Posey War
Encyclopedia
The Posey War, also known as the Last Indian Uprising and several other names, occurred in March of 1923 and may be considered the final Indian War in American
history. Though it was a minor conflict, it involved a mass exodus
of Ute and Paiute
native American
s from their land around Bluff
, Utah
to the deserts of Navajo Mountain
. The natives were led by a chief
named Posey
, who took with his people into the mountains to try an escape his pursuers. Unlike similar incidents among native tribes, American posse
s played a major role while the United States Army
played a minor one. The war ended after a skirmish at Comb Ridge
, Posey was badly wounded and his band was taken to a prisoner-of-war camp
in Blanding
. When Posey's death was confirmed by American authorities, the prisoners were released and given land allotments to farm
and raise livestock
.
. Though most of the conflict took place at the negotiating table, there were occasional outbreaks of hostilities, such as the Bluff War
in 1915 and the Bluff Skirmish of 1921. By 1923, Chief Posey and members of his band were already well known for their activities in the earlier conflicts. Between 1881 and 1921 his band fought in several engagements against either the local Mormon
settlers or other native American tribes. Posey was half Paiute and half Mexican
himself though he married into the Ute Mountain tribe
, his band included about 100 people, both Ute and Paiute men, women and children. They lived around the outskirts of Bluff, along Allen Canyon, where they could find work in town for the settlers. According to one Ute, Posey's band refused to live on the reservation because they felt the natives there were unfriendly. The Posey War began in February 1923 because of a relatively minor affair in which two young Ute males robbed a sheep ranch
at Cahone Mesa, assaulted the owner, slaughtered a calf, and burned a bridge. The boys were members of Posey's band, the first was the youngest son of a man named Joe Bishop and the second the son of Sanup. The two Utes later surrendered to the local sheriff
, William Oliver, in Blanding, but while they were in custody they contracted food poisoning and were allowed to go home, with the agreement that they would return for trial. Meanwhile, the robbery and assault at Perkins ranch was used as a reason to begin rounding up all of the natives living around Bluff, while some were captured and put in a barbed wire
compound in Blanding, the majority abandoned their lands and headed for the wilderness. When the trial began on March 20, the boys arrived back in town. Bishop's son was using a stick as a cane, apparently still feeling ill. Chief Posey and a few of his men attended the trial to try and help the boys and ensure that nothing would jepordize the fight for their land in San Juan County.
newspaper
reports accusing the chief and his band of being either directly or indirectly involved in a number of various crimes, including rape
and murder
.
to bomb and strafe the natives. This was not approved. A $100 reward was placed on Posey's head by the state, dead or alive. C. F. Sloane of the Salt Lake Tribune was in Blanding at the time and wrote hideously innacuarte reports of the situation. Sloane wrote that Blanding was surrounded for "thirty-six hours of terrorism," with Utes in war paint
riding through the streets. He also claimed that Posey was forming a "mobile squadron," to rob the San Juan State Bank and that there were "sixty men skilled in the art of mountain warfare awaiting the call to service." On one occasion, a citizen of Blanding asked a newsman why he wasn't writing the truth, the newsman responded, saying; "We're not ready to go home yet, and if we don't keep something going, we'll be getting a telegram to come home." Rumors began to circulate that another Indian war was about to begin so the Mormon settlers in Blanding and Bluff reacted quickly and mobilized a larger, mounted, posse to find Posey and his followers. They also tried to suppress any outside interferece which had caused problems during the earlier conflicts. The posse trailed the chief's band and quickly caught up with them the next day, twenty miles from Blanding, inside a rugged area of desert strewn with canyons. The natives fought an unsuccessful rear guard
action, from the top of Comb Ridge, to allow the women and children time to escape. All eventually surrendered though, over the course of the next few days. Posey escaped, but he was wounded by a bullet in one of his hips by a settler named Bill Young while trying to evade capture. Again the newspapers created their own versions of the story, one said that Posey was killed in a flash flood
that washed him down a canyon, another said that he died of natural causes, being that he was in his sixties. Many Utes believed poisoned Mormon flour was the culprit but it is generally accepted that Posey died from blood poisoning caused by the gunshot wound. During the fighting, which lasted until March 23, Posey allagedly shot and killed the son of Joe Bishop when the two began to argue on top of the ridge. Posey was said to have been angry that Bishop's son and the other boy had caused so much trouble. Other accounts say the Bishop boy was killed by the posse.
