The Timpanogos Are Not Ute!

Updated for clarity 9/4/2026

Separating Fact from Fiction

Erasure of the Timpanogos (Paper Genocide)

The Timpanogos Nation is not Ute, and never was. The Timpanogos is the most documented Indian Tribe in Utah. Both the Ute and Timpanogos live on the Uintah Valley Reservation But are entirely distinct Indian Nations, with no shared historical origins, ancestry, bloodlines, language, or cultural practices.

Some members of the Ute Tribe currently claim verbally and without supporting documentation that some Timpanogos chiefs are blood relatives of their Tribe. They are completely divorced from reality. The following critically examines the origins of the Timpanogos and Ute in detail.

The confusion begins in 1934, three years before the Ute were federally recognized, federal officials and Indian agents of Utah formalized an administrative process that incorporated the Timpanogos into the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray agency. However, this merger existed strictly on paper without congressional approval; it was an administrative blunder, meaning no physical forcing of the Timpanogos people into the Ute Tribe ever occurred. Primarily, the government intended to simplify record-keeping by classifying all Native people in Utah Territory under one umbrella, calling them Ute, in favor of the Colorado bands, who vastly outnumbered the Timpanogos; subsequently, the government used its dominant administrative position and began the erasure of the Timpanogos history and language without consent or congressional action.

Let's begin with Federal Recognition

The Timpanogos Nation acknowledges that they are not a federally recognized Tribe. Moreover, the Department of the Interior states that federal recognition does not determine a tribe's authenticity or existence; it only confirms a nation-to-nation relationship with the United States government. In TIMPANOGOS vs CONWAY (2002), the Federal Court stated, "A Tribe recognition or lack of recognition by the Secretary of the Interior does not determine whether the Tribe has vested Treaty Rights." Green 64 F. 3d at 1270. Federal common law grants Indigenous people their vested Treaty Rights.

Federal recognition is optional; many Native American tribes with deep historical and cultural roots are independent of federal recognition. Federal recognition is important to Indian tribes for several reasons. First, when they are granted federal recognition, they can establish a nation-to-nation relationship that allows access to specialized federal trust services, healthcare, education, housing programs, and legal protections. See Peter d'Errico, Legal Studies Department, University of Massachusetts/Amherst for more information on Sovereignty.

Timpanogos Origin

The Snake Shoshone Nation figured prominently throughout Oregon history as far back as the 1630's, according to Oregon historian and author Gale Ontko who wrote Thunder Over The Ocoho, and lived with the Shoshone for over 70 years.

Phillip B Gottfredson lived with the Timpanogos for over 8 years, and wrote extensively about the Timpanogos in his book "Black Hawk's Mission of Peace." The name "Timpanogostzis" is Snake-Shoshone, they are not related to any of the seven Bands of the Utes. In 1882 Hubert Bancroft wrote, "The Yutahs (e-u-tahs) were comprised of several Bands of Shoshone, the most important of which are the Timpanogos who 'range through Utah Valley and the mountains adjoining the valley on the east..." Schoolcroft's Arch vol. v. p. 498. - Source: The Works of Hubert Bancroft 1882 pg 578.

REPATRIATION OF TIMPANOGOS CHIEF BLACK HAWK'S REMAINS 1996

Phillip B Gottfredson, historian for the Timpanogos Nation, obtained permission from the NAGPRA to publish the official report on the examination of Timpanogos Chief Black Hawk's mortal remains that occured before reburial at Spring Lake, Utah in May of 1996.

The following excerpt clearly states that Chief Black Hawk was Timpanogos:

The human remains and associated objects were accessions by the Museum of Latter-Day Saints Church History in 1919. At that time, a local physician attempted to confirm a report that the human remains were those of the Timpanogots' Chief Black Hawk who had died in 1870 and had been buried in the same approximate location. The physician collected statements from Chana E. Hales, William E. Croft, Louise N. Pace, and Ben H. Bullock who had known Black Hawk. These individuals identified many of the objects as Black Hawk's personal effects. For more information see NAGPRA's official Repatriation Document.

The only time we see a Ute leader fighting in the Black Hawk War was "Chief Mountain" at the Little Diamond Battle in 1866; Just the week before Black Hawk had been mortally wounded at Gravely Ford. 90% of Black Hawk's people had been wipedout by Mormon colonialism. Chief Mountain was wounded at Little Diamond, but not serious enough to stop him.

