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Show 21 The most pervasive white presence in the area during the l830's, however, was that of the whites who traversed the Old Spanish Trail. The route crossed the lands of the Kapota, Weminuc, Tumpanuwac and Pahvant bands. Most profoundly affected of these bands were the Tumpanuwac and Pahvant. To the former, it meant prosperity and increased power. To the latter, it spelled disaster. During the l830's, a Tumpanuwac chief, Wakara, rose to power and prosperity by stealing horses in California and driving them along the Old Spanish Trail into Utah. He was also able to impose tribute on the caravans as they came through his area. A third area for economic exploitation was the weak Pahvant and Paiute neighbors to the southwest. Wakara and his military force sold these unfortunate people as slaves to the Mexican traders as they crossed the trail. Following his lead, some of the trappers also engaged in this unlovely pursuit. Horses, tribute and slaves caused the period to be one of prosperity when added to the yield in pelts which the Utes were able to exchange with the trappers. So important did the trade in furs become that a fort was established by Antoine Robidoux in 1837 near the present village of Whiterocks, Utah in the northern reaches of the Uintah Basin. This post was placed in the Uintah Basin not because it was the center of Indian activity, but because of the many streams cascading out of the Uintah Mountains, all of which yielded beaver. Soon it became a center of commerce in furs as well as other activities, apparently |