Black Hawk Declares War

April 9th 1865

by

Peter Gottfredson

Indian Depredations in Utah

and

Phillip B Gottfredson

War Is Declared!

"During the winter of 1864-65, a small band of Indians were camped near Gunnison, Sanpete County (Utah). It is said that they contracted small-pox, and that many died. The Indians seemed to think that the white people were to blame in some way for this and were threatening to kill the whites and steal their horses and cattle. Arrangements were consequently made for a meeting between the Indians and the whites at Manti on the 9th of April, 1865, to talk over matters.

 On that date a number of prominent Utes came to Manti. They met at Jerome Kempton's place, and it appeared that an understanding would be arrived at, but a young Chief (Yene-wood) also known as Jake Arropeen (Wakara's brother) could not be pacified. "John Lowry, believed drunk at the time, told the Chief to keep quiet, when someone yelled, "look out he's getting his arrows!" Lowry jerked the Chief (by his hair) off of his horse, and was about to abuse him, when some men stepped in and broke them up."-Indian Depredations in Utah - Peter Gottfredson

Chief Yene-wood being dishonored before his people saw it as the final blow of a long endurance of insults and depredations over nearly 30 years that rallied the Utes under new leadership of Chief Black Hawk to declare war against the Mormons. This marked the beginning of what the whites later dubbed "The Black Hawk War."

1865- Brigham Young at the point of heightened frustration told his followers; "Seek out the murdering Indians and slay them;" but in light of the political situation he commanded them "to keep quiet about it. Do your duty and say nothing to any man," he ordered, "and call upon nobody to help you for you are able to help yourselves." Utah's Black Hawk War by John Alton Peterson.

1847 is the year the first Mormon pioneers arrived, and it was not until 1865 when war Chief Black Hawk who was also at the point of heightened frustration having endured 18 years of bloody confrontations and assaults on his people and land, declared war. The white population had dramatically increased to about 50,000. At the same time the Ute population is estimated to have been over 30.000 thousand and were dyeing from measles, smallpox and tuberculosis spreading epidemically among the Indians. The environment was drastically altered from Mormons farming of domesticated crops and animals, seriously interfering with the Ute's primary source of food. Settlers plowed under vital grass lands, destroying native plants essential to the Ute's diet. Settlers continued to alter the natural environment from logging, redirecting streams for irrigation, recklessly over fishing rivers, and killing deer, elk, and buffalo. As both Indian and non-Indian competed for the Ute's land, tensions grew exponentially.

The Black Hawk War in itself was not a single incident. Over 150 deadly confrontations took place over a seven year period of the war throughout Utah territory and spilled over into Colorado, Idaho, and Wyoming as tens of thousands of Mormon Pioneers poured in at the rate of 3000 a month. 

Note: Leaders of the Ute nation were chosen by succession. Wah-Kara, Jake Arropeen, and Black Hawk all descended from a long line of leaders going back centuries in time. They were the 'royal blood' line of the Ute, and all were related to one another. Simply put, one had to be born into the family bloodline to become leaders.

JOHN LOWRY STATES CAUSE OF BLACK HAWK WAR

JANUARY 25th 1894

Excerpt from Indian Depredations in Utah

On January the 25th the Black Hawk War Veterans held their first re-union, at the Reynolds Hall at Springville. There John Lowry gave his personal account of the cause of the Black Hawk War.

"The occasion of the present re-union being opportune, in order to correct any erroneous impression that has become wide-spread as to what precipitated the Black Hawk War. I take this opportunity or means of placing the facts before the world.

