Contained here are anecdotes taken from family history books, journals, and so forth, as told from from the perspective of Mormon pioneers and others who moved into areas where Little Soldier and other “Weber Ute” people lived and traveled. This can include Weber, Morgan, Summit, Davis, Salt Lake, and Tooele counties.

The majority of these stories merely refer to unspecified Indians. They may indeed involve the “Weber Utes” or bands of people directly linked to them, but they may also instead deal with other people traveling in these areas.

Unfortunately, meaningful specifics about people can be scarce.

As you read the stories listed below, consider how often you see any detail about individual Native persons. What about their family connections, or life within their campsites? How frequently do you even encounter a person’s name?

In other words, how often are Native people portrayed as actual human beings, and not as two-dimensional villains to be feared or resented?

Prejudice toward Native peoples is sadly normalized in these stories. There are often signs of exaggeration as well, with formulaic or fanciful elements. The glorification of a pioneer protagonist is a primary motivator — the stories become mechanisms to display and admire their courage, spirituality, and resilience. For instance, sometimes pioneers will suddenly be able to speak in tongues and thus miraculously resolve a conflict between themselves and Native peoples. Another example would be the numerous stories which conclude with the pioneer protagonist being told by Indians that they are a “heap brave man/woman” — with the pioneers, at least, perceiving it as sincere and not sarcasm.

Consider who the intended audience for these stories might have been, and why they were related the way they were. A healthy level of skepticism is needed while perusing. While a story may indeed refer to a factual event, the details could fluctuate significantly from one retelling to the next.

(For an example of just how drastically stories could change with retelling, see two tales of how Jacob Hamblin adopted the Goshute/Shoshone boy that he named Albert. He gave one version to the Desert News immediately after the adoption in 1853, whereas a very different version was published in the Millennial Star over 30 years later, in 1887.)

Strangely, two of the better stories (so far?) about encounters with the people living here, in terms of details observed, were written by non-Mormon travelers who were merely passing through the area pre-1847.

Contrast these exceptional accounts with the pioneer ones listed further down:

1. Osborne Russell stays with Wanship and his family in Salt Lake Valley, in 1841. Osborne Russell relates information about everything from Wanship’s physical appearance, to his family connections, to life within their campsite, to details about conversations. (Wanship’s son Amoosh was one of the men who signed for the Cumumba/Weber Utes in a treaty with Ute bands in 1865.)
2. Edwin Bryant’s exceptional encounter with probable Weber Utes, likely Little Soldier’s band, in 1846. Edwin Bryant was with the company led by William H. Russell as they passed through the Croydon area in Morgan county, while on their way to California. They also encountered people when they reached Farmington Bay and Salt Lake Valley — Wanship’s band. Bryant does what very few others do — he describes the people he encounters in wonderfully human terms, relating to us in vibrant detail of the men, women, and children who react with joy/curiosity/suspicion to the presence of himself and the company.

Another superior example of detailed observations of Native nations can be seen in Elder Jonathan Dunham’s 1843 journal of his encounters with Sac and Potawatomi people, while on his way toward Missouri.

When compared to the richness of these accounts, the dearth of detail in the stories below is distinctly frustrating.

Of course, these three accounts are pulled from journals, while most of the following are not. They mostly come from family history books/compilations and newspaper articles. It makes sense that such summaries would be lacking in comparison to candid observations from a journal.

But even with all of these stories combined, the resulting picture is very incomplete and unsatisfactory.

Thousands of pioneers had decades of opportunity to observe and document information about these people. Where is it all?

Pioneer stories:

