Wakara's War facts for kids

Wakara's War was a conflict between the Paiute people and Mormon settlers in the Utah Valley. This series of fights and disagreements over land and property happened from July 1853 to May 1854. Different beliefs, the trade of people, and how the Salt Lake Valley was divided all played a part in starting this war.

Who Was Chief Wakara?

Wakara was a powerful chief of the Paiute people in Utah. He was also known by names like Wakarum and Walker. His name, Wakara, means "yellow" or "brass" in the Numic language family. People think he got this name because he liked yellow buckskin clothing.

Wakara's group lived separately from other Ute and Shoshone groups because of the land's features. They mostly found their food by hunting and gathering plants. Horses were very important to the Paiute culture, especially with Wakara as chief. He was called the "Napoleon of the Desert" because he was so clever at raiding for horses. Wakara's group also traded captives from other tribes with Spanish traders for European goods.

• 

  A statue of Chief Walkara at Pioneer Heritage Gardens in Manti, Utah.

Who Were the Mormon Settlers?

Wakara was the Paiute chief when members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often called the Mormon pioneers) started arriving in the Utah Valley. They began settling the land around 1847. These pioneers were leaving Illinois and Missouri because they faced religious persecution. They hoped to find religious freedom in lands that were then claimed by Mexico.

Their leader was Brigham Young, who they saw as a prophet. The Mormon settlers did not fully consider the Native American tribes already living there. These tribes included the Goshute, Ute, and Shoshone. This led to many conflicts, some of them violent. The Salt Lake Valley itself was not claimed by any of the four tribes, making it a good place for the early Mormons to settle.

• 

  Brigham Young, a leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

What Caused the Conflict?

Different Beliefs and Ways of Life

After the Mormons arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, tensions grew between them and the Paiutes. The Mormons believed that Native Americans were descendants of an ancient group called the Lamanites. They thought these people needed to become Mormons to find spiritual peace. Chief Wakara himself had even joined the Mormon faith for a time.

The Trade of People

Wakara's group had a profitable trade with Mexican traders. They traded people captured from other tribes, often weaker Paiute and Goshute groups, for goods. To gain more wealth, Chief Wakara asked the Mormon settlers to join this trade. He even threatened to harm the captives if the settlers did not buy them. Brigham Young at first did not want to, but he eventually agreed to buy the people.

Young saw this as a way to free the captives. The relationships between the settlers and the people they bought varied. Some were treated like family, while others were house servants.

Sharing the Land

There were many small arguments about how the land in the Salt Lake Valley would be used. The Paiute people often raided other tribes and settlers to steal horses. Chief Wakara led some of the most successful raids, greatly increasing his group's horse herds.

When the Mormon settlers arrived, the Paiutes expected to continue sharing the land. However, the Paiutes did not understand that the settlers planned to stay and claim ownership of the land they settled. Frequent raids by Native Americans on the settlers' cattle and horses led to more conflicts between Wakara's group and the Mormon settlers.

Things became much worse on July 17, 1853. Paiute people were trading near James Ivie's cabin. A fight broke out between a Paiute man and his wife over a trade. This led to Ivie killing a Paiute man named Shower-O-Cats, who was related to Wakara. According to Native American tradition, Ivie's death was required in return. This event started the series of fights known as Wakara's War.

What Happened During the War?

Wakara's War was not a traditional large-scale war. Instead, it was a series of raids by the Utes against the settlers. The Mormons responded with force, but their first goal was to defend themselves and try to improve relations with the Utes.

In late July 1853, a leader named General Wells from Salt Lake City sent troops. He wanted them to stop the Utes, who they thought were planning to attack a Mormon town. Wells specifically told his troops not to attack the Utes. He wanted them to try and capture Chief Wakara peacefully. However, Wells's orders did not arrive in time. A man named Colonel Conover led about 150 armed men to pursue the Native Americans, not knowing of Wells's instructions. This attack had severe consequences, leading to many months of attacks from both sides.

After hearing about this incident, Brigham Young sent a letter to Chief Wakara to apologize. He even included some tobacco to help make peace. From then on, the Mormons set up a strict defense system. They moved all their cattle and livestock to Salt Lake City for protection. The Ute people used this to their advantage, raiding the groups of livestock as they were being moved.

Governor Young's plan also included stopping all trade with the Ute people to avoid more fights. But it was hard to avoid all conflict. Sometimes, settlers would sneak into Native American camps to find stolen livestock. When they found the people who took them, they often killed the Native Americans. Both sides continued to provoke each other for a long time. Even though there were many killings by both Utes and settlers, there were rarely large battles. The events were more like raids or small conflicts.

The Utes gave the Mormons chances to make up for their actions. But often, the Mormons could not provide what the Utes asked for, or they did not believe they owed anything. So, the conflicts continued from late 1853 to early 1854. Then, Chief Wakara decided he wanted to stop the violence and make peace. He tried several times to make peace. However, Chief Wakara wanted payments in cattle and many gifts for peace to happen.

On May 11, 1854, the war officially ended. Chief Wakara and Brigham Young met and agreed to stop the fighting. The exact details of their agreement are not fully known, as no copy of the treaty exists. However, there is some evidence that gifts were given for horses that had been stolen.

What Happened After the War?

Even though the war officially ended, violence between the Utes and the settlers did not stop completely. Chief Wakara died in 1855, and the peace was lost again. The fighting between settlers and Native Americans continued in the years that followed.

The Mormons and Utes found themselves in conflict again during the Tintic War, just a year after Chief Wakara's death. While this war was not mainly between these two groups, the Utes were stealing some livestock from the settlers, which led to more violence. They also met again in the Black Hawk War a few years later. The violence finally ended when the U.S. Government moved the Native Americans out of the area. This effectively stopped the fighting between the settlers and the Utes.