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Show 94 Nuwuvi: A Southern Paiute History at Pioche he reported that the Nuwuvi had been "shamefully neglected by their former agent." Fenton had been "profuse in promises," but Powell felt that he had broken them all, leaving the Nuwuvi suspicious of government agents.6 By 1871, two things had happened which tended to increase tensions. That year the Mormons who lived along the lower Muddy River returned to Utah because the area in which they lived was proven to be under the jurisdiction of Nevada, obligating them to pay taxes to that state. Rather than do so, they moved back to Utah. Many of the Nuwuvi who originally occupied the land on which the Mormons settled had been forced to turn to the intruders for jobs and support. When that support stopped, the necessity for survival left many of these Indians with the choice of raiding or starving. The other thing which increased hostilities was the discovery of gold and silver in Arizona, which led to increased travel through Nuwuvi country by miners on their way to the strikes. The Nuwuvi demanded that they be paid compensation by white men crossing their lands and using their grass and water. Charles Powell recommended that the government alleviate conditions by establishing a reservation at St. Thomas and by appropriating $65,000 to begin its operations.7 The next year, 1872, G. W. Ingalls was appointed as the new agent for what was then being called the Southeast Nevada Indian Agency.8 He agreed with his predecessors that the Nuwuvi needed to be gathered together at some point on a reservation. He also agreed that the most likely spot was the Moapa Valley of the Muddy River. The result was that on March 12, 1872, President U. S. Grant issued an Executive Order establishing a reservation in the southeastern part of Nevada. The reservation included approximately 3,900 square miles. This area covered a large part of southeastern Nevada and included portions of the Virgin River drainage as well as the Muddy River. John Wesley Powell and G. W. Ingalls, in a special report later in 1873, recommended that the boundaries be extended to the east and to the west, thereby providing more farmland and access to timber. The government considered these suggestions, and on February 12, 1874, a new Executive Order was issued by Grant. It cancelled the first order and pushed the reservation's boundary |