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Show 58 though the militia of the Mormon towns was able to kill more of his followers than he originally had organized, he was able to maintain his strength by enlisting new recruits. It is also indicative of the desperation of the Indian community that despite such withering losses they could persevere. There seems to have been a determination by the Mormons to endure during the first two years of the battle, anticipating the removal of the Utes to the Uintah Valley reservation. Also, it was hoped that the ending of the Civil War would give the federal government an opportunity to help solve the problem. As late as six months prior to the ending of the Civil War, the confused state of affairs in Utah is indicated by the Report of the Secretary of the Interior: The subject of abandoning the several small reservations in Utah and concentrating the Indians upon one large reservation, known as the Uintah Valley, has been frequently .urged upon the attention of this office, but for want of proper information as to the locality and its resources, and on account of the hostility of, and pending military operations against, several of the tribes, nothing has yet been accomplished in that direction. In January, 1864, a memorial was received from the legislature of Utah, asking that the smaller reservations might be surveyed and opened to the whites for settlement, and by the act of Congress aprroved May 5, 1864, provision was made for their survey, and for the permanent reservation of Uintah valley as a home for the Indians of Utah. An appropriation of $30,000 was alsot-made for the purpose of preparing homes on the reserve for those Indians who should be removed to it, and for aiding them in becoming self-supporting, by means of agriculture. The Uintah valley had been by order of the President, as recommended by this office, set apart for the exclusive occupation of the Indians as long ago as October, l86l, but in the imperfect |