The Utah Black Hawk War - Research News & Updates

 

03/17/2025

RADIO FREE MORMON PODCAST

Phillip B Gottfredson and Mary Meyer will be guests on the Radio Free Mormon podcast live on April 30th at 6:20 pm. Everyone is invited to tune in at https://streamyard.com/ykbn9tykgz
We will keep you updated if there are any changes.

 

3/01/2025

Website Updates

Hi folks, This is just to inform you of a couple of updates to the website. We have combined the Utah Black Hawk War Timeline page with the Research Menu. What you will see at the top menu of each page is "Black Hawk War Timeline," or "Timeline." It was a long-overdue update, making it easier to navigate. There could be some bugs, so please be patient. We'll kill those pesky critters.

I was thinking about the Timeline Page over coffee this morning. The old version that I just replaced, I created in 1998 using a FrontPage wysiwyg editor. That page I recall took me several days to make back then, and functioned perfectly for 27 years! A testament to an old-school web designer. Yes, I'll admit I get sentimental about these things. There's no bling, and nothing flashy about my website. That's intentional. I believe the nature of the content requires reverance and respect, don't you?. I turn 80 this month. -Phillip

2/5/2025

The Sky is Falling...The Sky is Falling!

My journey to San Pedro was to research the historical, and spiritual connection between North and South American Native peoples. I visited San Pedro in 2012 when uninformed North Americans said the Maya had predicted the world would end. The Maya never made any such claim. It was, however, an auspicious time in Mayan history when they celebrated the advent of Job Ajaw, the start of a period when harmony, understanding, peace, and wisdom could reign, according to Carlos Barrios, a member of the Mayan Elders Council. Barrios describes in his book The Book of Destiny that "Somewhere along the way, Western society began to assume that human beings have the right to dominate plants, animals, even each other. The result of this materialist outlook is an economical, ecological, social, and moral crisis that has caused the downfall of other cultures."

In 2012, sacred ceremonies were a huge part of my experience in San Pedro, Guatemala. There were times when the air was beautifully scented with spices being burned in the ceremonial fires around Lake Ititlan. What I heard in these powerful ceremonies were prayers for world peace. What I learned from their teachings, a nearly identical belief of the North American indigenous peoples, was that the heart knows not the color of the skin. The Mayans welcome people from all walks of life in the spirit of equality and teach their children to honor Honesty, Love, Courage, Truth, Wisdom, Humility, and Respect. See Phillip B Gottfredson In The Heart of Mayan Country.

 

1/23/2025

Were Native American heathens and savages as we are led to believe?

On a visit to the public library's special collections, I found a three-volume set of books by George Catlin from 1832 to 1839. This book is an extremely interesting account of Native Tribes in North America. What Catlin found remarkable was how misunderstood they were. He referred to them as “an anomaly among men. They were kind-hearted, respectful, and generous.” Validating my own experience living with them for over 25 years. His description mirrored mine exactly.

"Native American culture is a perfect example of total spirituality without religion." Elders of the Shoshonee and other Tribes invited me to participate in numerous ceremonies. It was life-changing. My spiritual experiences humbled me, profoundly changed my understanding of what it means to be human and opened my eyes to our sacred connection with Mother Earth. Understanding Native American time-honored traditions is essential when establishing meaningful relations with them, especially for educators with Indigenous students.

Honesty, love, respect, courage, truth, wisdom, and humility are ancient traditional virtues and values that Black Hawk and Indigenous people have honored throughout their history.
Sadly, scholars ignore that the age-old message of Indigenous America is about 'connection, relationship, and unity.' All people are one. All are the direct living descendants of our Creator. Lakota Chief Joseph said, 'We have no qualms about color. It doesn't mean anything."

There can be no doubt that this was Chief Black Hawk's message when he made his last ride home to pass out of this world in peace. In severe pain, dying from a gunshot wound to his stomach. In the final hours of his life, Chief Black Hawk made an agonizing hundred-and-eight-mile journey by horseback from Cedar City in southern Utah to Payson. He advocated for peace and an end to the bloodshed. This heroic journey was Black Hawk's 'mission of peace.' Still, colonialists were too arrogant to see what it meant to be human. Chief Black Hawk died on September 26, 1870.

 

1/15/2025

We need to look beyond religion to find the answers

Our goal for 2025 is to focus more on the sacred practices of Indigenous people. We need to break through the stereotypical beliefs that Indigenous people in Utah and America were "heathens and savages."

Regrettably, scholars often overlook the age-old message of Indigenous America, a message of 'connection, relationship, and unity.' It's a message that reminds us that all people are one; all are the direct living descendants of our Creator. As Lakota Chief Joseph eloquently said, "We have no qualms about color. It doesn't mean anything." This message of unity and inclusivity is one that we all can and should embrace.

Historian Phillip B Gottfredson's research offers a unique perspective, delving into the profound, sacred connection of Indigenous people with each other and Mother Earth, a perspective often overlooked.

The Indigenous culture, as exemplified by Native Americans, embodies a timeless spirituality devoid of religious constraints. The virtues of honesty, love, respect, courage, truth, wisdom, and humility have been revered by Black Hawk and his people throughout their history, underscoring their enduring relevance.

