory: militia of, 398, 4 0 1 : and slave trade, 396, 398; and Walker War, 395-96, 419 Ute Indians: antipathy of, toward blacks, 4 2 4 - 2 7 ; in Dixie, 114; loss of lands by, 396; opposition of, to Fort Duchesne, 4 2 3 24; reservations of, patrolled by soldiers.

429-30, 4 3 2 ; as slave traders, 396, 3 9 8 400 : and Walker War, 395-420 Union Vedette, editorial policies of, 239-41 U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, project offices of, located at Ogden, 295 U.S. Forest Service, regional office of, located at Ogden, 295-98 U.S. Internl Revenue Service, regional center of, located at Ogden, 295 U.S. Territorial Penitentiary, 29, 39, 41 ; polygamists imprisoned at, 2 2 - 4 1 , 22-23 Universal Scientific Society, 71, 72-73, 74, 75

Virgin River. 709, 113, 118, 327, 321-22

w Wahlquist, Wayne, geographer, 211 Waldron, George B., actor, 84 Walker ( W a l k a r a ) , Ute chief, 117, 397, 414; attempted capture of, 398, 402, 4 0 3 ; peace offers by, 398-99, 400; and slave trade.

398-99, 400, 4 1 7 : and Walker War negotiations, 416-18 Walker brothers, 244 Walker W a r : effect of slave trade on, 396, 3 9 8 - 4 0 0 ; history of, 3 9 5 - 4 2 0 ; incidents triggering, 400-401 ; military orders affecting, 4 0 5 ; mutiny at Cedar City during, 407-8, 420; peace negotiations during, 4 1 6 - 1 8 : white strategy for, 4 0 3 - 4 Wall, Enos A., entrepreneur, 249 Wall, William, militia captain, 398-99 Warner, John E., Walker War casualty, 412 Wasatcb Society, 89 Washakie, Shoshone chief, 205 Washington County: employment in, 315— 16; population of, 313-15, 3 7 4 ; property ownership in, 323, 324; water in, 327 Washington County News, circulation of, 325 Watt, George D., cultural activities of, 74, 75, 81 Weber County: election results in, 264, 2 6 8 72: growth of, 259; minority parties in, 270-71 : patronage in, 266: politics in, 2 5 4 72: role of probate judge in, 258

Index Weir, Thomas, entrepreneur, 249 Welling, Milton H , politician, 12, 270 Wells, Daniel H., militia commander during Walker War, 398, 402, 403, 407, 413 Wells, Emmeline B., and Wasatch Society, 89 Wells, Heber M., election of, as governor, 264 Wells Fargo, 230 Westenskow, Caroline, 7 76 Westover, Oscar, general, and Hill AFB, 302 West Point, Blacks at, 432-34 Wheelbarrow, 755 Wheeler, George, survey of, 121-22 Wheelock, Mrs. Cyrus ( M a r y ) , actress, 82 White, Benjamin Franklin, politician, 204 White Elephant Saloon, Bingham, 4â&#x20AC;&#x201D;5 White, Eugene E., Indian agent, 423-26 White Eye, Ute chief, 410 Whitney, Helen M., and Polysophical Society, 76 Whitney, Horace K., actor, 81 Whitney, Mother, gift of tongues of, 76 Whitney, Orson F., and L D S temple book, 61 Widdison, Agnes, wife of J. C. Livingston, 66 Widtsoe, J o h n A., and dry-farming, 212 Wilcox, Adelia Almira, Walker War incident recorded by, 4 12 Wilcox J. Mark, Florida congressman, and Hill AFB, 302, 303 Wilson, Mathew. Socialist candidate, 271 Wilson, Woodrow, 1912 election of, 268-69 Winter Quarters, mourning family at, 788 Women's Christian Temperance Union ( W C T U ) , foe of Prohibition repeal, 9 Women's National Committee for Law Enforcement, foe of Prohibition repeal, 9 Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform, 8, 10-11, 13 Wood George O , imprisoned polygamist, 30, 35,'37 Woodman, F. F., and Emma Mine, 211-42 Woodruff, Wilford: cultural activities of, 71, 72, 74, 76, 8 7 ; and Manifesto, 263 Woolley, Lorin, Morman Fundamentalist, 51

