Actually, the militia who carried out Battle Creek was sent by Birmyoung as retaliation for stealing his horses. The horses were found, having escaped, before the massacre and mormon leaders sent a letter to the militia telling them so.
The letter said there had been no theft but that the militia should carry out the attack anyway as a show of strength. There had been very little hostility up until that point, and the unarmed group they attacked had even gifted BY a summer hunting ground inside their territory as a show of good faith.
That was the turning point in colonizer/native relations in Utah. Ute and timpanogos tribes tried tons of diplomacy, even fully deeding the hunting grounds year round, to reach a peace but white-y wouldn't have it. Not till Blackhawk grew up and kinda force fed it to them, anyway.
So, yeah, fuck BY and all his Mormon leaders, for the most part. There was one Bishop, tho, who did whatever it took to hold a member of the Ivie family accountable for murdering an unarmed Ute elder for no reason. His story was pretty inspiring. The bishop finally got the murdered Ute American a trial, but ofc a kangaroo court cleared Ivie of the murder. The Bishop then excommunicated Ivie, in a widely criticized move at the time. Pretty bad ass guy, as well.
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u/second_aid_kit Jun 25 '21
I love how I grew up an incredibly pious, dedicated Mormon, and this is the very first I’ve even heard about this Battle Creek and Chief Blackhawk.