INDIAN TALES
Great Grandfather Clark lived in Cannonville. He was a friend to the Indians, who lived in a camp near the Red Hill by Cannonville.
One day an Indian squaw came running into town to my Great Grandfather's place, and called, "Pare, Pare". She pointed to the red rocks. Great Grandfather got on his horse, took his gun, and went with her. When he got nearly to the place where the road goes through the rock, there was a big black bear. Grandfather shot it, skinned it and later made a rug out of the skin; he furnished bear meat for many people to eat.
by Randy Clark.
When my Grandmother was a girl there was an old Indian who used to come to her father's house to eat. Her mother set him a place at a small table and he ate so much it seemed he would never need to eat again. My grandmother has known him to eat six or seven times, one right after the other.
by Lane Chynoweth
My Grandfather, Sixtus Johnson, was riding out taking care of his cattle one day about forty five years ago. He was quite a long way from home when he met a big Indian on a little white horse. The Indian had a big piece of meat tied to his saddle. He
offered to give some of it to Grandfather. The meat looked very good, and Grandfather was very hungry. He asked "what kind of meat is it"? Heap wyno Porcupine meat", said the Indian.
Though he was hungry, Grandfather decided he did not care for that kind of meat.
by Diana Johnson
There was a camp of Indians over by Sand Ridge. When they get ready to move they set fire to their brush houses. Some white men were riding by and heard screams coming from one of the houses. They rode to this house, and inside found an old Indian who was sick. The Indians had tied him up and were burning him to death because they didn't want to be troubled with him, on their journey.
by "Unknown"
One time Alta Henderson and Ethel Clark were at their Grandfather's place, when Sally Ann, an old Indian woman, came and asked, "Where heap good woman"? She meant the girls Grandmother who had died a short time before. When they told her she was dead, Sally Ann wrapped her big apron around and around her head and sat in a chair, rocking back and forth; moaning a death chant for an hour.
One day Annie Riggs asked Sally Ann to come and do her washing for her. At noon Annie gave Sally Ann some dinner. After Sally Ann had eaten she refused to do any more of the washing. After that Annie wouldn't feed her until after she got through with her work.
Once Grandmother and Grandfather Henderson were going up on Sheep Flat in a wagon. By the side of the road they saw a strange sight--- a horse with a fire built on its head. As they went farther up the road they met some other people who told them that Sally Ann and her Granddaughter were going to Cannonville. Their horses became tired and worn out so it could go no farther, so Sally Ann built a fire on the horses heads and killed them that way.
Sally Ann camped by the Henrieville Creek. Her little granddaughter, whose mother was dead, lived with her. Sally Ann was hired by the people to wash, shuck corn or do other work. She liked to stay here and work rather than wander about with the rest of her tribe. People gave her food, clothes, and pastured her horse until it became useless. Then they gave her another one.
She had her own tent, poles and other necessary equipment that she moved herself.
In the Fall she went down to Glendale, where the winters were warmer. The last time she went there she asked permission to camp by a barn for the night. The next morning she was found dead. She was alone at this time for her granddaughter had married and gone away.
by Donna Shafer
When Grandmother Johnson lived in Cannonville, the Indians lived just below that town.
The white people would go and dance with the Indians, and were good friends with them. One night Grandmother heard something coming across the room and towards her bed. She hurried and lit the lamp. There stood an Indian woman named Sally. She began to cry and said, "A bunch of boys keep hitting my teepee with rocks. I am afraid. May I stay and sleep. May I stay and sleep by you?" Grandmother said she would go with her to her teepee.
Sally did not want to go. Finally they went. Grandmother helped her fix up her teepee so she could sleep, then grandmother went home, for the boys had gone away.
by Diana Johnson
When my great grandfather, Seth Johnson, was a small boy, he lived with his parents at what was then called Johnson Springs. Some friendly Indians came and warned Seth's father that a band of Indians were preparing to go on the war path. They were coming to kill the white people and take their horses and cattle.