Timpanogos Chief Black Hawk sought assistance from numerous neighboring tribes, among them were the Utes in Colorado, to help him push back against Mormon encroachment on Indigenous lands. While Black Hawk led them in this effort for a short time, this does not mean he was Ute. Chief Mountain was a member of the Colorado Utes, and as close friend Black Hawk considered him as his 'brother,' as it is customary for Native people to do with people they are close with someone, but, historians have misinterpreted Mountain as being a blood relative of Black Hawk. Mountain was not a blood relative of Antonga Black Hawk, they were close allies and friends.

FIRSTHAND ACCOUNTS

Spanish explorer Juan Rivera visited Utah and first documented the Timpanogos Nation in 1765, followed by Dominguez and Escalante in 1776. Their journals record encounters with the Eu-tahs, referred to as "the bearded ones," who spoke the Snake-Shoshone language. The group identified themselves as "Timpanogostzis" and resided near a lake they named Timpanogos. Dominguez and Escalante designated the region as "El Valle de Nuestra Señora de la Merced de Los Timpanogos" (the valley of our lady of mercy of the Timpanogos). They described the valley as lush and green, surrounded by prominent mountains. One notable peak, rising to twelve thousand feet, was named Mount Timpanogos and referred to as "La Sierra Blanca de Los Timpanogos" (the white mountain of the Timpanogos). The lake is currently known as Utah Lake. During this period, Utah Lake and the Great Salt Lake were connected by a river, as corroborated by government maps predating Mormon settlement. The Timpanogos were identified by various names, including the Lagunas, fish eaters, Yutah, Eutah, the bearded ones, the Timpangotzis, and Timpanogos.

"Turunianchi the Great" was the leader of the Timpanogostzis, and Cuitzapuninchi, Panchucunquibiran, and Picuchi were his siblings. Turunianchi had a son named Moonch (aka Old Elk, Big Elk, and Old Uintah). Moonch was the father of Chiefs Sanpitch, Yah-Keera (also known as Walker), Arapeen (father of Jake Arapeen), Tabby, Ammon, Sowiette, and Grospeen, who were collectively known as the "Royal Bloodline." Six of the seven siblings were the uncles of Nu'Iunts (Black Hawk), who was the son of Sanpitch. Dominguez and Escalante describe the Timpanogos as loving, kind, and hospitable people.

Then in 1824, explorer Etienne Provost entered what is now Utah and reported having come in contact with Mauvis Guache a Timpanogos man living along the Timpanogos River (Provo River) and Timpanogos Lake. Provo City derives it's name from this early explorer.

And explorer John C. Freemont described in his diary that in 1843 he came upon a lake (Utah Lake) and noted the river (Provo River) was named Timpanogos after the Tribe that lived there. (More on Freemont below.)

Excerpt from the history of James Bean the following: "Early in 1849 thirty to thirty five families, numbering 150 persons, were called to go south from Salt Lake into Provo Valley to settle the area. James Bean was among those called by President Brigham Young. The land to be settled was near Utah Lake, and unknown to the would-be settlers, was the traditional fishing and hunting ground for the Timpanogos Indians."

My great-grandfather Peter Gottfredson, an emigrant from Denmark arrived in Utah territory in 1857 and lived among the Timpanogos during the Black Hawk War. Peter clearly points out in his book Indian Depredations in Utah that the Timpanogos Nation ruled the entire territory of Utah. Peter wrote: "It was with reluctance that the Timpanogos Indians who met the Higbee colony in March, 1848, permitted the first white settlement on Provo River, and that, too, in spite of the invitation previously extended to the colonists by the Chiefs, Sowiette and Walker, to settle among their Nations and teach them how to become civilized." - See Peter Gottfredson's Bio

I have established that the Timpanogos were living in the Great Basin of Utah long before President Lincoln created the Uintah Valley Reservation in 1861. My great-grandfather, Peter Gottfredson, lived among the Timpanogos during the mid-to-late 1800s. A friend of Black Hawk, who later became the war Chief of the Timpanogos under the leadership of the Timpanogos principal Chief Tabby. Black Hawk invited Peter into his camp numerous times, and they were about the same age. Peter often spoke about the Timpanogos in his book Indian Depredations In Utah. Exhaustive research reveals they are the most documented Tribe in Utah. Still, some Mormon scholars have said they are nonexistent, which is delusional. In 1850, LDS Church leader Brigham Young ordered the "Timpanogos to be exterminated." Since then, the existence of the Timpanogos Nation has been largely ignored and omitted from history.

