The Utah Black Hawk War Project
Phillip B Gottfredson - Jonathan Canlas Photographer
Phillip B Gottfredson Biography
The Black Hawk War Project began in 1990 when Phillip Gottfredson and his brother David started researching the Utah Black Hawk War as a hobby. "Reading Mormon accounts, there were so many unanswered questions," wrote Phillip. "The further we delved into the history of Black Hawk and the war, the more our hobby evolved into a spiritual quest to find the truth. The project itself took on a life of its own."
Phillip continues, "In 2003, I took a trip to Washington, DC, with a Native American friend who invited me to attend the grand opening of the National Museum of the American Indian. Tens of thousands of Indigenous people from all around the world came together to celebrate this event. This trip to DC would become the first of many journeys that would take me across North and South America and decades of continued research into the sacred lifeways of Indigenous people. David, older and wiser than I, would remind me, "It's not about you, Phil, or me; it's about all of us." Those words became more important to me as time went on. When David passed over in 2015. He made me promise that I would continue our project."
Peter Gottfredson and Phillip B Gottfredson have a deep personal connection to the Black Hawk War, a conflict of immense social and historical significance in Utah. Peter, who passed away in 1934, left a legacy that Phillip, his great-grandson, was determined to honor. In 2003, Phillip authored the website The Black Hawk War: Utah's Forgotten Tragedy to promote Peter Gottfredson's classic firsthand account of the Black Hawk War, Indian Depredations in Utah, a family heirloom published in 1919 and republished by Phillip in 2002. Phillip's intrigue is sparked when he learns that Peter lived among the Timpanogos Tribe and was a friend of Black Hawk, who was about the same age.
Operating under the domain name BlackHawkProductions.com, the website has undergone a remarkable transformation over the years, emerging as the leading platform for the Black Hawk War in Utah. In a significant move in 2023, Phillip reimagined and transformed the website into The Utah Black Hawk War; Settler Colonialism (1848-70), significantly enhancing its content and format. These improvements ensure a
seamless alignment with his premier book My Journey to Understand Black Hawk's Mission of Peace, a companion to Indian Depredations in Utah published in 2019 by Archway Publishing from Simon and Schuster. Together, the website and the book provide a fundamental understanding of the lost history of a forgotten people, Indigenous to Utah, the Timpanogos Nation of the Uintah Valley Reservation, offering a depth of knowledge that was previously inaccessible.
"It has been over two decades since my brother and I began researching the Black Hawk War in Utah. Which has been a labor of love, one I have not regretted," wrote Phillip. "We can learn so very much from the Native Americans if we would only listen. I am genuinely grateful to the Native American people and tribes throughout North and South America who took me in and taught me of their sacred life-ways that forever changed my life in a good way. And to all others, family, historians, donors, and many amazing friends who believed in the Black Hawk Project and generously gave me their time, expertise, and support, I am grateful."
Phillip Gottfredson has been recognized for his outstanding efforts in understanding and valuing Indigenous cultures. As a result, in 2008, the Utah Division of Indian Affairs awarded Phillip the Indigenous Day Award for his exceptional contributions.
Born in Springville City, Utah, in 1945 to parents Merrill Edward, and Melva Martha Henrie Gottfredson, Phillip is the last of four siblings. Though he served a two year British mission for the LDS Church 1964-1966. Today, he does not belong to any group or organized religion. He is a self-proclaimed free spirit and believes in the seven sacred teachings First Nations people, "Honesty, Love, Courage, Truth, Wisdom, Humility, and Respect."
Gottfredson is a retired Conservator of Fine Art and Framemaker. He began his trade in 1973 and retired in 1993. Mr. Gottfredson owned and operated the Southwest Conservation Center in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he preserved art and historical objects for major museums and private art collectors. Renowned for his handcrafted picture frames, Phillip made custom frames for royalty, celebraties, professional artists, art galleries, and museums across the United States, and Canada.
Thanks to donors' generosity, Phillip has invested thousands of hours each year maintaining the BlackHawkProductions.com website for over eleven years. He has given the public free access to a time-honored treasure trove of well-documented history of the Utah Black Hawk War. Your donations are welcome!
Phillip Gottfredson and the Timpanogos Nation
"It was serendipitous that in 2015 I met Chief Executive of the Timpanogos Nation Mary Meyer. I was working at the time on a documentary film for the Division of Indian Affairs. I will never forget 
her first words, "You got the history right, but you got the wrong Tribe. Have you never heard of the Timpanogos?" It was pivotal because no one, not even the Division of Indian Affairs, whom I worked with for several years on the documentry film project, they didn't tell me the Timpanogos and Ute are different tribes. I don't think anyone knew. Or if they did, they weren't saying anything."
