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Show Indians were 'an By KAY SCHROEPPEL Special to The Daily Herald to buy him for berries; and it is reported that Indians have been in the mountains near the place killing bear." Within a week after it was reported, the child's body was found in Schoolhouse Canyon. This was not however the organized act of a tribe. As it turned out. an Indian by the name of Squash Head had taken the boy "and carried him into the hills where he tortured and finally killed the child by taking him by the feet and hitting his head on a large granite rock." as told by Mrs. Wild. Squash Head resided near Springville and had been terrorizing the valley, because years before, after returning from a hunting trip, he found his brother had passed away and had been improperly buried by the white people. He was finally captured in 1854. but took his ow n life, before he could be brought to trial in Salt Lake City. At the time of this incident the settlers' homes were scattered around Alpine which was then called Mountainville. But within the month, it was decided the homes would be organized into a fort and. according to Norma Clark Healey, "a lookout man was placed on the Cemetery Hill. When the Indians appeared, he would shoot once and raise a flag as a warnin so the families could take Alpine is a peaceful, small community snuggled up against the mountains where the residents enjoy a hieh quality of life. There was a time' however, when this area was not no friendly. The pioneers w ho settled this v as W' ' now it today were not the first pe le to inhabit die land. There were Native Americans who lived here and were used to having the land al-l- all to themselves. When the two cul- tures met. the results were not always pleaant. For the first white settlers, Indians, as they called them, were an threat. While Indians eser-prese- settled in had never permanently Alpine because of the harsh winters, they did have a favorite camping spot in the summer at what is now known as Low Hills' Maple Leaf Hollow. On September 19. 1852, James Lemon, i., disap- peared while playing at his door, according to a Deseret News article as told in Jennie Wild's "Alpine Yesterdays." His tracks were discovered in the bed of Dry Creek as well as the little stick or whip he had been playing uth. The article goes on to say, "The Indians had some time previously taken a fancy to the child and offered INTERIOR EXTERIOR DOORS STEEL -- WOOD STORM DOORS SALES & INSTALLATION PRE-UN- COMING SOON & G REPLACEMENT DOORS ONLY AT: FT. Door Systems SHOWROOM GARAGE DOORS PROVO I373-2345- J www WWW k tST COME SEE OUR SELECTION CENTER FINISHED MOUDING I Indians were waging war against the settlers as the result of a white settler in Manti pulling a young Ute Chief from his horse and beating him. While on a military assignment to guard the people in Sanpete County, Major Vance and four other men stopped to water their horses at '12 Mile Creek' when he was fatally shot from his horse by Indians in an ambush, said Mrs. Hemingway. His was the first military burial in Alpine. He left behind two wives,' seven sons and two daughters. Not all relations with the Native Americans were unfriendly though. The settlers were befriended by an "old Indian named John, who, with his wife, guarded the small farms of the settlers while they were living in the fort." according to Samuel O. Strong, as told to Mrs. Wild. Thanks to John's warnings, the early Alpiners were able to save their crops many times. Overall, Mrs. Hemingway pointed out that the city's pioneers tried to live by Brigham Young's admonition, "It is better to feed them than to fight them." INTERSTATE BRICK OUR NEW 3,000 marker at the top of Cemetery Hill. Major John Wesley Vance was called to serve in the Black Hawk War under the command of General Burton and Daniel H. Wells, according to Ula Hemingway. The nTlW wFRY o (I 2 shelter." The summer of 1857 brought a different threat to the settlers. They learned that President Buchanan had sent an army of 2.500 men under the command of General Albert Johnston to take care of what he thought was a Mormon insurrection. Many families were sent to Alpine from Salt Lake to take refuge. Some who came made Alpine a permanent home. A rock mason John Rowe Moyle and his family were among those who stayed, but he chose not to reside w ithin the fort. Moyle's daughter. Elizabeth, and her family were living near Vernon when an old Indian to whom they had been kind warned them of plans to raid their home that night.They fled to Salt Lake City, and when they returned, they found their house and all their belongings burned. Because of this, John Rowe built a rock tower patterned after a F.uropean castle. It appears he never had to use it for the purpose it was intended though, and eventually it fell into decay. It does stand today, however, in Moyle Park due to a restoration project that was started in 1974 nation's for the Bicentennial. In June, 1867, another Alpine resident was "killed by the Indians" as it says on his red sandstone o5L RAILINGS HP threaf ever-prese- nt fpr rs "" 1 r . J 1 wssiioac 1373 South State Provo 373-112- 2 135 |