A curated reading list. Last updated July 7, 2025.
Archeological evidence suggests that Utah has been home to human beings since 11,000 BC. Utah’s first people, the Paleoindians, lived in Utah from 11,000 BC to 7000 BC, followed by the Archaic people (7000 BC–500 BC), and then the Fremonts (500 BC–1250 AD) and the Ancestral Puebloans (300 BC–1300 AD). Most of what we know about these prehistoric people comes from artifacts that have survived the centuries. These artifacts, which can be anything from rock art, remnants of shelters, baskets, pottery, and even garbage, help give us clues about the lifestyles and cultures of Utah’s past peoples. After 1250 AD and into the 1700s, the late prehistoric people occupied Utah. These people consisted of five different groups—the Goshute, Paiute, Shoshone, Navajo, and Ute. These groups continued to live in Utah after the Late Prehistoric Period ended with the arrival of Europeans in the region in the 1700s.
Deep Human History In Escalante Valley And Southern Utah | “Deep Human History In Escalante Valley And Southern Utah” provides an account of the lifeways of Utah’s earliest residents. Starting with Paleoindians, and then covering the Archaic and Fremont peoples, the authors of this article demonstrate the progress of each period, describing different tools, shelters, and means of getting food for each group.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume79_2011_number3/s/10373408
Source: Janetski, Joel C., Mark L. Bodily, Bradley A. Newbold, and David T. Yoder. “Deep Human History in Escalante Valley and Southern Utah.” Utah Historical Quarterly 79, no. 3 (Summer 2011): 204–23.
The Archaic Inhabitants Of The Northern Colorado Plateau | Alan R. Schroedl gives an outline of the lifeway of Utah’s Archaic period peoples using artifacts gathered from an archeological site named Sudden Shelter. Describing the shelters, tools, and diets of this hunting and gathering people, Schroedl argues that the Archaic way of life on the Colorado Plateau was a successful and adaptive one.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume47_1979_number4/s/130356
Source: Schroedl, Alan R. “The Archaic Inhabitants of The Northern Colorado Plateau.” Utah Historical Quarterly 47, no. 4 (Fall 1979): 344–60.
Utah Lake: Its Role In The Prehistory Of Utah Valley | Joel C. Janetski describes archeological evidence that suggests the importance of Utah Lake to the peoples of the prehistoric era. Examining evidence from the Archaic period, the Fremont period, and the late prehistoric period, Janetski claims that the fish and vegetation provided by Utah Lake served essential roles in the diets, shelter, and lives of prehistoric Utahns.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume58_1990_number1/s/10121239
Source: Janetski, Joel C. “Utah Lake: Its Role in the Prehistory of Utah Valley.” Utah Historical Quarterly 58, no. 1 (Winter 1990): 5–31.
The Aboriginal Peoples | Jesse D. Jennings describes the lifestyle, geographic location, and archaeological evidence of numerous groups of ancient Native Utahns. Discussing specifically the Ancestral Pueblo Indians and the Fremont Indians, Jennings demonstrates that the Upper Colorado River Basin of Utah has been home to Native Americans for thousands of years.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume28_1960_number3/s/97470
Source: Jennings, Jesse D. “The Aboriginal Peoples.” Utah Historical Quarterly 28, no. 3 (July 1960): 210–221.
Early Man In Utah | Jesse D. Jennings explains the ancient origins of Indigenous peoples in Utah, arguing that humans lived in Utah ten thousand years ago. Using archaeological evidence, Jennings works forward through time from Utah’s earliest inhabitants, describing the culture and ways of life of Native Utahns in three periods: the Desert Period (thousands of years BC), the Pueblo Period (400 AD), and the Historic Period (since 1776).
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume28_1960_number1/s/98947
Source: Jennings, Jesse D. “Early Man In Utah.” Utah Historical Quarterly 28, no. 1 (January 1960): 2–27.
The Historical Occurrence and Demise of Bison in Northern Utah | Karen D. Lupo discusses archaeological and recorded evidence suggesting that buffalo once roamed in Utah, existing as a food source for Native Utahns for thousands of years. Using similar types of evidence, Lupo explores different proposed causes for the extinction of buffalo in Utah, considering accounts of a disastrous snowstorm and other accounts describing excessive hunting after the arrival of guns and horses in Utah.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume64_1996_number2/s/10356197
Source: Lupo, Karen D. “The Historical Occurrence and Demise of Bison in Northern Utah.” Utah Historical Quarterly 64, no. 2 (Spring 1996): 168–80.
The Glen Canyon: A Multi-Discipline Project | Jesse Jennings and Floyd W. Sharrock relay the growth of a multi-disciplinary University of Utah project to salvage scientific data from reservoir areas in 1957, focusing primarily on Utah’s Glen Canyon. Part of the project involved archaeological surveying of artifacts left by Kayenta, Mesa Verde, and Fremont people, leading the authors to tell a general history of these early Utahns.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume33_1965_number1_92827612c599c8/s/102468
Source: Jennings, Jesse D., and Floyd W. Sharrock. “The Glen Canyon: A Multi-Discipline Project.” Utah Historical Quarterly 33, no. 1 (Winter 1965): 34–50.
Notes on the History of the Southern Paiutes and Western Shoshonis | Catherine S. and Don D. Fowler detail changes in the Southern Paiute and Western Shoshone cultures during the period of white exploration and colonization of Utah. Starting with language and location, the authors outline the cultures of these Native groups before white contact, and then move forward through the nineteenth century, describing conflicts between whites and Natives and their effects on the Paiute and Shoshone ways of life.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume39_1971_number2/s/109647
Source: Fowler, Catherine S., and Don D. Fowler. “Notes on the History of the Southern Paiutes and Western Shoshonis.” Utah Historical Quarterly 39, no. 2 (Spring 1971): 95–113.
The Gosiute Indian in Pioneer Utah | James B. Allen and Ted J. Warner outline a general history of the Gosiute tribe of Utah, claiming that their history is a microcosm for the history of all Native tribes in America. The article describes Gosiute life before the arrival of settlers, interactions between the Gosiutes and the Mormon pioneers, and the attempts at adaptation as the Gosiutes were affected by Utah’s settlement and the US government’s Native American policies.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume39_1971_number2/s/109622
Source: Allen, James B., and Ted J. Warner. “The Gosiute Indian in Pioneer Utah.” Utah Historical Quarterly 39, no. 2 (Spring 1971): 76–91.
Ute Indians: Before and After White Contact | Omer C. Stewart shares an insightful history of the Ute Indians, starting with ancestral origins and language and ending with reservation life and politics in the mid-twentieth century. Using archaeological evidence and then primary source documents, Stewart discusses the progression of Ute culture as the tribe is introduced to different peoples, products, and conflicts throughout the centuries.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume34_1966_number1/s/103079
Source: Stewart, Omer C. “Ute Indians: Before and after White Contact.” Utah Historical Quarterly 34, no. 1 (Winter 1966): 38–61.
