N 40  4  11.8  W 111  26  07.5

 

 

In 1860 Chief Aropene had died near the town of Manti in southern Utah and his successor was none other than Black Hawk. Black Hawk was, as Walker had been, a war chief and when he obtained the chieftainship he resumed the raids upon the white men, leading his young and impetuous.

Many whites were killed within Utah Territory during the Black Hawk War, but most of these deaths occurred in the central and southern part of the territory, and needless to say, many Indians died also. It is reported that perhaps the worst mishap to occur in Rhoades Valley during that war was that of an innocent Indian, shot by mistake through the hand. Yet, considerable cattle and horse

stealing raids were carried out by the Indians during this time.

During that war (on June 11, 1866) Chief Black Hawk was severely wounded from a bullet fired during a particularly severe battle with the whites

 a wound that would not mend. Unable to fight any longer, he made peace with the whites in 1868. Shortly thereafter, the war chief rode from town to town in the vicinity of Payson and Cedar City, personally asking forgiveness from the settlers. Chief Black Hawk died about 1869 from that old wound at Spring Lake in Utah County.

 

 

 

Black Hawk went so far as to tell Robert Powell the name of the canyon which Caleb went up to get the gold and said that it was his (Black Hawk's) brother who first found the gold from which Caleb took the ore, but that his brother later fell from a load of hay and broke his neck. Unfortunately, we have been unable to discover the name of that canyon of which Black Hawk mentioned. Abraham Powell was born March 6, 1882 at Salem, Utah to John Ammon and Sarah Jane Shields Powell. He grew to manhood in Price, Utah and on June 18, 1907, married Violet Pearl Leonard who died December 16, 1961. Their marriage had been solemnized in the Manti Temple of the L.D.S. Church on June 22, 1932. Abraham became a retired farmer and for a time served as Price City Street Superintendent.

 

 

 

Chief Black Hawk

BLACK HAWK WAR John A. Peterson Utah History Encyclopedia The Black Hawk Indian War was the longest and most destructive conflict between pioneer immigrants and Native Americans in Utah History. The traditional date of the war's commencement is 9 April 1865 but tensions had been mounting for years. On that date bad feelings were transformed into violence when a handful of Utes and Mormon frontiersmen met in Manti, Sanpete County, to settle a dispute over some cattle killed and consumed by starving Indians. An irritated (and apparently inebriated) Mormon lost his temper and violently jerked a young chieftain from his horse. The insulted Indian delegation, which included a dynamic young Ute named Black Hawk, abruptly left, promising retaliation. The threats were not idle - for over the course of the next few days Black Hawk and other Utes killed five Mormons and escaped to the mountains with hundreds of stolen cattle. Naturally, scores of hungry warriors and their families flocked to eat "Mormon beef" and to support Black Hawk, who was suddenly hailed as a war chief. Encouraged by his success and increasing power, Black Hawk continued his forays, stealing more than two thousand head of stock and killing approximately twenty-five more whites that year. The young Ute by no means had the support of all of the Indians of Utah, but he succeeded in uniting factions of the Ute, Paiute, and Navajo tribes into a very loose confederacy bent on plundering Mormons throughout the territory. Cattle were the main objectives of Black Hawk's offensives but travelers, herdsmen, and settlers were massacred when it was convenient. Contemporary estimates indicate that as many as seventy whites were killed during the conflict. The years 1865 to 1867 were by far the most intense of the conflict. Latter-day Saints considered themselves in a state of open warfare. They built scores of forts and deserted dozens of settlements while hundreds of Mormon militiamen chased their illusive adversaries through the wilderness with little success. Requests for federal troops went unheeded for eight years. Unable to distinguish "guilty" from "friendly" tribesmen, frustrated Mormons at times indiscriminately killed Indians, including women and children. In the fall of 1867 Black Hawk made peace with the Mormons. Without his leadership the Indian forces, which never operated as a combined front, fragmented even further. The war's intensity decreased and a treaty of peace was signed in 1868. Intermittent raiding and killing, however, continued until 1872 when 200 federal troops were finally ordered to step in. The Black Hawk War erupted as a result of the pressures white expansion brought to Native American populations. White settlement of Utah altered crucial ecosystems and helped destroy Indian subsistence patterns which caused starvation. Those who did not starve often succumbed to European diseases. Contemporary sources indicate that Indian populations in Utah in the 1860s were plummeting at frightening rates. White efforts to establish reservations contributed additional pressures. These conditions were almost universal among western Indians during the period, and in this sense the war can be viewed as an expression of the general Indian unrest and warfare that dominated the trans-Mississippi West during the 1860s. Similar conflicts also occurred during the decade between Indians and non-Mormon settlers in each of Utah's neighboring territories. These confrontations, however, were quickly (and brutally) put down by federal troops; however, the mounting crusade against polygamy and lingering "Utah War" mentalities made the situation different in Utah. The Black Hawk War was unique among the era's western Indian wars in that the antipathy that existed between the United States government and the LDS Church provided Utah's natives with the opportunity to pursue their hostile activities for an extended period of time without incurring the swift and destructive military reprisals suffered by other groups. Not surprisingly, the war ended almost without incident when federal troops were finally ordered to engage the Indians in 1872. See: Peter Gottfredson, Indian Depredations in Utah (1919); Carlton Culmsee, Utah's Black Hawk War: Lore and Reminiscences of Participants (1973).

