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Show 29 basic antagonisms to be redressed. Provo (Fort Utah) was founded on the central campsite of the Tumpanuwac Utes. The area was one with a great number of advantages for a tribal group. Water was in great abundance, and the waters of the Utah Lake abounded in trout. Provo River and several smaller streams also provided fish. There was an expanse of grass for forage, and the Utes used that to a great advantage after the introduction of the horse. This was especially true after they began the trade in horses during the years preceding the coming of the Mormons. The strategic location was also of very great importance to the Indians, as the routes to the adjacent hunting and food gathering sites were easily traveled. (See map, page 69 ). The interruption of the slave trade by the Mormons, the loss of the revenue from paying tribute on the Old Spanish Trail, and the end of the horse trade meant that the Utes were forced to live from their original resources. When the Mormon farmers began to occupy those lands, the only course open to the hapless natives was to resist or to remove. The answer to the Utes was simple. Resist! That resistance is called the Walker War. The strategy of the war can best be described as a series of raids on the Mormon settlements. It shows evidence of having been badly organized and conducted by the Indians, in spite of Wakara's vaunted fame. The pattern used for defense by the Mormons was stand- Ibid. , p. 306. |