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The White Mesa Utes
Robert S. McPherson and Mary Jane Yazzie
Billy Mike, the oldest living resident of the White Mesa Ute community,
sat comfortably and slowly ran his fingers through his silver hair.
The thick glasses perched upon his nose served more as a token of past
vision than as an aid to see today's world. Blind in one eye, and with
failing sight in the other, he moved about slowly with the assistance of a
cane. His life of ninety- some- odd years had spanned a period of transition
for the Ute people. At times, his mind wandered clearly over events
from the past, while at other times his memory became clouded. But
there was no doubt as he remembered his people's association with the
land before it had been divided and controlled by the white man. He
recalled, " No one really owned the land. It was like it owned us— the Ute
( Nuche) people." 1 This relationship of which he spoke— of land and
people— went back, according to tribal accounts, to the beginning of time,
when the gods played a part in establishing the Ute's domain.
Following the creation of the world, the gods contained the people
of the earth in a large sack. The Shin- au- av brothers, Pavits and Skaits,
received the bag with the instructions to carry it unopened to the center
of the world. However, curiosity overwhelmed Shin- au- av Skaits, who
opened the bag and then watched many humans flee from its confines.
Tav- woats, another god, saw what was happening, angrily resealed the
bag, and took the remaining people to the only place left: the desert and
mountains of the Four Corners region. 2 There he released them to settle
in the area to become the Paiutes and Southern Utes— known as Nuche,
Nutc, or Nunts, and translated as " The People." Various versions of this
story exist; each band of Utes and Paiutes tells of how the sack was opened
in their particular territory, thus creating the " homeland" of all the
groups. 3
Historic and anthropological sources paint a different picture. Based
upon their studies, the Numic- speaking peoples entered the Four Cor-
— 225—
— 226— A History of Utah's American Indians
ners area close to the time of its abandonment by the Anasazi, roughly
between A. D. 1200 and 1300. Exactly when and where these Native Americans
came from is still open to debate. Most scholars agree that the initial
homeland of Uto- Aztecan speakers was in the area of Death Valley in
southern California. Some 3- 5,000 years ago this language family started
to diversify into nine major groups known today. Numic speakers comprised
one of these divisions, which includes the language spoken by
today's Utes and Paiutes. Fanning out from their central location, these
two groups moved northeasterly; but they remained on the edge of the
Great Basin until about 1,000 years ago, when they moved rapidly into
the basin and eventually onto the neighboring Colorado Plateau. Their
language became increasingly diversified as splits in groups occurred,
one anthropologist suggesting that the Utes separated from the Southern
Paiutes 400 years ago as they settled in the Four Corners region. 4
Today, the two languages are still mutually intelligible. Southern Utes
and Southern Paiutes recognize dialectical differences in speech, one Ute
informant saying that the Paiutes' language is more " clipped" or abbreviated
and that the Paiutes accused the Utes of " talking fancy." This goes
along with the general pattern of the Southern Paiutes' consideration of
the Utes as their " fancy" cousins, who went off to the plains and learned
" everything." 5
The archaeological and ethnographic record of Ute and Paiute entrance
into the Four Corners area is vague. Campsites and material remains
are difficult to find and differentiate from those left by earlier
peoples because of the small amount of pottery, nondescript dwellings,
and limited technology necessitated by a hunting- and- gathering lifestyle.
The analysis is made even more difficult by the Utes' practice of utilizing
other peoples' camps and material remains. 6 Robert Euler, a noted Paiute
historian, suggests that there were two migrations of Numic speakers
into Nevada and Utah. The first one took place around the beginning of
the Christian era, the second more than one thousand years later, around
A. D. 1150, this last movement possibly causing the resident Anasazi to
withdraw into larger, more defensible sites. At the same time, Paiute culture
became quite stable, with few changes in lifestyle and technology
until well into the late nineteenth century. Some archaeologists place the
date of this entry later, during the 1300s. 7
The San Juan Band Paiutes and Southern Utes were part of this eastward
movement of people who entered present- day San Juan County.
The effect the intrusion had on the Anasazi is questionable, but some
authors suggest that the reason for the sudden expansion of Numic speak-
The White Mesa Utes — 227—
ers into the Great Basin and onto the Colorado Plateau occurred because
of severe droughts during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Some
anthropologists believe that this first could have caused relocation within,
then evacuation of, those areas by the agriculturally oriented puebloans.
Numic speakers, better adapted to surviving the rigors of a desert environment,
filled the occupation gaps left by the migrating Fremont and
Anasazi cultures. In support of this theory, it is interesting to note that
the Anasazi abandoned a well- developed community at Navajo Mountain
by A. D. 1270, evidence suggesting not that the Paiutes forced a withdrawal
but that they could have been present when it occurred. 8
How Southern Utes and Paiutes view the Anasazi helps to partially
support this contention. They call the Anasazi the muukwitsi, meaning
" the dead" and believe that the dead, their spirits, and spiders are interrelated.
This then helps explain why spiders often haunt the ruins. Utes
use the same name to refer to the Hopi, " Moqiii" ( pronounced Mawkwi,
not Mokee)— a term applied only to this pueblo group and which seems
to have entered general usage following the Dominguez- Escalante expedition
of 1776 that depended heavily upon Numic speakers for guides.
According to some Ute informants, there never was conflict with the
Anasazi; among other things, they shared a language that could almost
be understood. The Utes also tell how they would only see their neighbors
sporadically because the Anasazi appeared " like phantoms and would
be seen at a distance or be heard to scream, but would disappear into the
pinyon when a Ute approached." 9
Some scholars argue that the Utes and Paiutes were not even in the
region at this time ( A. D. 1300). One explanation of migratory trends
places Numic speakers in southwestern Utah some 430 years ago ( about
1560), in southeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado 370 years ago,
moving along the Rio Grande 330 years ago, and out on the Great Plains—
their easternmost expansion— some 300 years ago. 10 All of these dates
are speculative, but few people would argue with the point that by the
1500s the Utes and Paiutes of San Juan County were in their general
historic setting.
By the early 1600s, Spanish reports indicated that there were Utes
living in northwestern Arizona, north of the Colorado and San Juan Rivers,
and in eastern Colorado. 11 Early accounts do not provide exact distinctions
between different Numic speakers— the Utes, Paiutes, and
Chemehuevi all being designated by the Spanish as " Yutas." Today, however,
a clearer understanding provides knowledge of the three bands that
comprise the Southern Utes. Starting from the east there were the Muache,
— 228- A History of Utah's American Indians
living in the Denver area; the Capote in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains
of Colorado and south to Taos, New Mexico; and the Weenuche, who
ranged from the Dolores River in the east to the Colorado River in the
north and west to the San Juan River in the south. 12 All of these groups
were highly mobile and visited far into the Great Basin, throughout the
Colorado Plateau, and onto the Great Plains.
Some confusion concerning names exists in the historic record.
Anthropologists and historians have collectively lumped the three aforementioned
bands together under the title of Southern Utes. To the Ute
people in southeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado today, however,
this title properly refers only to those living on the Southern Ute reservation
headquartered in Ignacio, Colorado. In this chapter, this name will
be used in the broader, collective sense. The Weenuche Band's name also
has been misrepresented. The literature concerning this group refers to
them as the " Weeminuche" with a variety of spellings— Wimonuntci,
Weminutc, Guibisnuches, Guiguimuches, Wamenuches, and others— that
has evolved over the period of time since white contact. It likely was introduced
as an inside or intertribal joke that puns on a word associated
with sexual activity. For whatever reason it was started, the use of the
word has become entrenched among scholars but is not accepted by many
of the Ute people it refers to. Thus, the term Weenuche, describing the
band of Southern Utes who inhabit southeastern Utah, is used here. 13
The second group of Numic speakers in this area is the San Juan
Band Paiute. Historically, they have been the least understood of an already
amorphous group. Southern Paiute territory centered in southwestern
Utah and Nevada, with its most eastward extension pushing into
the Monument Valley region of the Utah- Arizona border. Sixteen identifiable
bands comprise the Paiute tribe, with the San Juan Band being the
only group to occupy lands south and east of the Colorado River. Perhaps
this is why their name has been translated as " people being over on
the opposite side" or as the " San Juan River People." 14
William Palmer, during his interviews with Paiutes around Cedar
City in 1928, found those Paiutes had only a slight knowledge of groups
existing in southeastern Utah, his informants indicating that these people
were called "' Nau- wana- tats,' which to the Pahutes [ sic] means fighters
or wrestlers. If there is a tribe of this name, the Indians interviewed think
they are in the San Juan Country." 15 This vagueness underscores the fact
that there was little cohesiveness between certain bands and that the area
of southeastern Utah was peripheral to major Paiute activity. The San
Juan Band may be subdivided into the Tatsiwinunts, who ranged over
The White Mesa Utes — 229—
The Utes have always been a mobile and adaptive people. Those in this
photograph show their acceptance of the Plains Indian lifestyle with its
dependence on horses, use of war bonnets, and distinctive beadwork. ( Utah
State Historical Society— USHS)
the area between Tuba City and Navajo Creek, and the Kai- boka- dot-tawip-
nunts in the Navajo Mountain area. 16
By 1935, Palmer's interest in this elusive group had peaked. Accompanied
by a Paiute translator, he visited Allen Canyon, home of the alloted
Ute/ Paiute faction in southeastern Utah, to determine exactly how
" Paiute" and how " Ute" these people were. He reported that he was " surprised,
almost amazed, to find this long isolated band speaking more
nearly pure Pahute than some of the clans that attend the tribal saparovan
[ council] every year and do much visiting back and forth every summer."
