After being expelled from Illinois in 1847, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, led by Brigham Young, traveled west and settled on land that at the time was inhabited by various Native American tribes. The relationship between the Saints and the natives was … complex. In this episode, David talks about both the ups and the downs.
— More info regarding the tribal cultures of Utah, past and present: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h43vr
— “Peace and Violence among 19th-Century Latter-day Saints,” via the Church’s website: https://tinyurl.com/mrydccpr
— “Brigham Young and Mormon Indian Policies: The Formative Period, 1836-1851,” by Lawrence G. Coates (BYU Studies): https://tinyurl.com/4bm6yfpx
— “The Lamanites—A More Accurate Image,” by Richard O. Cowan (BYU RSC): https://tinyurl.com/mwvbuyak
— “The Walker War Reconsidered,” by Ryan Elwood Wimmer (BYU thesis): https://tinyurl.com/4b2d2wfs
— “The Walker War,” via Utah Historical Markers: https://tinyurl.com/yuxesm5m
— “Native American Extermination Order,” via Mormonr: https://tinyurl.com/57c73rw6
— "Open Hand and Mailed Fist: Mormon-Indian Relations in Utah, 1847-52,” by Howard Christy, Utah Historical Quarterly, Vol. 46, No. 3, 1978: https://tinyurl.com/53873a6a
— A letter from Brigham Young responding to Isaac Higbee, one of the first settlers in Utah County (modern Provo), Oct. 18, 1849: https://tinyurl.com/mr4x5kbn
— “Policy Towards the Indians — Walker and his band — Vigilance,” by Brigham Young, July 31, 1853 (Journal of Discourses 1:162-172): https://tinyurl.com/yc6s8ad5
— “Circleville Massacre, A Tragic Incident in the Black Hawk War,” by W. Paul Reeve via “Utah History to Go”: https://tinyurl.com/yc6nhsza
— “Utah’s Road to Statehood: The Earliest Utah Settlers,” via the Utah Division of Archives and Records Service: https://tinyurl.com/2d4h2s9x
— “Native Americans in Utah,” via “Utah History to Go,”: https://tinyurl.com/4ku94vbr
— “Battle Creek Canyon Massacre,” via Intermountain Histories: https://tinyurl.com/5n7jmt2z
— This was kind of a fun “letter of recommendation” given by Brigham Young to a native named Arrowpeen (Chief Walkara’s brother, apparently): https://tinyurl.com/4v9h8h26
Further Reading:
— “Mapping Mormonism: An Atlas of Latter-day Saint History,” via BYU Press (pgs. 98-101)
— “Religion of a Different Color,” by W. Paul Reeve (see chapter 2: “Red, White, and Mormon: ‘Ingratiating Themselves With the Indians’”)
— “Brigham Young: American Moses,” by Leonard Arrington (see chapter 13:
Indians: Friendship and Caution”)
— “Brigham Young and the Expansion of the Mormon Faith,” by Thomas G. Alexander (see chapter 10: “Cooperation, Expansion, and Black Hawk”)
— “Jacob Hamblin: Peacemaker,” by Pearson H. Corbett
— “Growing Up In Zion: True Stories of Young Pioneers Building the Kingdom,” by Susan Arrington Madsen (look up “Indians: stories of” in the index).
Notes:
— A note on the Circleville Massacre: “In April 1866 settlers in Circleville in southern Piute Country arrested twenty Paiutes. They killed six who tried to escape and then massacred the rest, including women and children, except four children. Paiute tradition says that two of the captives escaped. When Brigham Young learned of the Circleville massacre, he condemned both the horrible deed and the settlers for excusing this cruel act as a ‘necessity of war.’ He said that God’s curse rested on Circle Valley because ‘a band of our Lamenite brethern and their families, were here cruelly slain.’ In contrast with Young, Apostle Orson Hyde justified the murders.” Source: Brigham Young and the Expansion of the Mormon Faith,” by Thomas G. Alexander, pg. 296.
— Several small settlements were broken up as a result of the Walker War, including Santaquin in Utah County and Spring City in Sanpete County. Source: “Daniel Hanmer Well,” by Bryant Hinckley, pg. 81.
— “While there was violence between the two groups, there were also instances of cooperation. Brigham Young and many Ute chiefs including Kanosh, Sowiet, and Wakara were committed to a cooperative co-existence despite a tense relationship at times. Some of their followers, however, were not as committed to friendly cooperation as others were.”
— “...the book champions the Indians’ place in world history, assigning them a more glorious future than modern American whites … the Indians emerge as God’s chosen people …. The Book of Mormon is not just sympathetic to Indians; it grants them dominance—in history, in God’s esteem, and in future ownership of the American continent.” Source: “Rough Stone Rolling,” Richard L. Bushman, pgs. 98-99.
— “Let them go on in their work, and so you not desire to kill them, until they ought to be killed, and then we will extinguish the Indian title, if it is required.” Source: JoD 1:170.