459 Woolley, Young, and Hartlay, 37 Word of Wisdom ( L D S tenet) : folklore concerning, 164â&#x20AC;&#x201D;65; and Prohibition, 16-18 Works Progress Administration, construction of Hill AFB by, 304 Wright, Henry H., Ninth Cavalry captain, 430, 431 Wuthrach, Gottlieb, gardener, 5 8 - 5 9 Wyatt, Frank, railroad worker, 200 Wyoming Stock Growers Association, 197 Wyonah, U t e chief, 409

Young, Brigham: and Chase Mill, 385, 3 9 4 ; and Cotton Mission, 127; and cultural societies, 71, 72, 73-74, 77, 79, 80, 8 1 , 82, 83, 84, 8 6 ; and "dream mine," 5 2 ; and gold mining, 237, 2 3 8 ; influence of, on Ogden politics, 255, 256, 257-58; meetings of, with Indians, 4 1 0 ; as a mercantilist, 2 9 3 ; and slave trade, 396, 398-99, 4 0 0 ; trade with Utes revoked by, 4 0 9 ; and Walker War, 403, 4 0 4 - 5 , 413-20 Young, Brigham, Jr., and politics, 257-58 Young Charles Black army officer, 4 3 3 - 3 4 Young, John W., and Chase Mill, 386 Young, Joseph, lecturer, 88 Young, Joseph W., description of Dixie by, 112 Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association, foe of Prohibition repeal, 9 Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association, foe of Prohibition repeal, 9 Young, Richard W., Jr., author of state Prohibition amendment, 14 Young, Zina D. H., speaker, 76, 88 Youth's Theatrical Society, 85

Z C M I , 37 Zion National Park, 7 0 9 : visitors to, 3 2 2 - 2 3 , 322

UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY Department of Community and Economic Development Division of State History BOARD OF STATE HISTORY M I L T O N C. A B R A M S , Smithfield, 1981

President D E L L O G. D A Y T O N , O g d e n , 1983

Vice President M E L V I N T . S M I T H , Salt Lake City Secretary T H O M A S G. ALEXANDER, Provo, 1983 MRS.

E L I Z A B E T H G R I F F I T H , O g d e n , 1981

W A Y N E K. H I N T O N , Cedar City, 1981 T H E R O N L U K E , Provo, 1983

DAVID S. M O N S O N , Lieutenant G o v e r n o r /

Secretary of State, Ex officio M R S . ELIZABETH M O N T A G U E , Salt Lake City, 1983 WILLIAM D . O W E N S , Salt Lake City, 1983 M R S . H E L E N Z. PAPANIKOLAS, Salt Lake City, 1981 T E D J. W A R N E R , Provo, 1981

ADMINISTRATION MELVIN T. SMITH,

Director

STANFORD J. L A Y T O N , Managing Editor JAY M . H A Y M O N D , Librarian DAVID B. M A D S E N , State Archaeologist

A. K E N T P O W E L L , Historic Preservation W I L S O N G. M A R T I N , Historic Preservation

Research Development

The Utah State Historical Society was organized in 1897 by public-spirited Utahns to collect, preserve, and publish U t a h and related history. Today, under state sponsorship, the Society fulfills its obligations by publishing the Utah Historical Quarterly and other historical materials; locating, documenting, and preserving historic and prehistoric buildings and sites: and maintaining a specialized research library. Donations and gifts to the Society's programs or its library are encouraged, for only through such means can it live up to its responsibility of preserving the record of Utah's past.

MEMBERSHIP Membership in the Utah State Historical Society is open to all individuals and institutions interested in U t a h history.

Membership applications and change of address notices shoidd be sent to the membership secretary.

Annual dues a r e : Individual, $7.50; institution, $10.00; student, $5.00 (with teacher's statement) ; contributing, $15.00; sustaining, $25.00; patron, $50.00; life member, $150.00. Your interest and support are most welcome.

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