17 The sacred stories, told by an esteemed raconteur, or Narraguinip,
were also identical to those of other Paiute bands.
Today, family groups such as the Dutchies, Cantsees, Lehis, and Poseys
have Paiute roots that extend back to the Douglas Mesa- Monument Valley-
Navajo Mountain area, while other families such as the Ketchums,
Mikes, Hatches, and Eyetoos are more closely related to the Weenuche or
Ute Mountain Utes living at Towaoc. Until the mid- 1920s, the three main
permanent camps of Numic speakers in southeastern Utah were at Navajo
Mountain ( Paiute), Allen Canyon ( predominantly Paiute, but with
a significant mix of Ute), and Montezuma Canyon ( predominantly
— 230— A History of Utah's American Indians
Weenuche Ute). 18 This point should not be stressed too heavily, however,
since a great deal of intermarriage, trade, and social interaction characterized
all three groups.
The major distinction between the Utes and Paiutes living in this
area was cultural, not linguistic, affected by the environment and accompanying
technology. There was no clear line of demarcation. Paiutes
operated in family groups, and, when resources allowed, came together
as bands. They hunted and gathered in an austere desert land, had no
centralized chieftain, no collective religious practices, and no common
goal or practice ( other than survival) that would unite the different
groups. The Utes started from the same cultural roots, but with the utilization
of the horse in the mid- to- late 1600s and the development of
aspects of Plains Indian culture those groups farthest east started to
change. The Weenuche, farthest to the west, were the last to adopt these
practices from their fellow tribal members. For reasons of simplicity, this
amalgamation of groups will be referred to here generally as Utes.
The interaction with the land by these people spoke of deep cultural
ties. Though they have not been as well documented as some historic
groups, the Utes placed names and endowed the land and its creatures
with significance. General descriptive names of places in southeastern
Utah include Water Canyon or River- Flowing- from- the- Sunrise ( San Juan
River), Sagebrush Canyon or Crows Canyon ( Montezuma Canyon), Slick
Rock Mound ( Comb Ridge), Two Rocks Canyon ( Cow Canyon), Bitter
Root Mountain ( Sleeping Ute Mountain), and Where- the- Sun- Sets- Last
( Mount Tukuhnikivats in the La Sal Mountains). 19 Mancos ( Jim) Mesa
and the Spanish Mossback mesas were said to have been " fortified strongholds"
for the Utes, who in time of troubles would barricade themselves
within the steep, rocky slopes and walls of these mesas. 20 Blue Mountain,
Standing- Alone- Mountain ( Navajo Mountain), and the La Sals have all
been identified as Ute places of worship.
There are also stories that teach values about the land. For instance,
Sleeping Ute Mountain near Cortez, Colorado, is said to be one of seven
giants who protected the Utes from other tribes' gods during the times
of the myths. He then grew tired, fell into a deep sleep, and there will
remain until he is again needed. The mountain is said to be inhabited by
supernatural beings who are appealed to through prayer and ceremony.
There are many other teachings from the Utes that look at the land
through religious or philosophical eyes. Tales are tinged with supernatural
and mystical experiences that imbue the Four Corners region with a
power and sense of divine meaning pre- dating contemporary humans.
The White Mesa Utes — 231—
For instance, in the time of the myths it is said that the chief of all the
Utes lost his wife and did not know where to look for her. Tav- woats, a
supernatural being, answered his prayers by taking the man to the land
of the dead to locate her. The god rolled a great magical ball of fire before
them, cutting the earth and its mountains, creating a path upon which
the two could walk. The husband arrived in the land of the dead, saw
how happy his wife was, and returned to the living after being cautioned
that he should not walk upon this trail again. Tav- woats ensured that
humans kept this law by forming a river in the trail— known today as the
Colorado River and the Grand Canyon. 21
Another story tells of how the gods gave the Indians fire by placing it
in every visible form. When a tree or grass burns, it is the fire coming
out, and when sparks fly from a rock, it is releasing the power trapped
long ago. Yet another tale tells how pieces of petrified wood are the remains
of a fight between the sun and another supernatural being. The
two battled on the ground and in the air; their lightning arrow shafts
turned into petrified wood, while the missiles hurled by the sun remain
as cobblestones. Since the rainbow was the weapon used against the sun,
it is now found on the other side of the sky, away from the fiery orb. In
another legend, a bear tells the Utes that he is heading to the Bears Ears
country because that is where he will find " bull- grass, strawberries and
good eating." 22 Thus, physical forms upon the land often held a deep
mythological significance for the Utes.
Spiritual beings also reside on the mesas and in the canyons, where
they either hide or show deer and elk to hunters who have prepared themselves
through ritual. If these little people are seen, the individual must
leave a blanket, food, or some other useful object and then depart. By
saying nothing about this incident, the person is guaranteed good fortune
in the future. Utes also held healing rites in what is now called
Babylon Pasture, Peavine Canyon, and on the Bears Ears because of the
supernatural power invested in the landscape. 23
The People, as part of the larger ecosystem, blended the religious
with the pragmatic side of survival in an austere land. Different family
groups would join together for hunting and gathering. Each of these bands
would have a leader, selected as a man who made wise decisions in knowing
where to obtain food and how to keep the group out of trouble. The
size of these groups would vary from one to ten families; but, as the People
lost more and more land to white encroachment, they were forced together
into smaller concentrations, primarily in Montezuma and Allen
Canyons.
— 232— A History of Utah's American Indians
Each of these bands often would have a spiritual leader who understood
the supernatural powers associated with the land and how to best
appeal to them. He would go to these " power points" during the season
of use and on behalf of his group would pray, leave an offering, and ask
for help. Individual prayer by the general members of the band was also
practiced, but not at the " power point" used by the medicine man. 24 Different
types of spirits were believed to live in caves, rocks, springs, rivers,
mountains, and other places and could provide help or harm depending
upon how they are treated. These same powers as well as those associated
with animals, plants, and natural phenomena such as whirlwinds,
the moon, and lightning may also " transmit the high voltage of supernatural
power to humble practitioners or doctors." 25 The location of
specific power sites is not general knowledge and should be discussed
only with those who have a need to know.
The life of a nineteenth- century Ute, before intense white contact
forced drastic changes, was tied closely to the rhythms of nature. The
People followed a seasonal pattern of migration that was carefully bound
to the plants and animals ready for harvest in an area. Not surprisingly,
water and grass played a dominant role. The people selected campsites
based upon the availability of springs, streams, and rivers for drinking
water, grass for livestock, firewood and trees for shelter, and lower elevations
to avoid the deep snows of winter. Just as the deer moved down
from the higher elevations in the late fall, the People would follow the
same pattern, descending to valley or canyon floors where shelter and
more abundant food were available.
This natural cycle was incorporated into the descriptive names given
to the seasons of the year. For example, fall was called " leaves turning
yellow" winter " heavy snow" or " hard times month" spring " snow melting"
and summer " leaves coming out" or " much warmer for growing
things." Three spring months had specific titles: March, " warm days beginning";
April, " green grass appearing"; and May, " mother of the two
preceding months." The People started their move back to the mountains
at the time " when the doves sound soft." 26
The Utes established their winter camps in locations such as
Montezuma Canyon, with its neighboring Cross, Squaw, and Benow
Canyons; Dry Valley; Harts Draw; Beef Basin; Westwater and Cottonwood
Canyons; Butler Wash; White and Douglas Mesas; and along the
San Juan River— especially in the vicinity of Bluff and Sand Island. As
the weather warmed and the grasses appeared, streams like La Sal, Deer,
Coyote, Two Mile, Hop, Geyser, Taylor, and Beaver on the La Sal Moun-
The White Mesa Utes — 233—
tains and Spring, North and South Montezuma, Cottonwood, Recapture,
and Indian Creeks poured off Blue Mountain. Numerous springs
such as Dodge, Piute, and Peters also invited the Utes to scatter and camp
as they searched for food. 27 Favorite areas to plant small garden plots in
corn, beans, squash, and melons were in Montezuma and Allen Canyons,
Indian Creek, Paiute Farms, and Paiute Canyon.
Deer played the most important part in the Ute economy. Besides
providing food, the deer supplied hides to be fashioned into clothing or
traded with other tribes, especially the Navajo. The People prepared a
deerskin by first stitching it on a willow hoop, scraping off the fat and
flesh with a serrated bone scraper fashioned from a deer leg, rubbing
deer brains into the hide, rinsing it in water, re- stretching it, and, if desired,
rubbing it with either a yellow root or smoking it over a fire to
soften it. 28
Favorite hunting places for deer and other large animals were Elk
Ridge and the La Sal, Blue, Navajo, and Sleeping Ute Mountains, while
pronghorn were hunted in the Dry Valley area. Elk, desert bighorn and
mountain sheep, wild turkey, rabbits, badger, beaver, bear, and fish added
to the diet. Women gathered many of the edible wild plants, including
pine nuts, chokecherries, yucca fruit, Indian ricegrass, wild onions and
potatoes, sunflower seeds, bullrushes, serviceberries, and raspberries. 29
Homes reflected the needs of a mobile hunting- and- gathering society.
Tepees, and later canvas tents, served as the winter home of the Utes.
