University of Utah - Utonian Yearbook (Salt Lake City, UT)

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Tlie Story of £he Utes By Levi Edgar Young Tllli Indians of Utah were first mentioned and described by the Franciscan priest, lather Escalante, when he made his memorable journey into the Great Basin in 1776. I lis descriptions of the manners and customs of the various tribes whom he met will always remain a valuable contribution to our local history. The Indians of Utah are tribes of the Sho- shonian family, one of the largest in the United States. The Shoshones occupied almost the entire intermountain region, extending from the Rocky Mountains to the Sierra Nevada. Dur- ing the early part of the nineteenth century they manifested no desire to settle on fixed lands, but roamed from valley to valley, kill- ing game and using the hides of beaver and buffalo for clothing. The Utahs, Paiutes, Comanches, and the Moquis of Arazinoa are the important tribes of the Shoshonian family. Of the Utah Indians there were the Elk Moun- tain Utahs; the Pah-Vants on the Sevier Lake; the Sanpitches; the Tash-Utah in northern Arizona; the Uintah-Utahs in the Uintah Val- ley reserve; the Weber-Utahs northeast of Salt Lake; and the Yampah-Utahs along the Green River in eastern Utah. The Pai-Ute or Pah- Utah Indians lived in western Utah and Nevada, and a branch of these were the Digger Indians, perhaps the lowest in intellect and so- cial life of all the western tribes. In 1863 the Northwestern, Western, and Goship bands of Shoshones numbered about 3000, and were induced to remain peaceful by the Government which furnished them clothing, food, and articles suitable to their wants as hunters and herdsmen. They cultivated some small farms of their own. The Weber Utes lived in the vicinity of Salt Lake City, and the San Pitches, numbering in 1872 about 300, lived in the valleys east of the Timpanagoes, and subsisted by hunting and fishing. The Yampa Utes, Pledes, Piutes, Elk Mountain l IT (IIIITTAINS ORGANIZING MiK P KM)1 l THL L1NTAII IUSIN INDUSTRIAL CONVENTION Jf--.- Page 10