GOSHUTE INDIANS IN UTAH

THEY CURRENTLY HAVE 500 MEMBERS. GOSHUTE IS A WORD DERIVED FROM GASHIP, OR DESERT PEOPLE. THEY ARE ONE OF THE SHOSHONE TRIBES. THEY HAD A TERRITORY FROM THE GREAT BASIN TO THE GREAT SALT LAKE IN NEVADA. THEY WINTERED IN DEEP CREEK VALLEY IN DUG OUT HOUSES BUILT OF WILLOW POLES AND EARTH CALLED WIKIUPS. SPRINGTIME THEY COLLECTED WILD ONIONS, CARROTS AND POTATOES. THEY SPEAK A DIALECT OF SHOSHONE. THEIR RESERVATION LIES INTO THE NEVADA AND UTAH BORDER AND HAS ONLY 105 PEOPLE. THE SKULL VALLEY BAND OF DESCHUTE HAS 125 MEMBERS WHO LIVE ON 18,000 ACRES. THIS RESERVATION HAS A PROPOSAL TO STORE 40,000 TONS OF NUCLEAR FUEL. BY THE TIME THE MORMONS ARRIVED IN SALT LAKE VALLEY THE GOSHUTE INDIANS LIVED IN THE THE DESERT REGION TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE. ALTHOUGH THE EXACT BOUNDARIES ARE HARD TO DETERMINE THE NATURE OF TOPOGRAPHY THEY LIVED IN IS SOME OF THE MOST ARID CONDITIONS ON THE CONTINENT. IN ABORIGINAL TIMES THEY LIVED AT A MINIMUM OF SUBSISTENCE LEVEL WITH NO SURPLUS ON WHICH MANY OTHER TRIBES HAD.

THEY HUNTED AND GATHERED IN FAMILY GROUPS AND COOPERATED WITH OTHER TRIBES. WOMEN AND CHILDREN STAYED IN FAMILY GROUPS AND GATHERED PLANTS, SEEDS, AND INSECTS. LARGE GAME WAS SHARED WITH THE OTHER FAMILIES. WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN FAMILY GROUPS GATHERED PLANTS, SEEDS, AND INSECTS. LARGE GAME WAS SHARED WITH THE VILLAGE . THE FAMILY WAS ABLE TO PROVIDE FOR IT'S NEEDS WITHOUT ASSISTANCE.

JEDIDIAH SMITH ENTERED INTO THEIR TERRITORY IN 1826. AFTER 1847 THE MORMONS CAME INTO CONTINUED CONTACT WITH THEM. THE PONY EXPRESS AND OVERLAND STAGE SET UP STATIONS. AND RANCHERS AND FARMERS MOVED IN TAKING STATIONS AND THE BEST LAND AVAILABLE WITH WATER AND PLANTS.

THE GOSHUTES DID NOT RAISE HORSES BECAUSE THEY ATE THE GRASS THEY RELIED ON FOR SEEDS AND FIBER. WATER WAS IN SHORT SUPPLY. THE RANCHERS DID NOT GIVE THEM WATER. THEY ATTACKED THE STATIONS AND FARMS KILLING THE ANGLOS AND LIVESTOCK. THEY THREATENED THE MORMONS TOO. THEY TRIED TO FORCE THE WHITES OFF THEIR TERRITORY BY USING WEAPONS. THE ARMY ATTACKED THEM. THEY KILLED AND FORCED THEM TO SIGN A TREAT YIN 1863. THEY AGREED TO END HOSTILITY AND TO ALLOW SETTLERS TO USE ROUTES THROUGH THEIR TERRITORY. THE GOVERNMENT PAID THEM $1,000 A YEAR FOR 20 YEARS AS COMPENSATION FOR DESTRUCTION OF THEIR GAME ANIMALS.

BY 1869 THEY HAD ABANDONED THEIR TRADITIONAL WAYS, BUT THEY DID HUNT AND GATHER. DURING THE 1900'S THE GOVERNMENT RENEGED ON TWO RESERVATIONS. FINALLY THEY PLACED THEM ON TWO RESERVATIONS LOCATED IN SKULL VALLEY AND DEEP CREEK MOUNTAINS.

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