was taken to the location of Posey's remains by a party of Utes, there he officially identified the body and certified the chief's death. Marshal Ward had Posey's body buried in an unmarked grave with the idea of preventing the patrolling Mormon posses from disturbing it. The plan failed though and the chief's body was exhumed at least twice by the Mormons who wanted their picture taken with the corpse. The last of the Ute Wars was over and after Posey's band was released from Blanding they returned to the Allen Canyon area, having received 160 acre land allotments. Chief Polk's band, which participated in the 1915 Bluff War, also received 160 acre allottments around Montezuma Canyon. The natives agreed to abandon their nomadic ways, take up farming, and allow their children to be enrolled in Indian schools. Adjusting to the new way of life was slow for Posey's band and throughout the 1920s they continued to live in either tents or traditional hogan
s, a type of earthen hut, while other Utes were living in houses. In 1930 the superindendent of the Consolidated Ute Agency said that the natives of Allen Canyon were "at least 40 years behind the Southern Utes
[in their progress toward civilization]." Chief Posey and the son of Joe Bishop were the sole fatalities during the conflict. There were no casualties on the Americans' side though the natives killed one of the posse's horses and narrowly missed several men.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
history. Though it was a minor conflict, it involved a mass exodus
Exodus
The Book of Exodus is the second book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the five books of the Torah...
of Ute and Paiute
Paiute
Paiute refers to three closely related groups of Native Americans — the Northern Paiute of California, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon; the Owens Valley Paiute of California and Nevada; and the Southern Paiute of Arizona, southeastern California and Nevada, and Utah.-Origin of name:The origin of...
native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
s from their land around Bluff
Bluff, Utah
Bluff is a census-designated place in San Juan County, Utah, United States. The population was 320 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Bluff is located at , in the scenic and very sparsely populated southeastern Utah canyonlands of the Colorado Plateau.According to the United States Census Bureau, the...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
to the deserts of Navajo Mountain
Navajo Mountain
Navajo Mountain is a peak in San Juan County, Utah, with its southern flank extending into Coconino County, Arizona. It holds an important place in the traditions of three local Native American tribes.-Geologic history:...
. The natives were led by a chief
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
named Posey
Posey
A posey can be a small flower bouquet.As a surname it is of French and English origins, originating and or derived from the Greek word Desposyni.People whose surname is or was Posey include:*Posey - Paiute chief, lived 1860s to 1923...
, who took with his people into the mountains to try an escape his pursuers. Unlike similar incidents among native tribes, American posse
Posse comitatus (common law)
Posse comitatus or sheriff's posse is the common-law or statute law authority of a county sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied males to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the "hue and cry"...
s played a major role while the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
played a minor one. The war ended after a skirmish at Comb Ridge
Comb Ridge
Comb Ridge is a linear north to south-trending monocline nearly 120 miles long in southeast Utah and Arizona. Composed of Jurassic-age Navajo Sandstone, it displays massive eolian cross-bedding....
, Posey was badly wounded and his band was taken to a prisoner-of-war camp
Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...
in Blanding
Blanding, Utah
Blanding is a city in San Juan County, Utah, United States. The population was 3,162 at the 2000 census, making it the most populated city in San Juan County. It was settled in the late 19th century by Mormon settlers, predominantly from the famed Hole-In-The-Rock expedition...
. When Posey's death was confirmed by American authorities, the prisoners were released and given land allotments to farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
and raise livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
.
Background
The Posey War was the last in a long series or conflicts between the Unitied States and the Ute and Paiute tribes. For years prior to 1923, the Avikan Ute people were fighting to maintain their ancestral land in present day San Juan CountySan Juan County, Utah
As of the current census of 2010, there were 14,746 people and 4,505 households. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 50.4% Native American, 45.8% white, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% African American and 2.3% reporting two or more races...
. Though most of the conflict took place at the negotiating table, there were occasional outbreaks of hostilities, such as the Bluff War
Bluff War
The Bluff War, also known as Posey War of 1915, or the Polk and Posse War, was one of the last armed conflicts between the United States and native Americans. It began in March of 1914 and was the result of an incident between a Utah shepherd and Tse-ne-gat, the son of the Paiute Chief Polk...
in 1915 and the Bluff Skirmish of 1921. By 1923, Chief Posey and members of his band were already well known for their activities in the earlier conflicts. Between 1881 and 1921 his band fought in several engagements against either the local Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
settlers or other native American tribes. Posey was half Paiute and half Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
himself though he married into the Ute Mountain tribe
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe
The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe is one of three federally recognized tribes of the Ute Nation, and are mostly descendants of the historic Weeminuche Band who moved to the Southern Ute reservation in 1897...
