Show or fN 1 It was as in the spring of 1854 1851 that the Mormon Indian In missionaries Jacob Hamblin A P Hardy F P H and Samuel Knights came south to blaze blazo the way feel the pulse of the tribes and to exercise if possible a civilizing Influence preparatory preparatory preparatory tory to the general settlement Pre Previous Previous Previous to their coming hardly a traveler passed through the country without trouble and an occasional killing kUling At first their coming was looked upon with suspicion by the Indians but after get gettins getting tins ting them to understand that they had come among them as friends to teach them white mans ways and how to raise corn wheat w eat beans and fruit and generally to add to their comfort and happiness their good will was accepted ac and reciprocated by who took them to his home village on the tl o now known as the San ta to 3 Clara Clam creek where a permanent camp was made and everything was done by the missionaries to ingratiate I themselves and prove their sincerity was chief of the Piute Pluto nation extending from the th rim of the basin fifteen miles east and west and south sooth to the beaver dams in northern I Arizona a distance of seventy seye miles mil He was in a true sense nse a noble red redman redman redman 1 man was W as above the ge height e a i tOO singe and an intelligent face His dignity was impressive and marked him as an instinctive tive gentle centle gentleman man and had he been educated he would have been an orator possessing original and dramatic powers giving him great influence among his hi people with whom his word was law His i friendship for the whites gave gaye the en entering entering wedge to the civilization of the I south Previous to this time the Mexicans cans and had been in the habit of making raids abusing the squaws carrying off the children and driving their stock As the Indiana Indians I were not great fighters lighters they were also imposed upon by neighboring tribes There were however all told Pi utes of whom hom were warriors First Irrigation During the winter of the mis missionaries mIssionaries missionaries prepared for irrigation by damming the t and an 1 running the water over tracts of land on either side of ol the stream and in the spring the Indians were taught the rudiments of agriculture and planted the west westside westside westside I I i side of the stream while the mission aries planted the east side and at that time planted the first cotton seed planted in Utah During the year fur further further further ther progress was made by b sending to Brigham Young for a teacher and Mr Woodard was sent down and established established established a school In the fall faU of 55 the four mission missionaries mIssionaries aries went to Salt Lake City Hamblin and Knights returning with their families Hardy not coming till tm the following spring Some five or six families came two or three months later and a few families came in from California making quite a little settle settlement settlement settlement ment They built Fort near the present site of Santa Clara and settled down to business For the first few years under gubits guidance and the influence of the missionaries the tribe became rap idly civilized ceased their wrangling with other tribes and followed ih itt a measure the pursuit of agriculture With the settlement of St George in 1861 the Indians as in other othe instances absorbed the less enviable traits of the white man and gradually became become de dependents i became old and i died in 1867 1857 He had married three squaws By the first two he left no children leaving two sons by b the third t Who was a squaw Charlie and ts This squaw proved faithless however and was killed by b her enraged chief and was not even given the honor of burial but dropped into a gorge and left the legitimate prey of the prowling coyotes Having Haing married into the tribe I t rubit invited their I chief to visit him which resulted later in a union of the tribes It was WiS in the early days of prospecting when the white man began to hit Wt the trail in country that he and his bis tribe I 1 lY became alarmed lest Its barren moun mountains mountains mountains and desert waste would not fur furnish nish sustenance for both that he made overtures to the to sell the country over which he claimed juris inns diction from the fact that prospectors wished uninterrupted sway and the country was wished as at rt t cattle range it was deemed advisable to make a treaty which was done by the payment to i tribe of cattle horses bOIses blan blants ts the th Cunningham survey on the Pah Pub i ruse Virgin river south of St George i Reservation Established A P Hardy was made Indian bishop and together with J D L Pierce In Instructed Instructed instructed them in irrigation and agriculture agriculture ture but the Indians became dissatisfied dIssatisfied fied fled with this low farming fanning land after their wild mountain life and began to scatter some going down to Price and others camping in the hills A perma permanent permanent nent change being desirable they were removed to some church property I fifteen miles northwest of St George on the which was after afterwards afterwards afterwards