Jacob Hamblin: A Narrative of His Personal Experience as a Frontiersman, Missionary to the Indians and Explorer, Disclosing Interpositions of Providence, Severe Privations, Perilous Situations and Remarkable Escapes: Fifth Book of the Faith-Promoting Series, Designed for the Instruction and Encouragement of Young Latter-day SaintsHamblin, Jacob
History
Jacob Hamblin: A Narrative of His Personal Experience as a Frontiersman, Missionary to the Indians and Explorer, Disclosing Interpositions of Providence, Severe Privations, Perilous Situations and Remarkable Escapes: Fifth Book of the Faith-Promoting Series, Designed for the Instruction and Encouragement of Young Latter-day Saints
Hamblin, Jacob
Frontier and pioneer life -- Utah; Hamblin, Jacob, 1819-1886; Indians of North America -- Utah; Latter Day Saint churches -- Utah
About seventy-five miles west of St. George, a band of Piutes had
confederated with a band of Indians that had been driven out of
California, and they threatened the settlements of Meadow Creek, Clover
Valley and Shoal Creek. Brother Andrew Gibbons accompanied me on a
visit to these Indians. It was summer, and they had left their corn
fields to dry up, and gone to the mountains. Our people had manifested
as much hostility as the Indians, having killed two of their number.
We sent out word for all to come in and see us. We made a feast by
killing an ox, and, in a general talk, they told over their grievances.
They said that they felt justified in what they had done, and also in
what they intended to do.
I could not blame them, viewing matters from their standpoint. In the
talk I rather justified them in what they expected to do, but told them
that in the end it would be worse for them to carry out their plans
than to drop them, and smoke the pipe of peace. That the grass upon
which the seeds had grown which served them for food was all eaten up,
and from that time would be; but if they would be friendly, they could
get more food by gleaning our fields than they had before we came into
their country.
The talk lasted for hours. The difficulty was settled and we returned
home.
Early in 1865, the Navajos stole a few horses from Kanab. I was
requested to go over the Colorado, and, if practicable, have a talk
with them, and recover the stolen horses. I was also to have a talk
with the Moquis, and invite them to move over into our country.
We did not succeed in recovering the stolen horses. We were informed
by the Moquis that the old Navajo chief, the friendly Spaneshanks, had
been discarded by his band, that his son had succeeded him as chief,
and that he was disposed to raid at any favorable opportunity.
For these reasons we thought it would be useless and perhaps dangerous
to go into their country. We had a meeting in the Oriba village, with
the principal men of that place and one of the largest of the Moqui
towns. It was an interesting interview.
We told them we did not expect to visit them much more where they were,
and we wished them to move over the river into our country, live with
us, and build cities and villages the same as other people.
They again told us that they could not leave their present locations
until the three prophets who had led them into their country should
appear among them again, and tell them what to do. They predicted that
our people would yet move into the country south of them, and would
travel with wagons up the Little Colorado.
Aside from their traditions against moving across the great river, they
could not see the utility of going over to live with us when we would
yet move into their country. They were quite anxious that we should
not be angry with them, as they desired that we should be friends, and
thought that we might sometimes visit them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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