Indian Massacre

October 1865 was the second autumn of the Black Hawk War — the long, bitter conflict that began when Mormon settlement pushed the Ute off their lands and hunting grounds until many were starving. On the 17th, Ute fighters under Black Hawk swept down from Cottonwood Canyon and drove off Ephraim's entire cattle herd; settlers caught working in the open fields were killed, five of them buried together in a single grave, with others cut down nearby. The monument names the dead. Peace would not reach this valley for three more years.

What the plaque says

Near this spot on Tuesday, October 17, 1865, Black Hawk, a Ute chief, led his warriors out of Cottonwood Canyon foraging for cattle. They stole the entire Ephraim herd. Settlers who were working in the fields were massacred and lie buried in one grave: Martin P. Kurhe, Hansine J. Kurhe, Elizabeth Petersen, Benjamin J. Black and William T. Hite. William Thorpe was killed near Guard Knoll; Soren N. Jespersen, badly mutilated, died at Wiregrass Flat. Jens Sorensen was killed April 12, 1865.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Ephraim — steps away
  Utah's Little Denmark and the home of Snow College
• Ephraim Co-op — steps away
  The 1871 cooperative store that outlived the economy it was built to replace
• Manti Temple — 6.8 mi
  A striking pioneer-era temple crowning a hilltop above the Sanpete Valley
• Manti — 7.1 mi
  Sanpete's first settlement, crowned by an 1888 oolite temple

More markers nearby

• Ephraim Carnegie Library — steps away
• Fort Ephraim Peace Treaty — steps away
• Ephraim Co-op Building — steps away
• Snow Academy Building — 0.3 mi