Timeline of the Utah's Indian Wars 1847 - 1872

Welcome to author Phillip B Gottfredson's detailed timeline of Mormon colonists and their clash with the Timpanogos Nation that led to the Black Hawk War of Utah. From Mormons' arrival in 1847 to the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in the year 1978.

Reading left to right, events listed in this timeline are in chronological order according to year, month, day, followed by the number of deaths of both the Timpanogos and Mormon colonists and the event with description. Just click on highlighted links to read the story of the events listed.

Note: The timeline is frequently updated so you may want to refresh this page. Also, in the Description column the words "not available at this time" only means the link to the story is unavailable. We suggest using our search tool to locate the event.

 

Year	Month	Indian Deaths	White Deaths	Battles and Events	Description
1830				Indian Removal Act was signed into law by Andrew Jackson its purpose to remove all Native peoples east of the Mississippi to the western regions of the Mississippi. Virtually the entire Native population in the southeastern section of the United States were forced to relocate to the west known as "The Trail of Tears."	The significance of the Indian Removal Act as it pertains to the Mormon's Black Hawk War, is that there can be no doubt that it played a major role in creating the mindset that white-man had a right to take possession all the land belonging to indigenous people, ignoring aboriginal rights, vested treaty rights, and sovereignty rights.
1847	July 24			Mormons enter Salt Lake Valley	Trouble for the Timpanogos Nation in Utah began July 24, 1847. Brigham seeing the valley said, “Its enough, this is the right place, drive on.”
				Timpanogos camped at nearby Hot Springs when Mormons arrive (north of Salt Lake)	Kanosh, Tabby, Washakie, Little Wolf, Wanship, Little Chief, Kone, Blue Shirt, Big Elk, Old Elk, Opecarry, Old Battiest, Tintic, Portservic, Sowiette, Angatewats, Petnick, Walkara, Graspero, Niequia, Antero,
1848				Little Wolf in battle with Wanship	not available at this time
				Timpanogos Chief Wakara confronts Brigham Young	Timpanogos leader Wakara had warned Brigham Young upon their arrival, that he and his people were not welcome to settle on the land of his ancestors.
				Hidalgo Treaty of 1848	Hidalgo Treaty of 1848 was signed wherein the United States agreed to recognize Indian land holdings, and to allow Indian people to continue their customs and languages.
1849	Jan 18th			George Albert Smith orders removal of Indians (Fort Utah)	Apostle George A. Smith gave the command to remove the Indian people from their land.
				BATTLE CREEK MASSACRE	BATTLE CREEK MASSACRE
	Feb. 29	9		Battle Creek first massacre of Timpanogos by Mormons (Fort Utah)	Young Black Hawk taken prisoner, family murdered. Little Chief was wet with tears and his horse wet with sweat.
	Mar. 10			Provo settlement commenced
				An-kar-tewets confrontation (Fort Utah)	When they were within a few miles north of the Provo River they were stopped by An-kar-tewets, a warrior of the Timpanogos, who stood before the men telling them to go back where they came from, that they were not going to make any settlement on their land.
				FORT UTAH MASSACRE	FORT UTAH MASSACRE
	Mar. 12th			Fort Utah Built	At first the occupants at the fort attempted to turn the place into a trading post between the Natives and the whites. Trading buffalo hides to the Indians could been seen as a sacrilege to the Indian.
	Aug. 1st	1		Old Bishop murdered near fort Utah	The three men, Rufus Stoddard, Richard Ivie, and Gerome Zabrisky began to heckle the man, and accused him of stealing the shirt he was wearing from off a cloths line. "The men who killed the Indian ripped his bowls open and filled them with stones preparatory to sinking the body."
