Blanding, UT-March 19, 1923

We begin with a narrative based on oral tradition and documentary evidence detailing the opening events of 1923. A young Ute man turns himself into local authorities who convict him of raiding a Mexican shepherd’s camp several months previous. After the crowd disbanded, the young Ute, Posey, sheriff Bill Oliver, and George Hurst remained behind in the school’s basement where the trial took place. It was there, outside the school, where a fight between the young Ute and the sheriff led to a posse pursuing the two fleeing Ute men and the immediate imprisonment of the Allen Canyon Utes.