Paiute Posey and the Last White Uprising BY ROBERT S. McPHERSON
J 5 LANDING, LIKE MOST SOUTHERN
Utah towns in the 1920s, was a quiet, conservative community that took pride in its pioneer heritage. Many of its citizens had roots extending back to the first settlers of the region who h a d b e e n commissioned to teach a n d c o n v e r t t h e i r I n d i a n neighbors to the life-style and beliefs of the Mormons. From the beginning, attempts to work with the Utes and Paiutes in the area became increasingly troubled; and in 1923 a conflict, since christened the "Posey War," erupted. T h o u g h eulogized by many Blanding settlers as a fair yet definitive solution to a knotty problem, the events proved disheartening for the Indians involved.
Mr. McPherson lives in Mapleton, Utah, and is a doctoral candidate in history at Brigham Young University.
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In his later years Posey typically wore a dark vest with an army belt buckle as a "badge." Lyman Hunter photograph in USHS collections. A surprising number of photographs of the Posey War participants remain in existence — more, perhaps, than are available for any comparable event in Utah history.