1850	Jan. 31st			Wells drafts orders for Captain George D. Grant to "exterminate the Timpanogos," (Fort Utah)	Wells drafted orders for Captain George D. Grant to "exterminate the Timpanogos," known as "Special Order No. 2". Isaac Higbee was the bishop of Fort Utah and he met with the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles at the Fort when they agreed the only way to keep Fort Utah would be to exterminate the Timpanogos.
	Feb. 5th			Old Elk thrown out of fort sick with measles (Fort Utah)	Old Elk came to the fort asking for medicine for his people who were sick from the disease. A soldier took the chief by the nap of his neck and threw him out of the fort.
	Feb. 7th			Col. Grant and troops sent to Fort Utah (Fort Utah)	Timpanogos Old Elk, Walkara , Kone, Black Hawk, Kanosh, Battiest, Tintic, Portsovic, Angatewats, Old Sowiette, Old Petnich, Tabby, Old Uinta, Niquia, Antero, Kanosh, Opecarry, Troops: Grant, Huntington, Cap. Conover, William H. Kimball, Robert Burton, Lot Smith, James Ferguson, John R. Murdock, Ephraim Hanks, A. J. Pendelton, Orsen K. Whitney, Johnson, and Isham Flynn
1850	Feb. 7th			Black Hawk shows up at Fort Utah as prisoner of Col. Grant (Fort Utah)	Brigham Young refers to Antonga as "Black Hawk"
	Feb. 9th	70		Battle at Fort Utah	Now that Fort Utah had been established on land that was most essential to the Timpanogos
				Two Timpanogos survivors Pernetta (Chief Aropeen's daughter), and Pick (Fort Utah)	Bishop Joseph Stacey Murdock takes Timpanogos children.
				Dr. Blake at Fort Utah	Ordered troops Abner Blackburn and James Or to go out and behead each of the frozen corpses lying about in the snow.
	April			Fort Utah dismantled and moved to Provo
	May			Cattle and horses raided at Fort Utah
	June			Chief Wakara (Walker) vows revenge
				Cattle and horses Raided Richville	(Richfield, Utah)
1851	March	5		Porter Rockwell murders 5 Indian prisoners	(Excerpts are from Peter ottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)
		9		Captain Wm. McBride kills 9 Indians Skull Valley
	May	1		Death of Squash Head at Springville
			1	Indian raid on mill Richville Custer killed.	(Richfield, Utah)
		9		Goshen Valley Battle
		15 est		Mormon Militia raids Indians at Black Rock	not available at this time
1852				The mystery year where nothing is recorded about the Black Hawk War.	Utah Legislators sanction slavery.
	Feb. 4			The Act in Relation to Service, made slavery legal in Utah. Also see: Mormons used slavery as a tool of redemption	"The requirement for ownership was... with Indian slaves only having to be in possession of white person. Utah is unique in that it had an active enslavement of both Africans and Indians." (Wikipedia)
1853		20		Cattle Raid Payson	not available at this time
	July 6			Walker Statement:	At the request of Maj. [Jacob] Holeman Ind. Agent for UT. Ter. I (M.S. Martenas) held a conversation with Indian Chief Walker respecting his feelings and wishes relative to the whites settling [sic] on this lands, and on the lands of the Indians generally.
				WALKER WAR	WALKER WAR
	July 17			Ivie kills Indians; begins Walker War (Wakara)	James Ivie
				Wakara Declares War	The Walker War
	July 19		1	Indians kill Alexander Keele at Payson (Wakara)
	July 23	7		Provo seven Indians killed	not available at this time
				Allreds settle Spring City	not available at this time
	Aug. 10	1		Attack on Willow Creek (Mona) (Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)	Isaac Duffin
1853	Aug.		2	Parley's Park (Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)	John Dixon, John Quayle, John Hoagland John Knight
			1	Fillmore	William Hatton
	Sept. 29	20		Salt Creek Canyon 20 Indians killed	not available at this time
		6	1	Goshen Battle C. B. Hancock wounded	not available at this time
	Sept. 30	8	4	Uintah Springs 8 Indians and 4 Mormons killed	(Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)
	Oct. 2	8		Nephi 8 Indians killed	(Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)
		2		Moshoquop and son killed	(Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)
	Oct. 4		2	William Mills and John Warner killed Manti	(Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)
	Oct. 14		1	Fernee Tindrell killed at Santiquin	(Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)
1853	Oct. 25		12	Gunnison Massacre (Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)	Pants, Mareer, Jim, Carboorits, Nunkiboolits, Tomwants, Koonants, Skipoke, Doctor Jacob, Wahbits, and Jimmy Knights. Whites: Captain Gunnison, R. A. Kern, F. Creutzfeldts, Wm. Potter, and seven men.