Construction included a four- pole base frame with ten poles total, the
dwelling standing ten feet high with an average diameter of fourteen feet.
Elk or deer hides stitched together, and later canvas or muslin covers,
were wrapped around the frame and fastened in the front with skewers.
Brush wickiups, based on the four- pole pattern or with poles leaned
against a tree, provided shelter in the summer time. 30
Exposure to sickness was an ever- present possibility for the People,
whose health practices included as much religious and spiritual curing
as physical, tangible medicine. Ute beliefs, for instance, centered around
the shaman, usually a man, who received his healing power either through
a charm obtained from an older medicine man or through dreams provided
by supernatural beings. The dreams gave secret information concerning
power within animals, plants, and natural elements that the shaman
could invoke for good. He often learned these healing rites through
repeated dreams received during the years of puberty. These supernatural
teachings could not be denied, but they also could not be divulged,
charging him with a lifelong responsibility of service.
A History of Utah's American Indians
A Ute Bear Dance being performed on the Uintah- Ouray Reservation in 1924
and photographed by Olive Burt. ( USHS)
A typical Ute healing ceremony consisted of the medicine man using
the information about paraphernalia or other measures he received
in his dream to chant, pray, suck out, and otherwise exorcise the evil
afflicting the sick person. Usually he performed at night, either in his or
the patient's home. Stripped to the waist, the medicine man used sleight
of hand, dancing feathers, and personal attacks on the illness. Inside the
shaman was a small being, or powa'a, that directed the use of power and
swallowed the sickness when it was removed by sucking from the patient.
If the powa'a was misused or became angry it could turn on the
practitioner, calling for blood and causing illness or witchcraft. 31
Herbs and plants also played an important role in healing. Ute patients
drank tea brewed from sagebrush leaves; a sore throat was treated
by boiling pinyon sap with grease and then applying it externally on the
neck; the roots and flowers of sand puff remedied stomach and bowel
problems; spearmint leaves cured an upset stomach; and gum plant served
as a cough syrup. Non- plant remedies included putting breast milk on a
nursing baby's sore eyes, sugar on large cuts to stop bleeding, skunk grease
on chapped hands and feet, and horse urine on pustules that broke and
caused itching. Tobacco was used as a pain reliever for a decayed tooth.
Later, a sore throat was swabbed with baking powder. 32 In a world domi-
The White Mesa Utes — 235—
nated by spirits and the possibility of physical harm, the Utes fortified
themselves against the trials of life.
One aspect of the social and religious life of the People is the Bear
Dance, traditionally performed in the spring. Symbolically, it was a ceremony
taught by a bear to the Utes to help the animals awaken from
hibernation and to strengthen the relationship between man and this
very powerful creature. The brush circle in which the dance is performed
is called " cave of sticks" and is constructed of cottonwood limbs, juniper
boughs, and sagebrush. The structure opens to the east and represents a
bear's den, while the rasping sound of a wooden stick dragged across
another serrated stick represents the noises of a bear.
The Bear Dance is believed to be the only dance to have originated
specifically with the Utes. Bluff, Montezuma Canyon, and Allen Canyon
were the three sites where the dance was traditionally held in southeastern
Utah. The gathering in the spring was a social event where young
people could meet, marriage partners be selected, and elders discuss hunting
and gathering plans of the various groups. The rebirth and fertility
of nature were themes echoed throughout the feasting and dancing. Once
the activity ended, the People dispersed to their individual group locations
to hunt and gather. Today, the Bear Dance is held in the fall at White
Mesa in order to accomodate dances and ceremonies to Ute people in
other locations.
An important ceremony practiced by the Ute Mountain Utes to which
the People of southeastern Utah have been invited and in which they
have participated is the Sun Dance. Although not of Ute origin, this ceremony
embodies many important teachings derived from supernatural
beings. As with the Bear Dance, it is held in a cottonwood- and- brush
enclosure that opens to the east. In the center is a large, erect pole with
four scarves— one red to represent the earth, one yellow for the sun, white
for daylight, and black for darkness— all of which are offerings to the
four directions. Before dancing, men go to a sacred spot where they fast
for four days to determine if the gods have selected them. If a man dreams
three times about participating, it is considered that he has a special purpose
in life to fulfill and will be attended by his guardian spirit. The power
derived from the performance of the dance ensures that food will be
plentiful, the sick and afflicted will be healed, and that supernatural beings
are pleased with the sacrifice. Although this ceremony was introduced
to the Ute Mountain Utes at a fairly late date— between 1890 and
1910— it has held deeply significant religious values for the People. 33
Even in this brief survey of Ute economic, social, and religious prac-
— 236— A History of Utah's American Indians
tices, one sees clearly their dependence upon, and interconnectedness
with, the land. Because of the advancing white frontier, however, control
of this key factor in their life could not be maintained indefinitely. The
history of the Utes in southeastern Utah attests to an initially friendly
relationship with whites that changed as ownership and use of the land
became increasingly challenged. Then, conflict against overwhelming
odds became a way of life for the embattled Utes. Loss of the land resulted
in an impoverished and embittered people. To understand this
process, one must return to the earliest recorded contacts between the
People and the Spanish in the Four Corners region.
In 1712 the governor of New Mexico, Juan Ignacio Flores Mogollon,
forbade Spanish traders from venturing into Ute lands, which lay generally
in northern New Mexico and in Colorado and Utah. 34 Not until
June 1765 did Governor Tomas Velez de Cachupin grant special permission
for Juan Maria Antonio Rivera to travel into Indian country. How
many others had preceded Rivera is unknown, but part of the decision
to bend official policy sprang from the governor's wish to find a crossing
of the Colorado River, to identify the local Indian groups en route, and
to determine their attitude toward the Spanish. Another reason was to
discover if there was truth to the rumor that silver deposits existed in the
area. This seemed possible, since a Ute named Wolfskin from that region
had appeared in Abiquiu carrying a small silver ingot. More precious
metals might be found, and so Rivera, in the guise of a trader with a
small expedition, set out in search of mineral wealth and a trail.
Following old Indian paths, Rivera and his party arrived at the Los
Pinos River in Colorado, where he found an adobe retort used to reduce
the impurities in gold. Rivera took some of the bricks with him as proof,
then sent four Spaniards and a Ute guide to locate Wolfskin. The party
traveled from the Dolores River to Cross Canyon, then down an old Ute
trail in Montezuma Canyon to the San Juan River. There they met a band
of " wild Payuchis" living in ten lodges on the bank near present- day
Montezuma Creek. One of the band jumped into the water and waded
out to midstream where he used sign language to ascertain the Spaniards'
intent. The groups established peaceful relations, and three days
later the Ute leader Chino accompanied the explorers back to the main
camp on the Dolores. He said that Wolfskin had recently left for his home
on the La Plata River, and cautioned that the heat and lack of water would
make the trip to the Colorado River in July dangerous for the Spaniards.
However, he said, if they would return in the fall, he would guide them to
their destination.
The White Mesa Utes — 237—
Rivera, happy with his discovery, went back to Santa Fe, received
permission and additional instructions to find a ford of the Rio del Tizon
( Colorado River), outfitted another group, and returned by a more direct
route to the Dolores River. From there, the party crossed into Utah
northeast of Monticello on October 6, proceeded to the base of the La
Sal Mountains, then moved to Spanish Valley and the present site of Moab.
The recent discovery of Rivera's detailed journal indicates that the Utes
did all they could to discourage and lead astray the expedition. The Ute
guide took them into the rough country of Indian Creek, Harts Draw,
and part of present- day Canyonlands National Park before another Ute
led them on a more direct route. The party eventually took a high trail
on the western slopes of the La Sals before dropping down into Castle
Creek and finding a crossing place on the Colorado River. 35
Once he found a suitable ford, Rivera carved a cross and the words
" Viva Jesus" in a cottonwood tree. His Ute guide warned that the party
would now travel through lands inhabited by " child eaters" " strawheads"
( so named because of their hair), and " stone people." With the promise
of winter and troubles ahead, Rivera returned to Santa Fe in fourteen
days' time. He left behind his cross to assert Spanish rights, while his
expeditions set the stage for the next act in the drama, the Dominguez-
Escalante expedition, played out eleven years later. 36
There were undoubtedly unofficial expeditions to this area, such as
the one of Pedro Mora, Gregorio Sandoval, and Andres Muniz, who reported
seeing Rivera's cross in 1775; but these excursions are lost to history.
Muniz, however, served as a guide the next year for Fray Francisco
Atanasio Dominguez, Fray Silvestre Velez de Escalante, and seven other
men as they wound their way through western Colorado in search of a
feasible trail from Santa Fe to Monterey, California. The padres' account
of the Indians living on or in southeastern Utah is informative. They
encountered Utes who warned them about running into a Comanche
war party and being killed, but the fathers replied that God would protect
them. They also obtained some guides by paying each a blanket, knife,
and beads to lead them to the north. One of the Utes overindulged and
became so sick that he accused the Spaniards of poisoning him, until he
eased his discomfort through vomiting. Other Utes willingly sold food
and listened to the Catholic fathers' preaching, but often they tried to
impede the journey to the north. Later, the fathers learned that some of
their companions were telling the Indians to do this because they did not
want to go farther. This was to no avail, as the expedition moved on as
far north as Utah Valley. 37
— 238— A History of Utah's American Indians
As Dominguez and Escalante continued down the western side of
present- day Utah, they once again neared southeastern Utah and gave a
description of the Indians they encountered, this time Paiutes, some of
whom probably belonged to the San Juan Band. The fathers noticed how
reticent these Indians were to approach them, no doubt in part because
of the slave raiding and intertribal warfare that dominated their relations
with other Indian groups. The Paiutes were happy to learn through
an interpreter that since their enemies— the Navajos, Comanches, and
Apaches— had not been baptized, they could not enter heaven and would
" burn forever like wood in the fire." 38
The fathers made special note of a group of Paiutes, whom they called
the " Payuchi Yutas" east of the Colorado River. They were members of
the San Juan Band Paiutes, who spoke the same language as the neighboring
Paiute groups and the Utes to the east. The padres used some of
their trails, reporting that they were built up with " loose stones and
sticks." 39 Thus, Dominguez and Escalante were the first to provide an
accurate ethnographic report of some of these early inhabitants.