NOTE: Did you know that three or more Indigenous people in Utah Territory were named 'Black Hawk'? The name "Antonga" isn't from the Shoshone or Ute languages. Black Hawk’s name was not Antonga or Black Hawk, nor was he a chief of the Ute Tribe. “Antonga” was most likely a nickname given to him by his Spanish-speaking neighbors.

The Uintah Valley Reservation Was Created In 1861

In the middle of the Black Hawk War, an Executive Order was signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1861 that created the Uintah Valley Reservation.

Caleb B. Smith, Secretary of the Department of Interior, recommended to President Lincoln that the Uintah Valley, in the Territory of Utah, be set apart and reserved for the use and occupancy of Indian Tribes of Utah. "I respectfully recommend that you order the entire valley of the Uintah River within Utah Territory, extending on both sides of said river to the first range of contiguous mountains on each side, to be reserved to the United States and set apart as an Indian reservation," he said. President Abraham Lincoln responded, "Executive Office Oct. 3, 1861," with the President's words, "Let the reservation be established, as recommended by the Secretary of the Interior." The Uintah Valley Reservation was then enacted into law on May 5, 1864, by the Act of Congress.

The Uintah Valley Reservation had three Indian agencies, the Thornburg agency, the Uinta agency, and the Ouray agency.

The Uintah Valley Reservation was for the exclusive use of the Indians of Utah Territory, namely the Timpanogos Nation, who are the indigenous to the Great Basin. President Lincoln does not reference the "Uintah & Ouray Reservation." Nor make any reference to the "Utes" or "Ute Indians of Colorado Territory" whatsoever. The Timpanogos of the Wasatch were the first to be sent to the Uintah Valley Reservation in 1873. The Utes were not living in Utah Territory until 1881.

At the close of the Utah Black Hawk War in 1873, U.S. agents forced the Snake-Shoshone Timpanogos to leave the Wasatch Front and were sent to the Uintah Valley Reservation.

TREATIES

Treaties are an essential source of information regarding Tribal affiliation; they reveal the political nature of the conflicts and the ambitions of early colonists to bring the Native peoples into submission, and give up their land. Treaties also show the Nations and leaders who were most involved and prominent in the conflicts. For example, in a failed attempt to end the Black Hawk War, Congress authorized Treaty Negotiations for the "Indians of Utah Territory." On June 8, 1865, negotiations began on the Spanish Fork Treaty exclusively with the various Bands of the Timpanogos Nation.

The significance of the Spanish Fork treaty in 1865 is that it was intended for the Uintah Valley Reservation, and Snake-Shoshonee-Timpanogos Nation and signed by their leaders. None of the seven Tribes of Colorado known today as "Confederated Utes" were named. One exception was the Yampa Ute, but any right the Yampa may have had to land was lost when the Ute Treaty of 1868 in Colorado. The Consolidated Utes reliquished any and all rights to land in the United States, except Colorado. More on this below.

The homeland of the Timpanogos Nation was left intact. The "Sanpete Utes," referred to in the treaty, were not Ute, they were Timpanogos. Sanpete County got its name after Chief Sanpitch, Black Hawk's father, who was Snake-Shoshone Timpanogos. The Snake-Shoshone are not enrolled members of the Ute Nation and never were. It's a colonial lie that needs burying. (Source: Timpanogos Nation, Commission of Indian Affairs Annual Report 1865, O.H. Irish and Department of the Interior.)

With its nearly 1000 members, the Timpanogos Nation still, to this day, occupies their ancient homeland. This homeland was theirs long before Congress established the Uintah Valley Reservation. The reservation is but a tiny remnant of a once vast territory they call the "home of their ancestors."

The Ute Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation 1937

Ute Powwow (Photo by Phillip Gottfredson with Tribal permission

The term Ute began as a metonymy (way of speaking) for the Whites and later became mainstream when referring to Native peoples in the Great Basin. Many in the Ute Tribe I have had the honor to speak with, including a Ute linguist, the late Venita Taveapont, whom I have deep respect for, and spent considerable time discussing Ute language.

