Peter Gottfredson, a Mormon immigrant from Denmark, at the age of 12 witnessed a brutal murder of a sailor while in route from Denmark onboard the John Boyd, When they reached Illinois his mother died, His father Jens took the family to Ohio and left Peter alone to take care of his siblings, living in a dug-out shelter for more than a year, while his father found work at a foundry making coal stoves. When his father remarried his new wife gave premature birth to a baby girl after over exerting herself trying to cross the Platt River. The baby died shortly after. Peter then fell into the company of Johnston's Army while in route with his parents and family to Utah in 1858. A more detailed account of his experience is found in his autobiography. Peter describes that he listened to the soldiers talk about the Mormons. Peter gives his reason for being with Johnston's army, "I was twelve years old, the biggest boy in the company. The soldiers let me ride a mule and help drive loose stock. When we reached Sweetwater the troops pushed on to Fort Bridger faster than the ox teams could travel. Father permitted me to go with them. They offered to board and take care of me till our company got there. While there I heard some of their stories about the Mormons. How they kept them at Fort Bridger the winter before and about Lot Smith with a small company of Mormons had burned a number of Government wagons and supplies back on the Big Sandy. One soldier said he would take me back to the States if I wished and give me a home with him."

Buy the age of 14 he was spending much of his time in the Indian camps. He becomes further acquainted with the Ute while he is a herd boy in the Thistle Valley area of southern Utah. An area he describes as being a place most frequented by them. Many times while tending sheep and cattle as a herdsman, Indians would come into his camp hungry asking for food. Peter would share his meals with them and talk about their concerns. Much of Peters life he lived away from his family although he had a close relationship with his brother Hans. Hans also had close ties with the Ute throughout his life, and both learned to speak their language.

Because of Peters association with the Ute he learned intimate details of the whites exploitation, which undoubtedly gave him cause to feel caught between two cultures. He continued to maintain a close alliance with the Natives well into his adulthood. In time he became acquainted with several of the chiefs, and of coarse Black Hawk. Peter would have been 13 years younger than Black Hawk. And having spent several years living among them he had an intimate understanding of their culture. He would learn of their spiritual and ritual ways, and the everyday skills required to live in the natural environment. And it would follow that he would have experienced the Utes agony as they struggled for freedom, perished from hunger, disease and hopelessness. 

Peter became a journalist for the Richfield Advocate chronicling the Sanpete War, which later became known as the Black Hawk War. In his later years he serves as a bishop for 20 years in Glenwood, Utah until which time he then resigns. Family recollection and records of Peter gives strong indication that he was religious, but not fanatical or dogmatic in his beliefs. His friends speak highly of him as an honorable man, one who was always found among the most common of people. He had strong work ethics, and always helping others. Open minded and open hearted Peter was very much a egalitarian.

His true legacy, of coarse, is his book Indian Depredations in Utah. He was deeply troubled by the maltreatment of his Native friends but being a journalist and considering the political environment he was in, being friends with the 'enemy' was not a envious position to be in. Peter's book is "bitterly racist," as historian Will Bagley describes it, "being a product of the time." The book is a collection of firsthand accounts that Peter gathered and compiled. While I have found no indication to suggest that Peter was a racist, it is obvious he was not. Little of the book is in Peter's own words, for it was his intent to accurately portray the mindset of the people and the conditions that prompted the decisions that they made. And what better way than to get them to write their stories in their own words. and this is why the book is racist in content. He is troubled by his growing awareness that no one was keeping records of the war days. He states, "I have often queried; why should those conditions be forgotten, and why has so little interest been taken in keeping memoranda's and records of events and conditions of those early and trying times?"

Primarily the book was publish for the Indian War Veterans, an organization that had been formed July 4, 1893 by the veterans of the war. His concern that the accounts should be obtained "now or never" is a clear indication that he has a keen awareness that the war was being ignored by historians, and already being covered up. This has importance to him, not because he is a journalist, it is but because he had respect for the Ute. His motivation was noted by his life long friend Taylar Thurber who commented in his eulogy to Peter at Peter's funeral in 1936, he said, "And so I speak of Peter Gottfredson with what he has done. He has spent 20 years of his life, the best years of his life, in compiling an authentic history of the Indian Depredations in the State of Utah. It is a book that will go down through the ages because of the close contacts he has made. Just think of man without an education to undertake and write a book! It must have been a tremendous impulse behind this man. He had no wealth, he was one of the last of the pioneers. It was a gigantic task, and there must have been a will to do a thing of that sort. And there is no more pleasant record—it is one that his sons and daughters would be pleased to read and dwell upon."

Peter's close ties with the Native people, whom he speaks fondly of consistently, afforded him a unique perspective from both sides. My father, who lived with Peter and knew him well said he agonized painfully as he witnessed the lives of his Native friends being destroyed. But he is careful, even fearful of clearly stating his own opposition to the human injustices. I find this to be true for I have found many accounts of severe punishment of those who were vocal about the mistreatment of the Indians, some were killed who where outspoken against the church. Church members were warned that they should never question their leaders, even if they are wrong. Because of this, I believe that Peter takes as neutral a position as much as he can. The stories he collects are not in total reflective of his personal views, but of those he observes. It can be said he selected the accounts of those whom he felt best reflected the dominate mindset of the time. "It has not been my purpose to single out any one particular hero ahead of all others." he states.

Peter lived in a mercurial environment wrought with paradoxes and ambiguities. A volatile atmosphere charged with lust, greed, fanaticism, nefarious beliefs and dire circumstances. For Peter, 'innocence of youth' was a mere luxury he could ill afford, caught up in the currents of colonization and Euro-expansionism, he writes; "We can look back and see where we could have done better, but would we. Environments have much to do with shaping our natures character and destiny. Had we at certain stage in life taken a different course it is impossible to know where it would ultimately have led to. So I say, it is no use to harbor regrets, but necessary to make the best of the future."

To the honor of Peter Gottfredson authors, historians, researchers, journalists, scholars and academia's have cited his work in countless publications, articles, and books for decades, underscoring the importance of his time-honored account. Most recent is John Alton Peterson's book titled Utah's Black Hawk War wherein Gottfredson's account is cited numerous times. The Salt Lake Tribune noted in 2002, "...the book [Indian Depredations in Utah] reports any number of white depredations that would otherwise be unknown, and like the Iliad, the losers are often more courageous and noble than the victors."

Certainly his motivation was not money, as he had only 100 copies of his work printed. Had he sold all of them, and existing sales receipts prove that he didn't, he would not have made even a years income at $4.00 a copy, he gave most of the books away as gifts.

Among some Mormons today Peter's book is not that well received because it reveals the moral ambiguities and hypocrisy of Brigham Young and the members of the church toward the Ute Indian. But among historians Peter's account is referred to as a "classic history." Certainly Peter lived out most of his life in a violent world. He had developed tremendous coping skills as he lived to the ripe old age of 87. 

For more information on Peter Gottfredson read his biography.

 

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