The peaceful intentions of Dominguez and Escalante did little for
those interested in economic gain. For instance, Muniz, who initially
guided the group, smuggled trade goods along, acting expressly against
the fathers' wishes. He and his brother had spent time— three to four
months in some instances— trading among the Indians of the Four Corners
region. 40 Such expeditions, exchanging furs, horses, guns, and slaves,
caused constant consternation for the government trying to regulate Indian
relations. In 1778, officials issued an edict to stem the flow of unlicensed
trading activity in the borderlands. Ten men and two Indians stood
trial in Abiquiu during 1783; two years later, several others were in similar
circumstances for trading " in the interior of the country of the Utes
in violation of repeated edicts." 41 Again, in 1812, officials passed a law to
prohibit buying slaves from the Utes, and, not surprisingly, a year later
seven men under Maurico Arze and Largos Garcia stood before the judge
for slave trading in Utah Valley. 42 No doubt many of these expeditions—
either coming or going— passed through the borders of San Juan County.
Utes, Navajos, and Spaniards continued their hostilities right through
to the time of Spanish withdrawal from the American Southwest in 1821.
Generally, these relations were characterized by the Spanish currying the
favor of the Utes in order to use them against the Navajos. However, by
the time the Mexican government faced the problem of controlling the
Indians in its territory ( 1821- 48), the Navajos had formed a friendly alliance
with the Utes, much to the dismay of the settlers of New Mexico.
The White Mesa Utes — 239—
Reports filtered in to Santa Fe of Navajos and Utes working together to
steal horses, forming alliances for slave raiding, living together in the La
Plata and Sleeping Ute Mountains, and renewing friendships. Later, however,
animosity again erupted. 43
Traffic into the region built upon prior exploration, creating by 1830
a 1,200- mile route between Santa Fe and Los Angeles known as the Old
Spanish Trail. Thanks to the efforts of Rivera, Dominguez- Escalante, and
other less- publicized groups, this horse- and- pack- mule trail connected
the interior of New Mexico with the Pacific Ocean while bypassing a
section of Arizona noted for hostile Indians. Southeastern Utah hosted
part of one branch of the route. It crossed the present- day state boundary
at Ucolo near Piute Spring, dropped into Dry Valley, then generally
followed the path of today's Highway 163 through La Sal Junction, past
Kane Springs, down Spanish Valley, into Moab, and across the Colorado
River to the Green River near the present town of that name. From there
the trail headed generally west through Salina Canyon, out to the Sevier
River, south to Richfield and Circleville, and then dipped into extreme
northwestern Arizona and southern Nevada. 44
One of the major functions of the Spanish Trail was to expedite trade,
the northerly route into central Utah being the most practical. Indeed,
slave and horse trading boomed during the Mexican period. Exchange
of human captives and other commodities along the trail by the Utes,
Navajos, and Paiutes reached an apex during the 1830s and 1840s, then
declined in the 1850s. New Mexican traders were the foundation upon
which this slave, gun, and horse trade was built. Entering the San Juan
region in caravans as large as 300 men and " dressed in every variety of
costume, from the embroidered jacket of the wealthy Californian ... to
the scanty habiliments of the skin- clad Indians" the traders sought out
women and children to sell in New Mexico and to exchange later for
horses and blankets along the trail or in California. As much as $ 200
might be paid for a young girl who could be trained as a domestic, while
boys were worth only half that much. 45
Starting in the mid- 1850s, the fragile Ute- Navajo alliance started to
splinter beyond repair. At the same time, Mormons in southwestern Utah
were feeling the effects of the attempted invasion of Salt Lake City by
federal troops under Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston in 1857- 58. The
Mormons, fearing the worst, encouraged the uniting of Navajos, Utes,
and Paiutes to serve as auxiliaries in their militia— the Nauvoo Legion.
Some Utes attended meetings with Brigham Young in Salt Lake City and
then sent emissaries to the Navajos, encouraging that a peace conference
— 240— A History of Utah's American Indians
An Indian couple photographed in Bluff, Utah, and identified as
" Piute Indians" although they may have been White Mesa Utes.
( USHS)
be held. One Ute appeared at Fort Defiance with a certificate of membership
and baptism into the LDS church, alarming government authorities
with this tampering in Indian affairs. The Mormons scheduled a large
meeting of Paiutes, Utes, and Navajos in the Navajo Mountain area, at
which time the settlers reportedly handed out guns and ammunition to
them. 46
The White Mesa Utes — 241—
The effects of these rumors were twofold. First, the Utes received
increased annuities from the government as bribes to keep them peacefully
tied to their agency. Second, it alerted agents and military authorities
to new concerns in the tangled web of conflict between the Navajos,
Utes, Mexicans, and Anglo peoples.
However, the reality of a Ute- Navajo alliance faded. By the summer
of 1858 the Utes were operating in large numbers against their Indian
neighbors in the heart of Navajo territory. The federal government, anxious
to gain control over the Navajos, skillfully used the Utes to help in
this process of subjugation. The military encouraged forays against the
Ute's traditional enemy, saying that the Utes " appear to have inspired the
Navajos with a dread not to be gotten over." 47
On a more local level and as part of the plan to force the Navajos to
surrender, military commanders encouraged general raids by Utes, Mexicans,
Jicarilla Apaches, and Pueblo peoples against their enemy. In General
Dixon Miles's words, " Let loose on these Indians all the surrounding
tribes and inhabitants, particularly the Utahs and Mexicans, the two they
seem to dread the most." 48 Soldiers reported finding large trails made by
herds of Ute- captured horses headed north, while Utes started scouting
for the army as " spies and guides." 49
Working with Kit Carson, Colonel Thomas T. Fauntleroy, a former
Ute agent to the Weenuche in Abiquiu, suggested that a band of 300- 400
Utes could augment the six to eight companies of Mexican volunteers
and spearhead the thrust into Navajo territory. Nothing would be more
effective than to use them to ferret out the enemy from their camps in
the deep recesses of the Chuska/ Tunicha Mountains, Canyon de Chelly,
and areas as far west as the Little Colorado. Indeed, field reports indicated
that camps in the Navajo Mountain region and Carrizo Mountains
in Arizona were already abandoned.
Carson guaranteed the eagerness of the Utes, " the best riflemen in
the world" to wage war. He continued,
I desire that I may be allowed to employ them, as they do not
require pay as soldiers, but only to be supplied for a short time
with provisions, until they can get well into the Indian country.
I cannot but recommend this plan as it will at once have the
effect to get the cooperation of a most valuable force, and at the
same time employ these restless people, who otherwise must foray
upon our own settlements. 50
— 242— A History of Utah's American Indians
This was a perfect solution that gave the Utes something to do while
providing for their welfare at the expense of the Navajos. They also rendered
a service that was difficult, at best, for the conventional military.
As Ute pressures increased during the 1860s, the Navajos intensified
their own use of Paiutes. Beyond the more mundane cooperation in daily
life, the Paiutes provided a lookout service to protect Navajo camps. For
instance, K'aayelii lived in the Bears Ears area, where he established a
settlement of five or six hogans. To prevent surprise attacks, he posted
Paiutes along the various approaches to his camp. This was also done in
the Navajo Mountain area, where the Navajos were said to be " hiding
behind" the Paiutes. 51
Perhaps the most dramatic proof of Ute, Paiute, and Navajo cooperation
occurred in September 1866 when a group of Capote and
Weenuche Utes and a few Mexicans met to plan a trap for some Navajos
who had avoided capture and were living in northern Arizona. They intended
to invite the Navajos to live nearby, but when they arrived the
Utes would kill the men, enslave the women and children, and capture
the livestock. However, upon hearing this plan, Cabeza Blanca, a
Weenuche leader, disagreed with the others, saying that he had friends
among those Navajos whom he did not want to have killed. A fight ensued
during which the Capotes killed Cabeza Blanca and then fled to
Tierra Amarilla for protection. After exacting revenge, the Weenuche,
according to a government report, " then left, joining as is supposed the
Wymin and Pah Utes who had made friends with the Navajos in the
meantime. The whole party of Wymin, Pah Utes, and Navajos then left
that region and went to the neighborhood of Rio Dolores, Sierra Salir
[ La Sal Mountains], and Sierra Orejas [ Bears Ears]." 52
In 1868, with the official end of hostilities and the return of captive
Navajos from Fort Sumner, a whole new set of problems confronted the
Utes residing in the Four Corners area. As Civil War veterans poured
into the West, mining strikes became more frequent and numerous agricultural
settlements were established. The whites demanded that Indians
be kept on a reservation far from civilization. The Utes refused; they
wanted little to do with a livelihood primarily concerned with agriculture.