1. “Did the old timers know the Indians?” by William R. Palmer, 1933.
2. Undated: Indians taught the settlers about native plants that could be used for food
3. Undated: Indians taught settlers about herbal remedies made from local plants
4. Undated: In Plain City, Indians would stay at favored campsites for several days, ask for food, and then go north; settler women and children were “very frightened” of them, but offered food “as a sign of friendship”
5. Undated: Layton/Kaysville residents had no real trouble with Indians, who were “of the Gosiute tribe”
6. Unknown date: Clinton Doneral Bronson runs his horse to death when he and other men believe they’re being chased by Indians near Ogden
7. Unknown date: Margaret Ann Cooper told story of being chased by Indians near the Weber River, then was released once they recognized her
8. Unknown date: In this story, an old Ute man steals clothing from a destitute couple living in Ogden; the husband seeks out the thief and has a physical confrontation with him
9. Between 1847-1900: A Salt Lake man reports getting lost after hunting in the Oquirrh mountains, stumbling upon an Indian camp, & being aided by a young “Ute” man with whom he was acquainted. The young man gave him food, built a fire for him to dry his clothing, then guided him back to the Jordan River
10. Ca 1848-1863: Ogden’s James Brown “traded extensively” with the Shoshones and Little Soldier’s band
11. 1849: Bingham Canyon, Salt Lake Valley – Martha Ann Bingham grabs Indian men by their hair when they sit on a bench with laundry draped on it
12. 1849: In Woods Cross, Daniel Wood adopts three Indian children, supposedly “orphans of the Black Hawk War” — but this was years before that war even occurred
13. 1849-1858: Little Solder knew Jane Geneva Robinson, wife of Byram Bybee, from when she was a child in Farmington
14. Winter of 1849-50: Many of the Ogden-area settlers’ cattle died from the severe weather, and “Weber Ute” women would harvest the skins and meat; David Moore also remembers an encounter with Little Soldier during this winter
15. 1850s: Story of Robert Montgomery trying to shoo Indian band out of “his” field in North Ogden, only to be reminded that it is their land
16. Ca 1850s: A family story about Malinda Adams of Layton tells of Indian men who supposedly mistook butter for war paint and rubbed it on themselves
17. 1850s: While passing through Uintah, Malinda Adams and boys have confrontation with a man they call “Old Limpy”
18. 1850s: Elias Adams attends to the grave of a 10-year-old Indian boy; his grave is at the rock slide on the sunny side of Adams Canyon in Layton
19. 1850s: Malinda Adams would scald dishes and scrub furniture after her husband Elias invited Indian people to eat in their Layton home
20. 1850s: Brigham Heber Bingham has a confrontation with an Indian boy over food while working as a herd boy near Plain City
21. 1850s: Settler boys and Native boys have a clay pellet game-war on the bank of the Ogden River
22. 1850s: Several settlers in Weber County were taught by Indians how to tan hides; these settler-made gloves were dyed with sagebrush, decorated with beads, and sold at high prices
23. 1850s-70s?: In Ogden, Ann Blythe Barker purchases a little girl whom she names Rhoda; various accounts exist regarding the child’s origins and eventual fate, with some stating that she ultimately died from tuberculosis as a teenager, and another claiming she lived to adulthood. Little Soldier is sometimes named as a culprit in her capture, sometimes as a benevolent friend who would visit to check on her wellbeing
24. 1850s-70s: Samuel Park Jr., resident of West Weber, Plain City, Salt Lake City, and Skull Valley, described by family as “friend of Indians”
25. 1850s-1880s: In Ogden, Little Soldier’s band would help dry fruit and husk corn, for which they would receive produce as pay; they gave settlers “little trouble aside from petty thefts, annoyance from begging, and the yapping of their numerous mongrel dogs”
26. 1850s-80s: Dr. William Ludlow McIntyre of Ogden “always treated Indians kindly,” and his son remembers 30-40 people waiting in their yard for treatment; they paid him “the only way they could,” with beaded gloves, buckskins, etc
27. 1850s-1900s: Sam Gates and other settlers of Fort Bingham/2nd street area said to respect Indians’ seasonal camping on the meadows “that gradually became pastures with fences”
28. 1850: In Ogden, an Indian man tries to take a gun from the home of Martha Ann Lewis Bingham
29. Spring of 1850: Little Soldier’s band suffers from measles epidemic, with many dying; Ogden-area settlers tried to nurse the ill
30. Fall 1850: Ogden’s first Mormon settlers get serviceberries, segos from Indians in the fall of 1850, supplementing flour shortage
31. Ca 1851: In Layton, John Adams throws a rock at some young Indian men who were smashing watermelons, and gashes one teen’s head
32. Ca 1851: Uintah Cemetery’s first burial was an Indian man; settlers dug the grave, and the man’s dog was killed and laid on top
