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Show August 3, 1973 Page HILL TOP TIMES 7 9. Sansei, Marshall, Pueblo, Anasazi, Ute, Navajo, Coronaao, Shoshoni, Issei, Nisei, Kebei, Miner, Farmer, Bing Cong long The Brigham Young Monument at the intersection of Main and South Temple streets in Salt Lake City and the This is the Place Monument at the mouth of Emigration Canyon contain the names of three Black men who entered the Salt Lake Valley with the vanguard of Mormon pioneers. These three Black slaves achieved an immortality along with other Utah pioneers. Their names were Green Flake, Hark Lay and Oscar Crosby.3 While they were the first Black slaves into the area, they were not the only ones, for there were many Blacks accompanying the Mormon parties on their journeys westward. A great number of the Mormons immigrated to the Great Basin from the southern states and brought their slaves with them. For example, the Mississippi white members and Company in 1848 included fifty-seve- n Christ of Latter-da- y Saints and remained in the territory. Some Blacks in the state today trace their origins to these early pioneers.7 Like other western territories, Utah has been the site of military defense installations, and Black men have played a significant role m establishing and maintaining them. In September 1884, war and the threat of war existed between the Ute tribes and the Mormon population. As a result, the Bureau of Indian Affairs sent to the Uintah Reservation an agent who recommended the establishment of a fort near the reservation for the "discipline and control" of the Indians. In August 1886, a site was selected at the junction of the Duchesne and Uinta rivers. Chosen to command Fort Duchesne was Major F. W. Benteen, the man who had saved what was left of General George Custer's army. Benteen's Ninth Cavalry troops from Fort Steele and Fort Sidney, Nebraska, were Black. Much disliked by the Indians, they received from them the name "Buffalo Soldiers" because of their woolly beards. Their task was to defend the frontier of eastern Utah, western Colorado, and southwestern Wyoming.8 A monument at Fort Duchesne reads: August 21, 1886, two companies of colored infantry commanded by Major F. W. Benteen and four companies of infantry under Captain Duncan arrived at this site to control the activities of Indians. There were three bands of Utes Uncompahgres, Whiterivers and Uintahs. The troops hauled logs from nearby canyons, built living quarters, commissary, storehouses and hospital, thereby establishing Fort Duchesne. Abandoned in 1912, now headquarters for the Uintah Reservation.9 The famed "Buffalo Soldiers" served for nearly twelve Blacks.4 Some Blacks came as free men and others as slaves. In thirty-fou- r the case of the latter, they often were the most valuable property a family had. Mormon pioneer John Brown listed in his autobiography an inventory of the gifts made to the church which included real estate valued at $775.00, a long list of livestock, farm equipment, tools, household articles, and one "African Servant Girl" valued at $1,000.00. d The value of this slave girl constituted of the one-thir- entire gift.5 By the ambiguity of the Compromise of 1850, Utah was the only western territory in which Blacks were held as slaves. According to the United States Census of that year, there were in Utah twenty-fou- r free Blacks and twenty-si- x Black slaves. And the census of 1860 listed thirty free slaves.6 Blacks and twenty-nin- e In 1851, the Utah Territorial Legislature passed an act protecting slavery in the territory. The law provided clearly defined obligations for both master and slave. These requirements were similar to those practiced in the South. While the slave trade was never legal in the territory, dealing in human bondage did take place. The legal practice ended, of course, with the conclusion of the Civil War. Many of the Black people at that time, both slave and free, were members of the Church of Jesus "'Floyd A. O'Neil, "The Reluctant Suzerainty: The Uintah and Ouray Utah Historical Reservation," Quarterly. 3 (Spring 1971), William Z. Terry, "Causes of Indian Wars in Utah," Utah Academy of Arts and Sciences. Letters SI) Proceedings. 21 (1943-44J0O'Neil, "The Uintah and Ouray Reservation," 130. 