Early Tooele Tooel Ounty

m^KM^i^^&Vi^&TO EARLY TOOELE TOOEL OUNTY TOOELE INDIANS No one knows when Tooele County was first inhabited. Archaeological studies conducted on materials recovered from Danger Cave near Wendover date its occupation at more than 10,000 years ago. It's hard to realize that people were living and raising families in Tooele County before civilizations had evolved anywhere on this earth. The crowning of Egypt's first pharaoh and the settlement of Greece wouldn't take place for 5,000 years yet. The birth of Abraham was 6,000 years ahead and the establishment of the capital of the Roman Empire wouldn't be accomplished for 7,000 years. The birth of Christ was 8,000 years in the future when Tooele County's first residents moved in and setup housekeeping. Their's was a world without domestic plants and animals. Even such primitive industries as basketry and pottery were unknown. When the weather was good, it is believed they lived outdoors and only moved into the shelter of caves and rockshelters in times of inclement weather. In order to survive in those ancient times, men (and women) every where were compelled to be opportunists who utilized whatever wild feed resources that happened to be available. Whatever clothing, tools or impliments they needed had to be made by themselves from stone, wood or vegetable materials or the bones, skins and sinews of animals, there was nothing else. The world our first Tooele County residents lived in was a harsh and unyielding one and it's to their credit that they managed to survive in such a hostile environment. Their ability to survive in the face of such formidable odds, has been attributed to their intimate knowledge of the land and its resources. Nothing utilizable was overlooked. The environment changed with the years. Just as we have noted during our comparatively short occupation, things change. Great Salt Lake for example rose and retreated in response to climate changes which noticeably affected the Indian's food resources, many of which came from the marsh areas bordering the lake. The Indians adjusted to each new change and through the years acquired new skills like basket weaving and the manufacture of pottery. Their weapons, also, improved aiding them in their constant quest for food... the hand held trusting spears of the ancients were first replaced by spear throwers (atlatls), which were replaced by the bow and arrow. About a thousand years ago, new comers who spoke the numic tongue and who were known to the whites as Utes, Paiutes, Gosiutes and Shoshones moved into the northern Great Basin from their ancestral home in southeastern California. Related to the Aztecs who settled in Mexico, they were forced to move out of their home land by a climate which grew increasingly drier. The effect of these new comers on the original inhabitants of the county is open to speculation. It isn't known at this time whether they displaced them forcing them to move elsewhere or whether they simply absorbed them and their life style. Tooele County became the home of those known as the Gosiutes. Migratory hunters and gatherers, the Gosiutes were uniquely adapted to the dry desert environment of western Utah. Throughout the year they followed a closely scheduled local migration pattern finely tuned to bring them into the vicinity of the various food resources as each became available. The Gosiute's diet was essentially vegatarian and included all edible plant foods available. High on their list of food items were pine nuts, roots, bulbs, fruits, the seeds of native plants and grasses. Animals and birds of many varieties plus grasshoppers and "Mormon" crickets were eaten when available. Meat being scarce and difficult to obtain was a scarce and uncertain food resouce. The preponderance of vegetable foods in the Gosiute diet made the milling stones with which they processed it, among their most valuable possessions. Simple but effective they consisted of two parts, a flat stone slab (metate) on which the food to be ground was placed and a smaller hand held cobble rock (mano) which was able to reduce whatever food item that was placed on the metate to meal or flour in short order. Pointed firehardened digging sticks were used to obtain roots and tubers. Nets and snares made from plant fibers added rabbits and other animals to the larder. Knives, projectile points and scrapers were chipped from suitable stone before the arrival of the white man made iron tools available. Lacking beasts of burden, The Tooele Indians were obliged to carry everything they owned with them, an arrangement which limited their possessions to necessary items. There was no room in the Gosiute way of life for unnessary things. The frequent moves that characterized their hunting, gathering way of life precluded permanent dwellings, an inconvenience they overcame with notable ingenuity by constructing temporary cone shaped brush shelters, or "Wickiups" wherever they chose to camp from materials that were readily available. The Gosiute's wardrobe like everything else about them was austere. When the weather was pleasant, a simple apron sufficed ro the women and a breech clout was all that the men required. At times the basic wardrobe was augmented by moccasins and basketry hats. Woven rabbit skin robes kept them warm during cold weather. Typical of the Gosiutes, the social structure was simple. They lived in small, essentially family groups in Tooele, Rush, Skull and Deep Creek Valleys wherever there was enough food and water to sustain them. The population of each band was determined by the quanity and quality of available natural resources. Most years there was usually little more than enough food to keep them going but in adverse years only the strongest survived. (1 ) (2) (3) That the boundaries between the territories of the various tribes of Ute Indians was not clear cut and recognized by each group of them is clearly evidenced by the fact that the first Indians contacted by the Mormons in Tooele County were not Gosiutes but Utes. On the 27th of July 1847 just 3 days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, a party of men led by Brigham Young followed the California trail to the south shore of Great Salt Lake and the north end of Tooele County where they spent the night. The next morning Wilford Woodruff, who had lost a carriage whip somewhere beyond Black Rock the previous day, encountered a band of Ute Indians while looking for the missing whip. An event he described as follows: "I saw about 20 Indians. At first they looked to me in the distance like a lot of bears coming towards me. As I was unarmed, I wheeled my horse and started back (to where the rest of the party waited) at a slow trot. But they called me and one mounting his horse came after me with all speed. When he got within 20 rods (330 feet), I stopped and met him. The rest followed. They were Utes and wanted to trade. I told him by signs that our camp was near so he went on with me to camp. From what we had yet seen of the Utes, they appeared friendly though they had a bad name from the mountaineers. The Indian wanted to smoke the pipe of peace with us, but we soon started on (towards Salt Lake Valley) and he waited for his companions. (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) The Utes at this time were led by Wakara. Under his direction the Utes became among the most skilled horse thieves. Wakara was hailed by his people for his rustling exploits. Stealing especially of horses and cattle was the principal Ute-methcd of acquiring wealth. Wakara who had led many horse stealing expeditions among neighboring Indian tribes and as far away as the California Missions, must have looked at the growing Mormon hers:>of horses and cattle with considerable anticipation...why ride all the way to California when there were horses and cattle only a comparatively stone throw away in Utah, Salt Lake and Tooele Valleys. (10) 4 The Mormons had apparently decided that the warnings they had received about the Utes from the Mountain Men were without foundation until the 27th of February 1849, several months before Tooele settlemtn was established, when "a report reached Great Salt Lake City that the Indians had stolen 14 horses from Orr's herd and several cattle out in Tooele Valley and had taken them to Utah Valley." (8) The destination to which the stolen livestock was taken would seem to indicate that the Utes, who headquartered there, were plying the vocation for which they were best known. This raid marked the beginning of a struggle between the whites and Indians that was to continue for several years. On July 17th, 1849 (11) Brigham Young accompanied by a party of Mormon leaders again visited the south shore of the Great Salt Lake and the extreme northeast corner of Tooele Valley. Although no Indians were personally encountered, there was ample evidence of their presence. The report of this visit stated that, "some Indians were encamped on the west side of the valley (Tooele) who put out their fires on discovering the brethren." (9) Many different dates have been written for the settlement of Tooele. According to this writer's best estimate, Tooele was established soon after the arrival of the Ezra Taft Benson Company which reached Salt Lake City on the 28th of October 1849. This conclusion is based on the fact the original settlers were Benson employees and several had crossed the plains in the Benson Company.

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