Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2010-07-09 Contested Space: Mormons, Navajos, and Hopis in the Colonization of Tuba City Corey Smallcanyon Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the History Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Smallcanyon, Corey, "Contested Space: Mormons, Navajos, and Hopis in the Colonization of Tuba City" (2010). Theses and Dissertations. 2557. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/2557 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Contested Space: Mormons, Navajos, and Hopis in the Colonization of Tuba City Corey Smallcanyon A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Jay H. Buckley, Chair Brian Q. Cannon Grant R. Underwood Department of History Brigham Young University August 2010 Copyright © 2010 Corey Smallcanyon All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Contested Space: Mormons, Navajos, and Hopis in the Colonization of Tuba City Corey Smallcanyon Department of History Master of Arts When Mormons arrived in northern Arizona among the Navajo and Hopi Indians in the late 1850s, Mormon-Indian relations were initially friendly. It was not too long, however, before trouble began in conflicts over water use and land rights. Federal agents would soon consider Mormons a threat to the peaceful Hopis because both the Navajo and Mormons were expanding their land claims. Indian agents relentlessly pleaded with Washington to establish a separate Indian reservation. They anticipated this reservation would satisfy all three parties, but its creation in 1882 only created more problems, climaxing in the 1892 death of Lot Smith at the hands of Atsidí, the local Navajo headman. Tensions continued to increase until federal agents intervened in 1900 and placed Tuba City under a Presidential Executive Order. The order withdrew Tuba City from white claims and resulted in the expulsion of the Mormons from Tuba City in 1903. My contribution is to show how the Navajo and Hopi Indians may have considered the coming of the Mormons as an invasion by a group of foreigners which led to the resulting contest between the trios for the limited natural resources of the northern Arizona desert. Tuba City/Moenkopi has a complicated history and its origins remain contested because it was claimed not only by Mormons, but also by the Navajos and Hopi. Previous historians have neglected the wealth of history that come from using Native American oral histories. This thesis will include the Native point of view but will also integrate it with Mormon and non-Mormon narratives. Doing so will provide another perspective on some of the following: the founding of Tuba City, the creation of the 1882 and 1900 Executive Orders for Navajo and Hopi reservation expansions, the death of the Mormon Lot Smith, and Native American-Mormon relations in the late 1800s in northern Arizona. Key Words: Tuba City, Moenkopi, Oraibi, Navajo, Hopi (Moqui), Teuve (Tuba), Mormon, Jacob Hamblin, James S. Brown, Andrew S. Gibbons, David Brinkerhoff, Ashton Nebeker, Lot Smith, Ira Hatch, Sarah Maraboots Hatch, Atsidíík’áak’éhé, Tódích’íi’nii Nééz (Spaneshank), Atsidí (Whiteman Killer or Chachos), 1882 Executive Order, 1900 Executive Order ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This has been an interesting ride and, surprisingly enough, a touchy subject to research. In analyzing the Native American-Mormon relations, the typical responses I have received have ranged from incredulity to hostility. My Indian friends’ typical response is that it is the same old story. A few summers ago my family and I ran into a Lot Smith family reunion taking place in a public setting. Talking with some of them about the chapter dealing with Smith’s death provided an interesting experience for my family and me. More than a hundred years since Smith’s death, some of his descendants remain troubled by the episode and antagonistic toward historical inquiry into the incident. On the other hand, noted University of Utah historian Floyd O’Neil reprimanded me for not being critical enough about Brigham Young’s Indian policies. These experiences have only fueled my desire to continue my research. Despite all of this, there have been a number of people who have shown great interest in my work, and I hope I do not disappoint. I have met and become acquainted with a number of people for whom I am grateful. This has been a long process. I am grateful for the support and love from friends and family, mainly from my loving wife, Denise, and my children, Carter and Sienna. I express my appreciation to Robert Westover, now retired from teaching at BYU; he put me on the path of learning, and for LaVay Talk, of the BYU Multicultural Office, for her kind words of support and encouragement. Lastly, I thank Jay Buckley for pushing me to finish this work and for believing in me. CONTENTS List of Illustrations .......................................................................................................................... v List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................... vi Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1. Mormon-Indian Relations along the Great Basin’s Southern Rim .............................. 8 Chapter 2. The Peacemaker: Jacob Hamblin, Mormon Colonization, and Indian Resistance ... 14 Chapter 3. Expanding the Zion Curtain: James S. Brown and the Founding of Tuba City ........ 83 Chapter 4. Andrew S. Gibbons and the Southwest Indian Mission at Tuba City ...................... 100 Chapter 5. Friendship and Foes: Atsidí and Lot Smith ............................................................. 114 Chapter 6. Reservation Blues ..................................................................................................... 151 Chapter 7. Epilogue ................................................................................................................... 175 Illustrations ................................................................................................................................. 177 Appendix A ................................................................................................................................. 192 Appendix B ................................................................................................................................. 195 Appendix C ................................................................................................................................. 197 Appendix D ................................................................................................................................. 199 Appendix E ................................................................................................................................. 200 Appendix F.................................................................................................................................. 201 Appendix G ................................................................................................................................. 202 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 204 iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figures 1. Map of Brigham Young’s Indian Missions 177 2. Jacob Hamblin 178 3. Map of Utah-Arizona Border 179 4. Tódích’íi’nii Nééz 180 5. Oraibi 181 6. Teuve and Telashineimki 182 7. Moenkopi 183 8. Hopi delegation sent to Salt Lake City 184 9. Map of Utah Tribal Lands 185 10. Lot Smith 186 11. Atsidí, the Navajo headman who killed Lot Smith in self-defense with one of his plural wives and his nephew Shoie Johnson 187 12. Old Woolen Mills at Moenkopi 188 13. Diagram of the Smith-Atsidí battlefield 189 14. The courthouse in Flagstaff where Atsidí was tried for the death of Lot Smith in 1896 190 15. An Indian trading post, between Moenkopi and Tuba City 191 run by Charles Algert v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AAFF Austin and Alta Fife Fieldwork Collections, Special Collections & Archives, Merrill-Cazier Library, Utah State University, Logan, UT. DMBC David M. Brugge Collection, Center for Southwest Research, Zimmerman Library, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM. DDOI Doris Duke Oral Indian History, Manuscript Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT. HBLL L. Tom Perry Special Collections Library, Harold. B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT. JSBC John S. Boyden Collection, L. Tom Perry Special Collections Library, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT. LCLS Little Colorado [Arizona] and Lot Smith Source Materials, Special Collections and Archives, Merrill-Cazier Library, Utah State University, Logan, UT. LJAP Leonard J. Arrington Papers, Special Collections & Archives, Merrill-Cazier Library, Utah State University, Logan, UT. LSP Lot Smith Papers, Manuscripts Collections, Research Center for the Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City, UT. MDTC “Mormon Difficulties at Tuba City, Arizona,” L. Tom Perry Special Collections Library, Harold