Waccara’s Utes: Native American Equestrian Adaptations in the Eastern Great Basin, 1776–1876 | Stephen van Hoak uses the example of Ute leader Waccara and his people to demonstrate the change in Ute lifeways when horses were introduced to the region. Discussing the balance of power between tribes, means of attaining food, and interactions with settlers and traders, Hoak provides a comprehensive depiction of the progression of Ute culture between 1776 and 1876.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume67_1999_number4_c73ceb1b337ef1/s/163048
Source: Van Hoak, Stephen P. “Waccara’s Utes: Native American Equestrian Adaptations in the Eastern Great Basin, 1776–1876.” Utah Historical Quarterly 67, no. 4 (Fall 1999): 309–30.
The Social and Cultural Patterns of the Navajo Indians | Reverend H. Baxter Liebler gives an extensive description of Navajo culture, touching on subjects such as housing, marriage, social structure, livelihood, and so on. Baxter’s thorough description even explains how Navajo culture has changed over time, noting specific historic events and their effects on the Navajo traditions and everyday culture.
Reading: https://doi.org/10.2307/45058306 (Member Access)
Source: Liebler, H. Baxter. “The Social and Cultural Patterns of the Navajo Indians.” Utah Historical Quarterly 30, no. 4 (Fall 1962): 298–325.
Early Missionary Efforts
Since the time that Spanish explorers arrived in Utah in 1776, numerous Euro-American groups have put forth efforts to expose the Native Americans in the area to various Christian religions. These missionary efforts took many forms: Some religions sent proselytizing missionaries into Native American encampments, while others set up schools that taught Native children temporal subjects such as reading and writing, while also teaching moral principles based on Euro-American religion. Utah’s history of Native American missionary efforts centers around denominations such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who dominated Utah’s early population, the Episcopal Church, the Catholic Church, and some evangelical denominations. Missionary efforts were often used as a means to civilize and assimilate Native Americans, as many religious groups of the time saw Native Americans as ignorant or as lesser beings in need of guidance and redemption.
“Redeeming” the Indian: The Enslavement of Indian Children in New Mexico and Utah | Sondra Jones examines parallels between Mexican Catholics in New Mexico and Mormon settlers in Utah in their use of slavery as a means of converting Native Americans to Christianity. As the slave trade was already well established amongst Indigenous Americans themselves due to Spanish influence, both Mexican Catholics and Mormon settlers justified their participation in the slave trade as a means to civilize and redeem the Native Americans from hostile tribes and from sin.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume67_1999_number3/s/163301
Source: Jones, Sondra. “‘Redeeming’ the Indian: The Enslavement of Indian Children in New Mexico and Utah.” Utah Historical Quarterly 67, no. 3 (Summer 1999): 220–41.
Found: Rare First Edition of the Earliest Ute and Shoshone Vocabulary | Richard E. Turley and Brent M. Rogers present the discovery of a first edition of Mormon missionary Dimick Baker Huntington’s pamphlet on the Shoshone and Ute language created in 1853. The pamphlet, created to help early Mormon settlers and missionaries communicate with local tribes during the settlement of Utah, contains some of the earliest recorded vocabulary and pronunciations of Native Utah languages.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume83_2015_number3/s/10433762
Source: Turley, Richard E., and Brent M. Rogers. “Found: Rare First Edition of the Earliest Ute and Shoshone Vocabulary.” Utah Historical Quarterly 83, no. 3 (Summer 2015): 234–37.
Indian Relations on the Mormon Frontier | Juanita Brooks discusses early Latter-day Saint settlers’ relationship with the Indigenous tribes of Utah in terms of Latter-day Saint beliefs and missionary efforts. Believing that the Native Americans are descendents of a people in the religion’s Book of Mormon, the Saints felt responsible for the redemption of Indigenous Americans, even participating in the Mexican slave trade in order to raise Native children in the gospel.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/volume_12_1944/s/69444#:~:text=Thus%20between%20the%20Mormons%20and,natives%20on%20the%20slightest%20provocation.
Source: Brooks, Juanita. “Indian Relations on the Mormon Frontier.” Utah Historical Quarterly 12, nos. 1–2 (January–April 1944): 1–48.
Caught In Between: Jacob Hamblin and the Southern Paiutes during the Black Hawk–Navajo Wars of the Late 1860’s | Edward Leo Lyman describes the predicament of Latter-day Saint missionary Jacob Hamblin, as the hostilities between Latter-day Saints and Native Utahns progressed during the Black Hawk and Navajo Wars in the 1860s. Having lived among various groups of Native Utahns throughout his mission, Jacob Hamblin struggled to help those he taught maintain the farming lifestyles and gospel principles he had imparted in their societies.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10https://mormonhistoryassociation.org/apply-for-the-60th-annual-mormon-history-association-conference-in-ogden-ut//docs/uhq_volume75_2007_number1/s/10239317
Source: Lyman, Edward Leo. “Caught In Between: Jacob Hamblin and the Southern Paiutes during the Black Hawk–Navajo Wars of the Late 1860’s.” Utah Historical Quarterly 75, no. 1 (Winter 2007): 22–43.
Kanosh and Ute Identity in Territorial Utah | Hyrum S. Lewis presents a close look at the assimilation of Kanosh, leader of the Pahvant band of Utes, to Mormon culture and religion. While many settlers saw Kanosh’s acceptance of Mormon culture and religion as an indication of civilization, the author argues that Kanosh used this assimilation as compromise to maintain favor with the new neighbors and as an adaptation to the changing demographics of the Intermountain West.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume71_2003_number4/s/10329028
Source: Lewis, Hyrum S. “Kanosh and Ute Identity in Territorial Utah.” Utah Historical Quarterly 71, no. 4 (Fall 2003): 332–47.
“To Elevate the Red Man”: The Episcopal Church’s Native American Policy in Utah | Frederick Quinn describes the Episopal Church’s attitude toward Native Americans in Utah in the 1900s, as outlined by various Episcopal leaders of the time. Concerned about health, education, and infrastructure, the Episcopalian missionaries focused on the civilization and independence of the Native Americans, as well as their spiritual conversion.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume73_2005_number1/s/10142683
Source: Quinn, Frederick. “‘To Elevate the Red Man’: The Episcopal Church’s Native American Policy in Utah.” Utah Historical Quarterly 73, no. 1 (Winter 2005): 44–63.
Abiel Leonard, the Bishop as Builder | Frederick Quinn outlines the Episcopalian missionary efforts in Utah in the late 1800s and early 1900s under the direction of Bishop Abiel Leonard. Discussing the Utah mission’s financial struggles, attitude toward Latter-day Saints, and progress in various cities in Utah, the author also outlines Leonard’s missionary efforts toward the Native Americans, namely sending missionaries to reservations and raising money to build churches and mission houses.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume72_2004_number3/s/10155321
Source: Quinn, Frederick. “Abiel Leonard, the Bishop as Builder.” Utah Historical Quarterly 72, no. 3 (Summer 2004): 239–52.
