The Killing of an Indian near Fairview--His Friends Visit me--I Advise
them to keep the Peace and they do so.
After the Indian troubles were settled I was advised to move to Sanpete
valley to try and keep an influence for peace with the whites as well
as the Utes. The authorities of Sanpete County, together with the
greater portion of the people approved of my labors, and were glad that
peace was now made, whilst some of the more captious found fault and
used their influence to bring about a collision hoping thereby to get
the Indians killed by setting the troops upon them. I believed then and
still do that some things laid to the Indians was the work of white men
and designed for effect.
In justice to the Indian side of the question, I will say that most of
the annoyance was done by drunken Indians, a party of which attacked
the herd boys coming into Fairview, killing one of them. This was
supposed to be a personal affair as these same Indians passed other
boys about the same time without molesting them.
Some time after peace had been considered fully established an Indian
was murdered in cold blood by a party of whites going out after wood
from Fairview. The body was covered up but was finally discovered
by the Indians. The killing was cowardly in the extreme, and more
treacherous than anything I ever remember done by the Indians. The
exact number I have forgotten, but some six or eight young men were
going out to the cedars for wood. They met a lone Indian coming in
from Thistle Valley on his way to Fairview. At that time this was
nothing unusual. The wood haulers spoke friendly to the Indian, and
asked him to go with them into the cedars, and as soon as they loaded
up he could ride into town with them. The Indian had no suspicion of
anything wrong, and I do not believe the wood haulers at first thought
of killing him. He went out into the cedars, staying around while the
loading was going on. After a while someone suggested that it would
be a good chance to kill the "d---d Indian" and hide him away, others
assented. So much was said that the Indian, who understood some of
their talk, became uneasy and started to leave. At this one of the
party shot him. All being armed with pistols now took part and, as the
Indian ran, the whole party fired at and succeeded in killing him. They
buried him among the cedars, covering him mainly with brush.
When the Indians discovered his body they came to me feeling very
badly. The Indians really desired peace. The murdered Indian in fact
belonged to a band that never had been of the worst. I was now living
in Fairview. I was greatly mortified and scarcely knew how to answer,
for I was aware it would be natural for the Indians to seek blood
for blood, and it was a little surprise to me that they stopped to
consider, but as they had come to me I took courage and commenced
talking, reciting a great deal of the Indian history from the earliest
settling of Utah, acknowledging that the first blood shed was that of
an Indian on the Provo bottom, also admitting that they had often been
wronged; referred to the hard labor that I had done in crossing the
snow mountains, and how I had got them beef and flour and made good
peace between them and the Mormons, and how true the Indians had been
to me, and how sick my heart now was that this had occurred.
I was not acting, for it was a cruel thing, besides being so senseless.
Finally, when I had got the Indians to feel that I fully sympathized
with them, I said to them, "Some one has to be the last or this killing
will never cease. Now as some persons, without cause, have killed one
of your people. If you kill a Mormon to pay for it, won't some bad
Mormon kill another Indian? Then when am I ever to see good peace? If
you will pass this by and let this be the last, I don't believe there
will be any more killing; for when the Mormons know that an Indian was
last killed they will be ashamed, and the men who killed your friend
will be despised by all good people."
At last these Indians consented and agreed not to kill anyone in
retaliation. I have never heard of their breaking this promise. I would
ask those who are so down on the "treacherous Indians" to think of this.
My labors with the Utes were now almost ended. I had already been asked
to get ready to go to Mexico on a mission. An account of which will be
given in subsequent chapters.