Vanita explained that the word Ute is not in the Ute language. Venita said they prefer to call themselves 'Nuche' (pronounced noo-chay). There is nothing definitive that would say the name 'Ute' belonged to one particular tribe before 1868. The word "Ute" is an Anglo term. European migrants and trappers coined the term "Ute." An acronym or slang of Shoshonee words at the time, i.e., yutahs, u-tah-ats, as is the name "Utah," which is a acronym of the Shoshonee word yutahs. Yutahs, pronounced "e-u-tahs," refers to the reeds that grew around Utah Lake. The Timpanogos used the reeds to make arrows Etc.. The Timpanogos were sometimes called the Yutahs.

The Ute Nation comprise seven distinctly separate Bands, all of whom have their roots in Colorado. The Mouche, Capote, Weeminuche, Tabaquache, Grandriver, Uintah, and Yampa are the Bands that comprise the Confederated Utes. Colorado Ute Chiefs were Ouray, who died August 24, 1880, Colorow died 1888, and Ignacio died December 9, 1913. There is no record of these Chiefs being in Utah or taking part in the Utah Black Hawk War.

These are the facts: All seven Bands that make up the Colorado Ute Nation were combined under the Confederated Ute Treaty of 1868 in Colorado and thereafter they became known as the Confederated Utes. Upon signing the treaty, the Utes relinquished all title to any land across the United States except in Colorado Territory.

In 1879, after the Meeker Massacre, the United States Government declared that the Ute people must be removed and subsequently enacted the Ute Removal Act of 1881.

After the Meeker Massacre in 1879—a tragic event in which the Utes killed an unprincipled government Indian Agent, Nathan Meeker—Congress took decisive action. In 1881, they relocated the Utes from the Ute Reservation in Colorado to the Uintah Valley Reservation in Utah Territory as 'prisoners of war.' This legislation forced three of the seven bands of the Confederated Utes—the Yampa, the Uintahs, and the Grand Rivers—from Colorado Territory to the Thornburgh Agency on the Uintah Valley.

The Ute Tribe did not receive federal recognition until 1937 under the constitutional name 'The Ute Tribe of the Uintah Ouray Reservation.' Notably, Congress has never created a reservation called the Uintah & Ouray in Utah Territory, a point we will discuss in detail below.

The fourth Colorado Band to be forced to leave Colorado, known as the Tabaquache (also referred to as the Uncompahgre), was assigned to a second agency on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, specifically the Ouray Agency. The Thornburgh Agency was dissolved. That moved the three Bands of the Thornburgh Agency to the Uintah Agency. There were just two remaining agencies, called the Uintah and the Ouray. The Government saw no need for two Agencies on the same reservation, and they then combined the Uintah and Ouray, known as the Uintah Ouray Agency, in 1885. Now all four Bands are under the jurisdiction of the Uintah Ouray Agency as prisoners of war. These four Bands of Colorado Confederated Utes are known today as the "Ute Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation."

Three remaining Colorado Bands of the Confederated Utes namely the Capote, Weeminuche, and Moache remained in south-western Colorado, just south of Durango, known today as the Southern Utes and Ute Mountain Utes, and are federally recognized.

Phillip with Kenny Frost - Ute Mountain Ute (Southern Utes)

The Ute Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Agency received federal recognition in 1937 under the constitutional name "Ute Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation." Although this is the official constitutional designation, no congressional action has established a reservation formally named the "Uintah and Ouray Reservation." The Ute Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, also known as the Northern Ute, currently resides on land commonly, though incorrectly, referred to as the Uintah and Ouray Reservation.

Tenth District Court Ruling July 2017

In 1886, President Chester Arthur, by Executive Mansion (same as Executive Order), designated a small strip of land on the Uintah Valley Agency for the "temporary" use by the Colorado Utes living at the Uintah and Ouray Agency to graze their cattle. President Arthur's Executive Mansion order did not create a reservation or abrogate or diminish the Uintah Valley Reservation. Moreover, in a recent 10th District Court ruling in July 2017, the court ruled that the Uintah Valley Reservation established by Abraham Lincoln "has never been abrogated or diminished and remains intact."

