OCR Text |
Show 22 INDIAN DEPREDATIONS The Indians were anxious for traders to bring guns, ammunition and various merchandise to barter for their skins and furs, horses and such things as they had, sometimes buffalo robes, as those Ute In-dians were an enterprising race, generally going once a year to the eastern plains, to kill buffalo, and for many winters had made incursions into Southern California, robbing the ranchers of thousands of horses. The cause of these raids being based on the bad treatment of some of Chief Walker's party many years ago, by certain ranchers, taking their buffalo robes, Indian children and confiscating their property without compensation. The settlers no doubt acted under law of trade and intercourse, but which was not understood by those tribes of the Utah band. In this way Walker's band of Utes had accumulated many horses. Some of the men here started up a traffic with the natives, notably Alex Williams, the guides James B. Porter and D. B. Huntington, their interpreter. After a while came trouble. The first serious outbreak was occasioned by three of our people, namely: Richard A. Ivie, Y. Eufus Stoddard and Gerome Zabriskie, who met an Indian called Bishop Whitney, in the field and claimed a shirt the Indian had on. The Indian re-fused to give it up. Ivie claimed it as his and tried to take it, was resisted and in the scuffle that in-sued, the Indian was killed, and his body weighted with rock, was sunk in the river, so reported by the Indians, who found the body after 24 hours search. This killing of the Old Bishop, so called, occur-red about the 1st of August, 1849, and immediately |