 

 

 

warriors against the outlying settlements and running off the cattle within the central and southern sectors of the Territory of Utah.

TABBY-TO-KWANAH, MAN OF PEACE
Lyndia Carter
History Blazer, April 1996

In the quiet solemnity of the Heber City cemetery stands a simple sandstone marker bearing the initials T. T. A huge pine tree towers over the grave, shadowing the burial place of Tom Tabby, son of Tabby-To-Kwanah, a chief of the Ute Indians who lived at the reservation in the Uinta Basin in 1867. Chief Tabby, as the white settlers called him, wanted his son buried in the way of the Mormons; therefore Tom Tabby's remains were laid to rest among the graves of the Murdock family rather than on the reservation land.

It was during the Black Hawk War of the mid-1860´s that Tom Tabby died accidentally while hunting. Chief Tabby, whose people had once freely roamed the Provo River Valley in which Heber City is located, carried his dead son in his arms to the town hoping that the boy could be buried there. Joseph Stacy Murdock consented to conduct a Christian burial service. According to a plaque at the cemetery, following the funeral Tabby said, "My son has been buried in the white man's custom, now he will be honored in the Indian fashion." The Indians laid cedar logs on the grave, led the boy's favorite pony to the logs were it was killed, then ignited the funeral pyre. When the blaze had died to embers, the saddened chief mounted his horse and with his companions rode east to the reservation. Chief Tabby-to-Kwanah, the seeker of peace between the Native Americans and the settlers, had demonstrated his commitment to seek the best of both worlds rather than fight.

When the white settlers first arrived in Utah, Tabby was a young man but already a leader of one of the many bands of Utes in central and eastern Utah. Despite early conflicts in Utah Valley and more serious outbreaks in the 1850s led by Chiefs Wakara (Walker) and Tintic, the settlers and the Native Americans under Chiefs Sowiette and Tabby lived in relative peace. Tabby-To-Kwanah, whose name means Child of the Sun, and his people interacted peaceably with the whites for several years. However, by the early 1860s white-Indian conflicts intensified and the federal government decided that the Native Americans should be placed on reservations for mutual safety and so the settlers could occupy more land. The treaty of 1865 relegated the Uintah Utes to the Uinta Basin. If the Indians would move there they would receive payment for their land—including the Indian farms at Spanish Fork and Sanpete they were giving up—and services and supplies from the government. Sixteen chiefs signed the treaty, but Congress did not ratify it. The treaty goods and money were never delivered, and the Indians continued to roam in search of food. For Chief Tabby and his people, who traditionally located seasonally in the Uinta Mountains and Basin, the transition was not as difficult as for some bands, but all were distressed when the government did not deliver their "presents" and they faced constant hunger. Many Indians, angry about being forced off their native lands, rebelled under Chief Black Hawk. The more peaceful ones went with Tabby to the reservation and avoided bloodshed, although greatly disappointed in the word of the white man.

During 1865-68 followers of Black Hawk terrorized the settlers, stealing livestock and occasionally killing isolated whites. Because there had been little problem with Tabby's Utes, one of the first acts of the Wasatch Militia was to make peace. According to Joseph S. McDonald, a member of the militia, Captain Wall and 24 men from Heber City took three wagon loads of supplies, plus 100 head of cattle as a gift from Brigham Young, to the reservation as a peace offering. The goods were taken to the Indian Agency on the west fork of the Duchesne River, where the Indians were gathered. Many males had gone to fight with Black Hawk, but tensions remained high. Even Tabby was angry, feeling betrayed by the white man, and he warned of possible trouble. The militia prepared defenses at the agency and waited three days for an attack. About 275 warriors surrounded the area. Tabby was inside the agent's cabin when Captain Wall decided that it was time to talk. For three hours Tabby and Wall negotiated and then met again the next day. At last Tabby agreed to peace and accepted the cattle and supplies. The warriors, still hot for battle, were quieted by Tabby. Some young men were difficult to restrain, though, and incidents of raiding livestock continued. Heber City remained on guard, but for the most part Tabby's followers avoided warfare.