, his band included about 100 people, both Ute and Paiute men, women and children. They lived around the outskirts of Bluff, along Allen Canyon, where they could find work in town for the settlers. According to one Ute, Posey's band refused to live on the reservation because they felt the natives there were unfriendly. The Posey War began in February 1923 because of a relatively minor affair in which two young Ute males robbed a sheep ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
at Cahone Mesa, assaulted the owner, slaughtered a calf, and burned a bridge. The boys were members of Posey's band, the first was the youngest son of a man named Joe Bishop and the second the son of Sanup. The two Utes later surrendered to the local sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
, William Oliver, in Blanding, but while they were in custody they contracted food poisoning and were allowed to go home, with the agreement that they would return for trial. Meanwhile, the robbery and assault at Perkins ranch was used as a reason to begin rounding up all of the natives living around Bluff, while some were captured and put in a barbed wire
Barbed wire
Barbed wire, also known as barb wire , is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand. It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property...
compound in Blanding, the majority abandoned their lands and headed for the wilderness. When the trial began on March 20, the boys arrived back in town. Bishop's son was using a stick as a cane, apparently still feeling ill. Chief Posey and a few of his men attended the trial to try and help the boys and ensure that nothing would jepordize the fight for their land in San Juan County.
War
Blanding Incident
The first part of the trial concluded without incident but when the court adjourned at noon, Sheriff Oliver took the two boys to lunch. Sheriff George A. Hurst, who was present at the court proceedings, wrote the following; "Joe Bishop's boy was walking upon a large stick as though he were crippled or incapacitated.... After hearing evidence presented for and against the accused, Joe Bishop's boy was found guilty and at 12:00 noon he was placed in the hands of Sheriff Oliver, to have lunch. He was to reappear at 3:00 p.m. for sentencing. Immediately upon the adjournment of court, all the white men left and went home for lunch, leaving no one there but the sheriff, George A. Hurst, Jr., a few school children, and a band of angry Utes.... After quite a while trying to persuade the Indian boy to go without any avail, Sheriff Oliver got on his horse, rode up to Joe Bishop's boy...and insisted that he come along without any further trouble and get their lunch. Whereupon, the young Ute threw away the big stick that he had been walking on, grabbed the reins of the horse the sheriff was riding, and jerking with all his might. At this point, Sheriff Oliver whipped out his gun and attempted to shoot the Indian, but the gun spiked, and would not fire. Joe Bishop's boy grabbed the horn of the saddle with one hand, the other seizing the gun that Oliver held. He wrenched the gun from the sheriff's hand and with one leap, sprang into the saddle of Jess Posey's [Chief Posey's son] race horse with Jess, stood holding and headed north. As he started off he tried to get the gun to work. He had only gone about 200 yards when he succeeded and over his shoulder he shot the sheriff's horse in the neck." After that Chief Posey fled with his people, closely pursued by a posse in a Ford Model T. Posey opened fire at that point with his .30-06 rifle, disabling the vehicle and temporarily ending the chase. Now that Posey was a wanted man, he went north with his band from their homes in Allen Canyon to the desert around Navajo Mountain. There followed a series of yellowYellow journalism
Yellow journalism or the yellow press is a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers. Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism...
newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
reports accusing the chief and his band of being either directly or indirectly involved in a number of various crimes, including rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
and murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
.