			4	Uintah Springs near Moroni	(Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)
	Nov. 6			Sanpete County Chases Sawmill burned	(Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)
1854	Jan 6			Spring City Allred settlement burned	(Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)
	May			Treaty with Walker and Kanosh	(Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)
	Aug. 8		2	William and Warren Weeks killed	(Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)
1855	Jan 29	1		Walkara died poisoned by Mormons (Wakara)	Buried in hills above Meadow
				Walkara's brother Arapeen becomes Chief
	July 19			Salmon River Mission	not available at this time
				Benjamin Johnson at Spring Lake	Benjamin Johnson makes friends with a Timpanogos leader Guffick, son of Santaquin, Spring Lake, Utah
				Salmon River Mission abandoned	not available at this time
				TINTIC WAR	TINTIC WAR
1856	Feb. 21	5		Tintic War (Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)	1856 In the year 1856, the Indians, a part of the Timpanogos, again became hostile, and a sufficient number of them went on the war path to make it expensive and annoying to the settlers. Tintic's brother Battest (Battieste) was shot in the head while trying to save Tintic.
	June 4		4	Salt Creek Canyon	June 4th. Jens Jorgensen and wife, Jens Ter- klesen and Christian E. Kjerluf were massacred by Indians in Salt Creek Canyon, June 4th, 1858 while traveling unarmed on their way to Sanpete Valley.
1857	Sept - 11		125	Mountain Meadows Massacre	Paiute wrongly blamed for 125 whites murdered by members of LDS Church.
	Sept 20			Peter Gottfredson arrives from Denmark	Peter Gottfredson Autobiography
1858			2	Chicken Creek (Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)	On October 15th, 1858,--The remains of and Samuel Brown, of Fillmore, Millard County, were found is a state of decomposition near Chicken Creek bridge, Juab County. They had been murdered by Indians on October 7th.
				Johstons Army Arrives Brigham Young orders Lot Smith to burn armies wagons.	A faithful follower by the name of Lot Smith carried out the order, causing 2500 men to suffer extreme hardship during the bitter cold of winter.
				Disease is spreading rampant among Indian population
1860		1		Camp Floyd Peaceable Indian murdered	(Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)
				Chief Arapeen Dies and his brother Tabby becomes Chief of the Timpanogos Nation.	Tabby makes Arapeen's son Jake (Yene-wood) war Chief.
			1	Deep Creek Tooele Mail Station attendant killed, horse stolen	May 28th, 1860 The Indians attacked the mail station at Deep Creek, Tooele County, shot a man and stole several horses.
1861				Lincoln set aside land for the Uinta Valley Reservation for the Timpanogos (Contiguous Mountain peaks)	(The Utah Timpanogos Ute Oxymoron)
1863	Jan 29	593		Bear River Massacre of Snake-Shoshone Also See video	In 1863, 593 Shoshone men women and children were brutally massacred at Bear River.
				Peter Gottfredson living in Sanpete and Severe Valley in Indian camps
	April 12	4		Little Soldier bravely attacks Gen. Connors outfit	April 12th. Timpanogos warrior Little Soldier bravely attacks General Connors outfit and was killed by Porter Rockwell. "I will ever remember the appearance of Little Soldier and his Indians. None of them wore much clothing, a breech cloth and moccasins were their uniform; their faces were painted black, all seemed to have guns and pistols, and some had bows and quivers of arrows."
