The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1909-01-16

the smoke of which escaped through an opening in
the roof and the interstices of the sides. At times
when the winds rushed into the valley from the can
yons the smoke became dense that the women
and children were forced to lie low with their faces
to the earth breathing as best they could. Within
these wretched shacks there were no separate rooms
or divisions, no beds, no seats, no convenience Of
any kind save the earth the skins of wild ami
mails captured in the chase. They supported life
on fish, the flesh of wild animals and reptiles, on
grubs and roots and, in season, on seeds, berries
and wild fruits.
They knew nothing of bread, salt, pepper su-
gar vegetables.
In the men roamed entirely naked or
only the breech cloth, the women dressed more
decently, but the boys and girls under ten or eleven
years went nude.
The care of the hut, the cutting and gathering
of fire wood, the dressing of skins, in fact the
drudgery of the camp among the Utes as among all
savages was the woman's portion. She and her chill
dren gathered the wild berries and seeds. grubbed
for worms and field mice, cut and carried the wild
sage and cooked the food. Knowing nothing of pot
or oven she either dug hole in the ground which
she pastered and fired. or found hollow block of
wood, which served her for stove and fireplace
With stones heated in fire she boiled the wa.
ter iii the hole or hollow block and threw in scraps
of rabbit flesh fragments of snakes and reptiles
handfulls Of seed and pieces of deer meat, and ON
this stew fed her husband and children.
This husband posed as hunter and warrior and
his warriors dignity would not permit him to stoop
to mental work; his time given to sothful ease,
to gambling, gosspng with his neighbors, to fight
ing hunting attending feasts where he danced
all night and devoured everything set before him
When the weather was very cold and storms were
in the valley he sat on bear skin by the fire fash
ioning bows and arrows, rat and rabbit sticks and
making traps and nets. He made his own weapons
offensive and defensive his shield of the buffalo
hide, his spear and club, his scalping knife of
flint. his scalp shirt, war bonnet and fcsher.
The Ute warrior had all the tightening qualities
and characteristics of the American Indian When
he entered on the warpath in summer he wore tho
brech clout and moccasins and in winter the skim
tunc, bat winter summer, when about to close
with his enemy, he stripped to the nude and fro
quently entered the fight with his body creased
Suspended from his neck or hidden in his hair was
his medicine bag within which was feather
claw of All animal. head of bird or some sacred
powder. If killed in the fray and his party de-
feated, his scalp was torn from his head and his
body deyoured by his enemy or left upon the field
to be eaten by wolves
Over the weaker tribes whom they had con
quered or defeated in battle the Utcs manifested a
hauty and domineering attitude, and when they
secured and learned how to manage horses-stolen
probably. from the Hopis of northeastern Arizona
from the pueblo Indians of the upper Rio Grande
they became insulting and defiant. But when they
we're whipped by the Spaniards by the Com
anches and driven to the mountains they became
mob of towards and poltroons.
Of their organization and numbers in early
Spanish times we have positive information
The Ute nation may have organized into CON
federacy of tribes for mutual protection, like the
six tribes of the Iroquos those of the Apache
2ut we have no proof of it. As they boasted TO be
lbe 10 throw three thousand warriors into action