33. Fall of 1851/Spring of 1851-52: Settlers arriving in the Uintah/East Weber area report that the Indians are “very treacherous”; they are afraid to leave women and children alone and fear attack at night
34. 1852, summer: In Layton, Malinda Adams mistakenly believes that Indians have murdered an old settler woman in Layton; she reports this to other Davis County residents, who send in resistance
35. 1852, summer: The Taylor family recalls when Malinda Adams mistakenly reported that Indians were attacking settlers in Davis County
36. 1852, summer: This is another account of Malinda Adams’s “stampede” when she mistakenly believed Layton settlers were under attack; however, details are fictionalized and names are changed
37. 1853: Kingston Fort residents had “little incentive to build the fort wall,” since the Weber Utes “accepted Mormon settlers as neighbors”
38. 1853-1855: Mound Fort in Ogden was never completed, as most of the Indians were peaceful and actually camped at the west escarpment by the fort
39. Ca 1854: In Perry, an Indian man is forced at gunpoint to eat an entire pot of burned soup, by four men who had a “love of a little fun;” another Indian man is whipped nearly to death for taking a calf
40. 1854: Settlers, who “would never have survived” without native segos, give bread to appease the “very troublesome” Indians during hard winter of 1854, in Ogden
41. Winter of 1854-55: Little Soldier’s “Weber Ute” band of people were taken prisoner, distributed among Ogden settlers, and forced to work for them
42. Ca 1855-1856: In North Ogden, two-year-old Maryett Colvin gets lost — but she is rescued by a Native woman who carries her back to her home
43. August 1857: Early Mountain Green settlers are threatened by Indians after a settler “did something to make the Indians mad;” Little Soldier is sent to Salt Lake by “his father Big Soldier”
44. Fall of 1857: Joseph Wadsworth’s family moves to Mountain Green, finds Indians “troublesome,” sometimes driving off cattle and horses
45. Between 1857-1867: In Rush Valley, Narricut throws a potato at Fanny Catherin Johnson out of anger
46. Between 1858-1862: Ether Enos McBride was a playmate to Indian kids near Ogden, became familiar with language, customs
47. Between 1858-1884: When Ellen Moore contracts measles, Little Soldier diagnoses the illness and rushes to find herbs that will treat it; afterwards, his remedy “went the rounds” among the settlers
48. Between 1858-1909: Jane Rommrell Pierce, of Ogden, learns about the medicinal value of herbs from Indian people
49. Ca summer/fall 1858: In Layton, an ox belonging to Elias Adams is taken by Indians; Adams confronts them, receives apology
50. Ca May 1858: Joseph Vernon is killed by Indians in Rush Valley; settlers find Indians “very troublesome,” with men taking turns as sentinels and joining expeditions to recover stolen animals
51. Ca 1859: Joseph Allen Taylor, 11, and his brother Andrew, 9, are sleeping alone in a dugout in West Warren, when some Indians come inside, communicate that they won’t be hurt, and eat all the food
52. Late 1850s/early 60s: James Bronson relates an account of the flour mill incident in North Ogden; in this version, an Indian man is killed when the miller hits him over the head with a board
53. Late 1850s/early 60s: Flour Mill Incident: Benjamin Gardner hits an Indian man with a board at Cold Water Creek mill, and the man’s band demands that Gardner be turned over to them
54. Late 1850s or 1860s: Heber Robert McBride learns how to make jerky from observing Indians, likely in Weber County
55. 1860s: Phillip Garner and family move to Burch Creek, Ogden area. Indians camp on hill nearby, including “Old Jack Big Ute” and “Bush Head”; their children play with Garner children
56. 1860s: Indian man throws bread and molasses back in Ann Hunt Doxey’s face after he had asked for meat – Ogden
57. Early 1860s: Mary Rhoby Perry Jessop shares an account of a battle between the Shoshones and Cheyennes in Huntsville, allegedly witnessed by herself and her brother when they were children; afterwards, they were scolded by a Shoshone man when they ventured too close to scalps
58. Mid-1860s to early 1870s: In Mountain Green, an Indian man is lashed in punishment after he tried to make Priscilla Ebberson Higley and her daughter wash a shirt for him; Myron Higley gave the band leader some pork in exchange for the lashing
59. 1860s-70s: In West Weber, Sarah Martin Holmes recalls Indian women teasing the settler children who were frightened of them
60. 1860s-1870s: As a youth, James Bronson and other boys would get into fist-fights with Indians who’d try to take their lunches – Huntsville
61. 1860s-70s: Joseph Farr was known to recite accounts of friendly, athletic contests with young Indian boys/men – Ogden
62. 1860s-1900: Byram Bybee of Uintah gives Indians fruit to dry for winter use, deer hides for tanning