They enjoyed their freedom, insisting they had performed a good
service for the Americans and so should remain unmolested.
Western Colorado had always been Ute, and so the people of New
Mexico urged they be expelled to this region and the Abiquiu agency be
closed to the Capote and Weenuche bands. It was believed that the Muache
at the Cimarron agency, " with a little management" could also be per-
The White Mesa Utes - 243—
suaded to leave. However, underlying the Utes' hesitance were religious
beliefs. Diego Archuleta, an unsympathetic agent, explained, " These savages
are possessed of the most heathenish superstitions against abandoning
those places where the remains of their ancestors lie ... [ and]
they consider their reduction to reservations as a species of slavery." 53
Ute Agent W. F. M. Amy even encouraged the taking of Ute lands by
stating in his annual report of 1867 that several thousand white families
could homestead in the area north and east of the Animas River. By establishing
a reservation, the mining and agricultural resources of the region
would be opened for development, and this could be " done at a
comparatively small expense, for it is cheaper to dispose of these Indians
in this way than to fight and exterminate them." 54 Amy felt he could
move the Capote and Weenuche onto a reservation on the San Juan River
for $ 49,500. Within a year he had the paperwork completed.
At the same time that the Navajos received their reservation on the
New Mexico- Arizona border, well below the San Juan River, the Utes
also obtained a reservation. On August 19,1868, Amy met with Weenuche
and Capote leaders at Pagosa Springs in southwestern Colorado. The
Indians outlined what they considered desirable reservation boundaries,
given the already deteriorating circumstances on their lands to the east.
They wanted to be guaranteed the territory encompassed by the Grand
( Colorado) and Green Rivers to the north, the headwaters of the San
Juan River on the east, the Colorado River on the west, and the Navajo
country to the south. 55
The Utes begrudgingly signed a treaty in Washington, D. C., that removed
them to Colorado, though the Abiquiu and Cimarron agencies
did not close until 1878 when the two new agencies in Colorado were
completed. What the Utes received, however, was far different than what
they had asked for— all of their territory was in Colorado. Although the
reservation initially included much of the upper San Juan River area, the
lower San Juan in Utah remained a fringe area that no one seemed too
excited about in 1868. The Four Corners area was peripheral to the white
mining and settlement activities of the 1860s, staying in a twilight zone
of general use by some Navajos and Paiutes but dominated by the
Weenuche Utes.
This relative isolation soon changed. By the early 1870s, the estimated
700 to 1,000 Weenuche still lived by " the chase" and came to their Abiquiu
agency in New Mexico only for gunpowder and lead. According to their
agent, they were " very much attached to the localities" in which they
lived and were characterized as " excellent shots ... great friends of our
— 24 A History of Utah's American Indians
government... and are ... reasonable and docile." 56 But they also needed
to protect what they had. In 1871 the agent noted that other groups of
Utes prior to that time had feared entering Weenuche country but now
were overcoming this attitude and hunting in Weenuche territory, thus
increasing the pressure on available resources. 57
In 1873 the Utes signed another treaty, the Brunot Agreement, that
removed massive chunks of land from their reservation, so much that by
1880 and one more treaty comparatively little remained of their holdings.
Using Colorado as an example, this meant that from their original
holdings of 56 million acres, the first treaty promised only 18 million
acres ( about 9 million to the Southern Ute and a similar amount to the
Ute Mountain Ute or Weenuche). By 1934 both of these groups had their
holdings reduced by various means to only 553,600 acres. 58
Of even greater concern was the influx of white settlers, who, starting
in 1878, scouted out farms and livestock ranges along the San Juan
River and in McElmo Canyon, a natural thoroughfare leading from Colorado
into Utah. The Weenuche Utes and Paiutes of San Juan County
became increasingly uneasy about this invasion from the east, especially
when Mormons added to the growing cluster of regional settlements in
1880. Add to this the probing tentacles of Navajo expansion from the
south, and friction over resources became inevitable and continuous.
Southeastern Utah north of the San Juan River was public domain
that the Weenuche Band of the Southern Utes considered to be theirs.
Small bands of Navajos either visited or took up residence there during
the 1860s, ' 70s, and ' 80s, but it was not until the mid- 1880s, as the Navajo
reservation expanded north, that larger populations entered to stay.
When the Southern Utes and Navajos each received their reservations in
1868, one of the treaty stipulations specified that the Indians would " retain
the right to hunt on any unoccupied lands contiguous to the reservation,
so long as the large game may range thereon in such numbers as
to justify the chase." 59 The Indians took advantage of this opportunity
since neither group could survive solely on their livestock or agricultural
produce. The Utes' reservation by the 1880s had shrunk from roughly
one- third of Colorado to a land area only fifteen miles wide and 110
miles long in some of the most desolate territory in the southwestern
corner of the state. Few alternatives, other than off- reservation hunting,
allowed the Native Americans the opportunity to obtain wild game.
One of the greatest threats to Ute resources came in the guise of
cattle companies searching for free- use public lands for grazing. By the
1880s four major outfits ranged thousands of cattle on the grass and
The White Mesa Utes — 245—
brush of San Juan canyon country. The two most important were those
of Edmund and Harold Carlisle ( called the Kansas and New Mexico Land
and Cattle Company) and the L. C. outfit, located on Recapture and Verdure
Creeks at the head of Montezuma Canyon. The size of these companies
was considerable, the latter alone selling 22,000 head between 1891
and 1893.60 Herds of this magnitude changed the quality of the environment
within just a few years' time, increasing the conflict between Indians
and whites. Although many of these cattle companies would rise to
meteoric heights only to fail, there always was another group to step in to
keep the cattle business alive.
When bands of Navajos and Utes left their reservations, they quickly
encountered the stock of the cattlemen, who grazed their herds in the
same places and at the same time of year as the deer. Grass, forbs, brush,
and water were most plentiful on the mountains, and so it was not long
before Indian agents received some blistering correspondence spelling
out Native American activities. Edmund Carlisle, co- owner of the huge
Kansas and New Mexico Land and Cattle Company, contacted the Southern
Ute agent, reporting that the Indians were off the reservation with
written permission from a local trader, that they had been firing the tim-berlands
on the south side of Blue Mountain in San Juan County, Utah,
causing severe damage, and that they not only had killed deer but also
cattle. The livestock owners wanted soldiers sent to control the Utes and
" other Indians." More letters followed, indicating that this hunting group,
comprised of some forty Southern Utes and a similar number of Navajos,
was heading west to continue its hunt. Cowboys and white citizens
alike threatened to form groups to attack the Indians, and, though no
organized posse moved against them, there were individual encounters
that resulted in a handful of people being killed on both sides. 61
The next few years showed little improvement in the situation. In
1885 one man complained that half of the Southern Utes were off the
reservation, burning grass and killing cattle because the Indians suffered
from hunger, and that he dared not hunt for fear of being killed. Whites
were not the only ones concerned. The Southern Utes from Colorado
entered southeastern Utah with the express purpose of rounding up the
deer like cattle and either killing them or driving them closer to their
reservation. The Southern Utes and Paiutes already living in Utah were
greatly angered by this attempt to remove game from their territory. The
first of three annual hunts started in 1884, with an estimated 300 Indians
killing or wounding deer by the hundreds and drifting thousands of others
to the south and east of the La Sal Mountains.
— 246— A History of Utah's American Indians
Mancos Jim was of predominantly Paiute ancestry and was a well-known
figure in southeastern Utah at the turn of the twentieth
century. ( USHS)
By 1889 events had reached a boiling point. To settle conflicting reports,
the U. S. military sent Second Lieutenant George Williams to Blue
Mountain in December of that year. Although he saw no Indian hunters,
he estimated that 200 to 300 Navajos and Utes had been hunting there
but had returned to their reservations. He claimed that the Indians had
" killed a good many deer as is shown by the number of hides they have
The White Mesa Utes — 247—
sold to the trader." 62 The twelve white families living in Monticello at the
base of the mountain reported that the Utes hunted for hides and meat,
the Navajos primarily for hides. Many of the cowmen complained that
with all of the Indians chasing through the woods, the livestock had grown
more wild and harder to herd.
Williams also reported a problem with too many Indian groups hunting
in the same territory. Navajos and Utes did not traditionally get along
well with each other, and rubbing shoulders while armed in the isolation
of the mountains could lead to explosive situations. Although no conflict
actually erupted between the two tribes, this was not true of the
Colorado and Utah Ute/ Paiute bands. One person known to history as
Hatch, from Utah, got into an argument with a man named Cowboy
from Colorado while camped at Peters Spring near Monticello. Apparently
the friction evolved over the killing and driving away of the deer
herds. Cowboy killed Hatch and the bands separated; but, when they
met again in town, the men dismounted and prepared for a shoot- out
amid the settlers' cabins and stores. Cooler heads prevailed, however, and
both groups went their way, leaving vivid evidence of the importance of
the deer herds to all Indian peoples. 63
In the 1890s increased pressures on the Utes by their agents and an
expanding Navajo population started to change the complexion of events.
The Ute agent took the opportunity to show that his charges were really
on the reservation and that much of the hunting was being done by Navajos
but that the blame was still placed on the Utes. He even sent a letter
to the Navajos and their agent saying that the Utes and their white neighbors
complained about Navajos killing game both on the reservation
and to its north. He ordered them to leave with all of their livestock and
no longer make the Utes' land their headquarters for killing cattle and
hunting deer. 64
The Utes needed some type of economy to survive, yet they did not
have the same economic base of agriculture and livestock ( sheep, goats,
and cattle) that allowed the Navajos to prosper. Hunting as a way of life
was becoming totally impractical. Beadwork and baskets, famous crafts
of the Utes, were not as stylish as Navajo rugs and never moved beyond a
very local economy that produced little revenue.
