The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1915-03-23
UTESS
Have Always Given White
Men Trouble
(Kansas City Times)


troublesome tribes of Indians in Ameri-
ca has resided since the white man
| first pushed his solitary way across
the Rocky Mountains. Civilization has
never conquered the Utes. Even today
a band of them is defying the law in
the neighborhood of Navajo Springs,
Colo, and strong posse is being hard
pressed to KEEP thin from painting their
faces and making the war cry resound
in the mountain valleys as 1t did in
the Mid-Western plains a generation
ago.
The word Ute is most commonly
held to designate those Indians near
the Four Corners. EthmolOgists give
the word in much broader meaning.
They class all the Southern tribes of
the Shoshonean stock as Utes. The
Utes, under this classification, spread
south and east fanwise from small
tribe in California near the Nevada
line. The Utes in that section are
known as Diggers In Nevada and Utah
they have various namesWeber Utes,
Uriah Utes, Yam Pah Utes, Fish Utes,
Capote Utes, Tash Utes, Gosh Utes,
Cozaby Pah Utes, Toy Piutes and Pi
utes.
The Utes of Utah, sometimes called
the Utahs, have given the white man
the most trouble. They were nomad-
ic people, making the mountain fast
nesses their favorite living places.
Whites had little intercourse with
them in the early days. Pike met a
few, who were friendly 10 him because
of their greater enmity toward the
Mexicans. 1t was 1850 before the Utes
made their first treaty with Uncle
Sam.
They knew little or nothing of agri-
culture. Fish was prominent food
with them. Dried fish and ponies serve
as currency among the Utes. 1t was
only the poorest of the Utes who did
not own a string of ponies. They
were inveterate thieves and kept their
| uefuS TeCTulIcu ny id'uo oH WHitc anu
exican settlements
The Mormons wisely gave the Utes q
wide berth. At that time the Indians
! were doing thriving slave trade
with exicans, whites and other In
dian tribes.
The Wild hard fighting Utes would
ride like whirlwind into some vii
lage of another Indian tribe at day
break. Men would be killed; womer
and children driven off to be sold into
slavery. A Ute warrior had no com
junction about including his own wifi.
and children when the slaves were
sold. Early Utah laws made this trade
legitimate and farmers generally OBJ
tanned their household laborers by pur
I chase from the Utes.
t After the Civil War the great tide o
: immigration began to break on thu
:. Ute boundaries. They viewed the on
coming whites with sullen disfavor
:. Sporadic outbreaks were attended b.
loss of many white lives. The indians
+ went deeper into the hills, announc
ing their temperance only by whoop
Z and the flash of the war hatchet.
An attempt was made to turn tn
!. Utes to ways of civilization. The
!, made excellent reed baskets and blaI
|, kets, both arts learned from the NOR
peaceful Indians to the south. Indial
Commissioners offered these for sale 4
:, the settlements. But the Utes wOul
. remain quiet for a few months only.
In 1878 the nothernmost Piute
Joined the Bannock Indians in wa
II against the whites. Chief Egan, of tn
Piutes, led the federated Indians. Ger
eral o. o. Howard conducted lon
drawn compaign before peace came
Two years later the southern Piute
II and Utes We're on the rampage Color
el Dodge was sent against them The
were subdued.
Each subjugation, however, SCENE
to fire the Indians to another attemr
to shake OFF the white mans rul'
ANtdily every year saw iiioit soit VI u
uprising, Sometimes it was only
few young bucks from single trib,
% Again the dog soldiers from doze
" villages would sweep down on som
" settlement.
u 1t continued up to 1906, when
whole tribe of Utes announced it wa
u tired of GOyernment control and Lei
~ Utah for Wyoming. The Indians Sc
70 tied on the South Fork of the Plat
u and gave out that they would fight b.
J" fore they would return. United State
!" cavalry surrounded them and move
II them to other quarters. IT. was In 19C
" before they could be induced to r.
10 turn to Utah.
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