David Rich Lewis Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 Long before Euro-Americans entered the Great Basin, substantial numbers of people lived within the present boundaries of Utah. Archaeological reconstructions suggest human habitation stretching back some 12,000 years. The earliest known inhabitants were members of what has been termed the Desert Archaic Culture—nomadic hunter-gatherers with developed basketry, flaked-stem stone tools, and implements of …
Utah’s Paiute Indians During the Depression
Becky Bartholomew History Blazer, September 1996 Utah’s five Paiute bands, totaling fewer than 500 members, were among those whose economic position improved slowly but noticeably during the 1930s. “For many Indians the depression years were a relatively good period,” according to Professor Ronald L. Holt of Weber State University. Until the Great Depression government Indian policy was based on allotments. …
Paiute Indians
Ronald L. Holt Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 The Southern Paiutes of Utah live in the southwestern corner of the state where the Great Basin and the Colorado Plateau meet. The Southern Paiute language is one of the northern Numic branches of the large Uto-Aztecan language family. Most scholars agree that the Paiutes entered Utah about A.D. 1100-12. Historically, the largest …
Black Hawk War
John A. Peterson Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 The Black Hawk Indian War was the longest and most destructive conflict between pioneer immigrants and Native Americans in Utah History. The traditional date of the war’s commencement is 9 April 1865 but tensions had been mounting for years. On that date bad feelings were transformed into violence when a handful of Utes …
Goshute Indians
Dennis R. Defa Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 The Goshute Indians are part of the larger Shoshonean-speaking Native American groups that live in the Intermountain West. Although no one knows how long the Goshutes had occupied the area where they lived when first contacted by Europeans, a date of 1,000 years ago is most probable as the time when Shoshonean speakers …
Circleville Massacre, A Tragic Incident in the Black Hawk War
W. Paul Reeve History Blazer, September 1995 Dissatisfied with the treatment his people had received at the hands of government officials as well as from the ever-encroaching Mormon settlers, a minor Ute leader named Black Hawk gathered with members of other bands in 1863 to retaliate against their white enemies. The period of intensified raids that followed became known as …