The Episcopal Church in Utah: Seven Bishops and One Hundred Years | James W. Beless relays the history of the Episcopal Church in Utah from 1867 to 1968 by focusing on events and people involved in the church over the one-hundred-year span. The church’s interaction with Native Americans began during the leadership of Bishop Abiel Leonard with the church’s mission to the Utes in the Uintah Basin in the 1890s, focusing on education, physical well-being, and religious conversion of the Utes.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume36_1968_number1/s/104913
Source: Beless, James W. “The Episcopal Church in Utah: Seven Bishops and One Hundred Years.” Utah Historical Quarterly 36, no. 1 (Winter 1968): 77–96.
The Hesitant Beginnings of the Catholic Church in Utah | Jerome Stoffel examines the role of the Catholic Church in various periods of Utah history before the church’s official establishment in the state in the 1880s–1890s. Among the first to preach Christianity to the Native Americans, the Catholic Church found its presence in Utah through early explorers and later bishops and missionaries, a small portion of missionary efforts being devoted to Utah’s inhabitants after the exploration period.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume36_1968_number1/s/104923
Source: Stoffel, Jerome. “The Hesitant Beginnings of the Catholic Church in Utah.” Utah Historical Quarterly 36, no. 1 (Winter 1968): 41–62.
Howard R. Antes and the Navajo Faith Mission: Evangelist of Southeastern Utah | Robert McPherson describes the efforts of Methodist missionary Howard Ray Antes toward establishing the Navajo Faith Mission along the San Juan River in the Four Corners regions of southern Utah in the 1890s. The mission served as a place for the temporal and religious education of Navajo children, as well as for relief from starvation and poverty prevalent among the Navajos during drought and low economic conditions in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume65_1997_number1/s/152122
Source: McPherson, Robert S. “Howard R. Antes and the Navajo Faith Mission: Evangelist of Southeastern Utah.” Utah Historical Quarterly 65, no. 1 (Winter 1997): 4–24.
Native-Settler Relations and Conflicts
As settlers began to flood into Utah throughout the 1800s, the resources that once sustained the Indigenous Utahns began to dwindle, the game, fish, and fertile land not enough for a large population. As resources shrank, local white and Indigenous leaders sought peaceful coexistence through negotiations and promises. Though the varying cultures attempted to live peaceably with one another in the area, miscommunication and individual disobedience caused tension to build between white settlers and Native Americans. This tension grew with the number of white settlers entering Utah with the intent to stay, and the 19th century was marked by myriads of violent struggles between parties.
Prelude to Dispossession: The Fur Trade’s Significance for the Northern Utes And Southern Paiutes | John R. Alley discusses the idea that New Mexican trade with the Utah Utes and the arrival of American fur trappers in the early nineteenth century led to intercultural contact that set the Utah Natives on the path to forced removal from their ancestral lands. Using the journal entries of early explorers and trappers, Alley argues that the development of the trade relationship between whites and Native Utahns led to more emigration and eventually permanent settlement of the West.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume50_1982_number2/s/134298
Source: Alley, John R. “Prelude to Dispossession: The Fur Trade’s Significance for the Northern Utes and Southern Paiutes.” Utah Historical Quarterly 50, no. 2 (Spring 1982): 104–23.
Open Hand and Mailed Fist: Mormon-Indian Relations in Utah, 1847–52 | Challenging long-held beliefs about Mormon interactions with Indigenous Utahns before 1852, Howard Christy presents another view of Brigham Young’s “benevolence” towards Indigenous peoples. The author argues that Mormon–Native American relations were more hostile, as evidenced by bloody conflicts over land, cultural gaps, Mormon views of Indigenous peoples as inferior, little compassion on either side, and the lack of services to help Native Americans prior to 1851.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume46_1978_number3/s/129356
Source: Christy, Howard A. “Open Hand and Mailed Fist: Mormon-Indian Relations in Utah, 1847–52.” Utah Historical Quarterly 46, no. 3 (Summer 1978): 216–35.
“No Place to Pitch Their Teepees”: Shoshone Adaptation to Mormon Settlers in Cache Valley, 1855–70 | John Heaton provides an overview of the interactions and tensions that existed between the Shoshone and the Mormon settlers in Cache Valley between 1855 and 1870. The author claims that Mormon settlers, the US government, and others migrating west forced the Shoshone living in Cache Valley to adapt their way of life, ultimately submitting to stationary lives on reservations.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume63_1995_number2/s/165458
Source: Heaton, John W. “‘No Place to Pitch Their Teepees’: Shoshone Adaptation to Mormon Settlers in Cache Valley, 1855–70.” Utah Historical Quarterly 63, no. 2 (Spring 1995): 158–71.
Navajos, Mormons, and Henry L. Mitchell: Cauldron of Conflict on the San Juan | Robert McPherson presents a complicated narrative about the various groups who settled near the San Juan River in southeastern Utah in the late nineteenth century. He argues that Henry L. Mitchell—the first known white settler of this area—intentionally pitted Navajos, Utes, Mormons, and federal officials against each other, resulting in conflict and tension that lasted for years.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume55_1987_number1/s/153734
Source: McPherson, Robert S. “Navajos, Mormons, and Henry L. Mitchell: Cauldron of Conflict on the San Juan.” Utah Historical Quarterly 55, no. 1 (Winter 1987): 50–65.
A Distinction between Mormons and Americans: Mormon Indian Missionaries, Federal Indian Policy, and the Utah War | Brent M. Rogers describes the tension between Mormon leaders and the federal government in the 1850s that ultimately led to the Utah War. The author argues that the Utah War stemmed from the federal government’s distrust of Mormons, specifically believing that the religious group befriended Native Americans with the purpose of creating an alliance against federal agents.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume82_2014_number4/s/162123
Source: Rogers, Brent M. “A Distinction between Mormons and Americans: Mormon Indian Missionaries, Federal Indian Policy, and the Utah War.” Utah Historical Quarterly 82, no. 4 (Fall 2014): 250–71.
Circleville Massacre Memorial Dedication | In this article, Rogers and Turley share remarks from the Circleville Massacre Memorial Dedication that took place in 2016, one hundred and fifty years after the tragic event. Sharing details of the massacre of Paiute men, women, and children at the hands of Mormon settlers, the authors express their hope that the 1866 tragedy will not be forgotten.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume84_2016_number3/s/10121902
Source: Rogers, Jedediah, and Roger Turley. “Circleville Massacre Memorial Dedication.” Utah Historical Quarterly 84, no. 3 (Summer 2016): 262–68.
