Black Hawk War (Utah)

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Utah's Black Hawk War (1865-72) is the name of the estimated 150 battles between Mormon settlers in Sanpete County, central Utah, and members of the Ute, Paiute and Navajo tribes, led by a local Ute chief, Antonga Black Hawk.^[1] The conflict resulted in the abandonment of some settlements and homes, and postponed Mormon expansion in the region.

The years 1865 to 1867 were by far the most intense of the conflict. Latter-day Saints considered themselves in a state of open warfare. They built scores of forts and deserted dozens of settlements while hundreds of Mormon militiamen chased their illusive[sic] adversaries through the wilderness with little success. Requests for federal troops went unheeded for eight years. Unable to distinguish "guilty" from "friendly" tribesmen, frustrated Mormons at times indiscriminately killed Indians, including women and children. ^[2]

On April 21, 1866, Mormon settlers at the chapel of Circleville, Utah executed 16 Paiute men, women and children by slitting their throats. The heads of the dead people were then mounted on poles for public display. Paul Reeve described the execution as the worst massacre of the Black Hawk War.^[3] The incident occurred after members of the local Piede band of Paiutes being held as prisoners tried to escape, and the militia panicked.