2,J. Lee Correll, "Navajo Frontiers In Utah and Troublous Times in Monument Valley," Utah Historical Quarterly, 39 (Spring 1971), HI. 130-4- AASlC Camps Concentration Mr. recounts Another military unit of Black soldiers - the Twenty-fourt- h Infantry Regiment - was stationed at old Fort Douglas and participated with distinction in Cuba during War. These were the men who the Spanish-America- n Hill past the faltering Seventy-firs- t swept up San Juan New York Regiment, and, along with the Black Cavalry, helped save the day for Theodore Roosevelt. Following the battle of San Juan Hill, they served as nurses in the Gosiute (Logan, Utah, 192), 3 S. 28itid. 7. 21 bid. IS, 33. '"Leonard J. Arrington and Thomas G. Alexander, "They Kept 'Em Rolling: The Tooele Army Depot, Utah Historical Quarterly, 31 (Winter 193), 11; Jerry Taylor, "Orientals in Utah Seek a Median of Identity, Ties to Community," Salt Lake Tribune, August 9, 1971. . Arlington, Price of Prejudice, 32bid. HGeorge Kraus. "Chinese Laborers Indians," 13,177. 23Smith. 134. "The 'Japanese' in Utah," 24lbid.. 140; Bill Hosokawa, Nisei: The Quiet Americans (New York, 199)9, 74. "Smith. "The 'Japanese' 134,140. slbid. . in 1942-192- ," Utah" 13S. J7Leonard J. Arrington, The Price of Prejudice: The Japanese-AmericaRelocation Center in Utah during World War II, Twenty fifth Faculty Honor Lecture, Utah State University n AAOSOOlCO To his neighbors in Salt Lake City, Mike Masaoka was the kid down the street until World War II. Allan R. Bosworth in America's "Allen and Warner, "The years at Fort Duchesne.10 37-3- o - speak and act as I please as a free man equal to every other man." On Dec. 7, 1941, Mr. Masaoka was in Nebraska. He was placed in jail until Senator Thomas arranged his Masaoka's experiences before and after the war. Mr. the became Masaoka of the Japanese secretary American Citizens League after completing college. In 1940, he wrote the Japanese American creed which was read to the Senate by U.S. Senator Elbert D. Thomas of Utah. It was published in the Congressional Record, May 9, 1941. The creed, in part, is: "I am proud that t am an American citizen of Japanese ancestry, for my very background makes me appreciate more fully the wonderful advantages of this Nation. "I believe in her inand ideals stitutions, In I her glory traditions; I boast of her heritage; history; I trust In her future. "She has granted me liberties and opportunities such as no individual enjoys in this world today. fshe has given me an education fwttlUng kings. She has entrusted me with the reposibililie of the franchise. 'She has permitted me to build a home, to earn a livelihood, to worship, think. Antonio Mexican-America- n, Otero, a was Governor of the Territory of New Mexico from 1877 until 1906. While Governor he actively sought statehood for New Mexico. In 1901, he and Governor N. O. Murphy of Arizona arranged for both of their territories to hold 42-4- 1937-51- 3ibid. 37The Utah State Historical Society has published many accounts of the Dominguez Escalante expedition, -- including Pageant Herbert E. Bolton, ed.. in the Wilderness: The Story of the Escalante Expedition to the Siboney.11 The Black population of Utah grew very slowlyl2While the entire population of the state at the turn of the century reached two hundred seventy thousand, there were only 678 Black residents, including approximately two hundred Black soldiers at Fort Duchesne. In the half century from 1850 to 1900, Blacks resided in Salt Lake, Uintah, Weber, and Tooele counties .where they found employment with mines, railroads, and military establishments. The period from 1900 to 1920 saw increased Black population growth. Despite the removal of some two hundred soldiers and their dependents from Uintah County, the Black population managed to double. Varied economic opportunities were available for them in Salt Lake City, in the coal miries in Carbon and Emery counties, and with the railroad in Weber County. However, population growth fell sharply in the period between 1920 and 1940. Employment especially during the Depression - was extremely scarce, and Black people left the state in search of jobs elsewhere. The decline in coal mining in Utah's two coal counties presented particularly difficult economic conditions for Blacks, and by 1940, ninety percent of the state's Blacks