wards purchased by the government together with other tracts and given as asa asa asa a reservation When came c me to St George with his tribe numbering iio there were very few of at the original Indians Indiana left most of the older ones having been killed or died from disease while the infant mortality had been appalling The children left had either been stolen by the Utes or purchased by the whites as it was a fad to take them in the hope of aiding aidini In the civilization of the tribe These conditions however have practically exterminated them there being only three left Indian Tom Toni and died some years ago and was given a Chris Christian Christian Christian tian burial in St George cemetery 1 Remnants of Several Tribes The present Indians at the St SL George orge reservation number about over 5 years old made up principally of Sheb its and a few each from other tribes Cool Creek and and for some years have been government charges The present distributing agent is Miss Misa Laura B Works who also teaches the school There are fifty children childr n en em enrolled enrolled rolled between 5 and 8 S years with an I average attendance of to thirty For some years rears now the In I mans have been on en the increase and it is to be hoped that from the ex cx experience experience of the past they can be so taught that they will become useful intelligent citizens Shem their chief is said to be a nephew of on his mothers side and is a fine looking Indian dignified in bearing and far above the average in intelligence Though not oot a brilliant man he is in influential influential in his tribe and a good friend to the whites As he expressed it Government white man Mormons Indians all brothers pretty good Me Melike Melike Melike like em Shem Shern no cross talk As a matter of fact he is absolutely honest son on of is also a good Indian though of little force as aa is also Moonie son of Both have had at different times a minority following for chief but Shem Shorn has al wat been the choice of an overwhelm overwhelming ing majority Nearly Kearly all are good In Indians Indians indians though Toab a has an unenviable record He was the one from his tribe who assisted in the mur murder murder murder der of Major Powells men years ago o has hag attempted the lives of a number of white men and Is supposed to have killed others though nothing was proven He made a treacherous at attempt tempt to stab A 4 P Hardy in the back I H 1 i 7 1 I I Z i f tJ tJI s I I INDIAN CAMP NEAR ST GEORGE got off with his life and finally landed in the penitentiary for killing an In Indian Indian Indian dian Just lust why wh he has escaped the bullet of the white man is a mystery to all who know him Deserved a Bullet an old Muddy Iud y Indian of treacherous dealings and cutthroat methods deserved d a bullet years years ago aa au hIs hia record js s not better than He acted as spy y for the Navajos years 1 11 uia had his throat cut each time left l ft for dead ad today toda he is one of the ranking Indians Indiana not a bad fellow and wields an influence in the tribe next to Shem Shero The government some years ears ago through the efforts of Mr Ivins and others fitted the Indians out with farming implements horses and wa wagons wagons Wagons gons since which time they have farmed with a measurable degree of success and are partially ing lag raising alfalfa corn wheat beans squash and onions Primitive Methods There Thero are a number of buildings on the reservation One is used for the day school the others are used only as aa store rooms and were never occupied the Indians preferring the made from canvas skins bark etc ete They are as primitive as must have haye been their fathers ages ago Their diet however is an improvement on the ants crickets and lizards and while they use baking powder in the preparation preparation tion of flour they still use the stone mortar or mill in grinding seeds and grow various kinds and andare andare andare are prepared to struggle as of yore with any an kind of paste baked to the con consistency consistency of an adobe brick If one were wel to visit isit camp at meal times during its preparation he would note that the Indian is no epicure and he pays pas little attention to detail I Take lake for instance the preparation of ofa ofa ofa a rabbit The fact that it had not been I completely denuded of its fur would be I overlooked part of it that had dropped in the sand san 1 even receive the formality of a shake but be cast into I the trying frying pan sand and all apparent apparently I ly b the better for it A more primitive method however was to put Mr Rab Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit I bit in the coals cools and ashes the fhe fire talc tak taking ing care of the hair while it was cook cooking cooking ing to the proper dryness which was made evident by the bursting of the rabbit Just when they bathe their i bands hands and faces fa isa mystery as fiSI I never w them indulge in such a 0 luxury l I certainly its not IlOt before meals Y YI dont even men get the tha cat lick after AU ll r I draw raw up to the pan or kettle ng Sf I 1 I kneeling in the sand and each i fork spoon or fingers helps h hims f as j jlong long as aa whatever