 

1/6/2025

The Posts for 2024 Have Been Archived

All of the news articles for 2024 have been archived, except for a few I felt were still relevant. You can visit the archive by clicking on the above link.

2024 was an amazing year for us, we are looking forward with optimism we will have more great discoveries to share.

If you have any stories you would like to share please feel welcome to send them to us at phillip@blackhawkproductions.com.

1/6/2025

I often visit the burial site of Timpanogos Chief Black Hawk at Spring Lake in Utah. This was not the original burial site. If you look at the mountain behind me, from the top of my hat you see a v shape rockslide. That's very close to where is was buried. Spring Lake is where he was born c1838

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 Chief Black Hawk at Spring Lake. In a private conversation with Shane, and his mother, Shane explained to Phillip, "I felt it in my heart I should find Black Hawk's remains," he said. Inspired at the age of 14, Shane, on his own, makes contact with Thompson. He explained the frustration of finding Chief Black Hawk's remains, "no one knew where they were," said Shane Armstrong. Gottfredson details in his book how after a month of searching they located the lost remains of the Chief in a basement storage room in a cardboard box on the campus of Brigham Young University. See Utah Chief Black Hawk's Grave Robbed For Amusement

 

01/04/2025

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERBODY!

List of "American Indian" battles in the war of extermination of the Native Americans:

BATTLE OF ORISKANY (1777) * WYOMING VALLEY MASSACRE (1778) * CHERRY VALLEY MASSACRE (1778) * SULLIVAN EXPEDITION (1779) * BATTLE OF BLUE LICKS (1782) * NORTHWEST INDIAN WAR (1785–1795) * NICKAJACK EXPEDITION (1794) * SABINE EXPEDITION (1806) * WAR OF 1812 (WESTERN THEATRE), WHICH INCLUDED: * TECUMSEH'S WAR (1811-1813) * PEORIA WAR (1813) * CREEK WAR (1813–1814) * SEMINOLE WARS (1812, 1817–1818, 1835–1842, 1855–1858) * ARIKARA WAR (1823) * FEVER RIVER WAR (1827) * LE FÈVRE INDIAN WAR (1827) * BLACK HAWK WAR (1832) * PAWNEE INDIAN TERRITORY CAMPAIGN (1834) * CREEK WAR OF 1836, AKA SECOND CREEK WAR OR CREEK ALABAMA UPRISING (1835-1837) * MISSOURI-IOWA BORDER WAR (1836) * SOUTHWESTERN FRONTIER (SABINE) DISTURBANCES (NO FIGHTING) (1836–1837) * CHEROKEE UPRISING (1836-1838) * OSAGE INDIAN WAR (1837) * CAYUSE WAR (1848–1855) * NAVAJO WARS (1849–1861) O LONG WALK OF THE NAVAJO (1863–1868) * SOUTHWEST INDIAN WARS (1849-1863) * PITT RIVER EXPEDITION (1850) * MARIPOSA WAR (1850–1851) * YUMA EXPEDITION (1851–1852) * UTAH INDIAN WARS (1851-1853) * WALKER WAR (1853) * GRATTAN MASSACRE (1855) * YAKIMA WAR (1855) * SNAKE RIVER WAR (1855) * KLICKITAT WAR (1855) * PUGET SOUND WAR (1855–1856) * ROGUE RIVER WARS (1855–1856) * KLAMATH AND SALMON INDIAN WARS (1855) * TINTIC WAR (1856) * GILA EXPEDITION (1857) * MENDOCINO WAR (1858) * SPOKANE-COEUR D'ALENE-PALOOS WAR (1858) * PECOS EXPEDITION (1859) * ANTELOPE HILLS EXPEDITION (1859) * BEAR RIVER EXPEDITION (1859) * PAIUTE WAR (1860) * KIOWA-COMANCHE WAR (1860) * CHEYENNE CAMPAIGN (1861–1864) * DAKOTA WAR OF 1862 (1862) * BEAR RIVER MASSACRE (1863)* COLORADO WAR (1863–1865) *CIRCLEVILLE MASSACRE (1866) * KIDDER MASSACRE (1867) * SNAKE WAR (1864–1868) * UTAH'S BLACK HAWK WAR (1849–1872) * RED CLOUD'S WAR (1866–1868) * COMANCHE WARS (1867–1875) * BATTLE OF WASHITA RIVER (1868) * MARIAS MASSACRE (1870) * MODOC WAR (1872–1873) * RED RIVER WAR (1874) * APACHE WARS (1873, 1885–1886) * EASTERN NEVADA EXPEDITION (1875) * BLACK HILLS WAR (1876–1877) * NEZ PERCE WAR (1877) * BANNOCK WAR (1878) * CHEYENNE WAR (1878–1879) * SHEEPEATER INDIAN WAR (1879) * WHITE RIVER WAR (1879) * UTE WAR (1879-1880) * GHOST DANCE WAR (1890–1891) * WOUNDED KNEE MASSACRE (1890) * BATTLE OF LEECH LAKE (1898) * NEW MEXICO NAVAJO WAR (1913) * COLORADO PAIUTE WAR (1915) * AIM TAKEOVERS (1969 - 75) * SENECA INDIAN NATION STANDOFF AND NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY BLOCKADE (1997)