Main Menu of Topics and Stories

A very brief description of the Black Hawk War of Utah, what it was about and what caused it.

Black Hawk War Timeline A detailed time line of the events of the Utah Black Hawk War from Mormon colonists arrival in Utah in the year 1847, to the the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in the year 1978.

*If you don't find what your are looking for on this page please see the Black Hawk War Timeline.

Important Topics & Stories of the Utah Black Hawk War:

TIMOTHY H. O'SULLIVAN'S MANIFEST DESTINY 1839 It is important to know the role Manifest Destiny played in the removal of indigenous people in North and South America. Christian Monarchs during the 15th century had decreed that anyone who did not believe in the God of the Bible, or that Jesus Christ was the true Messiah, was deemed "heathens," "infidels" and "savages".

Battle Creek and Fort Utah The following three stories about Battle Creek, Old Bishop, and Fort Utah occurred in the year 1849. The murders at Battle Creek were senseless, as young Antonga Black Hawk was taken captive.

The Walker War and Timpanogos Chief Wakara On July 18th, 1853 Wakara and his brother Arapeen, at the height of their frustration had seen enough and so led a group of their warriors in an attack on Fort Payson.

Circleville Massacre April 21, 1866 Circleville, Utah, during the Black Hawk War 24 Paiute men women and children innocent of any wrong doing, were brutally murdered, their throats cut one by one then buried in a mass grave to be forgotten. Comments from living descendents of the child who survived the massacre.

Spanish Fork Diamond Creek Battle June 1866 Late at night on June 26, 1866 a band of Timpanogos Indians led by a Colorado Ute named Mountain, came down Maple Canyon in Utah County and made a foray into the valley and drove off some 15 horses and thirty eight head of cattle that resulted in the deaths of six Natives and two whites.

Black Hawk Mortally Wounded at Gravely Ford 1866 James E. Snow shot and wounded an Indian standing behind his horse. The wounded Indian was none other than the famous Black Hawk. 

THE OLD PEACE TREATY TREE Of all the Black Hawk War monuments there are in Utah, one in particular stands above all others which is the Peace Treaty Tree in Ephraim, Utah. It stands above others because it recognizes the greatness of the human spirit. A place and time where two men with vastly different backgrounds make a sacred vow to one another to look beyond their differences and end the bloodshed.

TREATIES OF THE BLACK HAWK WAR The significance of the Spanish Fork Treaty is that it was intended for the Timpanogos Nation living in the Utah Valley area, the Spanish Fork Treaty was negotiated exclusively with the various bands of the Timpanogos Nation. However, the treaty would fail ratification as it bore the signature of Brigham Young. Congress declared "rather than associate with Brigham Young on such an occasion, they would have the negotiations fail; they would rather the Indians, than the Mormons, would have the land."

THE STORY OF TIMPANOGOS LEADER BLACK HAWK - This is the story of Timpanogos leader Antoñgua Black Hawk. The Timpanogos or Timpangotzis, are the original inhabitants of Utah Territory who were first discovered by Spanish explorers Juan Revera in 1765, and later on by Dominguez and Escalante in 1776.

Post Black Hawk War

Black Hawk's Grave Robbed Black Hawk's remains were pur on public display in a window of a hardware store for amusement and later moved to Temple Square in downtown Salt City.

EXAMINATION OF TIMPANOGOTS CHIEF BLACK HAWK'S REMAINS 1996 Published by permission from NAGPRA.

Black Hawk's Remains Reburied At Spring Lake in 1996 Seventy-seven years after Black Hawk's grave was robbed in 1919, Black Hawk was reburied 77 years later.

THE DOCTRINE OF DISCOVERY It is important to understand what the Doctrine of Discovery is about and it's roll in the founding of colonial America. "Papal authority is the basis for United States power over indigenous peoples but this fact is not generally understood, even by lawyers who work with federal Indian law.

CONGRESSIONAL ACTS Governing First Nations There was a series of congressional acts designed to diminish tribal lands, or reservations, the Dawes Allotment Act, the Reorganization Act, the Termination Act, the Self Determination Act, and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. Then came the boarding schools and the LDS Church Indian placement program.

Utah's Saddest Legacy, the Black Hawk War The Legacy of the Black Hawk War in Utah begins with no reconciliation with Utah's Timpanogos Nation. This remains an issue for both sides, as people continue to struggle with the harsh realities of war. For generations people have lived in absolute fear of Mormons should they speak of the atrocities of the past and even the present.

