American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1858-01-08
THE UTAH ARMY.
Brigham Ioumg's Unsuccessful Ad-
pdnces to tie Shoshones Indians

pdnces TO tie ShoSh0nes Indians
-Sufer'm9s Of the Expedition.
A letter To the New Orleans Picay.
une. f'om the Utah Expedition camp
on the Sweetwater furnishes some in
teres'i"g details. The writer ssys:
brigham Young has been ve,y anx-
lous to secure the aid and CO operation
OF the Indian tribes nf Utah and it's vi
emily IN his present Reasonable and rot
oelli0us opposition To the Governm sut
~ the Uniied States. ! have il from
the best auih"Ii,y thst he spared no .f.
forts to induce Wsh sa kee, the Chief
OF the great Shoshonee or Snake Tube.
10 become his confederate, promising
any amount of -four, provisions, &C., for
himself and tribe. if he would only side
WIN tho Mormons in the apr oaching
contest. But old Wah.sa kee, who, fuI
one OF his race, is ve,y intelligent aud
wise man, was meth OF to he csjnled nor
irveigie ed ny The sanity Brigham. or
br'hed by his -four aud bran, into enter.
ing into any such league with him.
His reply 10 Brigham have from
one perfectly familiar with the Shes,
h"nee language, aud who was present
and heard it. Tho skin Of tho Mnrmons
Is white, that of the blue coats is slso
White. My skin is dark. will war
With none of the white race if white
man strikes me, will not return the
blow. Ii The MoImons will FIGHT the
blue.coats, Wa sa.kee will stand upon
hill aud look on, but will take no pari.
His skin is dark. and he will no, fpb,
with the white man. The skin Of the
Grow aud the Sioux are dark like his
nwn. aud ifihey trespass upon his hunt
ing grounds with them he will fuht.'-
When The armed bands of Mormon
marauders made their appearance on
Green River and the Sandy, Wah.sa.
Ree and his people Withdrew from there
and pitched their lodges on the north
OF The Wind River mountains.
As tho Shnshoueos are powerful
aud numerous uihe, and as the scene of
the operations of the army would To a
great extent be- in their country, il WA
deemed advisable by Col. Johnson IN
have an interview with Wah-sa-kce tn
c"ntirm him III his good intentions and
I" assure him that hi~ people would nu,
be m"lested or inte, feied with so long
as they pursued the wise and prudent
course he had deter mined upop. A
runner was consequently dispatched af.
Ter the Chief, and the next evening he
| MADE his appearance. with three or
| lour OF MS tube. at our camp, and Col
johnson, aud he had grand pow WOW.
which, believe, was highly satiseacro-
ry TO both sides. Old Wah sa.kee is n
splendid specimen OF his race, with a
most expressive and intelligent face.
Que thing | was surprised to learn
with regard To this mountain tribe
whose county is mostly on the Pacific
slope, and that is that The Shoshonee
on Snake language is identical with that
ofthe Camanches Of Texas. An intel.
| ligent frenchman. who has resided a
long time on Green River, and had
much intercourse with the Shoshonees,
inf"Ims me that there is a tradition o.
mong them that many years ago por-
i"h az me Sh"sh"ners separated from
the tribe and wandered on To The plains
OF the South East aud there became a
nation more numerous than those " no
remained behind in the mountains.
The weather is so extremely cold
that 1t would be utterly out of the aues.
ton TOR any one To attempt to write
without a fire. have fabricated a
! stove out of an old camp kettle. AS
IL could not he used at all in wall
tent, nm occupying a common tent;
one OF the bell pattern now in use in
tho army. with an aperture on the top
for ventilation, which may be opened
or closed Il, will. by making this serve
as chimney, my camp kettle stove
works admirably as long as can man.
age To- keep the fire in bright blaze,
but as s"on az it gees down the thing
smokes wo,se than u Tar kiln. so that |
am kept in a delightful slate ofoscila.
ton between death by freezing aud
! death by suffncatinn. This li,tIe ex.
Plana'ion may account for any incohe.
rency of style illegibiity nf manuscript
which may be n"iiced in this letter, for
j, il written most empharically under
difficulties.