CONCLUSION:

Much confusion surrounds the name Ute, which is no fault of theirs. Their true history was kept from them when the government forced the children of their ancestors to attend boarding schools, severely punished them for speaking their language, and forbade them to live their sacred lifeways. Erasure has played a major role in the confusion that exists today. Native children were taught white man's version of their history. Their history continues to be erased when "Indian" history is not allowed to be taught in public schools.

It is an administrative record that the government created a legal umbrella for its own convenience and, in doing so, deliberately erased the Timpanogos in their reports, who bore the brunt of the 1849 extermination order. When the Colorado Utes were sent to Uintah Valley Reservation in 1881 as “prisoners of war,” it became a bookkeeping challenge for Indian agents. To simplify matters, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the federal agency managing Native American affairs, systematically erased this differentiation by combining both tribes into one in their reports. Indian agents such as John Critchlow falsified reports. He ignored the fact that the Colorado Ute Nation and the Timpanogos Nation differ in origin, ancestral bloodlines, language, and customs. The Timpanogos Nation of the Uintah Valley Reservation has never claimed to be Ute and is not an enrolled member of the Ute Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation. Understanding and respecting these unique cultures and identities is crucial in our pursuit of historical accuracy.

The evidence is undisputed by the courts, and though the truth is inconvenient for some Native Peoples of Utah, historians, writers, and institutions have been misled by LDS history, they to have confused the public into believing that the Timpanogos are Ute. The Colorado Ute Nation and the Timpanogos Nation are distinctly different in terms of origin, ancestral bloodlines, language, and customs. It's important to remember that the Shoshone-Timpanogos are the people of the Sundance, and the Utes are the people of the Bear Dance. The Timpanogos Nation of the Uintah Valley Reservation has never claimed to be Ute and is not an enrolled member of the Ute Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, nor has it ever been. Understanding and respecting these unique cultures and identities is crucial in our pursuit of historical accuracy.

Here Is An Example Of How History Gets Rewritten:

The Fremont Indians: Fact or Fiction? FICTION. Archaeologist Noel Morss first used the name in his 1931 study, The Ancient Culture of the Fremont River in Utah, after finding unique tools, pottery, and rock art along the river's valley. The Fremont River is named after John Charles Fremont, an explorer who surveyed the region in the 1840s. John C. Frémont, also known as "The Pathfinder," was an actual historical figure and an explorer of the American West in the 19th century. He was born on January 21, 1813, in Savannah, Georgia, and died in New York City on July 13, 1890.

Beginning in the 1920s, archaeologists began studying artifacts found along the Fremont River. They couldn't attribute them to any known Tribe then, so they named the mysterious Indians the "Fremonts." What history doesn't tell us is that historians describe John C. Fremont as "a sociopathic murderer. In 1846, Fremont systematically murdered and wiped out 80% of the Native population in California, known as the Sacramento Massacre. In Oregon, John C. Fremont slaughtered over a thousand Klamath people indiscriminately

Regardless of what American Native Tribe the ancient artifacts belong to, no American Native Tribe deserves to bear the name of a man who was one of the most noted architects of settler colonialism in the Americas. This is a classic example of twisted colonial thinking. Over time, it will become fact. We can only imagine the confusion this fictitious name will cause later on for researchers, readers, and historians alike. What an embarrassment for Utah’s anthropologists.

Similarly, the name "Ute" was born of confusion, from government erasure of tribal identity, and it follows that determining the actual Tribal affiliation of the Native peoples of Utah is a significant task. Before the 1900s, Europeans historically used the term "Ute" as a blanket term for any Native people of the Great Basin, ignoring their individual tribal affiliations. (Source: Timpanogos Nation, Ute Tribe, Ute Mountain Utes, Commission of Indian Affairs Annual Report 1865, O.H. Irish, Powell, Department of the Interior, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs)

Because of so many discrepancies, I elected to drop the documentary film I was making for the Utah State Division of Indian Affairs. However, I continued my research when, in 2015, Mary Murdock Meyer, Chief Executive of the Timpanogos Nation, contacted me in 2015. Mary provided me with a substantial number of documents, thousands of pages, proving their direct lineage to the "Royal Bloodline." See Phillip B Gottfredson's Biography

NOTE: It is not my intention to be disrespectful to the Ute Nation in any way. I have been in many sweats with the Ute people, and I will always honor the sacred bonds trust between us.

NEXT: The Spanish Fork Diamond Creek Battle