But first let me state that I came here as a pioneer, and took part in the first battle fought with the Indians under the command of Col. John Scott. And I have in one way or another been associated with almost every Indian trouble in the early history of this region. I served as Indian interpreter for years in Manti and have passed through many close places in dealing with the red man. At times having been surrounded by them I knew that one word, look, or action would have cost me my life in the event I showed fear. A man who betrayed cowardice might be killed without any consideration, but a brave man was always approached with consideration. Among then were some strange traditions and peculiar notions in relation to their spiritual life, they served Satan, not God, the idea being to placate the power bent on doing injury. The elder brother (God) was good, and never harmed anyone, but Satan was served through fear. For instance, should a white man write the name of an Indian on a slip of paper and give it out that it would be sent to Satan, the Indian would sacrifice his life if necessary to get possession of it. In 1864 a small band of Indians were wintering at Gunnison, and many of them died, and they found reason for their trouble in conclusion that the Mormons had written their names and sent them to Satan. And he had caused death to come upon them.  So in their councils they were directed by their Chief to stop the sickness among them by killing (Mormons) in retaliation. In February Black Hawk informed me what the Indians were going when the snow went off. They would kill the Mormons and eat Mormon beef. I immediately went to my Bishop with the information. He thought, as did many others, that it was just Indian talk and amounted to nothing; but the Indians told me several times what they intended to do and so I went the second time to the Bishop. My story was received by his saying "There are not enough of them." I then told him it did not matter how few the number as long as they entertained the idea that it was the wish of Satan, they would accomplish their purpose regardless of results to them. Shortly after I learned they were killing cattle. I had some cattle on this range myself, and in my search for them I found the skull of an ox which I owned. I operated a grist mill at the time, and the Indians would come there for grinding, and I remember it was about the sixth of March that I informed them that I had found the skull of my ox and asked them why they had killed it, as I had always been a friend to them, as had the Mormon people, generally. I talked to them in such a way that they agreed to pay me for the animal which had been killed by fetching me a horse, and they did so the next day. I agreed to meet with them at Manti about the eighth of April and talk the matter over of their killing our cattle. Accordingly the council took place. It appeared the difficulty would be settled amicably, but a certain young Indian present who's father had died during the winter continued to halloo and make demonstrations, saying that he would eat Mormon beef and kill "Mormons" when the snow went off. I told him a time or two to stop and to permit me to finish my talk. Just then someone called out "lookout, he is getting his his arrows!" I rode up to him and turned him off his horse, and pulled him to the ground. The bystanders interfered and we separated. I had fully exposed what they intended to do. The next day as our people were out hunting cattle a man named Peter Ludvigsen was killed. I have always taken the position that that talk with the Indians "showed their hand." I believe they started hostilities sooner than they would have done had not the incident above mentioned occurred. But the trouble would have come just the same. I am confident that many lives were saved, because it put the people on their guard. The Chief, Black Hawk told Charles Whitlock of Ephraim, the same thing as had been told me concerning the intention of the Indians. These are the facts as to the starting of the Black Hawk Indian depredations. In those early days it was at times imperative that harsh measures should be used. Hamilton killed an Indian dog, and whipped some Indians too, but that didn't start a war; I threw an Indian out of my house and kicked him off the place, and no war came of it. We had to do these things, or be run over by them. It was a question of supremacy between the white man and the Indian. 

I have patiently born the stigma placed upon me, for I knew the facts, and those who still persist at looking upon me as guilty of precipitating the Black Hawk War I will say this, that I appeal from their decision to a higher court---Our Creator, who will ultimately judge all men.

Signed John Lowry.

Stamped with--- Commissioners of Indian War Records Seal.

 

 

UTE

"Change the conditions in which they thrive"

Well, I have to hand it to Lowry, at least he was being honest. But, saying it was the "will of Satan" that was the driving force behind the Indians defending their rights to their own land...? That's a crock. In the words of Dr. Floyd O'Neil "You can't stretch a rats ass over a rain barrel." The paradox is that the 'saints' were in total denial that they were intruding upon land that had been settled centuries before by the Ute. And in 1850 Apostle George A. Smith declared, "the Indians have no rights to the land, instructed the legislature to extinguish all Indian titles to the territory and "provide measures for the removal of Indians from Utah." And the first step essential in the process of their removal was to change the conditions in which they thrived. Yet the blame is placed on Lowry? Clearly both Smith and Lowry are blinded by their own enculturation, believing they are doing God's will and use religion to justify their actions. Even so, events such as the beheadings at Fort Utah in 1850 would haunt the Mormons for many decades to follow and enrage the Native population even unto the present day. (See Black Hawk War Legacy here)

Only months earlier 12 year old Black Hawk witnessed the senseless murder of his family at Battle Creek. He and six of his kin, women and children, were taken captive and held in Salt Lake. There the children were taken from mothers and raised by their captures. I have to pause here to contemplate this for a moment. Black Hawk's family, innocent of any wrong doing, is brutally murdered, taken captive, and the children are taken away from their mothers and raised by Mormon women. The mothers are then sent to Fort Utah along with Black Hawk.

At Fort Utah young Black Hawk would witness the killing of 70 more of his kin at the hands of Brigham Young's militia. There Dr. James Blake inspired by Bill Hickman's trophy of Old Elk's head he had hacked from his frozen corpse during his foray into Rock Canyon, located today above the LDS temple in Provo, Hickman hung the head by it's hair from the eve of his cabin. (see Fort Utah here) Blake then ordered his men to go out and behead the frozen corpses laying about in the blood soaked snow. Dr. Blake told them he "wanted to have the heads shipped to Washington for scientific examination." While Blake hunted pheasants, his men then acquired as many as 50 heads, placed them in open boxes where then young Black Hawk and his already traumatized kin were to view the gore for a period of two long agonizing weeks. The heads were then shipped to Salt Lake to Blake, and it is believed he sold them to the Smithsonian and/or medical institutions for a profit. And Lowry accuses the Ute of following Satan, just boggles the mind. But, such is how history has been written by the victors.