In August 1867, according to John Crook, Chief Tabby and his whole band came to Heber City for a peace feast. Large tables were set up in the bowery, and townswomen made a "good picnic" for Tabby and his people. An ox was roasted barbecue style, and everyone filled up on food. The Indians stayed a few days and then went home with presents of food. This picnic created good will, and there were few raids in Wasatch County afterwards.

By 1868 the Black Hawk War was basically over, and by 1869 most Utes were located on reservation lands. Tabby's good judgment, pragmatism, and ability to compromise won him respect from both sides. However, Tabby-To-Kwanah was not one to sit idly by and watch his people starve when the agents failed to provide necessities. In the spring of 1872, when provisions were inadequate and his people were hungry and frustrated, Tabby, as a sign of protest, led them off the reservation into Thistle Valley in Sanpete County on a hunting trip and to hold their ritual dances. The large group of Utes made the settlers uneasy, but the move got the attention Tabby wanted to make his grievances known. Dan Jones and Dimick Huntington, who were sympathetic with the Utes, convinced Agent Critchlow, Colonel Morrow from Camp Douglas, and local community leaders to meet with the Indians. Tabby explained his people's dissatisfaction with conditions and lack of supplies on the reservation. He said that they would "as soon die fighting as starve." Federal officials assured the Utes that supplies would be sent, and the Utes returned to the reservation. Luckily, for once the promised supplies did arrive. For many years, Tabby continued as an effective leader, serving his people, working for their rights, and maintaining peace.

Sources: Fred A. Conetah, ed. Kathryn L. MacKay and Floyd A. O'Neil, A History of the Northern Ute People (Salt Lake City, University of Utah Press, 1982); Peter Gottfredson, History of Indian Depredations in Utah (Salt Lake City, 1919); William James Mortimer, ed., How Beautiful Upon the Mountains, A Centennial History of Wasatch County (Wasatch County: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, 1963

Warrior Chief Black Hawk & Brigham Young

Utah's Black Hawk War, the result of two very different cultures trying to live on the same land, had a tremendous effect on the Utah pioneers and their leader Brigham Young, and their relationship with Native Americans.

Come and learn all about this war between the Mormon settlers and American Indians, and how the two groups eventually learned to get along, at a press conference sponsored by the Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance Saturday, Feb. 16 at 10:30 a.m. The event will be at the Utah Travel Council's Media Center, located at the EXPO Mart, 230 W. 200 South in Salt Lake City.

The press conference will explore the battles and raids that took place along Utah's U.S. Highway 89, and include excerpts from the documentary "Utah's Black Hawk War: Cultures in Conflict." The documentary features stories told of descendants of those who fought in the war and battle reenactments, and details the life of the American Indian's leader Black Hawk.

Black Hawk had witnessed the American Indian population dwindled to a fourth of what it had been before the settlers arrived. He lead raids of nomadic Utes, Piutes and Goshutes against Mormon settlers for seven years during the war before he was wounded and disappeared. He later returned and helped form a peace treaty.

The Black Hawk War has often been dubbed "Utah's least know war" and was also the only war between American Indians and settlers not fought by federal troops. The government disliked both the Mormons and Indians and refused to intervene. The war began on April 9, 1865, the same day the treaty that ended the Civil War was signed.

"The Black Hawk War has been tucked away, but it really shaped the history of this area, it had a tremendous impact," says Monte Bona, a member of the highway alliance and Sanpete County Heritage Council. "It is also a very sensitive topic because there are so many living descendants of those who fought on both sides."

The war has also been called the "war between neighbors" because it was between settlers and American Indians who had lived side by side for years. Many of the battles took place along U.S. Highway 89, and many of the sites remain untouched.

"The war was also a symbol for how Utah's diverse people have to learn to get along, to seek pace and a way of working and living together," Bona says.

Antenguer, commonly known as Black Hawk ("Swift as the Hawk")

Black Hawk is best known in history for the "wars" -- actually a series of raids -- named after him. These raids, directed against LDS settlers, were the outgrowth of years of stress caused by a widespread depletion in food sources after the harsh winter of 1864-1865. During this time, many Utes were near starvation. 

In the face of grim options, Black Hawk took stock of the situation. Gambling that the LDS would not seek cavalry assistance in the event of violence, he led raids against several LDS towns in the spring of 1865, making off with hundreds of cattle. 

Black Hawk's strategy was correct. LDS leader Brigham Young sent his church's private Nauvoo Militia to deal with the raiding Ute. The better armed, mounted Ute prevailed. Continued raiding forced the evacuation of some LDS settlements and delayed building others. A treaty in 1867 effectively ended the Black Hawk wars, although sporadic violence continued until 1872. 