Mary Meyer generously provided definitive proof that the Timpanogos are the living descendants of the 'Royal Bloodline' a family of legendary Chiefs Sanpitch, Wakara, Arapeen, Tabby, Ammon, Sowiette, Grospeen, and Antongua 'Black Hawk' who was the son of Sanpitch. Their lineage is well documented by vital records, birth and death certificates, Indian Agency records, treaties, and the Timpanogos boast of having filed some 13000 pages of historical records with the United States Department of the Interior going back to 1765.
"Mary's help genuinely humbles me, one of the greatest honors in my life to work with Mary Meyer and the Timpanogos Nation. She is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to the history of her Tribe."
Phillip's commitment to his research is evident in his eight-year-long summers spent living with the Timpanogos Tribe, learning firsthand their recollections of the Black Hawk War. His collaboration with Mary Murdock Meyer, Chief Executive of the Timpanogos Nation, has been groundbreaking. As the first independent researcher to be granted this honor, Phillip has made many remarkable discoveries. Phillip's findings have revealed the marginalization of the Timpanogos and their omission from Utah's history. His experiences living with the Timpanogos have given him the courage to attempt a bold and vital revision of Utah's account of the Black Hawk War.
Documentary Film Project
In 2010 Mr. Gottfredson was commissioned by the Utah State Division of Indian Affairs to make a documentary film of the Black Hawk War. The project was funded by the Utah State Division of Indian Affairs, the George S. Deloris Dori Eccles Foundation, and private donors.
Filmmakers were Black Hawk Productions, LLC, Ron Hill Imagery, and Turtle Island Productions. Phillip wrote, directed, and produced the film.
"I discontinued production of the film The Black Hawk War; Utah's Forgotten Tragedy. Through my 
ongoing research of the Black Hawk War, I discovered that there are major contradictions and inaccuracies in Utah's history. For example the Timpanogos and Ute Tribes are two distinctly different Tribes in origin, customs, and bloodlines. This revelation alone completely changed the accuracy of the film project. I had invested over three years in the project and never received any compensation. But, had I continued, I would have added to the confusion that already exists in Utah's history, something I was not willing to participate in. My supporters and I were victims of Mormon's one-sided and often misleading history." Please see The Timpanogos Nation Is Snake-Shoshone for more information.
Phillip spent over 20 years living with Indigenous Tribes throughout North and South America. Phillip describes in his book his many adventures traveling from reservation to reservation and country to country. In 2012, he heard the Maya predicted the world's end, so Phillip traveled to San Pedro, Guatemala. He said, "If the world is coming to an end I want to be at ground zero. When I arrived the Maya asked what brought me to their homeland. They laughed when I told them what I heard back home. Under the expert guidence of Jörge Stienwender, a keeper of the sacred Myan Calenders. With gratitude to my brother Jörge, I spent six glorious months celebrating an auspicious time in Mayan history 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. And to learn about the Maya's historical connection to North American Tribes was priceless." See Phillip B Gottfredson In The Heart of Mayan Country
Phillip wrote, "What began as a mere 
curiosity, in 1989 I began to read all the books I could find on the Black Hawk War in Utah. It became clear to me that all accounts were about the Mormon's one-sided perspective. I found that scholars and authors who wrote about the Black Hawk War never asked or cared what the Native Americans they studied had to say about their work. Consequently, virtually every account about Utah's indigenous peoples is biased and based on assumptions, replete with half-truths, ambiguities, platitudes, and omissions. It followed that in 2003 I turned to all First Nations people of Utah to get their side of the story.
Black Hawk's Mission of Peace is a companion book to his great-grandfather's book Indian Depredations in Utah written by Peter Gottfredson.
Phillip's
great-grandfather Peter Gottfredson was a young man during the Black Hawk War. Being a friend of the Timpanogos, he was invited into the camp of Chief Black Hawk on numerous occasions during the war. He spent much of his time in the camps of the Timpanogos. His great-grandfather also took 20 years to write his first book Indian Depredations In Utah, published in 1919, the same year Black Hawk's Grave was robbed. A hundred years later, and almost to the date, Phillip published his companion book to Peter's in 2019. "Pure coincidence," said Mr. Gottfredson, "but it does cause one to pause," he added.
SOURCE MATERIAL:
CONSULTANTS: 2003-2024 Historian Will Bagley;
University of Utah Prof. Daniel McCool Ph.D.; University of Utah Prof. Dr. Floyd O'Neil Ph.D.; Historian Robert Carter; Mary Murdock Meyer Chief Executive of the Timpanogos Nation; National
Forest Service Archeologist Charmian Thompson; Vanita Taveapont Director of Indian
Language Program Ute Tribe; Loya Arrum Ute Tribe, Shane Armstrong, Forrest Cuch Utah State Division of Indian Affairs, Filmmaker Larry
Cesspooch Ute Tribe of the Uintah Ouray Reservation.