Seth's father decided to build a fort so the Indians could not get in to harm them. He hired some friendly Indians to help him. They mixed mud and put it into molds and made adobes. They built a wall around two or more acres of land.
When the Indians arrived they could not get in, so they went away without causing any trouble.
The name of the place was changed from Johnson Springs to Johnson Fort. Some of the old wall still stands by the little town of Enochm, situated about six miles west of Cedar City.
by Norman Johnson
The Indians used to pass by the Willis farm when they went to the higher mountains above Henrieville, where they went to hunt venison for their winter needs. Often the Indians camped at the Willis farm for two or three weeks.
The squaws and larger papooses would walk up on the wood bench north of the town and gather pine nuts during the day. The old squaws and small papooses who could not walk so far, stayed at camp. While the squaws ground corn with two rocks the papooses played. Sears, one of the Willis children played with them.
Mr. Willis hired the Indian men (bucks) to grub brush and clear land for him. He gave them corn and wheat for their work. He also traded corn and wheat to them for venison and pine nuts.
At night the Indians would build large fires, and gather around to clean the pine nuts by firelight. Then they put the pine nuts into sacks made of tanned deer hide.
Later in the fall the Indians left and went down to Pahreah Creek and stayed between Pahreah and Kanab during the winter. In that section there were mountain sheep then, so the Indians could replenish their supply of meat, after the venison was gone.
The squaws wove baskets, tanned deer hides and made crockery, or dishes. In the spring they gathered sego lily bulbs, which were as delicious and good to them as candy is to children now a days.
May Dugard was adopted by a wealthy lady in England, after her mother died. President Woodruff came to England and converted and baptized 700 people in three days.
Mary joined the LDS church against her foster mother's will and lost all the money she would have inherited. She came to Utah and married.
In those pioneer times the windows in the houses were low and easily accessible to passers-by. One day an Indian came and looked in the window. When he saw Mary alone and cooking dinner, he got into the house before Mary had a chance to shut the door.
The Indian asked for the meat. Mary said she did not have enough to give any to him. The Indian put his hand on the meat and was going to take it away. Mary knew her hungry family needed the meat and so she ran across the room and pushed the Indian, although she was not very large, she surprised the Indian so much with her push that he lost his balance and fell backwards out of the door. He got up and went muttering, "Squaw no good".
Down near the place where the town of Pahreah used to be, lived Peter Shurks with his wife and family. He built a rock house which was "Indian proof". It was strong enough to protect these people from any Indian attack.
Peter was a prospector and also had a mine. One day he went to Kanab for supplies and left his family alone. Travel was slow in those days so he had to be gone from home for some time. While he was away some Indians came. They couldn't get into the house, but they thought before long the Shurks would be forced to come out for food and water, so they waited. Two friendly Indians helped the family by bringing water, porcupine meat, prairie dogs. and rabbits. The hostile Indians kept Mr. Shurks away for two weeks. Then a posse came along. The Indians were afraid of the men in the posse so they had to leave the Shurks house. This house stood for years and years, but finally it was taken away by the floods. When Sixtus Johnson was about 15 years of age, he met "George Injun" and his squaw.
He was interested in following the trail to see where these Indians had come from. He followed the trail which led off a ledge into a grassy spot where it seemed no animals had been. This place was called Johnson's Hole because it was a little valley, and Mr. Johnson was the first white man known to have gone there. After leaving this place, he went on his way and met a Mr. Kitchen, a prospector. Kitchen brought in something that looked like lead. He even made bullets out of it. Besides prospecting, Kitchen had a good ranch where he raised cattle, fruit, and vegetables.
A lady from England wanted to become rich. She thought Mr. Kitchen had a good place so she married him. She did not like to live on the Kitchen ranch away from other people. Finally she persuaded Kitchen to move to Johnson. She decided she did not like Kitchen either, so she took half his property and left him.
Kitchen took what money he had left and went to Arizona to start out in the cattle business again. He was found dead soon after this. Some people thought the men who encouraged him to go to Arizona made him drunk and took his money. No one knew, nor was interested enough to find out just how he happened to die.