Ephraim's History
 Typical of the Old West, the history includes an Indian War and a fight for survival from drought, clay soil, and other perils found in a wilderness. Atypical is the story of people who moved here in faith and learned a new language and way of life as they remembered and celebrated the old country while adapting to their new climate and world.
 Why did a people who could barely sustain their existence in a hardpan clay soil build such a solid structure? What motivated them to create a building with thick walls and the classic beauty of a Greek architecture in the middle of a high desert valley? Why did they build their homes to resemble the Scandinavian and English culture in this isolated Western territory that was not even a part of the United States?
 The story of the Ephraim pioneers is the story of the Mormon pioneers whose goal was to build a new Zion to last through generations. They built for beauty as well as practicality, and they built for tomorrow as well as the present.
 We invite you to use your imaginations. Consider a place where all had to work together to survive and thrive, where no one could run to a store if supplies were low, and where faith and hard work sustained the early settlers with the courage to build a future that we enjoy today.
 Ephraim was and remains a significant central community in the history and development of Sanpete County - Sanpete County is almost exactly the center of Utah, and Ephraim is almost its exact center. Of all the communities in Utah, Ephraim is most near the exact geographical center.
 Ephraim got its start in 1854 when residents of Manti moved north to Pine Creek (later Cottonwood Creek). These were joined by settlers uprooted from the Allred community (Spring City) and immigrants from Denmark. Reportedly in the first few years, this diverse group was ìfighting off Indians and grasshoppers and quarreling with each other.î In spite of their differences, the settlers hauled rocks and constructed a fort approximately a square block in size, thus establishing the town or fort of Ephraim. The security of Ephraim's fort drew even more settlers to the area, further diversifying the population to include Danes, Swedes and Norwegians. Perhaps as a compromise, Ephraim took its name from an important figure in the Old Testament.
 Little Fort  was built in 1854. It had one gate and seven feet high walls of sod, willows, rocks and posts. It contained homes, a church, a school and a sawmill within the walls on 1.5 acres. In 1855 a larger fort was built on 17 acres at a cost of $13,000. The walls were 14 feet high and 4 feet thick with two gates. A smaller enclosure was erected inside the fort so the cattle could be brought in for the night. 
 Fort Ephraim played an important role in The Black Hawk Indian War which plagued Sanpete from 1864-67 with its destructive and prolonged conflict. 
 At a meeting with the Indians at Manti, April 9, 1865, an attempt was made to iron out some of the difficulties with an adjacent Ute band. John Lowry of Manti was there. An altercation between John Lowry and a young Indian sub-chief. Yene Wood, developed, and John Lowry dragged the Indian from his horse and administered a sound thrashing. The Indians were enraged and demanded that the person of John Lowry be given over to them. The people of Manti would not give up John Lowry . . . and the war that broke out is known as the Black Hawk War. The Indians were led by a Ute chief known as Black Hawk, not the great Black Hawk known earlier in the eastern part of the country. 
       The Black Hawk war cost the United States Government, according to the late University of Utah Professor, Andrew L. Neff, one and one half million dollars; and the Saints in Central Utah paid heavily in life and property loss. 
 In 1868 Canute Peterson paid a visit to the ailing Chief Black Haw, taking gifts of sugar, hams, bread, beads, molasses, tea, coffee, tobacco, flour, medicines and clothing. The Chief was grateful for the presents and a friendship developed, which put a partial end to the hostilities. In 1868 five important chiefs called at Canute Peterson's  home and established peace pacts. As they talked, Sarah Peterson prepared a meal of the good things that could be brought from the cellar and pantry. After the meal, the chiefs and Canute went across the street and smoked the pipe of peace under the peace treaty tree. The old Juniper tree still stands west of the creek. They agreed that they would not fight as long as water continued to run in the creek. A Black Hawk Peace Treaty marker was erected there in 1987. 
 When Fort Ephraim persisted and the Utes retreated, Ephraim incorporated as a city in 1868 and the town began to prosper. 
 By 1900 ì10,000 acres of magnificent farms, yielding immense crops of golden grain, surrounded the village supporting its people, livestock and mills.î After the arrival of electricity in 1906, Ephraim Canyon (ten miles east) was selected in 1912 as the first forest and range experimental station in the United States, still in operation today. Ephraim is a lively and important social and educational center for Sanpete County with hotels, restaurants, churches, general stores, and many other prominent businesses

 

 

Utah County

Santaquin, Utah Incorporated 1932 Originally named Summit City. Changed to Santaquin in 1856 to honor the Sanpitch Indian chief who late became a farmer and cattle rancher in the area. Chief Black Hawk of the Ute Indian tribe is buried in the foothills near the city. Center of the state's sour cherry and apple industries, the city is surrounded by several fruit packing plants. Largest employer is Olsen's Greenhouse.