Different Ute groups in San Juan County under the leadership of
Red Jacket, Narraguinip, Mariano, Bridger Jack, Polk, Johnny Benow, and
Posey reacted to the general deterioration of lifestyle that occurred during
this and later time periods. Many of these fragmentary bands either
moved to their reservation in Colorado or coalesced into what would be
— 248— A History of Utah's American Indians
recognized by the early 1900s as the Montezuma Canyon and the Allen
Canyon Ute groups. Although these two factions were interdependent,
the particulars of their experience varied somewhat and so will at times
be treated independently in this account.
For the Weenuche living and ranging throughout San Juan County,
the cumulative impact of these events was overwhelming. With Mormon
and non- Mormon settlers creating homesteads on lands with critical
resources and trail networks, livestock companies herding cattle on
Blue Mountain and the La Sals, and the government compressing the
Muache, Capote, and Weenuche into a strip of Colorado land fifteen miles
wide and 110 miles long, there smoldered a growing resentment. Utes,
Paiutes, and some Navajo allies reacted to stem the loss of their resources.
Fights at Pinhook Draw ( 1881), White Canyon ( 1884), around Bluff, and
in the La Sal and Blue Mountains erupted when the tension became too
intense. Many of these better- known encounters have been written about
elsewhere and do not need repeating here, but rarely are the reasons for
these conflicts or the personalities involved given fair treatment. 65
Take, for instance, the Weenuche man Johnny Benow, who lived in
Montezuma Canyon. He and his associates made life miserable for area
cattlemen. Edmund Carlisle wrote to the Southern Ute agent, saying
Benow's people were at Paiute Springs ( near present- day Monticello) and
in Cross Canyon ( which enters into Montezuma Canyon) " killing many
cattle and burning the grass and timber. Unless something is done to
check them, they will do very serious damage. The citizens talk of organizing
and killing off these Utes.... Benow is the leader at Cross Canyon
and Narraguinip and Mancos Jim appear so out here [ in the Monticello
area]." 66
In July 1884 the government sent a troop of cavalry, augmented by a
detachment, to Montezuma Creek to protect the cattlemen's stock from
Indians. An earlier fracas ended with the death of a Ute over the ownership
of a horse. The Indians retaliated by driving off a herd of horses.
The cavalry and cattlemen went in pursuit, the result of which was the
fight in White Canyon. Edmund Carlisle identified Benow as a participant
in this fray and complained that some cowboys later saw Benow
riding one of Carlisle's favorite horses. The rancher then requested " a
fair recompense from the government for the heavy losses my company
has sustained from depredations of the Ute Indians" estimated at this
time as more than 150 head of horses. 67
Each spring, summer, and fall trouble arose. Indian agents sought
help from the military to bring the Utes back to the reservation. Talk of
The White Mesa Utes — 249—
secret organizations formed by cattlemen and settlers to rid themselves
of the Indians was common, and one of these vigilante groups killed a
Ute family of six as they camped on the Dolores River in southwestern
Colorado. Chiefs on the reservation did not have the power to maintain
control over all their charges and occasionally denied Ute involvement
in altercations. 68
The situation did not improve. A military report of 1894 states that a
group of about ninety- five Utes and eighty Paiutes under Benow refused
to come in to the reservation. 69 They realized what was happening in the
eastern section of the Southern Ute Agency, where whites took unalloted
lands not filed on by Indians; where Ute culture deteriorated through
the " civilizing" processes of education, missionary efforts, and agent control;
and where agriculture, not hunting, became the only practical
lifestyle.
As Indian agents and Washington bureaucrats cast about for an answer,
San Juan County, Utah, suddenly appeared to some as the solution,
with plans to designate it as an area for the Native Americans. In 1887
Ignacio, leader of the Muaches and Capotes, agreed to look the land over,
and, with a party of Utes, traveled as far as the Carlisle ranch north of
Monticello before giving a final nod of approval. A year later, the government
presented a plan that signed over to the Utes 2,912,000 acres, a
promise of $ 50,000 in ten annual payments, sheep valued at $ 20,000, an
agency, and the right to hunt in the La Sal Mountains. 70 In effect, this
gave all of San Juan County, minus Navajo lands south of the San Juan
River, to the Utes.
Utah ranchers and settlers were irate. The Mormons, the Carlisles,
and members of the Pittsburgh Cattle Company fought back by lobbying
the state and federal governments to prevent seizure of the land. The
Indian Rights Association, headquartered in Philadelphia, also politicked
in Washington, fearing that even if the government removed the settlers
nasty friction would still ensue with the whites in Moab, that previous
mining claims would still be an issue, and that there was insufficient water
for large- scale farming projects. Officials of Utah Territory were even
more blunt, insisting that the territory already had enough Indians. 71
While the wrangling went on, the Utes decided to move to the area.
In November 1894 an estimated 1,100 Indians with their agent, David
Day, arrived in San Juan County to select new homes. Utah Governor
Caleb West, the county commissioners, and interested citizens jammed
with some of the Utes into the log school in Monticello. As the deliberations
became more heated, a messenger delivered a note from officials in
— 250— A History of Utah's American Indians
Washington, saying the Indians had five days to go back to Colorado.
The threat of cavalry convinced them to cede the point. They eventually
returned to the Southern Ute Reservation, the eastern portion of which
was opened to Indian allotments, with the remaining land being sold to
white settlers. The western half, by 1900, became an unalloted section
called the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation, with an agency in Navajo
Springs ( present- day Towaoc). 72
There was little to attract San Juan Utes to Towaoc, where it was
reported that " upon this vast tract of land, no water has been provided to
even cultivate an acre of land, and during the summer the Indians are
compelled to take to the mountains with their stock so as to find a sufficient
supply of water to quench their thirst." 73 It came as no surprise,
therefore, that in 1896 " the great majority" of the Weenuche were said to
be " largely in the blanket and divide their time between Colorado and
Utah, the latter pilgrims being the Pi- Utes or renegades who inhabit the
Blue and La Sal Mountains in Utah and [ who] were added to the rolls of
this agency in June, 1895." 74
The turn of the century saw virtually no change in conditions. The
Utes living at Navajo Springs as well as off the reservation eked out a
bare existence. No irrigation ditch existed to water the land; ration issues
proved to be a lifeline that extended for only two weeks in a month; springs
on Ute lands were dry by the end of summer; and agent turnover was a
continuing problem, in 1900 alone there being three such changes. That
same year a smallpox epidemic claimed fifty- five lives; how many more
deaths went unreported is unknown. There were eight births during the
same period. A year later the Indian agent warned that " a clash will eventually
occur [ as] is demonstrated by the fact that on several instances,
serious conflicts have been narrowly averted." 75
The Utes and Paiutes in Allen Canyon were perhaps in an even worse
situation. Ever since the first settler placed his boot in the sands of Bluff
or the first cattleman ran a dogy on Blue Mountain, this band of " renegades"
as whites called them, played a part in each of the conflicts occurring
between the 1880s and the early 1900s. In March 1914 an even
more serious event took place that assumed headline proportions for six
months. The problem began when a Mexican sheepherder named Juan
Chacon camped with some Utes and Paiutes from the Montezuma Canyon
area. Among them was Tse- Ne- Gat, also known as Everett Hatch,
who spent time with both Ute factions. Chacon spent the evening playing
cards and visiting around the campfire. A few days later he was found
dead, and witnesses claimed Tse- Ne- Gat had killed him. 76
The White Mesa Utes — 251—
Ten months later, Tse- Ne- Gat had still not surrendered. He feared
his life was in danger; however, in the eyes of the law, this was not sufficient
justification for not turning himself in. U. S. Marshal Aquila Nebeker,
along with local helpers from Cortez, Bluff, Blanding, and Monticello,
decided to arrest Tse- Ne- Gat. The newspapers set the stage for the approaching
drama by saying that " Hatch has a notorious reputation as a
bad man" that he " had defied several attempts to bring him into custody"
that he was " strongly entrenched with fifty braves who will stand
by him to the last man" and that this group had been " terrorizing" the
people of Bluff. 77 The headlines a week later could almost be predicted.
According to local papers, the " uprising" occurred when the seventy-five-
man posse approached the Ute camp in the early light of dawn. A
startled early riser reportedly gave " whoops of warning" to awaken the
others, then opened fire. Initial volleys resulted in two Indians and one
white being killed, as the posse implemented " Indian strategy of the kind
that one is accustomed to read in the histories of early life in the West." 78
Another group of Indians, hearing the commotion, came up from the
San Juan River, approached the cordon from the rear, and started firing.
The whites and Indians called a truce, the engagement ended, and the
Utes fled for the wide open spaces.