Battle of Comb Ridge
On March 22, the Times-Independent ran an article titled: ""Piute Band Declares War on Whites in Blanding (sic)", the article also said that county commissioners had requested permission from Utah Governor Charles Mabey to allow the use of a military scout planeScout plane
The term scout plane refers to a type of surveillance aircraft, usually of single-engined, two/three seats, shipborne type, and used for the purpose of discovering an enemy position and directing artillery...
to bomb and strafe the natives. This was not approved. A $100 reward was placed on Posey's head by the state, dead or alive. C. F. Sloane of the Salt Lake Tribune was in Blanding at the time and wrote hideously innacuarte reports of the situation. Sloane wrote that Blanding was surrounded for "thirty-six hours of terrorism," with Utes in war paint
War Paint
War Paint is the title of an album by American country music artist Lorrie Morgan. The album was released via BNA Records in 1994. It contains the singles "My Night to Howl" , "If You Came Back from Heaven" at #51 and "Heart Over Mind" at #39...
riding through the streets. He also claimed that Posey was forming a "mobile squadron," to rob the San Juan State Bank and that there were "sixty men skilled in the art of mountain warfare awaiting the call to service." On one occasion, a citizen of Blanding asked a newsman why he wasn't writing the truth, the newsman responded, saying; "We're not ready to go home yet, and if we don't keep something going, we'll be getting a telegram to come home." Rumors began to circulate that another Indian war was about to begin so the Mormon settlers in Blanding and Bluff reacted quickly and mobilized a larger, mounted, posse to find Posey and his followers. They also tried to suppress any outside interferece which had caused problems during the earlier conflicts. The posse trailed the chief's band and quickly caught up with them the next day, twenty miles from Blanding, inside a rugged area of desert strewn with canyons. The natives fought an unsuccessful rear guard
Rear guard
A rear guard or rearguard is that part of a military force that protects it from attack from the rear, either during an advance or withdrawal...
action, from the top of Comb Ridge, to allow the women and children time to escape. All eventually surrendered though, over the course of the next few days. Posey escaped, but he was wounded by a bullet in one of his hips by a settler named Bill Young while trying to evade capture. Again the newspapers created their own versions of the story, one said that Posey was killed in a flash flood
Flash flood
A flash flood is a rapid flooding of geomorphic low-lying areas—washes, rivers, dry lakes and basins. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a storm, hurricane, or tropical storm or meltwater from ice or snow flowing over ice sheets or snowfields...
that washed him down a canyon, another said that he died of natural causes, being that he was in his sixties. Many Utes believed poisoned Mormon flour was the culprit but it is generally accepted that Posey died from blood poisoning caused by the gunshot wound. During the fighting, which lasted until March 23, Posey allagedly shot and killed the son of Joe Bishop when the two began to argue on top of the ridge. Posey was said to have been angry that Bishop's son and the other boy had caused so much trouble. Other accounts say the Bishop boy was killed by the posse.
Aftermath
Seventy-nine of the Ute and Paiute prisoners were taken to Blanding and put in the compound, they were released a few days later when Posey's body was discovered in Comb Wash. Marshal Jesse Ray WardJesse Ray Ward
Jesse Ray "J. Ray" Ward was a United States Marshal in the closing years of the Old West period. He was a Mormon who lived in southern Utah and was involved in the Posey War of 1923.-Biography:...
was taken to the location of Posey's remains by a party of Utes, there he officially identified the body and certified the chief's death. Marshal Ward had Posey's body buried in an unmarked grave with the idea of preventing the patrolling Mormon posses from disturbing it. The plan failed though and the chief's body was exhumed at least twice by the Mormons who wanted their picture taken with the corpse. The last of the Ute Wars was over and after Posey's band was released from Blanding they returned to the Allen Canyon area, having received 160 acre land allotments. Chief Polk's band, which participated in the 1915 Bluff War, also received 160 acre allottments around Montezuma Canyon. The natives agreed to abandon their nomadic ways, take up farming, and allow their children to be enrolled in Indian schools. Adjusting to the new way of life was slow for Posey's band and throughout the 1920s they continued to live in either tents or traditional hogan
Hogan
A hogan is the primary traditional home of the Navajo people. Other traditional structures include the summer shelter, the underground home, and the sweat house...
s, a type of earthen hut, while other Utes were living in houses. In 1930 the superindendent of the Consolidated Ute Agency said that the natives of Allen Canyon were "at least 40 years behind the Southern Utes
Southern Ute Indian Reservation
The Southern Ute Indian Reservation lies in southwestern Colorado, USA, along the northern border of New Mexico. Its territory consists of land from three counties; in descending order of surface area they are La Plata, Archuleta, and Montezuma Counties. The reservation has a land area of 1,058.785...
[in their progress toward civilization]." Chief Posey and the son of Joe Bishop were the sole fatalities during the conflict. There were no casualties on the Americans' side though the natives killed one of the posse's horses and narrowly missed several men.