When the Utes Invaded Utah

When the Utes Invaded Utah By Gen. John Q. Cannon The July number of the Era refers to what came perilously near being a cattle- men-Indian war which could easily have cost great loss of life and the destruction of the few and feeble white settlements in Grand and San Juan counties. This was in the late fall and early winter of 1894. Having had a modest part in averting that conflict, it has occurred to me that a brief recital of the incident, as reflected in my own experiences1 in connection with it, might be of present interest. It was a season of intense cold and deep snows. During several weeks I slept and ate and traveled in and upon and through an unending blanket of "the beautiful," varying in depth from a few inches in the lower valleys to three feet or more on the high mesas, and from that to fifteen feet in the swales, and canyons. Utah was then a Territory, though with imminent prospects of being soon admitted to the sisterhood of states. Caleb \V. West was Governor, and the National Guard had only recently been organized. The first service required of the latter was in con- nection with the advent of the western division of the so-called Coxey's army — - a bizarre industrial movement which, though interesting and at times exciting, was never very serious. The Guard's sec- ond service seemed likely to be against a more formidable foe — Ute Indians from Colorado who, with flocks and herds in large numbers, were trespassing upon the winter grazing grounds of Utah cattlemen. A delegation of citizens from that sec- tion waited upon Governor West and laid the case before him, whereupon he pro- ceeded in person to Moab and Monticello and held conference, not only with the leading men and the chiefs of the Indians, but also with Col. Lawton U. S. A., in command of the Federal troops in Colo- rado. The results of this conference ap- peared to be satisfactory. It was admitted that the Indians had no business off their reservation, and they agreed, though sul- lenly, to go back. After seeing them head- ed eastward, and apparently persuaded that the retreat movement would be carried out in good faith, Col. Lawton and his party hastened back to Colorado, and Governor West returned to Salt Lake City. A few days later, however, a second delegation called on the Governor and as- serted that the Indians were still there in even larger numbers than before; that their promised retirement had only been a feint, ending in a detour which brought them into localities where the settlers would be at their mercy; and that they claimed they had been authorized and even advised by their agent to stay where they were, where- fore they truculently refused to leave. Tel- egraphically the agent denied all this, reiter- ating that his Indians were all on their reservation and would stay there. It was then that the Governor, as Commander-in- chief of the Territory's forces, issued orders for George W. Gibbs and John Q. Cannon, the former a captain of artillery, and the latter a captain of cavalry, to proceed with all dispatch to the region affected, make a personal examination to determine the question of veracity thus raised, and collect such information as should furnish material for a presentation of the whole matter to Washington authorities. Our orders were to discountenance anything that might tend to aggravate the situation or precipi- tate a conflict. We were merely to in- vestigate thoroughly, and make report of actual findings — all this as speedily as the nature of the duty and the existing condi- tions permitted. We did not wear uni- forms. The day after receiving these orders we were in Moab on the south side of the Grand (now called the Colorado) river; and at once began our inquiry. It being reported that a small encampment of In- dians was in an almost inaccessible nook a few miles down the river, we proceeded thither under the guidance of two cowboys, "Slick" Snell and John Robinson, both of

42 IMPROVEMENT ERA whom claimed to have seen many of the Colorado Utes in their range-riding and to have been threatened by them. Sure enough, we came upon the encampment comprising some half dozen lodges, whose principal personage appeared to be a one- legged and partly educated native named Dave. He spoke good English, and under the impression that we were prospectors, he talked freely, giving us the number of his own party, the size of their goat and pony herds which we saw grazing on the far side of the river, the location of other encampments which we might encounter in our wanderings, concluding with the positive statement that their agent in Col- orado had told them to drift over into Utah in order that their livestock might obtain the forage which, through over- grazing, their own reservation no longer afforded. The interview ended, I unbuttoned my blouse to consult my watch to see whether there was enough of daytime left to war- rant a return to Moab that night. It was an ill-considered gesture. Dave's eyes fastened upon my army belt and pistol, and his suspicions instantly took the form of clam-like silence- — not another word did we get out of him. But that was not the worst. We were soon