Wakara Meets the Mormons, 1848–52: A Case Study in Native American Accommodation | Ronald Walker’s essay outlines the interactions between Wakara, a charismatic Ute leader, and the Mormons in the mid-nineteenth century. The author presents Wakara as a complicated yet self-assured man who sought to take advantage of his relationship with the Mormon settlers, all while remaining true to his Ute culture and lifestyle.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume70_2002_number3/s/10345329
Source: Walker, Ronald W. “Wakara Meets the Mormons, 1848–52: A Case Study in Native American Accommodation.” Utah Historical Quarterly 70, no. 3 (Summer 2002): 215–37.
Journal of Two Campaigns by the Utah Territorial Militia against the Navajo Indians, 1869 | Gregory Crampton and David E. Miller share the journal entries of Adjutant Edwin G. Woolley centered on Utah militia campaigns against raiding Navajos in 1869. A member of the Utah Territorial Militia of the Iron Military District, Woolley records day-by-day firsthand accounts of the militia’s defense of southern Utah from attacking Navajos.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume29_1961_number2/s/99023
Source: Crampton, C. Gregory, David E. Miller, and Edwin G. Woolley. “Journal of Two Campaigns by the Utah Territorial Militia against the Navajo Indians, 1869.” Utah Historical Quarterly 29, no. 2 (April 1961): 148–76.
Cowboys, Indians, and Conflict: The Pinhook Draw Fight, 1881 | Rusty Salmon and Robert S. McPherson tell the story of the Pinhook Draw Fight of 1881, which was a bloody, two-day gunfight between a group of Utes and Paiutes and a group of Anglo cowboys near Moab, Utah. A result of years of conflict and tension between the two groups, the fight claimed many lives on both sides, the Natives claiming the victory when the cowboys were forced to retreat.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume69_2001_number1/s/153415
Source: Salmon, Rusty, and Robert S. McPherson. “Cowboys, Indians, and Conflict: The Pinhook Draw Fight, 1881.” Utah Historical Quarterly 69, no. 1 (Winter 2001): 4–28.
Cowboys, Indians, & Cavalry: A Cattleman’s Account of the Fights of 1884 | Don D. Walker presents Harold Carlisle’s perspective on the conflicts between cowboys and Southern Utes the summer of 1884 in Utah’s San Juan County. Manager of the Kansas and New Mexico Land and Cattle Company, Carlile outlines the interactions between the Utes and the cattlemen as told by his cattlemen and by military officers involved in the fighting.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume34_1966_number3/s/103019
Source: Walker, Don D., and Harold Carlisle. “Cowboys, Indians, & Cavalry: A Cattleman’s Account of the Fights of 1884.” Utah Historical Quarterly 34, no. 3 (Summer 1966): 255–62.
Saints or Sinners? The Evolving Perceptions of Mormon-Indian Relations in Utah Historiography | Sondra Jones examines the varying views of the historic relationship between Mormon settlers in Utah and the Indigenous Utahns. From histories painting Mormons as the heroes and Native Americans as inferior, to histories vilifying Mormons and victimizing Native Americans, Sondra explores the biases of different periods, expressing the need to address complexity in the historic Mormon–Native American relationship in Utah.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume72_2004_number1/s/10188692
Source: Jones, Sondra. “Saints or Sinners? The Evolving Perceptions of Mormon-Indian Relations in Utah Historiography.” Utah Historical Quarterly 72, no. 1 (Winter 2004): 19–46.
The “White Pine War” of 1875: A Case of White Hysteria | Steven J. Crum examines the “White Pine War,” a series of murders and conflicts between the Goshutes and white settlers resulting from hysteria among whites living along the Utah-Nevada border in 1875. Beginning after a Goshute boy named Toby killed a white miner, the hysteria erupted into rumors of a great gathering of Goshutes preparing for war, resulting in unjust murders and a migration of many Goshutes to Deep Creek, Utah.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume59_1991_number3/s/10124138#:~:text=ON%20SEPTEMBER%207%2C%201875%2C%20MORE,along%20the%20Utah%2D%20Nevada%20border.
Source: Crum, Steven J. “The “White Pine War” of 1875: A Case of White Hysteria.” Utah Historical Quarterly 59, no. 3 (Summer 1991): 286–99.
The Other Buffalo: Native Americans, Fur Trappers, and the Western Bison, 1600–1860 | Stephen P. van Hoak describes the historic presence of buffalo in the Intermountain West and their role in the lives of Utah’s Native Americans. Previously used as a food source and as materials for shelter, clothes, and other Indigenous needs, the buffalo of the Intermountain West diminished in numbers in the early nineteenth century due to factors such as overhunting and disruption of the natural ecology of Utah as settlers migrated to the area.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume72_2004_number1/s/10188703
Source: Van Hoak, Stephen P. “The Other Buffalo: Native Americans, Fur Trappers, and the Western Bison, 1600–1860.” Utah Historical Quarterly 72, no. 1 (Winter 2004): 4–18.
Of Pride and Politics: Brigham Young as Indian Superintendent | Floyd O’Neil and Stanford Layton chronicle the progression of Utah’s Indian Policy under the leadership of Brigham Young as Indian Superintendent. Critiquing Young’s interactions with and attitudes toward federally appointed agents and subagents, the authors describe Young’s religiously defined policies toward Native Americans, such as missionary work and Indian farms.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume46_1978_number3/s/129349
Source: O’Neil, Floyd A., and Stanford J. Layton. “Of Pride and Politics: Brigham Young as Indian Superintendent.” Utah Historical Quarterly 46, no. 3 (Summer 1978): 236–50.
The Walker War: Defense and Conciliation as Strategy | Howard Christy outlines the timeline of the Walker War, a series of violent conflicts between Mormon settlers and the Utes in 1853 resulting from cultural discrepancies, disagreement over slave trade, and disputes over land and resources. Focusing on strategy, Christy evaluates the Mormons’ use of the defense and conciliation strategy to secure peace with the Utes, as opposed to offensive violence.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume47_1979_number4/s/130332
Source: Christy, Howard A. “The Walker War: Defense and Conciliation as Strategy.” Utah Historical Quarterly 47, no. 4 (Fall 1979): 395–420.
Paiute Posey and the Last White Uprising | Robert S. McPherson tells the story of a violent conflict between settlers in Blanding, Utah, and a mixture of local Paiutes and Utes. Resulting from years of tension over scarce resources, the Posey War, named after an involved Paiute leader, erupted in 1923, ending with the Native Americans being held captive by armed guards until negotiations settled the tensions over land and resources.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume53_1985_number3/s/150346
Source: McPherson, Robert S. “Paiute Posey and the Last White Uprising.” Utah Historical Quarterly 53, no. 3 (Summer 1985): 248–67.
