Posey: A Leader of the Witapunuche Utes(continued)

Posey: A Leader of the Witapunuche Utes (continued)

By Tonya Morris

The Bluff War of 1915, the Battle of 1921, and Other Skirmishes

Jim Mike during the Posey War of 1915. (Utah State Historical Society photo.)

By 1923 Posey was about sixty years old. He had been involved in most of the Avikan Ute conflicts with Anglo cowboys and soldiers. One of these was the Pinhook Battle of 1881 near the La Sal Mountains in northern San Juan County where thirteen cowboys who tried to exterminate the entire Ute band were killed. Another battle he was involved in was the Soldier's Crossing Battle of 1884 where a similar "extermination" mission ended. And he was involved in the death of a U.S. soldier in the Bluff war of 1915 which took place as a result of the attempted arrest of Poke's son, Tse-ne-gat, who was the principal figure in "The Posey War" of 1923.

For his role in these last two battles, Posey received news coverage nationally. (Bronson, interview 7) In 1918 when Indians all over the United States were resenting laws requiring them to register for the military draft, names which repeatedly surfaced in newspapers throughout the country were those of Posey, Poke, and Mancos Jim.

The war of 1923, which has been given the name "The Posey War" by Anglo historians, actually had its roots in 1868, when the Colorado chiefs gave away the Avikan Utes' Utah territory through a treaty. The Avikan Utes were unhappy about this agreement and did everything in their power to maintain their homes in San Juan County and the land of their forefathers. A number of different battles between the Utes and Anglo soldiers and cowboys took place over the next 55 years, and eventually ended in "The Posey War." (Denver Post)

The Posey War of 1923

Shortly after this meeting with the government officials, Posey caught Joe Bishop's boy and Sanup's boy whipping an unarmed Anglo rancher, Corey Perkins. Posey ordered the boys to leave the man alone. The embarrassed boys rode on toward Blanding and on the way spitefully killed some cattle belonging to a Mormon settler. (Bronson, interview )

Mancos Jim, one of the elders of the Ute tribe, with Forest Supervisor J.W. Humphrey, about 1914. One month prior to the actual battle in 1923, Moncos Jim, Posey, and other Ute leaders met with representatives of the United States Government to once again appeal the right to remain in their homeland. Posey knew that the Utes were close to being granted their request, as Indian Agent E.A. McKean had made that recommendation to Washington. (Dutchie) (U.S. Forest Service photo.)

The boys were arrested by Sheriff William Oliver, and a trial was conducted in Blanding in the basement of the old school house. Albert R. Lyman was the defense attorney. Posey came to the trial to try and help the Ute boys. He was concerned that no serious trouble come about which might jeopardize the Ute's chances of retaining their homeland in San Juan County. (Perkins, Nielson, Jones 245-246)
George A. Hurst recalled the events leading to the escape:

"Joe Bishop's boy was walking upon a large stick as though he were crippled or incapacitated....After hearing evidence presented for and against the accused, Joe Bishop's boy was found guilty and at 12:00 noon he was placed in the hands of Sheriff Oliver, to have lunch. He was to reappear at 3:00 p.m. for sentencing. Immediately upon the adjournment of court, all the white men left and went home for lunch, leaving no one there but the sheriff, George A. Hurst, Jr., a few school children, and a band of angry Utes.
After quite a while trying to persuade the Indian boy to go without any avail, Sheriff Oliver got on his horse, rode up to Joe Bishop's boy...and insisted that he come along without any further trouble and get their lunch. Whereupon, the young Ute threw away the big stick that he had been walking on, grabbed the reins of the horse the sheriff was riding, and jerking with all his might. At this point, Sheriff Oliver whipped out his gun and attempted to shoot the Indian, but the gun spiked, and would not fire. Joe Bishop's boy grabbed the horn of the saddle with one hand, the other seizing the gun that Oliver held. He wrenched the gun from the sheriff's hand and with one leap, sprang into the saddle of Jess Posey's race horse with Jess, stood holding and headed north. As he started off he tried to get the gun to work. He had only gone about 200 yards when he succeeded and over his shoulder he shot the sheriff's horse in the neck." (Mike, Pochief)

Old Poke's wife (center). Taken in stockade (bullpens) in Blanding after Utes were gathered up during the 1923 Posey War. (Utah State Historical Society photo.)

Posey ran on foot to try and alert his people of possible trouble. They were camping west of town. In the meantime the sheriff deputized a posse of men from Blanding and went after the Utes who had already pulled up camp and were headed southwest. The posse eventually found Posey, Joe Bishop's boy, and others at Comb Ridge, a rock barrier reef approximately 20 miles west of Blanding. Posey had remained behind his people, trying to give them time to escape over the ridge. Posey believed that he would be able to negotiate with the posse, but for the first time in his experience with them, the Mormons were actually shooting at him. This evidently confused and worried Posey a great deal. He was angry and Joe Bishop's boy for causing the trouble which now appeared might cost the Utes their chance of staying in their homeland. Posey and Joe Bishop's boy began to argue. Posey was heard to say, "You are going to get all your people killed." As the argument continued, guns were drawn and Posey shot and killed Joe Bishop's boy. (Cantsee, Myers)
The Utes at the time were in the process of hurrying down over the rocky Comb Ridge cliffs. Men, women, children, and livestock believed they were literally running for their lives. Posey remained behind, continuing to try and stall the posse. His efforts, however, had disastrous results. A bullet from one of the posse member's rifles tore through the flesh of Posey's hip. Posey then rode north along Comb Ridge and found his way down over the cliff, just north of the Perkin's ranch. He met his frightened people about two miles down the wash. (Bronson, interview 4) The Utes were confused and terrified, wondering why their Mormon friends had suddenly "gone crazy" and were trying to kill them.
According to Myers Cantsee, a Ute leader and nephew of Posey, Posey ordered his people not to kill the posse members, but instead to surrender. Cantsee claims there were three reasons for this order: first, the sheriff had already rounded up many of the Utes and was in the process of locking them up in Blanding and Posey feared that if the Utes killed any of the posse, the people in Blanding would kill the Ute prisoners; secondly, the Mormons had always been friends of the Utes; and finally and most importantly, Posey feared that if any white people were killed, the Utes would be forced to leave Utah and go to the reservation in Colorado, and all they had been fighting for would be lost. (Cantsee, Myers)
Posey believed that the other Utes would likely not be harmed if they would surrender to the whites, but for some reason he felt sure that the posse would not stop until he was dead. So Posey suggested to his people that they surrender before any Utes or whites were killed. Through this strategy he hoped that perhaps the negotiations with the U.S. Government would come out favorably for the Utes and that the Utes would be allowed to remain in San Juan County. Many of his people were unhappy with the idea, but with their wounded and with the posse still pressuring them, they finally laid down their weapons and went back to Blanding with the posse. (Bronson, interview 5)

Posey: A Leader of the Witapunuch Utes continued
Return to beginning of Posey: A Leader of the Witapunuch Utes
Return to Posey's Table of Contents

Last Updated July 1, 1997 by Janet Wilcox