OCR Text |
Show 80 The Uintah Ute People . . . the Lagunas . . . live on the lake's abundant fish. . . . Besides this, they gather the seeds of wild plants in the bottoms and make a gruel from them, which they supplement with the game of jackrabbits, coneys, and fowl, of which there is a great abundance here. They also have bison handy not too far away . . . but fear of the Comanches prevents them from hunting them. Their dwellings are some . . . little wattle [woven] huts of osier [a willow] out of which they have interestingly crafted baskets and other utensils for ordinary use .... they wear . . . deerskin jacket[s] and long leggings of the same. For cold seasons they wear blankets made of jackrabbit and coney rabbit furs. . . . They possess good features, and most of them are fully bearded. . . . [They have an] easy-going character.5 Slave Trade Following Dommguez and Escalante, traders entered the lands of the Tumpanawach. A principal item the People had to exchange was slaves taken among the Paiute and desert Ute People. The slave trade developed as a part of the Spanish colonial system. It is an example of the profound effect Spaniards had on Ute life. Prior to Spanish intrusion, there was a limited system of slavery among some Ute groups. However, these slaves were mostly captives gained in raiding expeditions and were often incorporated into the tribe. Spaniards, on the other hand, used Indian slaves to work in the mines of northern Mexico and in the homes of Spanish colonists. To acquire these slaves, the Spanish developed a system with some Indian groups of trading horses, metal objects, cloth, and trinkets for slaves. The Ute People, particularly the Tumpanawach, were one such group with whom Spaniards developed the slave trade. As some Ute People acquired the horse they began raiding the more sedentary Great Basin groups such as the Paiutes. These captives were then traded to Spaniards. Spanish trade with the People of Utah Lake was established in the 1740s, even before Escalante came into the area. In the next few years, trade in slaves became very important. When the 1813 expedition of Mauricio Arze and Lagos Garcia went to Utah Lake, the People supposedly insisted on selling them slaves, killing their horses when the Spaniards refused.6 The American, French, and Canadian trappers who came into Utah in the 1820s also participated in the slave traffic. When the |