lived in Salt Lake and Weber counties. Beginning with the early 1940s, Utah's Black population increased much more rapidly than in previous years. Much of this growth resulted from increased employment opportunites with Department of Defense installation? established during World War II - Hill Air Force Base and the Naval Supply Depot in Davis County the Utah General Depot in Weber County, and the Tooele Ordnance Depot and Dugway Proving Grounds in Tooele County. As elsewhere in the United States, Blacks in Utah have faced discrimination and prejudice. The historical record shows that even lynchings occurred in the state, as in the cases of Sam J. Harney, who was lynched in Salt Lake City in 1885, and Robert Marshall, June 18, 1925, who was hanged twice in one day in Price by some eighteen hundred men, women, and childrenPDuring the 1920s and the 1930s, the Ku Klux Klan was active in the state and, as (more page 19) Interior Basin, 177, Utah Historical Quarterly. 18 (1950). 38CJherine S. Fowler and Don D. Fowler, "Notes on the History, the Southern Paiutes Western and Shoshonis." Utah Hifclprial Quarterly, 39 (Spring 1971), 103-4- ; Joseph J. Hill, "Spanish and Mexican Exploration and Trade Northwest from New Mexico into the Great Basin, " Utah Historical Quarterly. 3 (January 1930), William J. Snow, "Utah Indians and Spanish Slave Trade," Utah Historical Quarterly, 2 (July 1929), 17S-18S3,- 47-7- The most recent scholarly examination of the trade out of New Mexico is David J. Weber, The Taos Trappers: The Fur Trade in the Far Southwest. 1S40-1(Norman. 1971)9. 40lnterview with Manuel Fernandez. Ogden. Utah, November 11.1971. 'Helen Z. Papanikolas. "Life and Labor among the Immigrants of Bingham Canyon," Utah Historical Quarterly, 33 (Fall 195), 30$. 42Arrington and Alexander, "They Kept 'Em Rolling," 3 25. 'sho has entrusted me with the responsibilities of the franchise' release. Later, he, his five brothers and mother were interned. He was released and worked "for the right of the Nisei to bear arms in defense of their country." ArafOBIliO Miguel and the Construction of the Central Pacific," Utah Historical Quarterly, 37 (Winter 199), MKate B. Carter, camp.. Heart Throbs of the West (12 vols. ; Sal t Lake S.M9-70- . City. "Taylor, "Orientals in Utah." at yellow fever hospital statehood conwhich both at ventions, would governors speak. separate The first convention was held at Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Governor Otero said in part, "For more than half a century we have been of, yet not one of, the United States; during all that According to Mr. Bosworth, "When finally enlistments were permitted, Mike Masaoka was the first ... to volunteer for the 442nd Team. Regimental Four of his brothers also Combat OterO: period we have been true and loyal to the laws and flag of that glorious union of which we hope to become a part, and have freely given of our blood and treasure to maintain is supremacy and glory." Many years later, another Otero, Adelina Otero Warren, a daughter of Manuel B. joined pp, while their mother remained in the Manzanar (Calif.) Relocation Center." One brother was killed in October 1944 in the fight to rescue the Lost Texas Bat talion. Another was disabled. were wounded. "Among them, the Masaoka boys collected more than thirty medals for bravery in action." he concluded. All Moving toward statehood Otero., wrote stirring words thai seemed to echo those of her illustrious kin: "... The Spanish-America- n people of New Mexico have found peace and contentment culture, of loyalty; a sensitive mountain tops. A vigorous people with a background of citizens States." in the canyons and the people with high ideas, loving the solitude of the wilderness and fearing no danger. Whether it is in the defense of America or war with Spain, we respond. We are avowedly of the United Grant us brotherhood, not only for this day but for all our year- s- a brotherhood not of words but of acts and deeds. We are all of us grant us that simple knowledge. If our brothers are oppressed, then we are oppressed. If they hunger we hunger.. If their freedom is taken away our freedom is not secure. children of earth - Prayer written for and read by President Franklin D. Roosevelt fo the United Nations June 14, 1942. Stephen Vincent Sonet author. |