The Ute have for a century and half born the stigma that they were the cause of the war, the arcane notion that they were savage and genetically inferior and had no rights to their land or life-ways is laughable. That people today in this modern time who continue to believe in the old ways of thinking is outrageous. Lowry stated, "It was a question of supremacy between the white man and the Indian." It is time for change.

There was the murder of of Black Hawk's family in 1849, the murder of Old Bishop falsely accused of stealing a shirt in 1850, then the massacre at Mountain meadows took place in 1857 and the blame unjustly placed on the Paiute. Then the massacre at Bear River occurred January 29, 1863 when approximately 400 Shoshone were slain, among them old men, 90 women and children. After the slaughter ended, soldiers went through the Indian village raping women and using axes to bash in the heads of women and children who were already dying of wounds. Chief Bear Hunter and sub-chief Lehi both were killed. The troops burned seventy-five Indian lodges, recovered 1,000 bushels of wheat and flour, and 175 Shoshone horses. While the troops cared for their wounded and took their dead back to Camp Douglas for burial, the Indians' bodies were left on the field for the wolves and crows.

Although the Mormon settlers in Cache Valley expressed their gratitude for "the movement of Col. Connor as an intervention of the Almighty" in their behalf, the Bear River Massacre has also been brushed aside in the history of Utah. -John Alton Peterson

Blamed for the the massacre at Mountain Meadows in 1857 was placed squarely on the shoulders of the Paiute when in fact Mormons attackers dressed as Indians carried out the heinous crime under the leadership of John D. Lee. Three Paiute were witness to the massacre whereupon the Mormons murdered a wagon train of 129 whites, men women and children. Church officials finally made a public apology in 2007 and again in 2008. But they fail to acknowledge the injustices upon the Native Utah Indian people.

In 1861 word circulated among the Utah Indians that President Lincoln had set aside 4 million acres of land in the desolate north eastern regions of Utah for a reservation. So four years prior to the war it was evident what the intentions were between the United States government and Brigham. Lincoln asked Brigham if the land is suitable for a reservation, Young reported that “the land is so utterly useless that the only purpose is to hold together the other parts of the world." In other words it was a perfect place for an Indian reservation.

Black Hawk's uncle, Wah-Kara, or "Walker" as the whites call him, had been Chief all along until he allegedly succumbed to pneumonia and passed over in 1855. However there is strong evidence that he may have been poisoned. Yenewoods became chief by succession, then following the botched attempt to reach an agreeable compromise at Manti in 1865, Black Hawk then became chief in succession.

Just as a side note, the name "Black Hawk" is not a Ute name, it was a name Brigham Young in jest called him. So it became that Brigham being supercilious referred to him as 'Black Hawk' and this is the name by which he is now most commonly known. His Ute Name was Noonch, and he was so named in honor of his people the Noonchee. Noonch was born into a noble family of legendary leaders spanning centuries of time.       

Understanding the political and economic situation, a third element of concern developed when the United States army arrived in 1857 under the leadership of Colo. Johnston. Sent to unseat Brigham Young and abolish the illegal practice of polygamy, the Ute found themselves being somewhere in the middle. Brigham tried to convince the Utes to side with him, while the army took the position of wait-and-see, at times encouraging the Utes into battle with the Mormons.

In 1865 Black Hawk would become Yenewoods successor and go down in history as one of the most brilliant leaders of the time. Black Hawk commanded a formidable counter attack against all odds and held back white expansion into southern Utah for nearly a decade causing the abandonment of some 70 Mormon villages. But because of the exploding white population over the previous 18 years, and the dramatic impact upon the environment as a result, and soon-to-be arrival of the Transcontinental Railroad, Ute leaders, especially Black Hawk, were becoming aware that their life as they knew it was about to change forever. Black Hawk's paradox was that his people were famished, sick, their hearts filled with hopelessness, and despair. In 1867 he convinced his brother Tabby it would be better to campaign for peace, and Black Hawk led out in peace efforts that eventually brought the war to an end. This is contradictory to mainstream accounts as Brigham Young has long been credited for ending the war, but I have proof that it was Black Hawk who was directly responsible for bringing the war to conclusion. (See Black Hawk's Mission of Peace here)

Brigham Young said, "It is cheaper to feed them than fight them," meaning he had already spent over a million in church funds equipping his Mormon militia. The Denver Rocky Mountain News paper quoted Brigham also saying, "If you want to get rid of the Indians try and civilize them." He also said, "You can get rid of more Indians with a sack of flour than you can with a keg of powder." So in other words, get rid of the Indians, but be kind about it.