Bluff soon took on the air of a besieged town. Indian agents, state
officials, and the U. S. military all became involved and no doubt sighed
with relief when Brigadier General Hugh L. Scott, Chief of Staff of the
United States Army, was reported on his way to " attempt a peaceful settlement
with the recalcitrant Piute Indians." When Scott arrived in Bluff, he
made it clear that he would try to settle the issue peacefully. Two weeks
later, he had " captured the renegade Indians" by meeting with them, by
promising all twenty- three of them protection, and by honoring the request
that the four captives— Polk, Posey, Tse- Ne- Gat, and Posey's Boy—
be brought to Salt Lake City for questioning. 79
By April, officials in Salt Lake City released all of the prisoners except
Tse- Ne- Gat, who went to Denver to stand trial. Before the Ute ever entered
the courtroom, the Mancos Times- Tribune announced that the
charges against him could not be proven; but, when he was acquitted,
the ire of the settlers in the Four Corners area reached meteoric heights.
The tension continued. By January 1917 the federal government
wanted to find out for itself why there was continuing unrest. Special
investigator Major James McLaughlin arrived in the area on January 1
and remained for eighteen days, interviewing the Indians at Towaoc,
Montezuma Canyon, and Bluff. His findings, as an unbiased source, show
— 252— A History of Utah's American Indians
No Indian from southeastern Utah has gained more
notoriety than Posey, of San luan Band Paiute
ancestry. He was associated ( proven or not) with
every point of friction between the whites and Utes at
the time. ( USHS)
clearly the destitute conditions and the fear felt by the Utes and Paiutes
of San Juan County.
McLaughlin hoped that the Indians would journey to the agency to
meet with him; however, James C. Wilson, an assistant of Samuel Rentz,
The White Mesa Utes — 253—
*":"'"'::" • //••• iilllSS| HJfe::;;-
Major participants in the 1915 conflict photographed here include ( left to
right): Robert Martin ( Navajo), who served as an interpreter for the government;
Posey; Jesse Posey ( his son); Tse- ne- gat ( Poke's son); and Poke. This
picture was taken in Bluff before the group traveled to Salt Lake City. ( USHS)
who owned a small trading post and home in Montezuma Canyon, wrote
a letter on the Native Americans' behalf saying that the trip would be too
great a hardship. These Utes, he insisted, were afraid to go to the agency;
many were sick, most were without sufficient clothing, many were walking
barefoot in the snow and living in shelters made out of " old rotten
canvas full of holes" and their horses were too worn to travel. 80 They
were, however, very anxious to talk with Mclaughlin.
The inspector departed the agency and first bumped down McElmo
Canyon by auto, then by wagon up Yellowjacket Canyon, and across
Cahone Mesa to the Rentz trading post, where he arrived on January 9
and stayed for two days. He met with all of the adult male Indians living
in the canyon, whose total population he estimated at 160, with another
fifty living around Bluff. All of the Utes were enrolled members of the
Ute Mountain Ute Agency at Towaoc, but all refused to live on the reservation
because they felt the Indians there were unfriendly to them and
would not share the land with its insufficient water. Spokesmen from the
Montezuma group included John Benow, who assumed the chieftainship;
George Brooks, a medicine man; and old Polk. The seven- hour con-
— 254— A History of Utah's American Indians
ference was a cordial opportunity to air past grievances. Posey with his
Bluff contingent met with McLaughlin a few days later and expressed
similar anxiety about moving to the reservation. 81
The settlers in Bluff also talked to the inspector and gave him a list of
suggestions that were no surprise/ The basic tenor of this correspondence
maintained that the Utes were a " law- unto- themselves" that they should
be put on the eastern ( farthest) end of their reservation, that their leaders
be moved away from the main body of people, and that this roundup
be conducted in the winter when the Indians were less mobile. 82
Although McLaughlin appears to have made a favorable impression
on both Benow and the settlers, his following correspondence hints that
he viewed the ultimate solution to the problem to be the removal of the
Utes to Colorado. Agent A. H. Symons later visited with Benow, who was
waiting for the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to visit and ensure the
Indians' rights to remain. The agent, on the other hand, knew that the
opposite might happen and asked that his replacement be given the responsibility
of moving them so that it could be blamed on the military
and not him. His explanation: " If a new man were in charge here, they
[ Utes] would not attach the blame to him and would start with a clean
slate." 83 The move, however, did not occur for a number of years.
This volatile atmosphere could only result in a final solution for
both sides, in which the winner would take all. It came in the form of
what has been called the " Posey War" and the " Last Indian Uprising."
Briefly, what occurred followed the same pattern as previous flare- ups;
but, this time, whites made a conscious effort to prevent the same results
as the 1915 episode. 84 Local people tried to minimize the influence of
outsiders; forces combatting the Utes mobilized quickly, not giving the
Indians time to react; and the settlers did not release captive Utes until
they had signed an agreement as to what lands they would promise to
live on.
All of this was accomplished because of a relatively insignificant affair
that started when two young Utes robbed a sheep camp, killed a calf,
and burned a bridge. The culprits voluntarily turned themselves in, stood
trial, but then escaped from the sheriff's grasp. The townspeople moved
quickly not only to get the two boys but also Posey, who by this time had
become synonymous with all of the ill- will felt between the factions. To
the townspeople, he was the living image of all Indians who were considered
to be degraded or troublesome.
The newspapers played a significant role in developing this attitude,
making Posey the lightning rod waiting to be struck. His name had ap-
The White Mesa Utes — 255—
A group of Indians associated with the " Posey War" gathered for land
allotment meetings in 1921 or 1922. Posey is standing second from the left.
( USHS)
peared, in either direct or indirect accusation, with almost every negative
incident that had occurred, and people often cited his band of Utes
as the culprits in a misdeed. Posey was said to have been the man who
pulled the trigger on Joe Aiken, the white fatality in the 1915 fight; Posey
reportedly killed his brother Scotty because the latter wanted a peaceful
settlement of that conflict; he also killed his wife by accident, though
many settlers refused to believe it was a mishap; he avoided living on the
reservation; and he was such a colorful individual that his threats, cajoling,
and antics for food at a cabin door or out on the range often brought
a stronger reaction to what would normally have been forgiven. 85 Thus,
the 1923 " war" served as the catalyst by which this " problem" could be
removed.
In reality, the " war" was little more than a massive exodus of Utes
and Paiutes fleeing their homes to escape into the rough canyon country
of Navajo Mountain. Posey fought a rear- guard action to prevent capture,
was eventually wounded, and watched his people get carted off to a
barbed- wire compound set up in the middle of Blanding. He died a painful
death a month later from his gunshot wound. When Posey's death
was certain, some of the Utes took Marshal J. Ray Ward to where the
body was located in order to certify his death. The law officer buried the
corpse and disguised the grave, but to no avail— it was exhumed at least
twice. 86
— 256— A History of Utah's American Indians
Of even greater import was the solution to the question of who controlled
the ranges. The Posey incident served as an excuse to force land
allotments on the Utes. Hubert Work, Secretary of the Interior, issued an
order in April that both Ute groups stop their nomadic life and settle on
individual land holdings. Moab's Times- Independent reported,
Old Posey's band, consisting of about 100 Indians will be given
parcels of land located on or near Allen Canyon while Old Polk's
band, numbering about 85 men, women, and children will be
allotted land along Montezuma Creek. The two bands which are
not friendly, will be located some distance apart. 87
The number of allotments in Montezuma Canyon varied. Ira Hatch,
who owned and operated a trading post in this area, estimated that there
were twenty- three Ute camps in Montezuma and Cross Canyons. 88 Today,
there are no Ute allotments in the former and only a few in the latter,
the tribe having bought many of the individual holdings. In Allen Canyon,
Ute families still own thirty allotments at the time of this writing.
Now that the end of a hunting- and- gathering lifestyle had reached
an irreversible conclusion, agriculture became the supposed solution for
the Utes. In reality, however, it faired just as badly. Ute farming efforts
were on a subsistence level, failing to compete in the twentieth- century
market economy with Anglos who had better land, equipment, and techniques.
For instance, as late as the 1940s, the government farmer, E. Z.
Black, plowed allotted lands in Allen Canyon that averaged around ten
acres per family. He was also totally dependent upon the agents at Towaoc
for teams, plows, seeds, and general financial backing. As soon as the
funds dried up, so did the work on projects. Part of this problem arose
because the Allen Canyon Utes in 1929 included only fourteen families.
Their activities were so peripheral to those on the main reservation in
Colorado that few people could muster sufficient funds or support for
any sustained large- scale farming project. 89 How much this bothered the
people of Allen Canyon is difficult to determine, but they continued to
wrestle with dire poverty— living in tents and depending on rations and
other government subsidies.
Sheep, cattle, and horses presented a more culturally acceptable alternative
to the Utes, but the battle for the ranges that took place during
the first quarter of the twentieth century put a stop to free use of
Montezuma Canyon, McCracken Mesa, and the plateaus surrounding
Blue Mountain. Between the U. S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Man-
The White Mesa Utes — 257—
agement, and private livestock companies, the lands encircling Allen
Canyon were heavily controlled, forcing the Utes to keep their herds small
and within certain limits. Physical and cultural restraints thus stifled the
Ute economy. Clearing lands for white farmers, chopping wood for townspeople,
and doing odd jobs for individual families served as only a temporary
supplement in the hand- to- mouth existence of most of the area's
Ute Indians.