	May 5		1	Boxelder Sagawitch Band	not available at this time
	June 10		2	Cedar Valley Stage attacked	not available at this time
	July 30	12		Shell Creek Station	not available at this time
				Peter Gottfredson in Thistle Valley	(Peter Gottfredson Bio)
1864				Timpanogos being forced on reservation
1865				Uintah Ouray Agency was created
	March 28			Brigham Young Promises Sanpitch father of Black Hawk	Brigham Young made the following promise to Chief Sanpitch of the Timpanogos at Spanish Fork. He said, "Sanpitch, Sowiette, Tabby and all of you, I want you to understand what I say to you. I am looking out for your welfare...
				BLACK HAWK WAR	BLACK HAWK WAR
1865	April 9			Manti John Lowry triggers Black Hawk War	"It was a matter of supremacy between the whiteman and the Indian."
	April 10		2	Barney Ward and Peter Ludvigson killed.	(Peter Gottfredson Bio)
				Mormon Population about 50,000
				Leadership is passed from Arapean's son Jake to Black Hawk who then becomes War Chief	John Lowry is accused of starting the Black Hawk War
			2	Twelve Mile Creek	not available at this time
	April 12		2	Salina Canyon	not available at this time
	June 8			Signing of the Spanish Fork Treaty	The Spanish Fork Treaty was negotiated with the Timpanogos Nation. However, the treaty would fail ratification as it bore the signature of Brigham Young, thus leaving intact the Uinta Valley Reservation, land belonging to the Timpanogos.
	July 18			Grass Valley Massacre	The soldiers then surrounded the camp and opened fire on them killing women, men, and children. Two managed to escape, and one little boy was found laying next to his dead mother was taken custody.
	July 26	2		Attack at Glenwood	not available at this time
	Oct. 17		7	Ephraim seven settlers killed	not available at this time
	Nov. 25		4	Raid on Circleville	See: Circleville Massacre
1866	Jan 20	7	2	Pipe Springs	not available at this time
	March 12	1		Sanpitch taken captive at Nephi	Sanpitch, father of Black Hawk, Murdered.
	April 2	1	3	Short Creek	not available at this time
	April 13	7	1	Salina Canyon seven Timpanogos killed	not available at this time
	April 14	3		Indians break jail in Manti three are killed	not available at this time
	April 16			Kimball's & Conover's in Manti	not available at this time
			1	Christian Larsen Killed Spanish Fork	not available at this time
		3		Salina vacated 3 Timpanogos killed	not available at this time
		2		Fort Sanford Santick and Shegump killed	not available at this time
			1	Spanish Fork	not available at this time
		1		Springville	not available at this time
	April 21	26		Circleville Massacre Author: Phillip B Gottfredson researched Circleville Massacre for nearly 6 years.	And so it was that one by one they were led out of the cellar, 24 in all. There were women, men, and children, and they were first struck from behind on the head to stun them, then their throats were cut.
		2	2	Marysvale
		1		Marysvale Little Indian girl murdered
	April 22	2		Salina Vacated	not available at this time
		2		Fort Sanford Seagump and one other killed	not available at this time
	April 26	4	2	Little Diamond Battle	Chief Mountain wounded.
	April 28			Circleville abandoned	(Circleville Massacre)
	May 26			First Indian Raid on cattle Heber
	June 6 ?			James Ivie kills Timpanogos Chief Panacara (Arapeen)	NOTE: Chief Arrapeen died of smallpox in 1865. Which contridicts this account. It may have been James Ivie killed Arapeen's son Jake.
