ROYAL BLOOD OF THE UTES BY CONWAY B. SONNE*
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in the nineteenth century the Ute Indians had reached their high-water mark of power and influence. After generations of roaming freely over vast deserts and among towering mountains they found themselves being squeezed by expanding pockets of white civilization. Soon they would face a dreary confinement on reservations. IDWAY
There is no doubt that the invasion of their lands by the Mormon pioneers disrupted and uprooted a fairly stable and wellestablished primitive government, a government which had endured for many years. This government was built upon a loose confederation of tribes, and these tribes in turn were made up of bands and clans. Their unity appears to have stemmed from family relationships of chiefs and subchiefs. During the first few years of Mormon settlement one Ute family, in particular, was predominant. It was the family which had Wakara, or Walker, and Sowiette as its spokesmen. Its control seems to have been the result of family members being placed in strategic positions of leadership among the various tribes and tribal subdivisions. This situation is revealed in a passage from the writings of Captain John W - Gunnison: A late chief, acting on the plurality law, left above thirty sons, most of whom have small clans under them. His true successor is a fine brave Indian, with the largest band immediately around him; and he exercises control over all when he chooses. H e is a friend of the Mormons. A half-brother of his, named Walker, has become rich and celebrated for his success in stealing horses from the Mexicans. 1 * Mr. Sonne is an executive with the Standard Oil Company, offices in San Francisco. He is a native of Utah, educated at the Utah State Agricultural College and at the Harvard Graduate School of Business. 1 J. W . Gunnison, The Mormons, or Latter-day Saints, in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake (Philadelphia, 1860), 148-50.
