Although Mormon and Indian confrontations were raging in
all directions, it was ordered by church officials to have
the Paiutes disarmed. Black Hawk and his band had killed
many during the year before. A determined camp of Paiutes
remained in Circle Valley (Box Creek) trying to be friendly
with the whites. However the whites felt that they were in
danger every moment, as some of the Natives were so
aggressive the saints felt that real trouble could break out
at anytime. On April 21, 1866, an express from Fort Sanford
reached Circleville, Utah telling of a Paiute that pretended
to be friendly had shot and killed a white man who belonged
to the militia stationed at the nearby fort. The people of
Circleville were told to protect themselves against the
Indians who were camped in their valley. Upon receipt of
this information the people of Circleville called a town
meeting and after much discussion as to what they should do
it was decided that they should arrest the Paiutes that were
camped nearby and bring them to Circleville for confinement.
Every able bodied man in the town set out to take custody of
the Indian camp, and they surround the camp at night. They
had no reason to use force as James T. S. and
Bishop William Jackson Allred went to the
Indian camp and persuaded the Indians to come to a meeting
at Circleville. They told the Indians that they had received
a letter and they wanted to have it read to them. All of the
Indians agreed willingly to go to Circleville with the men,
except one young Indian warrior who refused to go and began
to shoot at the posse. The posse returned fire killing the
young man. The rest of the Indians were then taken at gun
point to Circleville and the letter was read to them. The
Indians were told that they are to be retained as prisoners,
and were taken into custody and placed in the meeting house
that night under guard.
The captured Indians, 26 in all, showed a lot of unrest,
then on the evening of the following day some of the Indians
were able to cut themselves loose from their bindings and
make a break. In the excitement the two Indians trying to
free themselves were shot and killed by the guards. The
remainder of the Indians were then taken to a potato cellar
and imprisoned there. The captured Indians knew they were
going to be killed, they could feel it. The settlers had
another meeting and it was decided among them to kill the
remaining captured Indian people. One by one they were led
out of the cellar, 24 in all, women, men, and children, and
one by one their throats were cut and their bodies shoved to
the ground. Two young boys and one girl, seven or eight
years of age feeling the horror decided to try and make
their escape, and when the door was opened for the next
victim to be killed the three made a break and forced their
way past the guards and ran. The guards fired several shots
at the three but were unable to hit them. One was shot in
the side but the bullet barely grazed his rib, not enough to
stop him. All of the Paiute males, five women, and two
older children were killed.
The day after following the massacre, the three who had made
their escape were found in a nearby cave. The three
orphaned children were taken in by church members to care
for them.
When Brigham Young heard of the details of this heinous
crime he was very upset, but did nothing more than verbally
chastise the murders. Later they were praised by other
members for having done their dirty deed well. The saints at
Circleville did all they could to cover up the tragic event,
saying that they acted in self defense when the Indians
attacked the guards. But in time the incident leaked to the
news, but curiously none of the aggressors were prosecuted.
No record of the names of the victims.
Recently I was contacted by relatives of one of the two boys
that escaped. I was shown family documents when it came to
my attention that there may have been 26 murders in all.
Keeping in mind I was looking at family records, whereas the
story above was taken from historical accounts written by
the victors. I tend to accept the families account.
There remains yet another important question, where were the
remains 26 victims buried? One person I spoke with who has
spent many years researching this event feels confident they
may have been buried beneath the floor of the meeting house
in Circleville. The meeting house was a log structure that
was 20' x 36', and was used for various purposes, a school
house, church meetings, public meetings, and social
functions. Keeping in mind it was imperative, at the time,
that any evidence of the killings should be done away with.
If they were buried in a mass grave it would be reasonable
to conclude that digging such a sizable hole in the ground
in broad daylight was too risky, probably taking a day or
more, perhaps the potato cellar would be a more logical
place than the meeting house. Cellars were constructed by
digging a pit into the ground and covered with a roof made
of logs and sod covering the pit. It would be easy enough to
simply place the corpses in the cellar, remove the roof and
backfill the pit.
Circleville was abandoned shortly after, and the bishop with
his wife and children and went to Cedar City where he went
to work as a ranch hand. Circleville was abandoned in the
same year.
Survivors of the Circleville Utah Massacre Project
Update: 07/11/07
I had the honor of meeting with descendents of one of the
two boys that survived the massacre, who's names will remain
anonymous. Upon reading documents from these persons
collections I found the following account. A day following
the killings, two Indian boys and one girl were found hiding
in a nearby cave, where taken to the nearest town Marysvale,
Utah. Two years thereafter, Jackson Allred then took one of
the boys, who may have been 8 or 9 years of age at the time,
to Spring City. There Allred spoke with a family who was
interested in taking care of the boy, and said to them, he
would trade a horse for the boy, otherwise he would just
kill him. The family agreed to the payment of a horse and
took the boy in and raised him. The boy was locked in a shed
for some time. The boy lived to be about 67 years of age,
and raised a family. He was buried in
Saratoga, Wyoming on Feb 15, 1925.
What became of the little girl. I have learned that
she was taken to Marysvale, and there was murdered. Swung by her ankles
hitting her head against a wagon wheel until she died. This I have been
told by three different sources taken from family accounts.
Update 11/21/08
I received
information from another descendent of one of the survivors, he stating
that according to his records the two boys and girl were brothers and
sister. The one boy witnessed the killing of his sister.
Note: It has been very painful to relate this
account, and have done so not for amusement or to be disrespectful, but
to remember this tragedy to remind us of the terrible circumstances the
Native people of Utah have endured.
Our goal, the Black Hawk War Project, is to reveal the true
story of the Black Hawk War in Utah. To honor those who this
day morn the past in silence because they have been ignored
and forgotten.
Update 6/2009
I am seeing accounts making reference to Paul Reeve stating that
the heads of the victims were displayed on poles. This detail I
have not found in the personal accounts of the descendents of
the one Paiute boy who survived. I question the accuracy of this
account understanding that the settlers at Circleville at the
time were concerned that word of what they had done would reach
Black Hawk and Brigham Young, and so made every effort to cover
up their dirty deed. It would seem logical then that putting the
heads of the victims on poles would accomplish the opposite and
bring unwanted attention on Circleville. According to my
research, and one has to keep an open mind, the event at
Circleville was leaked to the press which exposed the murders at
Circleville.
I believe there is more to the story and welcome any information
available. Email
here.
The
Gottfredson
Files