The Replevied Present: San Juan County, the Southern Utes, and What Might Have Been, 1894–1895 | Robert McPherson examines events leading up to the highly controversial planned removal of Utes from Colorado to San Juan County in southeastern Utah from 1894 to 1895. Caught between the interests of cowboys, established white settlers, and an apathetic US government, the Utes were ultimately rejected from settlement in San Juan County, and the question of location for a Ute reservation was saved for a later period.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume79_2011_number1/s/10374705
Source: McPherson, Robert S. “The Replevied Present: San Juan County, the Southern Utes, and What Might Have Been, 1894–1895.” Utah Historical Quarterly 79, no. 1 (Winter 2011): 52–71.
The Buffalo Soldiers: Guardians of the Uintah Frontier, 1886–1901 | Ronald G. Coleman describes the presence of Black soldiers at the newly established Fort Duchesne on the Uintah Reservation from 1886 to 1901. Detailing the routines, relations with other soldiers, and off-duty living of these men, Coleman also outlines the reception of the Black soldiers by the Utes, who called them Buffalo Soldiers, comparing their wool-like hair to that of buffalo.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume47_1979_number4/s/130328
Source: Coleman, Ronald G. “The Buffalo Soldiers: Guardians of the Uintah Frontier, 1886–1901.” Utah Historical Quarterly 47, no. 4 (Fall 1979): 421–39.
Canyons, Cows, and Conflict: A Native American History of Montezuma Canyon, 1874–1933 | Robert McPherson delineates the history of conflict in Montezuma Canyon in San Juan County, Utah, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as different Native groups defended their home in the area from the grazing herds and encroachments of white settlers. Another tale of the fight for resources, this article emphasizes the ethnocentrism of white settlers in negotiating the use of public lands with Native Americans.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume60_1992_number3/s/161887
Source: McPherson, Robert S. “Canyons, Cows, and Conflict: A Native American History of Montezuma Canyon, 1874–1933.” Utah Historical Quarterly 60, no. 3 (Summer 1992): 238–58.
Spanish Slave Trade
Spanish exploration and settlement in the American Southwest in the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries resulted in early contact with the Indigenous peoples of Utah. In their encounters with the Natives, the Spanish introduced horses, which were quickly adopted into Native American life and culture. Along with European goods and ideas, the Spanish also introduced the slave trade, as many Spanish settlers wanted Indigenous slaves to help them with housework and ranch and fieldwork. The Spanish slave trade of Native Americans began, and Utes and Mexicans and occasionally Navajos captured women and children from other Utah tribes to sell into slavery. By the time the Latter-day Saint pioneers arrived in Utah in 1847, the trade of Native American slaves was well established, leading to further tensions between the settlers and the Native Utahns.
The Trial of Don Pedro León: Politics, Prejudice, and Pragmatism | Sondra Jones examines the trial of Don Pedro León, a New Mexican trader, who was tried in Utah in the 1850s for trading with the Ute Indians without a license. Under the disguise of trade licensing, the trial reflects the controversy surrounding the trade of Indigenous slaves in Utah in the early nineteenth century, and though the trial involved hypocrisy and bias, it set the precedent for future legal action focused on ending the slave trade.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume65_1997_number2/s/10359297
Source: Jones, Sondra. “The Trial of Don Pedro León: Politics, Prejudice, and Pragmatism.” Utah Historical Quarterly 65, no. 2 (Spring 1997): 165–86.
Rethinking Jedediah S. Smith’s Southwestern Expeditions | Edward Leo Lyman highlights Jedediah Smith’s year-long journal depicting his travels in the early nineteenth century, including his exploration of present-day Utah. Lyman explains the insight provided by Smith’s diary about the culture and struggles of Utah’s Southern Paiutes, specifically the effect of the New Mexican slave trade on Paiute lifeways and interactions.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume84_2016_number4/s/10121965
Source: Lyman, Edward Leo. “Rethinking Jedediah S. Smith’s Southwestern Expeditions.” Utah Historical Quarterly 84, no. 4 (Fall 2016): 277–93.
Utah Before the Mormons | Dale L. Morgan pieces together a history of Utah before the arrival of the Mormon pioneers in 1847, using written accounts by explorers, trappers, and traders. From a predominantly Euro-American perspective, Morgan describes the rough, pre-Mormon beginnings of Euro-American civilization in Utah as well as interactions between early white travelers and Native Americans, such as the Spanish slave trade.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume85_2017_number4/s/163806
Source: Morgan, Dale L. “Utah Before The Mormons.” Utah Historical Quarterly 36, no. 1 (Winter 1968): 3–23.
Postscript Source: Morgan, Dale L., and Richard Saunders. “Utah Before The Mormons; Postscript: Dale Morgan and the Elements of Utah History.” Utah Historical Quarterly 85, no. 4 (Fall 2017): 294–309.
The True Policy for Utah: Servitude, Slavery, and “An Act in Relation to Service” | Christopher B. Rich interprets Utah’s use of the law “An Act in Relation to Service” as a means to terminate the position of “slave” while honoring the property rights of southern slaveholding emigrants and maintaining an appearance of neutrality toward slavery to help Utah’s application for statehood. Though focusing mainly on African American slavery in the territory, the law’s implications regarding the slave trade of Native Americans are also addressed.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume80_2012_number1/s/10402180
Source: Rich, Christopher B. “The True Policy for Utah: Servitude, Slavery, and ‘An Act in Relation to Service.’” Utah Historical Quarterly 80, no. 1 (Winter 2012): 54–74.
Federal Government And Native Americans
Utah became a part of the United States as a result of the Mexican-American War in 1848. Following Utah’s official organization into a United States territory in 1850, the federal government’s involvement in the region increased. One of the government’s roles in Utah was to keep the peace between struggling settlers and Native American groups. The US government sent military units to enforce the law in areas of Utah where conflict between Natives and settlers was common, and the government also sought to reduce conflict through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by removing Native Americans from their traditional lands to reservations. Though Native Americans objected to their forced removal to undesirable lands, they ultimately remained on the allotted reservations, left with only broken promises from the government and a permanently altered way of life.
Navajo Frontiers in Utah and Troublous Times in Monument Valley | J. Lee Correll presents the complex history of the Navajo frontier in Utah during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, weaving in stories of Ute raids, gold prospectors, and murder. The author suggests that the Navajo frontier witnessed two significant events during this period: first, the federal government reduced the size of Navajo land; second, raids and other violent episodes helped Navajos reclaim their land.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume39_1971_number2/s/109624
Source: Correll, J. Lee. “Navajo Frontiers in Utah and Troublous Times in Monument Valley.” Utah Historical Quarterly 39, no. 2 (Spring 1971): 145–61.
The Bear River Massacre: New Historical Evidence | Harold Schindler presents a detailed account of the Bear River Massacre, introducing new historical evidence that provides insight on the nature of the bloody conflict. Offering firsthand accounts from soldiers present at the event, Schindler suggests that the soldiers were commanded by their leading officers to attack and kill the Shoshone.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume67_1999_number4_c73ceb1b337ef1/s/163050
Source: Schindler, Harold. “The Bear River Massacre: New Historical Evidence.” Utah Historical Quarterly 67, no. 4 (Fall 1999): 300–309.
