Lee's Ranch Indian Raid

This raid in October 1866 belongs to the Black Hawk War, the long conflict that erupted when Mormon expansion overran the hunting and foraging grounds of the Ute and their allies, leaving Native families hungry and displaced. Cattle, taken to survive, were the usual object; blood was spilled when settlers stood in the way. Here a ranch family and two others held out through a day-long siege, their house set afire; two people slipped away to bring the militia. By the time it arrived, the raiders were gone. The valley is quiet farmland now.

What the plaque says

Hostile Indians raided a small settlement in this vicinity Oct. 27, 1866, centering their attack on the house where Mr. and Mrs. J.P. Lee, their two daughters, and eight year old son, a young Miss Hall and Joseph Lillywhite were barricaded, fighting desperately. During the day long battle, Lillywhite was seriously wounded. Lee killed three Indians, and the house was badly damaged, partly by fire brands. Miss Hall and the eight year old son escaped and secretly journeyed by separate trails to Beaver to give the alarm. Posses of militiamen were organized and sent to the rescue. When they arrived the Indians had departed.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Beaver — 1.7 mi
  A charming main street town with surprisingly good food
• Butch Cassidy Boyhood Home — 22 mi
  The restored Circleville cabin where the West's most famous outlaw spent his teens
• Cove Fort — 24 mi
  A beautifully restored 1867 pioneer fort at the crossroads of two interstates
• Fremont Indian State Park — 28 mi
  The largest known Fremont Indian village ever discovered

More markers nearby

• Pioneer First Camp Ground — 0.7 mi
• Spirit of the American Doughboy Monument — 1.4 mi
• Beaver Stake Tabernacle — 1.4 mi
• Philo T. Farnsworth — 1.4 mi