to learn that, travel as rapidly as we might — and we rode strong, grain-fed horses — the news of our presence and the nature of our inquiries had preceded us, and we found the trans- ients uncommunicative and guileful. Only a few hours later, on arriving at Monticello, sixty miles away, the storekeeper told me he had heard his Indian customers talking mysteriously about a "Mericat Capitain" who was in their midst fishing for infor- mation. It was a convincing demonstra- tion of the uncanny aboriginal faculty for transmitting news. I do not pretend to say they employed telepathy, "underground telegraph" or any other of the mental or physical means of communication more or less recognized by civilized man. I only record the fact, leaving the method un- explained, and merely observing that it appeared to me impossible for the swiftest of couriers, afoot or mounted, to have car- ried the warning so far and disseminated it so thoroughly as was found to be the case. This development confirmed the deci- sion of Captain Gibbs and myself to separ- ate in order to cover the ground more ex- peditiously before the spreading of the alarm should hinder if not defeat our pur- pose. Gibbs chose to investigate condi- tions to the west and southwest in the counties named. His party found com- paratively little cause for complaint or cor- rection. Most of the Indians he saw were recognized as belonging in the locality — small groups of so-called "renegades," poor and mean in appearance and with few animals. He soon returned to Moab, and was awaiting me there when I returned. I proceeded southward as far a9 Bluff City on the San Juan river, thence through and over the canyons and plateaus of the southeastern corner of the territory. My route was much longer and immensely more difficult both as to terrain and to climatic conditions. My companions were Wilford (Dick) Butt, sheriff of San Juan county, and Holbert McClure, guide and interpre- ter. The former was an absolutely fearless man, hardy, experienced and resourceful. The latter, a youngster, was a regular prize-winner in roping and riding, the best all-round cowboy, I think, I ever saw. I was told that his mother was a Ute squaw, his father the storekeeper at the Indian agency in Colorado, where the boy was born, and where he naturally came to know personally all the Indians who belonged there. Some of those whom we found in our combing of the rugged region might have fooled Butt and myself with their claim to a lawful habitat in Utah; but there was no getting past McClure with prevarication. He knew the individuals by name and they knew him, so they ap- parently concluded that "the least said, the soonest mended," and that they might as well first as last stand up and be counted. We encountered our first deep snow on the mesa below the Blue Mountains, where the Carlyle Ranch and the town of Monti- cello were situated. There was nearly two feet of it, and trails along the streets, for visits to store and post office, and for children going to school, had been made by trailing a bunch of cattle in winding file through the main thoroughfare. The chiefs, Ignacio, Colorow, Marcana and others, who had attended the Governor's

WHEN THE UTES INVADED UTAH 43 conference a fortnight before, and had agreed to return at once to their reservation, had been in Monticello the day before my arrival but had now vanished. I found, however, many of their followers still there and in the vicinity — and these were inter- viewed and counted, besides estimating the number of their livestock. Some of them intimated an intention of going back to Colorado but not until "they got good and ready," as the interpreter phrased it. In the Monticello store I had an illustra- tion of the Indian manner of trading. Their sole medium of exchange seemed to be buckskins, of which each family of purchasers had a goodly number lying in a heap at their feet or in a sack upon which they kept vigilant watch. The trading was done principally by the squaws, and the white man's side of the negotiations was certainly a test of patience. The native woman would produce one skin at a time, which the storekeeper spread out upon the counter, examining it for bullet holes or knife cuts, after which — perhaps taking the additional precaution to weigh it — he would indicate by a show of fingers how much he was willing to pay. If the figure was acceptable, the squaw pushed the skin out of her way and proceeded to specify the various articles she wanted in exchange. These consisted nearly alway of a small supply of tobacco, a scoopful of flour, two or three yards of bright- colored calico, ten or fifteen cents worth of sugar, etc., until the storekeeper signified that her capital was exhausted; whereupn the counter would be cleared off; the purchaser placing her parcels in her pack the merchant tossing his buckskin under the counter. Then the former would produce another buckskin, and ex- actly the same procedure would be repeat- ed, the buyer investing in precisely the same goods and to the same amount or quantity. Thus at the end of the transac- tion-— which usually required the better part of half a day for each purchaser — the