The Skull Valley Band of the Goshute Tribe—Deeply Attached to Their Native Homeland | Steven Crum examines the reactions of the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes in response to federal Indian removal policies throughout the late nineteenth century, claiming that this Indigenous group is evidence that the Great Basin Native Americans are deeply attached to their native homelands. Despite several government attempts to relocate members of the Skull Valley band, the band has persisted in remaining located in northwestern Utah, and, as they were small in number and lived on undesirable lands, the federal government finally created a reservation on their lands instead of moving them elsewhere.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume55_1987_number3/s/153694
Source: Crum, Steven J. “The Skull Valley Band of the Goshute Tribe—Deeply Attached to Their Native Homeland.” Utah Historical Quarterly 55, no. 3 (Summer 1987): 250–67.
The Unwanted Indians: The Southern Utes in Southeastern Utah | Gregory Thompson relays the struggles of the Utes of Colorado in the late nineteenth century as gold miners and settlers continually invaded their home and called for their removal from the state. In the years of fighting and negotiation, the federal government nominated San Juan County, Utah, as the site for the new Ute reservation, and, after much protest from both the settlers of San Juan County and the Utes, the Ute Mountain reservation was set aside for the Utes in their traditional Colorado.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume49_1981_number2/s/133658
Source: Thompson, Gregory C. “The Unwanted Indians: The Southern Utes in Southeastern Utah.” Utah Historical Quarterly 49, no. 2 (Spring 1981): 189–203.
Senator Arthur V. Watkins and the Termination of Utah’s Southern Paiute Indians | Carolyn Grattan-Aiello describes the implications of termination, or the federal policy seeking to assimilate Native Americans into society by eliminating reservations, special assistance programs, and tax-free Native lands. This article focuses on Senator Arthur V. Watkins’s role in the termination of Utah’s Southern Paiute Native Americans in the 1950, and the consequences of termination in Utah.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume63_1995_number3/s/161824
Source: Grattan-Aiello, Carolyn. “Senator Arthur V. Watkins and the Termination of Utah’s Southern Paiute Indians.” Utah Historical Quarterly 63, no. 3 (Summer 1995): 268–83.
Lambs of Sacrifice: Termination, the Mixed-Blood Utes, and the Problem of Indian Identity | Warren Metcalf investigates the effects of termination—a federal policy to end Indigenous Americans’ status as wards of the states—on the mixed-blood Ute peoples of the Uintah and Ouray reservation. Metcalf argues that the mixed-blood Ute peoples were sacrificial lambs to the federal government because they could not identify fully as white or Native American, leaving them with no advocates or representation in the partition of resources accompanying termination.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume64_1996_number4/s/10134264
Source: Metcalf, R. Warren. “Lambs of Sacrifice: Termination, the Mixed-Blood Utes, and the Problem of Indian Identity.” Utah Historical Quarterly 64, no. 4 (Fall 1996): 322–43.
The Strawberry Valley Reclamation Project and the Opening of the Uintah Indian Reservation | Kathryn L. Mackay details the execution of the Strawberry Valley Project, which introduced federal interests such as mining, agriculture, and conservation to the Uintah Valley Indian Reservation from 1906 to 1922. Utah’s first federal reclamation project, the Strawberry Valley Project brought industrial growth and agricultural progress to the Uintah Valley Indian Reservation at the exploitation of Native American resources and disregard of Native interests, protests, and rights.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume50_1982_number1/s/134305
Source: Mackay, Kathryn L. “The Strawberry Valley Reclamation Project and the Opening of the Uintah Indian Reservation.” Utah Historical Quarterly 50, no. 1 (Winter 1982): 68–89.
Murder and Mapping in the “Land of Death,” Part I: The Walcott-Mcnally Incident | Robert McPherson examines the murder of two miners by Navajo men in the Four Corners region as a case study for the area’s reputation as a “land of death.” A terrain only inhabitable by those who knew it well, the Four Corners region became a hiding place for numerous groups of troublemakers in the late nineteenth century, because the enforcers of the law were unable to reach them in the difficult conditions.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume81_2013_number3/s/10418092
Source: McPherson, Robert S. “Murder and Mapping in the ‘Land of Death,’ Part I: The Walcott-Mcnally Incident.” Utah Historical Quarterly 81, no. 3 (Summer 2013): 249–66.
Murder and Mapping in “The Land Of Death,” Part II: The Military Cantonment in Monticello | Robert McPherson, Kevin Conti, and Gary Weicks present an extension of the mining murder case study on the Four Corners’ “land of death” reputation, describing the military’s consideration of establishing a permanent military presence in the area. As the military was largely responsible for law enforcement in southeastern Utah, they sought to map and explore the region, sending soldiers that, during their encampment and exploration, helped calm confrontation between cowboys, Native Americans, and settlers.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume81_2013_number4/s/10413786
Source: McPherson, Robert S., Kevin Conti, and Gary Weicks. “Murder and Mapping in ‘The Land Of Death,’ Part II: The Military Cantonment In Monticello.” Utah Historical Quarterly 81, no. 4 (Fall 2013): 368–85.
The Uncompahgre Reservation and the Hill Creek Extension | Kathryn Mackay relays the story of the Uncompahgre Utes’ removal, reservation experience, and gaining of the Hill Creek Extension, or the 510,000 acres added to the Uintah and Ouray Reservation by Congress in 1948. Describing unfarmable lands, limited reservation resources, encroachment by white settlers, and the opening of the reservation, Mackay describes the Utes’ tale as one of suffering, negotiation, and betrayal.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume83_2015_number3/s/10433767
Source: Mackay, Kathryn L. “The Uncompahgre Reservation and the Hill Creek Extension.” Utah Historical Quarterly 83, no. 3 (Summer 2015): 180–93.
“Only Bullets Talk Now:” Tse-ne-gat, Polk, and the 1915 Fight in Bluff | Robert McPherson outlines examples of Native American resistance in the early twentieth century, as the government sought to gain control of tensions between Utes and white settlers in southeastern Utah by attempting to move the Utes to the Navajo Springs Agency in Colorado. Fighting over use of public lands, southern Utah settlers and Utes engaged in several violent conflicts resulting in numerous murders on each side, legal trials of offending parties, and the removal of many Utes to Colorado.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume79_2011_number3/s/10373397
Source: McPherson, Robert S. “‘Only Bullets Talk Now:’ Tse-ne-gat, Polk, and the 1915 Fight in Bluff.” Utah Historical Quarterly 79, no. 3 (Summer 2011): 224–49.