	June 10		2	Scipio Black Hawk takes 350 head of cattle James R, Ivie and Henry Wright killed	Round Valley Scipio, Utah
	June 10			Battle at Gravely Ford Black Hawk & White Horse Wounded
	June 18	1		Chief Sanpitch Murdered	Black Hawk's father
	June 24		1	Thistle Valley	not available at this time
	June 26		2	General Erastus Snow sends 60 men to Gunnison Captain Andrus killed	not available at this time
	July 16	2		Second Raid on cattle Heber	not available at this time
	July			Old Peace Treaty Tree	1866 July-August Bishop Canute Peterson of Ephraim, Utah paid a visit to the ailing Timpanogos leader Black Hawk who had been wounded in battle at Gravely Ford near Richfield, Utah.
	Aug.			Third raid on cattle Heber	not available at this time
	Aug. 20			Fourth raid on cattle Heber	not available at this time
	Oct. 8			Fifth raid on cattle Heber	not available at this time
	Sept. 18	6		Red Lake battle 6 Timpanogos killed General Snow wounded	not available at this time
	Oct. 27	3		Attack on Lee's Ranch	not available at this time
				Nearly 70 Mormon villages evacuated	not available at this time
1867	Jan 14			Black Hawk meets with Tabby	See also: Tabby
	Jan 18	11		St. George Col. Pierce and Andrews	not available at this time
	Mar 21		4	Glenwood-Black Ridge	not available at this time
	April 15			Gen. R.T. Burton ordered to Sanpete	not available at this time
	April 20			Glenwood, Richfield & Monroe vacated	not available at this time
	April 22			Binder's infantry leaves SLC for Sanpete	not available at this time
	June 1		1	Fountain Green Louis Lund killed	not available at this time
	June 2		2	Twelve Mile Canyon Major Vance & Sgt. Holtz Killed	not available at this time
	Aug. 10			Black Hawk sends word to Franklin He wants peace
	Aug. 12			*Black Hawk tells Agent Head stop fighting
	Aug. 20			Heber Treaty Tabby and Joseph Murdock meet (Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)
				Black Hawk begins his Mission of Peace begins
			1	Sanpete Capt. Wm. Binder's Cavalry	Adam Paul wounded
			2	Spring City	J. Meeks and A. Johnson killed
				Spring City Raid	not available at this time
		12		Pine Valley Eleven Indians Killed (Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)
	Sept. 5		1	Warm Creek	John Hay Killed
1868	Mar 21		1	Fort Mohave	Edwin Wooley killed
	April 1	3		Raid on Kane County	not available at this time
	April	1	2	Battle at Rocky Ford	Justusen and Wilson killed, White Horse killed, the one Black Hawk had rescued at Gravely Ford
		2	1	Buckhorn Springs near Beaver	Wm. James Allred
				Salt Creek Canyon	Tabiona, James Ivie,
	July 11	4		Battle at Rock Lake	not available at this time
	Aug. 19			Strawberry Treaty August 19th	Black Hawk credited for it's success and Head
	Nov. 10	2		Wm. Allred Kills Two Indians (Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)	murders 2 Indians
				Indian Gratitude	(Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)
1869	March 22			Brigham Young submits bill to Congress for reembursement of 1.5 million dollars spent in church funds to "get rid" of the Indians of Utah.	This document MEMORIAL OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF UTAH is housed at the Mt. Pleasant Relic Home on main street.
	May 10			Transcontinental Railroad completed
		1		Jake Arapeen murdered	Circa 1869 Exact date not known, covered up.
1870				Black Hawk's Mission of Peace	Travels 200 miles horseback from Cedar City to Spring Lake
	Sept. 26			Black Hawk dies at Spring Lake
1871				Timpanogos removed from the Wasatch to the Uintah Reservation	U.S. federal troops stepped in and fiftheen-hundred Timpanogos Indians were driven from their homes in the shining mountains and valleys of Utah at gunpoint, and left to fend for themselves in one of the most desolate regions of Utah.