storekeeper would have all her buckskins and she would have perhaps a dozen pieces of the same kind of calico, a dozen little parcels of flour and sugar, and tobacco, etc., in like proportion. (I did not notice that any soap, scrubbing brushes or fine- toothed combs figured in the deal.) There was no use trying to hurry her or force upon her anything she did not want, nor would any success have attended the effort to induce her to trade in two or more buckskins at once. To her untutored mind, anything beyond the most primitive arithmetical processes was a delusion and a white man's snare. As we proceeded south toward the San Juan river the depth of snow gradually di- minished until at Bluff City it had all disappeared, the weather being unseason- ably warm. The day after our arrival there, however, a heavy snow storm set in. It was a beautiful sight — the flakes being, in Dick Butt's opinion, as "big as a straw hat," though McClure thought they were only about the size of a dinner plate. They melted as they fell, leaving the ground a soupy morass, and making havoc with the household interiors where dependence had been placed upon dirt roofs. I was the dinner guest of the good bishop of the set- tlement, and the table equipment consisted largely of wide milk pans placed at strategic points to catch the muddy drip from above. But there was still room on the broad board for an abundant spread of whole- some, well-cooked and most palatable vi- ands. The host's comely and vivacious daughters had the good taste to omit apologies for the roof — they weren't re- sponsible for the unprecedented storm; but they failed not in their service of hot biscuits with home-made butter, an oft filled platter piled high with stewed chick- en surrounded with vegetable accessories, not to enumerate the pies, cakes, preserves and other sweets which completed the feast and testified eloquently of their house- wifery. To the enjoyment of the repast everybody brought a well-whetted appetite; and if, before we dispersed, all were exter- nally fairly well-wetted, the elision of the "h" aspirate — which is so often silent any- way— only added to the general merriment. During the twenty-four hours stay in Bluff, conferences were held with Stake President F. A. Hammond, Kumen Jones, Lemuel Redd and others, whose acquaint- ance with the Indian situation, and whose attitude of patience and sympathy with the aborigines were gratefully noted. I was

44 IMPROVEMENT ERA also given a sample of crude oil — seepage from the base of the bluffs a few miles away — which sample I brought to Salt Lake City and placed with suitable ex- planations in the Chamber of Commerce. So far as I am aware, this was the first public intimation of the existence of this great resource within the confines of the commonwealth. Striking out now in an easterly and northerly direction from Bluff into the rough and broken country toward the Colorado line, we took leave of civiliza- tion and of comfort. There were no roads or trails — at least none were visible owing to the deep snow. We traversed the sec- tions represented by the names Horse Can- yon, St. Elmo, Cross Canyon, Montezuma and Ruin Canyons, etc., seeing scores of the curious little walled-up caves in the face of the cliffs, high above the floor of 'the valleys, and seemingly accessible only by ladders from the rim of the mesa above. The guide was not certain whether these were originally designed for tombs, or for granaries, or for places of refuge — he had explored some of them which apparently had served each of these purposes. At any rate they were evidence of an ancient popu- lation far more numerous than the present conditions of the country would appear to warrant. Occasionally we met men who, while posing as range riders, were shifty and furtive in behavior — outlaws probably whom it would have been impolite to ques- tion too closely as to name, headquarters and vocation. When we came upon one of these worthies unexpectedly, his first movement was toward his pistol; but I do not recall that in any instance he went so far as to "draw." As we asked them very little, and they volunteered even less, they probably told us no lies. The bona-fide cowboys, however, recognizing our busi- ness as calculated for their benefit, could not do too much to assist us. We fixed our base for several days while scouting in this rugged region at a large cave well stocked with supplies belonging to the Cross Canyon cattle outfit. There was no rough forage for our horses and pack animals, but plenty of grain; for the former a substitute was found in the wil- lows and small cottonwoods along the creek bottom. From the stores within the cave we brought forth twice daily a pan of bacon, from the surplus fat of which, with the addition of a handful of flour, the cook manufactured a good quality of old-fash- ioned " 'Mormon' gravy." His biscuits, mixed and kneaded in the top of a flour- sack, were not conspicuously light, but they "stayed with you;" and upon this ration — bacon and biscuits^ — we lived and thrived during the many days that elapsed before we returned to the settlements. The sher- iff officiated as cook, the guide wrangled