An Anguished Odyssey: The Flight of the Utes 1906–1908 | Floyd A. O’Neil chronicles the journey of the Utes when they fled from their allotted lands on the Uintah reservation in 1906 to form an alliance with the Sioux to resist white encroachment. Explaining the conditions leading up to the exodus, O’Neil also relays the government’s intervention, namely, sending troops to bring the Utes back to their reservation and taking measures to help them find a sustainable way of life there.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume36_1968_number4/s/104768
Source: O’Neil, Floyd A. “An Anguished Odyssey: The Flight Of The Utes 1906–1908.” Utah Historical Quarterly 36, no. 4 (Fall 1968): 315–327.
Indigenous Americans In 19th And 20th Century US History
The nineteenth- and twentieth-century United States saw many wars, ethical controversies, and global hardships. Indigenous Americans, though struggling with settler conflicts and removal to reservations during this period, played a role in both Utah and United States history. Rarely mentioned in greater histories after the reservation period, Native Americans in Utah continued to fight for rights and to participate in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Utah and United States experiences, such as the world wars and the Spanish Flu.
Ute Indians along Civil War Communication Lines | S. Lyman Tyler provides commentary and primary sources centered on the Ute disturbances of the Overland Stage Company line during the 1860s. Acknowledging the complexity of the situation, Lyman notes that the Utes were lacking food at the time, while also relaying the importance of the Overland Stage Company to communication during the American Civil War.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume46_1978_number3/s/129340
Source: Tyler, S. Lyman. “Ute Indians along Civil War Communication Lines.” Utah Historical Quarterly 46, no. 3 (Summer 1978): 251–61.
The Prohibition of Interracial Marriage in Utah, 1888–1963 | Patrick Mason examines Utah’s 1888 marriage law forbidding intermarriage between whites and minority groups such as African Americans and Asian Americans. Presenting context and facets of the law, Mason also highlights possible reasons for why the law did not restrict marriage between whites and Native Americans, such as Indian Removal, Latter-day Saint theology on Native Americans, and a historic general acceptance for white-Native relationships in the greater West.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume76_2008_number2/s/10216033
Source: Mason, Patrick Q. “The Prohibition of Interracial Marriage in Utah, 1888–1963.” Utah Historical Quarterly 76, no. 2 (Spring 2008): 108–31.
Gosiute–Shoshone Draft Resistance, 1917–18 | David L. Wood describes the Goshute and Shoshone tribes’ resistance to the military draft for World War I in 1917 and 1918. Highlighting questions of Native American citizenship within the United States, the Selective Service Act of 1917 required all eligible men to register for military service, while the Goshute and Shoshone peoples refused to send their men to fight a war that did not involve them.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume49_1981_number2/s/133661
Source: Wood, David L. “Gosiute–Shoshone Draft Resistance, 1917–18.” Utah Historical Quarterly 49, no. 2 (Spring 1981): 173–88.
Immigrants, Minorities, and the Great War | Helen Papanikolas explores the reactions, struggles, and efforts of numerous minority and immigrant groups in Utah during World War I. Describing the questioned loyalty of European immigrants and racism toward enlisted African Americans, Papanikolas also mentions the noninvolvement of Native Americans as they considered World War I a white man’s war.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume58_1990_number4 (Starts pp. 44-45)
Source: Papanikolas, Helen Z. “Immigrants, Minorities, and the Great War.” Utah Historical Quarterly 58, no. 4 (Fall 1990): 351–70.
Utah and World War I | Allan Kent Powell outlines Utah’s involvement in World War I from reactions to the war’s outbreak to war support and military service, acknowledging the various views and participation offered by different groups of ethnicity, class, gender, and religion. In terms of Utah’s Native American groups, Powell mentions their reluctance to fight in a white man’s war overseas, as well as the resulting draft resistance of Goshute and Shoshone peoples.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume86_2018_number3/s/162175
Source: Powell, Allan Kent. “Utah and World War I.” Utah Historical Quarterly 86, no. 3 (Summer 2018): 204–33.
The Influenza Epidemic of 1918–19 in Utah | Leonard Arrington describes the impact of the Spanish Flu epidemic on the people of Utah as it blew through the state at the end of World War I. Describing effects, care, and patterns of contagion, Arrington also mentions the devastating effect of the virus on the Native peoples of Utah, as death rates were higher for Indigenous Utahns than those of their non-Native counterparts.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume58_1990_number2
Source: Arrington, Leonard J. “The Influenza Epidemic of 1918–19 in Utah.” Utah Historical Quarterly 58, no. 2 (Spring 1990): 165–82.
The Influenza Epidemic of 1918: A Cultural Response | Robert McPherson compares the cultural response of Euro-Americans and Native Americans in southern Utah to the Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918–19, reasoning that different responses influenced the severity of the virus. In examining both groups’ culture, beliefs, and preventative care, McPherson determines that the influenza was more devastating for the Navajo population because of their isolated lifestyle, their religious view of the disease, and the resulting ceremonial practices that spread the disease.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume58_1990_number2/s/10122062
Source: McPherson, Robert S. “The Influenza Epidemic of 1918: A Cultural Response.” Utah Historical Quarterly 58, no. 2 (Spring 1990): 183–200.
Utah’s Defense Industries and Workers in World War II | Antonette Chambers Noble breaks down the demographics of the workforce in Utah’s defense industries during World War II when much of the white male population in Utah was drafted. Describing various industrial wartime needs and various ethnic and gender groups that met those needs, Chambers Noble mentions that Native Americans were a part of the Utah labor force and were often offered positions in military installations.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume59_1991_number4/s/10127001
Source: Noble, Antonette Chambers. “Utah’s Defense Industries and Workers in World War II.” Utah Historical Quarterly 59, no. 4 (Fall 1991): 365–79.
Native American Voting Rights in Utah: Federal Policy, Citizenship, and Voter Suppression | Kyler Wakefield examines the historical events and policies throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that have resulted in unequal voting rights for Native Americans today. Dissecting the supreme court case Allen v. Merrell, as well as federal policies such as allotment, reservations, and termination, Wakefield attributes the obstructed voting rights of Native Americans to federal policies focused on assimilation.
Reading: https://doi.org/10.5406/26428652.91.1.01 *Membership access
Source: Wakefield, Kyler T. “Native American Voting Rights in Utah: Federal Policy, Citizenship, and Voter Suppression.” Utah Historical Quarterly 91, no. 1 (Winter 2023): 4–22.
General Histories
Some Meanings of Utah History | Thomas G. Alexander presents his version of Utah’s history, emphasizing many different focuses of the history in an attempt to provide a more complete narrative. Touching on economy, politics, culture, and social aspects of Utah history, Alexander demonstrates where Natives, Mormons, and other emigrants fit into the greater scope of things.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume64_1996_number2/s/10356216
Source: Alexander, Thomas G. “Some Meanings of Utah History.” Utah Historical Quarterly 64, no. 2 (Spring 1996): 155–67.