is to be eaten holdS I out date Dress Dressin resS ItT As to dress the bucks children dress as do the whites you still see the blanket and v this is ba a basket carried as of Old AU AD great change front from th the dress or BIb dress kess Of forty years ago j Many of the Indians spend tie first firS two OOS dayS of the week at St George Geore coming coining in SundaY night and camping in the outskirts of t town Ot i the bucks tend the children while the O at two bits a ada aday washing do the e squaws the more in indUstrioUS IndIans day da and i serve the people at various odd jobs k 5 During December and January many nY i Chief J Indians including I of the spent their whole ole time here rt which gave i ian make an Indian eel col i an opportunity to J t lection Most of their time however is spent at the reservation After harvesting the their crops In to the he thell fall fal ll they make expeditions e in bands to West it mountains and Wolf Hole where I they gather thousands of pounds pou oC ot pine nuts the fruit of the pinion pine These give them thorn a ci trading surplus at atthe the rate of 5 cents a pound thougH Later LaJter they the usually retail at 10 W cents to Pine the bands go on deer hunts Valley mountains eighteen miles nortH of St George while fifty miles south are found antelope and mountain sheep Degenerating Influences Most of us frown to look the shift shiftless shiftless Indian as a less improvident lot and from a civil civilized cIvilized point of view this is true and atter er L Lall Lall all they are just about what thc te tte temen men amen have made them and when wh n we wa consider their wild roving life and in inborn inborn n born instincts perpetuated for hun bun hundreds j of years that the white while mans m ns civilization has robbed them of or o their hunting grounds and also of ance by b doling out rations usually at such intervals calculated to give Pye them thema a feast or a famine and anything but out I serving the end to be desired no wonder won wonder red has bus disappeared disaPpeared i der den the noble man L and in his stead a lot of beg beggars beggars gars The same system would ouid degen degenerate i orate erate the white race and it is ia a 3 fact that where white men have been shut shuL shutout shutout out from civilizing influences and at thrown with an inferior race he has h hh s degenerated into something worse than Indians notwithstanding the boasted civilization of or his ancestors tors The system eye tern tem is wrong or the abuse of ot the system system tem tern through unscrupulous agents ap appointed appointed appointed pointed for political reasons Let us have the civil service enforced and place agents in the field who are axe fitted for the work and who will deal honest honestly ly b and fairly with the Indian India The people of St George have 1 ave always ways had a theory that it was cheaper to feed and buy the Indians than to ID o fight them so that the home tribes have baye given very little trouble and a were al at always ways friends to the whites Navajo RaidS I IFor For years they were harasses ha by bands band of Navajos who would hide in m inthe inthe the mountains about the city I Ithe the and movements of the tile theto people poop Co i 1 r t tto to them drive off the stock The people built a l large rge corral which I still stands in the lower part of tow into which the stock was driven at night and all aU men mea and boys over 15 were formed into a mili mill military tary tarv company for mutual protection and D D 0 McArthur eArthur now stake president president president dent was chosen colonel and James Andrus lieutenant colonel of cavalry A P Handy was um major Many others ethers served privately and all mere or less took an active part Every night aught for lot I years two men stood guard at the eec cor corral ral to prevent surprise and pro protect I teet the town In spite of all these precautions many depredations i to were committed and many horses and I cattle were driven off and much time lost in running down the band and in some instances recovering the stock Each member of the cavalry company Com y 1 was required to have always on hand handa a horse saddle and bridle a rifle wd lad forty rounds of ammunition and be ready at any time to hit the trail trailS in j twenty minutes In these Indian fights afew a few white Ii men were killed and many Indians though there were many narrow es escapes escapes i capes at the last fight with a Navajo band which resulted 1 in a treaty o I peace fourteen out of the fifteen In Indians Indians Indians were killed after a desperate fight They were surprised in the early earh morning while getting breakfast by bythe bythe bythe the who had been riding all i inight night might James Antus Andus life was saved s ved vedby I Iby by his horse who raised his head bead just justin j t tin in time to catch the arrow arrow Intended for him which was afterwards extracted by a blacksmith at St George and one oe of the other men slid from his horse bo just in time to dodge an arrow which was found to have gone through his saddle and blankets and pricked the horse but no one was seriously hurt and the stock was recovered WILLIAM WINTHROP BETTS F |