1872			3	Glenwood	"the white horse chief" Shena- Vegan. Present were Hans Gottfredson, Peter Oldroyd, Archibald Oldroyd,
	June 6		1	Twelve Mile Creek	Niels Heizelt killed
	Aug. 12		1	Tabby can't control his warriors (Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)	boy Stewart killed Spanish Fork
	Aug. 13		1	Fairview	Nathan Stewart killed
	Aug. 17		1	Mt. Pleasant telegraph office	Jeremiah Page killed by Richard Smith dressed as an Indian
	Sept. 17			Peace agreement at Mt. Pleasant	not available at this time
			1	Fairview	Nathan Stewart Killed
				Treaty at Springville	Tabby signed
	Sept. 26		1	Spring City Daniel Miller Killed (Excerpts from Peter Gottfredson's book Indian Depredations in Utah)	Daniel Miller killed, Peter Gottfredson present
				Mormon population about 180,000
Total		932	238	Timpanogos Population 2300
				Post War Events	Post War Events
1880				Colorado Utes killed an unprincipled Indian agent Nathan Meeker (The Utah Timpanogos Ute Oxymoron)	Colorado Utes sent to Uintah Valley Reservation as 'prisoners of war.'
1881				Congress to impose upon the Ute Indian peoples the Relocation Act (The Utah Timpanogos Ute Oxymoron)	Meeker Massacre "The Utes Must Go" forcing Colorado Utes into cohabitation with the Timpanogos on the Uintah Valley Reservation
1886				President Chester Arthur by Executive Mansion set aside temporarily land for the Colorado Utes to graze their cattle, known today as Ouray.	(The Utah Timpanogos Ute Oxymoron)
1887				Dawes Allotment act	Also known as the General Allotment Act, the law allowed for the President to break up reservation land held in common by the members of a tribe, into small allotments which were then parceled out to individuals.
1892				Chief Tabby Dies at Tabiona	He is believed to have been 113 years of age
1894				John Lowry States Cause of Black Hawk War	at the Reynolds Hall at Springville.
1898				Utah becomes state
1909				Government Census Indian population 2300	Non-Indian pop 370,000 Utah
1919				Members of LDS Church loots Black Hawk's Grave.
1934				Reorganization Act	Pres. Roosevelt over turns Dawes Act being unconstitutional. It was designed to undo some of the devastating problems caused by the Dawes Act. It did away with the boarding house schools, ended the allotment of tribal lands. recognized tribal governments and encouraged tribes to adopt constitutions, prohibited lands from being taken away from tribes.
1937				The Ute Tribe was formed 1937	Adopts as it's constitutional name "The Ute Tribe of the Uintah Ouray Reservation" Note: There does not exist a reservation named the Uintah Ouray.
1953				Ernest L. Wilkinson co-authors the Termination Act. (Wikipedia)	The Termination Act proved very destructive to Tribe nation wide and was finally blocked by Presidents Kennedy, Nixon, and Johnson. Enacted by Congress, it was intended to end all relations between the Federal Government and the Native Nations. It was yet another attempt to assimilate the American peoples into white-man's culture. It was intended to grant full rights and privileges of citizenship to the Native peoples, and tax their land.
1996				Black Hawk's remains reburied at Sping Lake, Utah	It took an act of Congress, the help of National Forest Service archeologist Charmain Thompson, and the humanitarian efforts of a boy scout Shane Armstrong to find and rebury the remains of Black Hawk at Spring Lake, the place of his birth.
1975				Self Determination Act	"Native American people were now able to operate their own schools. Native Americans now have the chance to take control of their own education bringing their own languages, beliefs and philosophies to their schools."
1978				The American Indian Religious Freedom Act 1978	The American Indian Religious Freedom Act (commonly abbreviated to AIRFA) is a US federal law and a joint resolution of Congress that was passed in 1978. It was created to protect and preserve the traditional religious rights and cultural practices of American Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts and Native Hawaiians.