RESOURCES: The United States Department of the Interior; Timpanogos Nation; Commission of Indian Affairs Annual Report 1865, O.H. Irish; Powell; The Bureau of Indian Affairs; The Utah State Government Archives;
University of Utah Special Collections images by written permission; Brigham Young University
Special Collections; Salt Lake City Library; Mt. Pleasant Library; Cedar City Library Special Collections; Timpanogos Nation Uintah Valley Reservation; Navajo Nation; Northern Shoshone Nation; Private Journals
Mormon Pioneers; Marva Loy Egget Spring Lake, Utah; Author Norma Vance a direct descendant of David Monsen Paiute and the only known survivor of the Circleville Massacre; Ute Tribe of the Uinta Ouray Reservation - Uintah Valley Reservation;
INTERVIEWS FROM 1989 TO PRESENT: Personal Interviews of numerous descendants of early Utah Pioneers; oral histories while living with members of various Native American Tribes throughout North and South America; Western Shoshone, Colorado Utes, Grandriver Ute, Uncompahgre Ute, Yampa Ute, Moache Ute, Wiminuche Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, and Navajo Dine'. Additional interviews with Hopi, Zuni, Pueblo, Apache, Shoshone, Arapaho, Lakota, Silets, Makah, Southern Paiute, Northern Paiute, Yrok, Anishinaabe, Cherokee, Choctaw, Inca, founding members of A.I.M., and Mayan of San Pedro Guatemala Jörge Stienwender, a keeper of the sacred Myan Calenders. Living descendants of Timpanogos Chiefs Wakara, Sowiette, Arapeen, Sanpitch, Ammon, Tabby, and Grospeen (all brothers), and Black Hawk (son of Sanpitch), Chief Executive Mary Murdock Meyer and members of the Timpanogos Nation Uintah Valley Reservation;
RESEARCH MATERIAL: Indian Depredations in Utah by Peter Gottfredson; Utah's Black Hawk War John Alton Peterson; American Indian Prophecies Kurt Kaltreider, Ph.D.; A History of Utah's American Indians Edited by Forest Cuch; Massacre at Mountain Meadows by Will Bagley; Book Of The Hopi by Frank Waters; Crazy Horse by Mari Sandoz; Writings of John D. Lee by Samuel Nyal Henrie; Life Among The Apaches by John C. Cremony 1850; For America To Live Europe Must Die - by Russell Means; Black Elk Speaks by John Neihardt; The Sacred Pipe by Joseph Epes Brown; The Paiutes of Pyramid Lake by Ruth Herman; Wisdom of the Elders by David Suzuki; I Will Fight No More Forever Chief Joseph; The Utes Must Go by Peter R. Decker; Red Twilight by Val FitzPatrick; 1491 Charles C. Mann, Pagans in the Promised Land by Steven Newcomb; Guns Germs Steel by Jared Diamond; Jacob Hamblin His Life in His Own Words; Massacre at Bear River by Rod Miller; Lore and Reminiscences of Participants, Carlton Culmsee; Schoolcraft; Bancroft; Founding of Fort Utah by Robert Carter; Shoshone Frontier Bear River by Brigham Madsen; Thunder Over the OCHOCO by Gayle ONTKO (5 vol. set); So Rugged and Mountainous by Will Bagley; The Shoshone Sentinels of the Rockies Virginia Cole Trenholm and Maurine Carley; The Book of Destiny Carlos Barrios- Mayan; Popol Vuh Dennis Tedlock; Walkara Hawk of the Mountains Paul Baily; Of Worthier Blood by Parker M. Nielson; Rolling Thunder by Doug Boyd; Claws of the Hawk Paul Baily ; Sacred Objects and Sacred Places by Andrew Gulliford; History of Salt Lake City. Tullidge's Histories, vol 1; Juan Rivera's Colorado, 1765 by author Steven G. Baker; Dominguez Escalante Journal: Their Expedition Through Colorado Utah Arizona and New Mexico in 1776 by Ted J. Warner; Standing Rock by Pamela Eakins; American Indian Myths and Legends by Erdoes and Ortez; The Storytelling Stone by Susan Feldmann; History of Payson by Norma Vance; The Dominguez - Escalante Journal Fray Angelico translation; Chief Pocatello "The White Plume" by Brigham D. Madsen; Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne; Spanish Exploration In The Southwest 1542-1706 by Herbert Eugene Bolton, Ph.D.; North American Indians by Artist George Catlin Vol. 3.; Trail Across the Great Basin by James H. Simpson 1859; Antiquities of the Indians North and South America Peter Parley (1833);
The above books are available for purchase in P.B Gottfredson's - BookStore
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The history of the great Timpanogos Nation that Phillip shared with me took on a life and spirit of its own. As Phillip spoke of the extraordinary life of Black Hawk, I felt a deep and spiritual calling for me. This great warrior's story overwhelmed me with compassion and understanding as one being lifted up (transformed) for a once-in-a-lifetime assignment.