the horses, and I, as the privileged member ol the party, gave the dishes such occasional washing a9 they received. We joined in making the one bed in which the three of us slept — the first preparation for which was the tramping and smoothing down the snow in a fresh place each night. In scouring this labyrinthine region, we found scores of trespassing Indiana whom we duly identified and counted. They were generally fat and contented, having recently drawn supplies from the agency. With their animals the case was quite different. There was simply nothing for them to eat — they had not been able to get far enough into Utah to reach the valleys and the plateaus where the white sage wa9 abundant, and which, when once touched by frost, makes excellent forage. The consequence was their livestock were dying by hundreds. In one-half day's ride over toward the Colorado boundary I counted no less than sixty ponies which had perished on the trail. It was on this day, when within three or four miles of the line, that a couple of young bucks, muffled up like Eskimos, brought me a verbal invi- tation from Dave Day, the Indian agent, to ride across the line for an interview. Ol course I declined, sending back word that though his ideas seemed to be quite loose and hazy as to keeping on his own res- ervation, I knew enough not to get off mine. This man Day was an odd character. Reference was made in the July number of the Era to his paper, The Solid Muldoon. He wielded a vitriolic pen, jabbed it mer- cilessly into those who excited his displeas- ure, and apparently had no sense of fear. In those semi-lawless days and among a

WHEN THE UTES INVADED UTAH 4:3 constituency where such a man assumed to be a law unto himself, the wonder was that Day had escapd so long a violent death. Yet he had an extensive circle of friends, who hailed him as a good fellow, and he possessed many likable qualities. Through some influence he had secured the position of Indian agent, and it was suspected that by way of compensation for the influence thus employed, and in the interest of a group of Colorado land jumpers and boom- ers, he had instigated this migration of his dusky wards to Utah. Day after day, from early morning till dark, we prosecuted our search and in- quiries, finding plenty of evidence to sup- port the statements made by the citizens' committee to Governor West, and to justify their fears. At length, however, we de- tected signs of a general retreat movement on the part of the intruders, and by the time we left that region, they were all on their way back home, if not in full flight, at least making such progress as the deep snow and the weakened condition of their animals permitted. Personally, I regarded the savages, by reason of the advice undet which they were acting, as more sinned against than sinning; and when I saw the pitiful conditions under which they were scurrying homeward, I could entertain no feeling other than sympathy for them. Of course, this softness of heart did not pre- vent our fulfilling to the best of our ability the duty assigned to us. Whenever we came upon an encampment — of few or many tepees — our procedure was to ride hastily — and it now seems to me, recklessly, — into the midst of it, dismount instantly, and without ceremony enter the various lodges, and begin our census-taking. Often- times we were met with ugly looks and naturally; but never was there any resist- ance, though on many occasions we could have been easily overpowered. I have since wondered how many groups of white marauders under similar circumstances would have manifested as much forbear- ance! Our mission being now accomplished, we turned our faces again in the direction of the white settlements. The last day's ride before reaching the little town of Verdure I shall never forget. Climbing out of Montezuma canyon, through snow which increased in depth as we reached the higher altitude, and almost crushed at times by young avalanches which descended upon us in great masses from the trees bordering the' trail, we attained about dark the mesa, which lay cold and white in the starlight. For many days past we had been floun- dering without interruption through snow which reached to our stirrups; but by com- parison with what we now faced, all that had gone before seemed a pastime. During these last few miles we took turns riding ahead and breaking trail, often having to dismount to wallow ahead so that the horses could get through, and frequently having to come back and make a trail of double width, in order to afford a passage for the pack animals whose burdens dragged heavily through the snow on both sides. When we arrived at the sheriff's home about midnight, his blazing fireplace welcomed three horsemen whose exhaus- tion was complete, and his stable gave shelter to five horses in which there was not a hundred yards of further travel left. Early morning, I was waited upon by the late Ben Heywood — afterwards to be- come United States marshal for Utah, — who was financing a prospecting operation in the Blue Mountains, at the foot of whose lofty peaks the village nestles. He of- fered me a fresh mount and his companion- ship as far