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Dating back thousands of years, Sevier County’s Native American history is rich and plentiful. From the time when the Fremont Indians lived along the life giving waters of Clear Creek to the battles with local settlers, Native American influences have played an important role in the area.
The Fremont culture was first identified from sites found in 1928 along the Fremont River near Capitol Reef National Park. Archeologists were called to the site and quickly noticed that structure and artifacts in the area were different from those of the Anasazi sites in the south. New pottery types, dew claw moccasins and unfired clay figures were a few of the items that made the Fremont Indians different.
Then, in 1983, during the construction of Interstate 70 through Clear Creek Canyon, the largest known Fremont village was discovered. The Fremont Indian civilization dates back thousands of years in Sevier County.
The Fremont Indian State Park and Museum was established by the Utah Legislature in 1985 to help protect the canyon’s treasury of rock art and archeological sites. Visitors to our area can visit the museum, walk the trails once used by the Fremont Indians to see rock art and even stay at the local campsite. For information about the Fremont Indian State Park, visitors should call 435-527-4631 or visit www.stateparks.utah.gov.
Sevier County’s history would not be complete without a look at the Blackhawk War. The war officially began in April of 1865 when Native Americans and Mormon Pioneers met to dispute a cattle theft. During the meeting, a scuffle occurred and a young Chief was pulled from his horse by a Mormon settler. The insulted Native delegation, including a young Ute named Blackhawk, abruptly left the meeting vowing retribution.
The threats were not idle. Over the next few days, Blackhawk and his followers killed five settlers and stole hundreds of cattle. Within a year, 25 more settlers were killed or mutilated and they were forced to abandon their homes for a number of years.
Before it was over, the Blackhawk War had become the longest and most destructive conflict between pioneers and Native Americans in Utah’s history. Contemporary estimates indicated that as many as 70 settlers and an unknown number of Native Americans were killed during the war. The war officially ended in 1867, but intermittent raiding continued until 1872 when troops intervened.
In 1873, a few years after the death of Blackhawk, local settlers and Native Americans signed a peace treaty that would never be broken.Today, if you are driving along Highway 24 just south of Koosharem, you will find a marker along the highway that commemorates this peace treaty and the end of the Blackhawk War.
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