INDIANS OF UTAH. 4gj 



very treacherous people; and the Bannacks, Go-sha-Utes, and Cum-um-pahs are not 

 much less so. These latter bands are in the habit of infesting- the emigration-road 

 between the Soda Springs and the Bear River and the head of the Humboldt, during 

 the season of • emigration to California; and it is believed, and, I think, not without 

 plausible foundation, that persons residing within the settlements of Utah encourage 

 these spoliations by offering a market for the property thus obtained. 



The Utahs proper inhabit the waters of Green River south of the Green River 

 Mountains, the Grand River and its tributaries, and as far south as the Navajo country. 

 They also claim the country bordering on Utah Lake and as far south as the Sevier 

 Lake, as theirs. 



They also subsist principally by hunting, and have the same traditions as to the 

 final disappearance of the buffalo from their hunting-grounds that the Snakes have; 

 and it is their efforts to penetrate into the territories of the Arrapahoes and Cheyennes 

 in pursuit of their receding game that have entailed upon them a most destructive war, 

 in which their enemies have the advantage in arms and ammunition, but not in bravery; 

 for it is my opinion, from a familiar acquaintance with them, that there is not a braver 

 tribe to be found among the aborigines of America than the Utahs, none warmer in 

 their attachments, less relenting in their hatred, or less capable of treachery. So 

 complex is their nature that to trust them it is necessary to understand them. 



Owing to the disappearance of the buffalo, and the scanty supply of smaller game, 

 which is continually growing less, these Indians are occasionally reduced to the most 

 extreme state of want, and the weaker families are compelled to subsist upon roots, 

 plants, and insects. 



Some of the inferior bands of both Snakes and Utahs are almost continually in a 

 state of starvation, and are compelled to resort almost exclusively to small animals, 

 roots, and insects for subsistence. 



Among the more vigorous bands, the principal employments are hunting, fishing, 

 shooting, horse-racing, and gambling. All the labor except hunting devolves upon 

 their females, who dress their skins, and make them into clothing or lodges or prepare 

 them for the market. The father holds his female children as his slaves, and demands 

 a stipulated price for them in marriage. Some of their females are well-featured and 

 bring good prices, but generally a few buckskins or a pair of blankets will purchase 

 a bride. 



Their females are also excessively addicted to gambling. The mode of gambling 

 with both sexes is quite similar, a number of sticks being used in place of cards. They 

 are so infatuated with this arrangement that I have known parties of them to refrain 

 from eating and sleeping for twenty-four hours at a time, and gamble, with but little 

 intermission. 



Between the Utahs proper and the Py-eeds there is a species of traffic which I 

 believe is not known among any other tribes upon the continent. I allude to the 

 bartering of children. So abject and degraded are the Py-eeds that they will sell 

 their children to the Utahs for a few trinkets or bits of clothing. The Utahs carry 

 these children to New Mexico, where they find a profitable market for them among 

 the Navajoes; and so important is it in enabling them to supply themselves with 



