When most folks think about "injun wars," they think back to the exploits of cowboys, cavalry and pioneers during the 1800s.
However, America's last Indian uprising occurred not so long ago and not so far away. Today, folks call it the Posey War, a 1923 revolt led by a Paiute Indian named Posey who exchanged gunfire with a San Juan County sheriff and fled with his band into the deep canyons of southern Utah.The revolt eventually left two Indians dead, including Posey, and a host of conflicting accounts. Even 66 years later, no one agrees about who Posey was, who he represented or the events leading up to the uprising.
To some Utes he was a great chief, a heroic martyr who even today symbolizes the Indian struggle against white oppression.
According to Tonya Morris, great-great granddaughter of Posey, he was "one of the great Indian leaders of the San Juan frontier . . . perceived by his people to be a trustworthy, brave and loyal protector (and) a great warrior who loved his people very much." Another Ute likened him to Moses, calling him a "savior of his people."
To the anglos of San Juan County, as well as some local Indians, Posey was nothing more than an ambitious renegade. In a letter to the San Juan Record, two Utes called Morris' account "interesting, but not based on the truth. Posey was not a leader. The only way we recognize him was as a renegade from Navajo Mountain. He was not a nice, gentle and honest person."
The letter was signed by Rachel Iteyetoo, granddaughter of the great Ute Chief Ouray, and Susan Whyte, great-great granddaughter of Chief Mancos Jim, the recognized leader of the Ute tribe during the Posey revolt.
In San Juan County, virtually everyone has heard the story of Posey. And virtually everyone can relate a different account of what happened, all seemingly based on the oral history of one relative or another who rode in the posse that tracked Posey down.
Clarence Rogers is one who claims to know the history of what really happened. His brother rode in the posse and had his horse shot out from underneath him. Clarence still has his brother's saddle with the bullet hole in it.
"Nobody's got the story right yet," said Rogers, more than a little perturbed by some of the published accounts.
Historians say Posey was born about 1863 at Navajo Mountain, some say with the Indian name of Deyuckquasuch, others say with the Indian name of Sagwageri. Posey was easily recognizable by the Army belt buckle he wore as a badge on a dark vest - a buckle some say was taken from a dead U.S. soldier.
Himself a Paiute, Posey married into the Avikan Ute band led by Mancos Jim. He accidentally shot his wife to death, then married her sister.
In 1923, the son of a prominent Ute named Joe Bishop caused some trouble with a rancher. The Indian was later arrested, tried and convicted.
According to the anglo account, Joe Bishop's son then grabbed a gun from Sheriff William E. Oliver, pointed it at the sheriff and pulled the trigger three times. The gun misfired all three times.
Posey, meanwhile, was waiting for the escapees with fresh horses, and they headed for the Comb Wash, a land riddled with canyons and cliffs. Posey's band, which had been camped outside of town, fled on foot.
Two members of a pursuing posse were later attacked by two Indians, and in the ensuing exchange of gunfire Joe Bishop's son was killed. The posse later cornered the fleeing band of Utes and threatened to kill every last one of them if they did not surrender.
The band was finally loaded into a truck for a trip to Bluff. Posey, however, was not among them. Having earlier suffered a gunshot wound to the hip, he was hidden by his people.
According to an account by one member of the posse, "It was later told that when Posey was found dead, he'd had a sack of flour by him and had packed handfuls of flour into his wound, and it was an awful sight."
That is the anglo account. According to a Ute account, it was the sheriff who tried to kill Joe Bishop's son as he tried to escape. Posey, sensing trouble, gathered his small band together and directed them to the Comb Ridge until things could be smoothed over with the townspeople.
Posey was reportedly angry with Joe Bishop's son over the trouble he'd caused, and during an argument that followed, guns were drawn and Joe Bishop's son was killed. Fearing the oncoming posse would harm his people, Posey chose to stay between the posse and his fleeing people, giving them more time to escape.
Posey was later found dead in a cave. Many Utes believe Posey did not die of the gunshot wound to his hip. Said one Ute, "They (anglos) put poison in the flour and when he was hungry he made it into dough and ate it."
Despite sworn testimony from a U.S. marshall that Posey was indeed dead, local residents reportedly opened his grave three times to satisfy a morbid curiosity. Eventually, Posey's body disappeared.
"The white people say the Utes dug him up and hid him, and the Utes say the white people took his body away," said Morris.
Shortly after Posey's death, the government granted the Utes permission to remain on their Utah lands. "He died in defense of his people and their homeland," Morris wrote.