Origins of the Timpanogos and Ute Tribes

The Timpanogos Ute Oxymoron The term 'Timpanogos Ute' is a contridiction in terms. Historians mistakenly identify the Snake-Shoshone Timpanogos Nation as being Ute. They are two distinctly different Tribes in origin, language, and customs.

The Timpanogos Nation Official Website The Snake-Shoshone Timpanogos were first discovered by Spanish explorer Juan Revera in 1765, and later Dominguez and Escalante in 1776.

Timpanogos Chiefs and Warriors:

In Remembrance of Timpanogos Leaders and Warriors List of names of Timpanogos Chiefs and members of the Tribe during the Black Hawk War period.

Black Hawk

Walkara

Tabby Arapeen

Grospeen(n/a)

Ammon(n/a)

Sowiette

Sanpitch

Old Elk

Squash-Head

Little Soldier

Old Bishop

Veterans of the Black Hawk War

NAMES NAMES NAMES  A list of some 640 names both Indian and Mormon colonists from the book Indian Depredations in Utah by Peter Gottfredson.

Peter Gottfredson Author and Historian (Black Hawk War)

From grandfather to grandson, Phillip B Gottfredson has carried on the legacy of his great-grandfather Peter Gottfredson.

EXCERPTS From Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah 1865-1873 first hand account of the Black Hawk War.

PETER GOTTFREDSON IN THE INDIAN CAMPS He spent most of time in the Indian camps during the Black Hawk War, he was a friend of Timpanogos Chief Antonga Black Hawk.

PETER GOTTFREDSON'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1857-1874

EULOGY to Peter Gottfredson 1938

Learning Native Ways

PROTOCOLS AND ETHICS of the Native American

TRUTH IN EDUCATION FOR ALL Over the past several years Phillip B Gottfredson has advocated the importance of TRUE history of the Black Hawk War and the Timpanogos people of Utah to be added to the school curriculum in Utah's public school system.

HOME OF THE MAYAN Mr. Gottfredson spent six months living with Mayan Scholars and Shaman learning of the historical and spiritual connection between North and South American Native peoples.

RUSSEL MEANS "For America to Live, Europe Must Die" A tribute to the late Russell Means a Lakota patriot.

BRIGHAM YOUNG ON HIS "PROPER WAY TO TREAT THE INDIANS " Treat them kindly, and treat them as Indians, and not as your equals."

VIDEOS

The following video collection has been assembled to help further our understanding of the Native American perspective and the Black Hawk War in Utah.

CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF DISCOVERY: Steve Newcomb Published on Feb. 2, 2016 Steven Newcomb, Author of Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery" addresses the Spotlight of Indigenous Peoples plenary at the 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 19th.

THE BLACK HAWK WAR: UTAH'S FORGOTTEN TRAGEDY Video 2005 Mr. Gottfredson was  commissioned by the Utah State Division of Indian Affairs to make a documentary film of the Black hawk War. The project was Funded in part by Utah State Division of Indian Affairs, the George S. Deloris Dori Eccles Foundation and Private Donors.

Bear River Massacre Memorial 155th Anniversary January 29, 2018

Research & Source Material

Phillip B Gottfredson's Bio and Source Material

FACTS OF THE BLACK HAWK WAR Facts about the Black Hawk War excerpts from Phillip B Gottfredson's research journal.

Phillip B Gottfredson Archive Menu A collection of commentary and articles Phillip B Gottfredson wrote while researching the Black Hawk War in Utah. Often Phillip would come face-to-face with discrimination and resistance to his project to discover the truth about the war between Mormon colonizers and the Timpanogos Nation peoples.

National Museum of the American Indian Phillip B Gottfredson's quest to understand the Native peoples of North America, attending this auspicious event was a good place to start his research.

MEMORIAL OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF UTAH (document) Brigham Young spent one and a half million dollars to "get rid of the Indians." Download PDF 17.2 KB

Misc.

SALT LAKE TRIBUNE ARTICLE BY HISTORIAN AND COLUMNIST WILL BAGLEY 2002 Peter Gottfredson's Indian Depredations in Utah"

PROMISES BARAK OBAMA HAS MADE TO THE AMERICAN INDIAN PEOPLE "My American Indian policy begins...

THE LAND OF THE LAMANITES That the Lamanites (American Indians) a "white and delightsome people." Can you say Vitiligo?

The Danites The Danites were a fraternal organization founded by Latter Day Saints in June of 1838, at Far West in Caldwell County, Missouri.

MAPS

1866 Map of the Black Hawk War See where the battles took place during the war! Phillip never finished this map, but has some good information.

The following maps will display regardless of screen settings, but may be slow loading. 

1. Tribes of The American Indian Nation map.  

 2. Tribal Locations in America Past and Present Map