[William Clayton Journal] This morning the brethren commenced making the bower[y] on the Temple lot a little south west from our camp. They will make it about 40 feet long and 28 feet wide. Walked with Presidents Young, Kimball, Richards and others to the mississippi Camp. Brother Thomas Richardson is very sick and several others of the soldiers. Soloman Tindal is yet alive but looks feeble. Elder Kimball conversed sometime with Captain James Brown. There are from 20 to 30 of the Utah Indians here and some squaws trading with the brethren. They are generally of low stature, pleasing countenance but poorly clad. While we were there a dispute arose between two of the young men and they went to fighting very fiercely...In the evening I walked down to the Pueblo camp and there learned the following particulars.
These Indians who are now here are of the Shoshones, about 15 or 20 in number and several women among them. There were 4 or 5 of the Utahs here this morning when the Shoshones [came] up, one of the Utahs had stole[n] a horse from one of the Shoshones and the latter party saw him with the horse here. He had traded the horse for a rifle but was unwilling either to give up the horse or rifle, hence the quarrel spoken of above. When the old man separated them the thief went down and hid himself in the camp below. Soon after he saw another horse walking by which he knew to belong to the Shoshones. He sprang on his own horse and drove the other one before him towards the mountains on the southeast as hard as he could ride. The Shoshones being informed of it four of them started in pursuit and as he got in between the mountains they closed on him. One of the pursuers shot him dead while another one shot his horse. They returned and made this report to the others of the tribe at the camp at the same time exhibiting fresh blood on one of the rifles. They appear to be much excited and continually on the watch. When the men returned they sat down and made a meal of some of these large crickets. They appear to be crisped over the fire which is all the cooking required. Many of the brethren have traded muskets and rifles for horses, an ordinary musket will buy a pretty good horse.
They appear to be displeased because we have traded with the Utahs and say they own this land, that the Utahs have come over the line &c. They signified by signs that they wanted to sell us the land for powder and lead. The Shoshones are poorer clad than the Utahs of the two, about the same in stature and there are many pleasing countenances among them.
Col. [Stephen] Markham reports that there are 3 lots of land already broke. One lot of 35 acres of which 2/3 is already planted with buck wheat, corn, Oats &c. One lot of 8 acres which is all planted with corn, potatoes, beans &c. And a Garden of 10 acres, four acres of which is sown with garden seed. He says there are about three acres of corn already up about two inches above the ground and some beans and potatoes up too. This is the result of 8 days labor, besides making a road to the timber, hauling and sawing timber for a boat, making and repairing plows &c. There have been 13 plows and 3 Harrows worked during the week.
[source: George D. Smith, An Intimate Chronicle; The Journals of William Clayton, Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, Salt Lake City, 1995, http://amzn.to/william-clayton]
No comments:
Post a Comment