While Young's long-time admonition to the members of his church was to "Treat them kindly, and treat them as Indians, and not as your equals," came in the wake of the  tens-of-thousands of settlers who systematically spread out across the most fertile land of the Ute. Many saints were spending time in the Indian camps and inviting them into there homes to which Brigham said; "If the inhabitants of this Territory, my brethren, had never condescended to reduce themselves to the practices of the Indians, (as few of them have,) to their low, degraded condition, and in some cases even lower, there never would have been any trouble between us and our red neighbors."

Several agreements were negotiated between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Indians of Utah. Contrary to historic accounts, there never were any treaties made. Only the federal government could make treaties with the Indians. There was only one treaty made with the Ute, and the federal government never honored the terms. Yet these agreements with Mormon leaders would stand to extinguish all Indian rights to their homeland as well as their inalienable rights as human beings as they were shoved on to desolate and remote reservations, or concentration camps would be a more accurate description. While the Indians had very little command of the English language this was advantageous to the whites, they were never given the chance to clearly understand the legal verbiage of the English written documents. They were made to believe the treaties were to their benefit, but of coarse the opposite was true. One only needs to read one of the so-called treaties to understand they were written in a manner to deceive, certainly not to be understood by the Ute who didn't understand English anymore than the whites understood the Ute language.

1866 in the Circleville Massacre 26 innocent Paiute were murdered. 16 women men and women throats were slit from ear to ear. The corpses were buried and an attempt was made to cover up the grizzly event. But word leaked to the press and quickly spread throughout the Native community. Brigham was reported as being outraged, but no action was taken to punish the perpetrators, namely Bishop Allred. Brigham's "outrage" was nothing compared to what the Paiute were feeling. Hardly anyone today has any knowledge of this gruesome event except the descendents of one Piute boy who survived.

1866 Sanpitch, the father of Black Hawk, was murdered adding even more fuel to the rage of the Ute Indian people. In a botched attempt to lure Black Hawk in to a trap, his father was taken captive. He managed to break loose of his captures only to have his throat cut. So by now Black Hawk had witnessed the slaughter of his family at Battle creek, the killing and beheading of his kin at Fort Utah, the poisoning of his uncle, and now the murder of his father. 

Historic accounts never attest to the humanity of Ute leaders who rarely killed any whites, and if they did it was in self defense. It is said the Indians burned wagons, yet there is not one account that can support the claim. Instead Black Hawk with his army of 3000 warriors focused on undermining the economics of the Mormon society by taking their cattle and horses, while surplus cattle was traded for guns and ammunition to arm his warriors. Over a period of 26 years of confrontations with early settlers, 140 whites lost their lives. How many Indians died in the same period? You won't believe it.

The Utah Indian were never treated with respect, they were a "nuisance" to the Mormons who's only intention was to rid the land of them.  

I get a chuckle each time I read this quote, "All the time they told lies, and half of them weren't true."

Brigham Young acknowledged an alarming rate of decrease of the Indian population,  1909 Government census bore testament to Brigham's observances, as the Native population had decreased by 90%. Considering their population once exceeded 40,000 when the Mormons arrived in 1847, the numbers are staggering! Today Ute population remains at about 3500 tribal members.

One hundred and fifty four years ago John Cremony wrote these words...
"When will the white man ever become wise, and, instead of treating the Indian with scornful indifference, give him credit for his intelligence, his quick and remarkable instincts, his powers of reflection and organization, and his inveterate opposition to all innovation? We have been too much in the habit of treating them with contempt, and underrating our savage enemies. This has been a serious blunder, the rock upon which so many millions of money and so many precious lives have been wrecked. Is it not time to accept a new policy in their regard? Will civilized people never learn that they are quite as obtuse to comprehend real Indian nature as the Indians to understand their (whites) civilization?" - John C. Cremony "Life Among The Apaches" 1850
 

Folks, my account of Brigham's Black Hawk War of Utah is by no means intended as amusement, nor will I make light of or trivialize the truth. For we owe it to the Native people to feel their pain, and not sanitize their history. There is nothing amusing or trivial about a war that resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent human lives, the shameful devastation of a once vibrant culture. Contrary to the victors "feel good" accounts, and their brilliantly managed rhetoric, the Utah Indian people are the people who made the ultimate sacrifice, who were subjected to every kind of man's inhumanity to man that you can imagine.

 

What is the true story of First People of Utah? The only people who can intelligently and accurately answer that question are the Indian people. But has anyone ever asked them? And that is the essence of our film documentary project. Twenty-six years of Utah history has been ignored and left out of school curriculum. Twenty-six years of Utah Indian history that more than 90% of Utah's population never heard of. A quarter of a century of the history of 40,000 lives has been tossed aside, forgotten, and made a mockery of. Isn't it time we own the past and speak the truth?

 

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