63. 1860: In south Morgan County, Richard and Ann Fry have encounter with Indian man and woman who took possession of their wagon
64. Spring of 1860: Joseph Warren Wadsworth and family move to Morgan from Mountain Green, to be nearer other settlers, in the midst of increased hostility from Indians
65. June 8, 1860:The Deseret News publishes and article about the “three men from Togwick’s band” (Queep, Soe-Got-Up, and Suop) who were caught steal carpeting, blankets, clothing from Benjamin Hawkin’s house in Ogden
66. Fall 1860: Jefferson Hunt, his sons, and others begin a settlement in Huntsville. They find Indians “very troublesome” and disposed to “steal stock, and plunder, and harass”
67. Fall 1860: Byram Bybee, Robert Bybee, and Bishop Thomas Osborn have encounter with Little Soldier and other men near mouth of Weber Canyon; most of the men are intoxicated and upset with Bishop Osborn, who apparently previously lied to them
68. Fall 1860: A few weeks after the Bybees and Bishop Osborn met Little Soldier & other men at Weber Canyon, some of the Bybees’ horses disappear. Little Soldier locates the Indian men who took them and severely punishes them in front of Byram Bybee, Sr
69. Ca 1862 or later: At Mountain Green, Little Soldier asks Joseph Warren Wadsworth to look after an Indian woman whose request to join his band had been denied
70. 1862: Ether Enos McBride’s family moves to Ogden Valley, finds a lot of Indian people there
71. 1863: In Ogden Valley, Heber Robert McBride reports that the Indians are “very troublesome,” running off horses and cattle
72. February 2-4, 1863: The Elias and Malinda Adams family of Layton are friendly hosts to Col. Patrick Connor’s men, who were returning from the Bear River Massacre; the men “entertained” the family with stories about the “battle”
73. Spring of 1864: In Weber Canyon, George Henry Peterson is reportedly surrounded by 25 Indians and threatened with death; Peterson escapes after pointing a revolver at the “chief”
74. 1865: Settlers in Ogden Valley are ordered to abandon scattered farms and concentrate at Eden, due to Indians “getting so bad”
75. 1866: Indians “got so bad” in 1866 that Captain Pleasant Green Taylor of Ogden is called on to organize 50 minute men to protect northern settlements
76. 1866-1878: Ogden couple recalls their days running toll gate at Ogden Canyon from 1866-1878, describe large Indian hunting expeditions into mountains, confrontations with “Big Ute” and “Indian Jack”
77. 1869: In this story, two young settler brides have a violent encounter with two Native women in Weber County
78. August 1869: In this story, a “threatened massacre” is avoided in Plain City after a Shoshone man is beaten to death for taking a settler’s little girl
79. 1869-70: Thomas Richins ‘thought his time to die had come’ when he was stopped and surrounded by a band of Indians while in Echo Canyon
80. 1870s: Reuben Short remembers 300-400 Indians camping in North Ogden Canyon, near Liberty; when an old man and woman arrived at the house to ask for bread, Reuben (a young child at the time) hid under his grandmother’s skirt
81. 1870s: When Dorthea Nielson Lee was growing up in Huntsville, an Indian man followed her to the store, apparently amused by her fright
82. 1870s-80s: William Andrew Taylor, Jr, of Farr West, played with an Indian boy as a child
83. 1870s-80s: In Layton, the Henry & Nancy Thornley household is “annoyed a lot” by Indians who are led by a man known as Indian Joe
84. 1880s: Walter Caldwell recalls Dick Mooneye and five other men stopping by his parents’ house for breakfast in Rush Valley
85. 1880s: As a child, Fred Pierce gave an Indian boy a big piece of cake, and the boy always remembered him well for it – Bingham’s Fort meadows, Ogden
86. 1880s: “Great companies” of Indians would camp near “The Indian Tree” on Ogden’s 2nd Street as late as the 1880s; they would hang meat to dry on the tree’s branches
87. 1880s: An old Indian woman comes to the childhood home of Sarah Stone Crowther (in Ogden) to ask for clothing; she had been left behind by her group
88. 1880s-1890s: James Martin, Sr., of Harrisville, Utah, would hide Indian women from their husbands “while the men were on a drinking binge”
89. Spring of 1884: After Little Soldier contracted pneumonia, Ogden settlers “gave him the best medical attention possible”
90. 1894: As late as 1890s, settler parents used Indians as scare-tactic to make their children behave — A grieving 8-year-old Parley McBride was scolded for wandering alone in Eden, because Indians might have “stolen” him
91. Circa 1900: Lois Rebecca Wilde encounters a group of Indian people near her family’s cabin in Coalville; she cries out of fear, but they indicate to her that she isn’t in danger
92. 1902: Phoebe expresses sympathy for the death of infant Arthur Clyde, son of Martha and Henry Hacking, in Cedar Fort

If dates and/or a defined location are provided, these stories also appear under those categories elsewhere on this website. Some of these connect to larger events with further documentation.