OCR Text |
Show CHAPTER IV The Black Hawk War Following the negotiation of the Spanish Fork Treaty, there was a period of waiting. It was a time when hope for peace was riding high. Neither peace nor hope lasted long. On September 20, 1866, F. H. Head, the new Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Utah, wrote to D. N. Cooley, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in Washington; a section of his Report follows: A small band of outlaws, under the command of a chief named Black Hawk, have been engaged in hostilities for nearly two years. Their number did not at first exceed fifty men, and in the various skirmishes which have taken place, nearly that number have been killed, but accessions have been continually had from among the more reckless Indians of the different bands, so that their number has increased to about sixty men. They have made raids upon several of the small and defenseless settlements in the southern portion of the Territory for the purpose of stealing cattleyand horses, fighting when pursued by the settlers, who sought to recover their stock. During the present year they have made two such raids upon the settlements of Salina and Round Valley, stealing in each instance nearly two hundred cattle and horses. I applied in April last to the officer in command of the United States forces at Camp Douglas, in this Territory, asking him to station one or two companies of soldiers in the southeastern portion of the Territory to protect the settlers. He was not able to do so, however, as he was expecting that all his command, being volunteers would shortly be mustered out of service. The settlers raised some two hundred men from various parts of the Territory, who were stationed at the most exposed points, since which time no further depredations have been committed. I have made several trips to different parts of |