Forces That Shaped Utah’s Dixie: Another Look | Melvin T. Smith outlines a general history of Utah’s Dixie, a term used to describe southwestern Utah’s dry, desert lands. From Native Utahns to European explorers, Smith touches on different groups who occupied the area at different times, ending with the Mormon settlers that remained on the land and helped transform it into the prosperous area that it is today.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume47_1979_number2/s/131024
Source: Smith, Melvin T. “Forces That Shaped Utah’s Dixie: Another Look.” Utah Historical Quarterly 47, no. 2 (Spring 1979): 110–29.
Utah History Textbooks and Utah History | Rod Decker explores the progression of Utah History textbooks through the twentieth century, noting changes in content focus and coverage according to each period’s societal views and scholarship. Outlining the role of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, women, and immigrants, Decker also discusses the role of Indigenous Utahns in textbook histories, such as Native American prehistory, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, and post-statehood Native American events and movements.
Reading: https://doi.org/10.5406/26428652.91.1.05 *Membership link
Source: Decker, Rod. “Utah History Textbooks and Utah History.” Utah Historical Quarterly 91, no. 1 (Winter 2023): 56–70.
Utah’s Ethnic Minorities: A Survey | Richard O. Ulibarri recognizes the role of minority groups such as Black Americans, Native Americans, Chicanos, and Asian Americans in Utah’s history. Giving a brief background on each group, Ulibarri acknowledges lifeways, struggles, and influential events associated with each minority and their individual experiences in Utah.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume40_1972_number3/s/109955
Source: Ulibarri, Richard O. “Utah’s Ethnic Minorities: A Survey.” Utah Historical Quarterly 40, no. 3 (Summer 1972): 210–32.
Resilience And Agency
The history of Indigenous Utahns since white settlers entered Utah’s valleys is filled with stories of conflict, broken promises, and survival. From lack of resources and white encroachment on ancestral lands to forced removal onto reservations and even participation in the world wars, Indigenous Utahns never stopped fighting for their culture, their rights, and their livelihoods. In other words, the Native American history full of hardship and injustice is also full of resistance, adaptation, and continuity. Even today, the Native Americans of Utah fight to preserve the sacredness of their culture, the continuity of their art and traditions, and their ancestral lands and artifacts.
Appropriation and Accommodation: The University of Utah and the Utes | Larry R. Gerlach describes the call to remove irreverent Native American identifications, such as offensive mascots and names of sports teams, from professional and university institutions starting in the late twentieth century. Giving a brief history on Native American references in professional and collegiate sports teams, the author focuses primarily on the University of Utah’s attempts at maintaining their Utah Utes identification by reconciling with the Ute nation in Utah.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume85_2017_number3/s/163507
Source: Gerlach, Larry R. “Appropriation and Accommodation: The University of Utah and the Utes.” Utah Historical Quarterly 85, no. 3 (Summer 2017): 204–23.
Contemporary Navajo Baskets on the Utah Reservation
Carol Edison documents the re-emergence of Navajo basket weaving, a tradition believed to be extinct that was carried on by a cluster of families in an isolated part of Monument Valley. Chronicling various traditional basket designs and uses, Edison also introduces the new development of the Navajo story basket, which has contributed to the preservation of Navajo legends and art.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume74_2006_number3/s/10311056
Source: Edison, Carol. “Contemporary Navajo Baskets on the Utah Reservation.” Utah Historical Quarterly 74, no. 3 (Summer 2006): 241–58.
Utah Lake Rock Imagery: An Intersection of Public Lands, Recreational Shooting, and Cultural Resources | Elizabeth Hora and Christopher Meritt describe recent efforts to protect rock imagery representing eight thousand years of human history located on Lake Mountain on the west side of Utah Lake. After recognizing the damage done to these historic markings by recreational shooting, the URARA, a group dedicated to rock imagery preservation, brought the issue to Congress, eventually leading to the legal protection of thousands of acres of prehistoric rock imagery.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/utah_historical_quarterly_volume88_2020_number2/s/11140478
Source: Hora, Elizabeth, and Christopher Merritt. “Utah Lake Rock Imagery: An Intersection of Public Lands, Recreational Shooting, and Cultural Resources.” Utah Historical Quarterly 88, no. 2 (Spring 2020): 121–28.
Seeing Is Believing and Hearing Is Believing: Thoughts on Oral Tradition and the Pectol Shields | Lee Kreutzer examines the role of oral tradition as a form of communication and reasoning in the repatriation of the Pectol or Capitol Reef shields, which were discovered decades earlier by a non-Native family, to the Navajo Nation in 2003. Discussing the definition and facets of oral tradition, Kreutzer explains the cultural differences between Native Americans and non-Natives that fueled the controversy over accepting oral tradition as evidence in the appeal for repatriation of the prehistoric artifacts.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume76_2008_number4/s/10217120
Source: Kreutzer, Lee. “Seeing Is Believing and Hearing Is Believing: Thoughts on Oral Tradition and the Pectol Shields.” Utah Historical Quarterly 76, no. 4 (Fall 2008): 377–84.
The Reluctant Suzerainty: The Uintah and Ouray Reservation | Floyd A. O’Neil details the challenges and lifeways of the Utes after their removal to the Uintah Reservation in 1865. Relying on records of Uintah Valley Indian Agents, O’Neil describes facets of reservation life, such as lack of education, poverty, encroaching of white settlers on Native lands, and the opening of the reservation to white settlement, ending with a optimistic outlook on changes occurring for the Ute people when the article was written in 1971.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume39_1971_number2/s/109630
Source: O’Neil, Floyd A. “The Reluctant Suzerainty: The Uintah and Ouray Reservation.” Utah Historical Quarterly 39, no. 2 (Spring 1971): 129–44.
Public Lands and American Indians: Traditional Use and Off-Reservation Treaty Rights | Yvette Towersap Tuell presents an overview of the relationship between Native Utahns and their ancestral lands throughout the years. Beginning with a short history on the removal of Indigenous Americans from their homelands and their eventual relocation to designated reservations, Tuell relays that tribes are still fighting for use and preservation of their ancestral lands today, resisted by those fighting for public use of those lands for recreation such as camping, rock climbing, and vehicle off-roading.
Reading:https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/utah_historical_quarterly_volume88_2020_number2/s/11140456 Source: Tuell, Yvette Towersap. “Public Lands and American Indians: Traditional Use and Off-Reservation Treaty Rights.” Utah Historical Quarterly 88, no. 2 (Spring 2020): 115–120.
American Indians and the Public School System: A Case Study of the Northern Utes | In a major study focusing on the experience of Native American children in public schools, Kim Gruenwald analyzes the exchange between white settlers and Ute peoples within the public school system. Gruenwald argues that, during the twentieth century, Native children’ s experience in public schools transformed from exclusion, to assimilation and feelings of unwelcome, to a push for Ute-organized education.
Reading: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume64_1996_number3/s/10356228
Source: Gruenwald, Kim M. “American Indians and the Public School System: A Case Study of the Northern Utes.” Utah Historical Quarterly 64, no. 3 (Summer 1996): 246–63.