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

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Of Ttit

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Utes, and She-be-reachers lived in the eastern and southern part of the Territory, and num- bered over 5000. They did not cultivate the soil but lived by hunting and fishing. They were warlike and constantly migrated from place to place and were a source of great an- noyance to the early inhabitants of the country east of the Wasatch Mountains. After 1861 the Uintah Utes were given approximately 110.000 a year and were encouraged to settle on a large tract of land in the Uintah Valley. Most of them, however, preferred the chase to settling on the lands and cultivating them. The Timpanagos lived in Utah valley and numbered 500 people. The word Utah was applied to most of the Indians inhabitating the Great Basin, and from this tribe Utah derived its name. In the various dialects, Utah is spelled Yutah, Eutaw, Ute, and Spanish Ayote, but the exact meaning of the word is as yet unknown. The Utah Indians committed many depre- dations in the early days. This was due to the fact that they felt keenly, as did all the western tribes, the encroachment of the whites upon their lands. The pioneers of Utah treated them with fairness and justice, and many noble chiefs made lasting peace with the whites. In the early days a few Indians settled on lands and began raising wheat and potatoes. In 1855, Pe-teet-weet, chief of a band of Indians near Springville, made a selection of a large tract of land for a pasture, and numerous treaties were made with the settlers. In September, 1855, a large band of Shoshones met Governor Brigham Young in Salt Lake City and made a treaty of peace in which it was stipulated that they, the Indians, should have lands and should be given rations. The Indians were under a chief named Ti-ba-bo-en-dwart-sa (white man ' s friend ' ) and numbered in all about three hun- dred. In the early spring of that year some of the Utahs and Poh-bantes were taught how to farm. During the year 1855 the people were unable to provide food for the Indians who came to the various settlements begging for (lour. Drought and the grasshoppers had de- stroyed nearly all the crops and the people had a hard time to keep from starving. The Utah Indians lived upon fish, roots, pinion nuts, grass seeds, berries, and small game. In early days the eastern Utes hunted the buffalo with «mHHBHM9HBHHHHBaMBHHMBHKiH PHOTOCRAPH AT DAWN OF A ITE TEPEE. PITCHED IN Till: LOWLANDS OE THE UINTAH BASIN JL i s- t%mLil.. Page 1 1