Episode 133: The Black Hawk War

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:01)
Hi, this is Lindsay Hansen Park.

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:03)
And this is Bryan Buchanan.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:05)
Bringing you the story of Mormonism from the shadow of the Everlasting Hills, straight out of Zion. This isn't your grandpa's Mormon history.

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:33)
This is the tale of Mormon saints and sinners from our roots until present day. Saddle up.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:38)
Gird your loins, lock your hearts, and pay your tithing, because we're bringing you the story of Mormonism in all its paradisiacal glory.

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:45)
It's the Sunstone History Podcast.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:08)
I'm so happy to welcome Phillip Gottfredson, who I've been in contact with for the last few weeks. We've been pulling from your work and your research when we're talking about the Mormon conflict with the Utes, Shoshone, Paiute, and other Native bands around the Utah territory area. So I've been so excited to talk to you because you're an expert on the subject and you've done incredible research. I want to know, before we get into your research, can you tell us who you are and where you're from and how you got involved in this?

**Phillip B. Gottfredson** (1:41)
I'm originally from Springfield, Utah. That's my hometown. So I grew up there.
I got involved in this because my great-grandfather was Peter Gottfredson. As I'm sure a lot of your viewers know, he was the one who wrote Indian Depredations in Utah. So this is a first-hand account of the Blackhawk War. He wrote this in 1919 is when he published it. He lived with the Temponogos tribe during the Blackhawk War. He's an immigrant from Denmark. He came here with his parents at the age of 12, 13 years old. In 1850, 54, I believe, 55 And he was a friend of Blackhawk. They were about the same age. Blackhawk was a little older, but he was invited into his camp on numerous occasions. So it was that that got me interested. And my brother, also my brother David, we both began this whole project together. We started out in about, let's see, 1989, when my, our father passed away. And he left us Peter's book, Indian Depredations in Utah. We read it for the first time. It was always in our library at home. For some reason, we never read it. I sat down one day and decided to read it, covered the cover. And then I took it in to my brother and I says, have you ever read this book before? And he says, no, I haven't. So I just tossed it at him and I says, you got to read it.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:44)
Did your grandfather talk about, talk about this to you? Do you remember him telling you stories?

**Phillip B. Gottfredson** (3:50)
Yeah, there was, I think what I would share with you is that at the time I'm going to share with you, he's living in Pleasant Grove or Mount Pleasance. And that is the most popular route for the Timpanogos people. And they live in that area, they camp in that area.
So, Peter was a shepard or a shirt and sheep herder. That's how he made his some income. And as he, he often would have encounters with, you know, Timpanogos would come into his camp and he would feed them. He would talk with them. Sometimes they, he would invite them to stay overnight.
So, he had a quite close relationship with them. I think one night he was, he writes in his autobiography that he was lost. He had gone out looking for a cow that got away. And he couldn't remember how many mountains he went over. And it was getting dark and he didn't, couldn't find his way back. So, he went back to his camp. And when he was encountered by two warriors, who called him the sheep captain, that was their name and they gave him. And they asked him what was going on. He told them he was lost. And so they invited him into the camp and they fed him. And he stayed overnight with them. And then in the morning, they helped him find the cow. So, that's the kind of relationship they had with one another. There are a lot of stories. The book is a compilation of all of the histories that are from people who had firsthand experiences in the war. So, Peter compiled all of these histories. So, for example, first chapter starts out with a history of extract from the Journal of Judge George Bain, for example. And so, as you go through the book, he tells you who has given him their story. I point that out because people, for some reason, don't really realize that this book has very little to do with Peter. It has more to do with the people he knew and the circumstances of the war. And so, that's what makes this a very unique book.