Another shift away from traditional Ute culture came in the form of
the Native American Church. As part of a pan- Indian movement shared
by many tribes across the nation, the church made inroads with the People
by offering a system of more generalized Indian teachings. The Native
American Church has its roots in Kiowa and Comanche tribal paraphernalia
of the late nineteenth century. These Plains tribes provided the tepee,
feather fan, drum, waterfowl, crescent- shaped altar, fire, and poker
as standardized symbols within this belief system, while peyote, a hallucinogenic
button from cactus initially found in Mexico, became the driving
force within the ceremony. It provided the means through which
God and supernatural powers could be made manifest to the participants
involved in an all- night ceremony. 90
The Native American Church entered San Juan County from Okla-
— 258— A History of Utah's American Indians
homa via the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation. Two anthropologists, David
F. Aberle and Omer C. Stewart, conducted a detailed study of this phenomenon
between 1946 and 1951 and identified four phases of development
of these beliefs on the Ute and northern part of the Navajo reservations.
Aberle and Stewart concluded that Towaoc Utes introduced the
practices in the Mancos Creek and Aneth area; this was followed by a
second phase in which Navajos working alongside Utes in the Civilian
Conservation Corps, as well as others traveling to Towaoc for curing rites,
encountered Native American Church practices. These phases took place
between 1914 and 1938. Starting in 1936, peyote priests, or " Road Chiefs"
started visiting reservation communities south of the San Juan River, so
that by 1951 there was an open flow of religious leaders from Oklahoma,
Towaoc, and the Mancos/ Aneth area throughout San Juan County. Aberle
and Stewart infer that more than half of the population in the Aneth,
Montezuma Creek, and region south of Bluff were practitioners in the
Native American Church by this time. 91
Not until the 1950s did a Salt Lake City law firm under the leadership
of Ernest L. Wilkinson make possible real financial assistance for
the Utes of Colorado and Utah. Grounds for this aid were rooted in the
past, when the government dispossessed the tribe of its lands— an estimated
15 million acres— beginning in 1868. In 1938 the Utes filed a suit
claiming $ 40 million in losses. Wilkinson won a series of legal battles
that settled on a final reparation of $ 32 million, giving 53 percent to the
Utah Utes in the north and 47 percent to the Southern and Ute Mountain
Utes in Colorado. The latter payment included recompense for the
White Mesa people. 92
The federal government approved the plan for the tribal governments
to pay part of this money in a per capita settlement spread over a number
of years. Although there were approximately 2,500 Utes living in both
states, giving about $ 12,500 per person, Congress felt that part of these
funds needed to be held back for investment in economic development.
A long- range program for improvement of tribal facilities and projects
still needed to be arranged.
To the 148 Utes living near Blanding, this translated into $ 1,025 per
person over a two- year period, or an aggregate sum of $ 151,700— an
unheard- of amount when most family incomes were well below $ 800
per year. Additional funds followed on a fairly regular basis, eventually
averaging a total payment of $ 8,000 to each man, woman, and child. The
initial reaction, reported in the newspapers with an obvious tinge of jealousy,
indicated the Indians' desire to own all those commodities their
The White Mesa Utes — 259—
Ute Indians living in Allen Canyon work with agent E. Z. Black to
plant a garden. The agent's home and headquarters are in the
background. ( San Juan Historical Commission)
white neighbors had, such as cars, clothes, and high- priced food. Of
greater import, however, were the funds set aside to improve housing,
roads, and services. 93
The Utes in Allen Canyon realized that their isolation was counterproductive,
while others living on the outskirts of Blanding wanted to
have better lands for farming and to use this money to build their livestock
industry. The Ute agent, Elbert J. Floyd, met with the white people
of Blanding and the area Utes to discuss the problems of relocation. All
— 260— A History of Utah's American Indians
fisKir
While the White Mesa Utes look forward to the future, they also
retain their heritage from the past. This photo, taken in 1936 in
Allen Canyon, illustrates the basket weaving skill for which the
Utes are famous. Today, this tradition is passed from generation to
generation. ( W. R. Palmer, Special Collections, Southern Utah
University Library)
The White Mesa Utes — 261—
three parties determined that Allen Canyon was too small for the expansion
of farming and industry and that the individual allotments were
too large to allow for introduction of community- owned- and- operated
modern conveniences. The Westwater community, located on BLM property
on the outskirts of Blanding, was situated on land too rocky for
farming, while building lots within the city limits were too expensive for
Indian families to afford. Eventually, Ute- owned land eleven miles south
of Blanding, now known as White Mesa, attracted Utes for settlement.
Close enough to Blanding for those who wished to work there, yet far
enough away to foster a sense of individual identity, the White Mesa site
proved to be a good choice. 94
Starting in the mid- 1950s, the Ute Mountain Rehabilitation Program,
headquartered in Towaoc, provided funds for the construction of frame
houses at White Mesa. 95 By 1976, fifty homes dotted the grasslands that
overlooked neighboring canyons. Soon another group of twenty- five
houses, equipped with water and plumbing, were added to the community.
Today, more than 100 buildings are found on the mesa. Electricity
arrived in 1964, a 100,000- gallon water storage tank stood sentinel at the
northern end of the community by the mid- 1970s, and bus service delivered
Ute children to the schools in town. White Mesa had become an
important social and unifying symbol of the modern Utes' presence in
southeastern Utah. 96
Modernization has taken other forms. In 1977 the people of White
Mesa elected a nine- member board and with the assistance of consultants
formed the community organization called the Allen Canyon Ute
Council, later named the White Mesa Ute Council. Because of the distance
to Towaoc and the belief that the people from White Mesa were
not receiving adequate consideration and representation in the larger
body politic, the Utes elevated the White Mesa Ute Council to a more
prominent role. In 1978 they hired Cleal Bradford, an experienced veteran
in economic development, who had enjoyed a decade of working
with the Utah Navajo Development Council before joining the Utes.
It did not take long to get things started. By 1981 the White Mesa
community could boast a Headstart program, day care center, adult education
classes, weekly health clinics, a senior- citizen program, a full-fledged
recreation program, police protection from Towaoc, a monthly
visit from a tribal judge, and local employment for twenty- five to thirty
people. Four years later, area residents were also able to purchase some
of their traditional grazing areas on north Elk Ridge, a move that brought
deep satisfaction. 97
— 262— A History of Utah's American Indians
Still another dramatic success occurred in schooling. A study completed
by the tribe in 1977 showed that approximately one- third of the
school- age children were receiving no formal education; another third
were in foster care or detention centers; and half of the remaining third
were living in other peoples' homes under the LDS church's placement
program. Only one- sixth of those eligible were actually living at home
and attending public schools. By 1983 the situation had changed dramatically:
42 percent of the entire population of White Mesa— including
those enrolled in headstart, kindergarten through twelfth grade, college
students, and people taking adult education classes— were now receiving
some type of educational benefit and living on the mesa. 98
Even with this growth and development, difficult problems still
abounded. One of these centered around the hauling of radioactive uranium
mill tailings from Monticello to the Energy Fuels company's uranium
mill, five miles north of White Mesa. This tentative repository site
had been in operation since 1980 but had closed its doors to the processing
of uranium in 1991- 92. In 1994 its doors could be opened again as a
storage site. To some of the people of White Mesa, other Native Americans,
and some Anglos, this was unacceptable. They expressed anger over
not having been consulted; they feared that the groundwater that flows
to the south off of Blue Mountain to White Mesa would be contaminated;
and they were concerned about the possibility of the digging of
additional storage pits that would disturb Indian graves nearby. A protest
march of 200 people, held on 22 September 1994, made use of the
power of the media to broadcast the concerns. As a result, the tailings
were never hauled to the site."
While this incident proved successful, at least as far as opponents to
the site were concerned, other problems have arisen. Recently, there has
been a rapid series of changes in leadership since Cleal Bradford left. The
people of White Mesa have struggled to find a permanent director who
has both a vision of future progress and is able to work with the various
factions within the community. Family groups wedded to different political
agendas, combined with struggles for power between dissenters
inside and outside of the community, have created a rocky political course
for the present. However, if history is a good indicator of the future, the
people of White Mesa will overcome these temporary setbacks as they
set forth into the twenty- first century.
Today, the community of White Mesa, comprised of a population of
around 350 people, has undergone substantial changes. It has modern
housing with electricity and running water; some houses even sport a
The White Mesa Utes — 263—
satellite dish. Many of the Ute people are employed in education and
service industries such as schools and motels; some work for the tribal
council; others help operate a cattle company and a store at White Mesa;
while still others are employed at Towaoc in farming projects and in the
local casino. Many are working towards economic self- sufficiency by obtaining
job skills and college educations to help them compete in a rapidly
changing economy.
Future plans include increased access to water from a seven- mile pipeline
extending from Recapture Reservoir to White Mesa. This will allow
the two underground wells that now service the community to act as a
backup to the water treatment plant during periods of heavy use. Continued
self- sufficiency of the cattle company through reinvestment from
its sales and a greater emphasis in local education programs to help the
youth are two other endeavors that have built pride and self- sufficiency.
Finally, improving relations with and acceptance by the tribal council at
Towaoc will continue to lead to more and better services. As the White
Mesa Utes enter the twenty- first century, they can do so with optimism.
Yet despite all the new innovations, the land remains important to
the Utes. From seventy- four- year- old Stella Eyetoo, who collects willows
for baskets, to Edward Dutchie, Jr., who sits on the tribal council in Towaoc
in an effort to improve conditions on White Mesa, to the children who
play cowboys and Indians in the canyons where their forefathers hunted
and fought to stay alive, the land will remain a central concern. The Utes
of southeastern Utah have always depended upon these roots as a source
of life that will continue to be nurtured as long as there is a Bear Dance,
as long as their language is spoken, and as long as they think of themselves
as the People. |
