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Show 77 war in this territory; and during that time six flourishing settlements in Piute and Sevier Counties, four settlements on the borders of Sanpete County, and fifteen settlements in Iron, Kane and Washington Counties, were entirely abandoned.H The counter-measures required of the Mormons were great, but they were borne well. Brigham's words at the negotiations at Spanish Fork were true; the Mormons were filling up the valleys. Further, to protect the central portions of the territory Brigham Young ordered the building of Cove Fort in central Utah. Situated midway between Fillmore and Beaver, the Fort was built in part as a protection to the new Deseret Telegraph line, which may have justified the spending of $25,000 for its erection. It appears that the telegraph was more to be protected than the settlements, because its location was such that it afforded very little protection to the towns. The attacks were coming from the east, and the Fort was placed on the west of the line of settlements which extended southward through central Utah. The building of the Fort was nearly meaningless, as the date of its completion roughly corresponds with the ending of the Black Hawk War. As the Mormon Militia continued its pressure on the Indians, the residents of the Mormon settlements tended to guard their livestock so closely that the raids became less productive than before. ULaws of Utah, 1878, p. 167. |