Walker War 1853-1854
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The war primarily consisted of raids conducted against Mormon outposts in central and southern Utah and retaliations by organized pioneers. In one case, four settlers driving oxen-drawn wagons to Salt lake City from Manti were attacked and killed at Uintah Springs on the night of September 30, 1853. Historical accounts indicate that pioneers retailiated for the killings two days later. A recent archaeological dig examined seven bodies of Native American men and boys found in a relatively shallow grave near Nephi. Wounds on some of the remains suggest these Native Americans were executed rather than killed in combat. One skeleton appears to have been bound by a leather strap at the time of his death. Historians assert that these victims, probably members of a Utah or Goshute tribe, were likely innocent of the initial attack. (Salt Lake Tribune, 8 June 2007)
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In a passive defense effort, Young directed settlers to move from outlying farms and ranches and establish centralized forts. In all, casualties during the war probably totaled twelve white settlers and an equally modest number of Indians. In addition, U.S. surveyor John Williams Gunnison and seven members of his party were attacked and killed, apparently by local tribesmen, in the Sevier Valley in 1853.
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The Walker War ended through an understanding personally negotiated between Young and Walkara during the winter of 1853 and finalized in May 1854 in Levan, near Nephi, Utah. In his contemporary work Incidents of Travel and Adventure in the Far West (1857), photographer and artist Solomon N. Carvalho gives an account of the peace council held between Walkara, other native leaders in central Utah, and Brigham Young. Carvalho took the opportunity to persuade the Indian leader to pose for a portrait, now held by the Thomas Gilcrease Institute, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Although immediate hostilities ended, none of the underlying conflicts were resolved. Walkara died in 1855 at Meadow Creek, Utah.
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After the Walker War had ended, on July 27, 1854, under the direction of stake president Welcome Chapman 120 members (103 males, 17 females) of Wakara's tribe were baptized members of the LDS Church in Manti's City Creek.