as Monticello, which were gladly accepted. Taking leave of my two recent associates, their services being no longer needed* we set out in a heavy storm which hourly added inches to the snowy depth already covering the plain. The two towns are only a few miles apart, but seven hours were consumed in cover- ing them. Ben was a giant in stature and strength, I am no pigmy, and our horses were large and stout; but at the end of the journey, after bucking snow in many places up to our armpits, we all felt like calling it a full day. In Monticello I gathered up a little more information, re- assured the settlers with the news that the Indians were now homeward bound, and hastened to Moab, where I rejoined Captain Gibbs. The night before our departure for the station where we were to take train for Salt Lake City, a dance was given in

46 IMPROVEMENT ERA our honor in a large vacant log house which served as the amusement center of the town. Sartorial simplicity marked ihc occasion — our costume being riding breeches, leggings and hunting coats, while the natives were not more stylishly clad, except for the addition of spurs in par- ticularly dudish instances. All went merry as a marriage bell, until a bit of momentary gunplay occurred, when one gentleman thought another gentleman was dancing too often with the first gentleman's lady. Some lights went out, and there were certain exits partaking more of haste than of dignity; but there were no casualties. Next morning we drove to Thompson Springs on the main line of the D. & R. G. W., and by midnight we were again in Salt Lake. This was toward the end of January, 1895. Portions of our report, which we immediately prepared, accom- panied by a map covering the route of the "expedition," the location of the vari- ous Indian encampments with the number of souls in each one, a total of nearly three hundred, was telegraphed to Wash- ington, the full report being sent by mail. The result was the immediate dismissal of Mr. Dave Day as Indian agent, with something like a reprimand for the military and other officials in Colorado, who were found to have had cognizance of the invasion, but had not been sufficiently energetic in preventing it, or remedying it after it occurred. Fortunately there had been no bloodshed; and while there had been much angry talk on both sides, with many threatening gestures, a sense of secur- ity was quickly restored and affairs soon were pursuing once more their accustomed and uneventful course. In closing, it will perhaps not be inap- propriate to say that many of those with whom I had pleasant associations during those severe weeks have passed away — Sheriff Butt, Prest. Hammond, Ben Hay- wood, Lem Redd and others"; also that the principal men among the trespassing red men, Ignacio, Mariane, etc., have long since gone to their happy hunting grounds. Whether Holbert McClure still survives I do not know. I' have the unhappy recol- lection of seeing a reward offered for his capture as a member of the notorious "Robbers' Roost" gang a few years later. This was after Utah attained statehood, when I was consulted by the Governor as 10 the most effective method for breaking up this band of renegades, some of them desperadoes of a thoroughly lawless type. I made inquiries at that time concerning the causes of McClure's downfall, and became satisfied that though as a fugitive from justice he had cast his lot with the outlaws, the offense for which he had fled the abode of civilization was one that would have brought him slight punish- ment, if any at all, had he permitted the law to take its course. In short, I was assured by those who said they knew that, though he had seriously wounded a man in a pistol battle, he could well have set up the claim of self-defense. My informants declared that the only thing which could have prevented his acquittal was the prom- inence and influence of friends of his an- tagonist; and that rather than face their retaliation and vengeance he chose to accept the welcome which the robbers' haunts of- fered. Knowing the devotion to me — for I firmly believe he would have given his life had it been necessary to save mine — I am not ashamd to say that, despite the fact of his outlawry with a price upon his head, I should have offered him, had he come to me in his need, the best horse in my stable, and no questions asked. There have been at least two slightly serious Indian outbreaks in the regions here described since the invasion herein referred to; but these instances were local in character and had no interstate signifi- cance. Old Poke, Posey and some others among the "renegades" of the earlier day are understood to have had a hand in these later disturbances, with the full details of which I am not familiar. They were soon suppressed, however; and the two southwestern counties are today regarded as equally secure for settlement and civ- ilization as any other part of the state. Even the Robbers' Roosters have disappeared from the scene; leaving nothing but a romantic memory; while of menace or in- jury from our red-skinned neighbors on the other side of the Colorado line there has been no repetition and there remains no trace.