OCR Text |
Show INTRODUCTION. The government documents containing the official reports concerning the Indians in Utah make the federal policy towards these Indians appear conspicuous by its absence. Indeed, the term policy seems a misnomer, for frequent and repeated appeals to Congress for aid and attention give evidence of continued inactivity on the part of the government. Instance after instance of the need and misery of the Indians, and of their conflict with a constantly enoroaohing whit © population brought no effective response from Congreas. From the outset the reports show an Indian problem characterized by one-plications due to the California and Oregon immigration, and to the Mormon settlement, But, absorbed apparently in other and more pressing affairs, the distant Congress seems to have adopted a laissez- faire policy in the case of Utah, if let- alone tactics may be termed a policy. Before examining the instancea that give weight to this conclusion, an account of Utah and its Indians will aid in an understanding of the various conditions |