| OCR Text |
Show The Uneasy Peace Although a temporary peace was established between the Nuwuvi and the new Mormon settlers by 1852, relations with the emigrant parties were for the most part less than friendly. The movement of horses and wagons across Nuwuvi lands had a damaging effect. In 1853 several men began importing large herds of stock to supply the booming population of California. Dr. Thomas Flint wrote that he and his companions were driving over 2,000 sheep, oxen, cows and horses and that another party under a Colonel Hollister had 11 wagons, 154 cattle and about 4,000 sheep. Little concern was expressed by the travelers despite Indian complaints about the practice of camping in their fields. On the Santa Clara, Flint's party camped in a cornfield, allowing their animals to feed on the old standing stocks. An old Indian objected, and the party finally gave clothing and provisions to a dozen Indians as payment for trespassing.1 The admission of trespassing and the payment, no matter how small compared to the possible damage done by their large herd, was at least a greater acknowledgment of Nuwuvi ownership than usually was given. When the Nuwuvi expressed concern that another party's animals might damage their crops, the whites arrogantly made them move the stock while they held several Indians hostage overnight.2 Considering the disrespect with which the white emigrants treated the Nuwuvi and their homelands, it is of little wonder that the Indians resorted to taking stray stock and raiding unprotected wagons as payment for white trespassing. This was more the case the further west one moved on the trail. Because of their isolation, or because of white tendency to become more aggressive the further they traveled in Nuwuvi country, the Nuwuvi of the Muddy and the desert beyond were the most hostile. The travelers, on the other hand, increasingly reacted to Nuwuvi raids. By the time Flint's party reached the Nevada desert, he was making entries in his diary like the following: "Monday 31st . . . For variety gave chase to two Indians"; "Saturday 5th . . . The Indians were getting to be so 70 |
