Act for the relief of Indian Slaves and Prisoners

The Act for the relief of Indian Slaves and Prisoners, which was passed on March 7, 1852 in the Utah Territory, dealt with Indian slavery. A similar law, the Act in Relation to Service, which had made slavery legal in the territory, had been passed on Feb 4, 1852.

Although illegal throughout Mexico, the Indian slave trade was well established when the Mormon pioneers arrived in Utah. At the encouragement of Mormon leaders, the Mormon pioneers began buying Indians slaves. They also acquired other prisoners through wars such as Battle at Fort Utah. At the end of the Mexican-American War, Utah became a part of the United States, and the issue of slavery in the new territories became a highly political subject. Finally, members of Congress passed the Compromise of 1850, which allowed the Territories of Utah and New Mexico to choose by popular sovereignty whether to make slavery legal in those territories. Brigham Young began seeking to stop the Mexican slave trade while encouraging the local market, and notified the Mexicans.

Many of Walker's Band were upset by the interruption with the Mexican slave trade. In one graphic incident, Ute Indian Chief Arrapine, a brother of Chief Walkara, insisted that because the Mormons had stopped the Mexicans from buying these children, the Mormons were obligated to purchase them. In his book, Forty Years Among the Indians, Daniel Jones wrote, "[s]everal of us were present when he took one of these children by the heels and dashed its brains out on the hard ground, after which he threw the body towards us, telling us we had no hearts, or we would have bought it and saved its life."

In 1851, Don Pedro Leon Lujan, who had been trading slaves with a New Mexico license, sought a Utah license from Brigham Young but he refused. Later, Lujan was discovered with Indian slaves and was charged with trading with Indians without a license. The trial was in progress and the ambiguous status of slavery had become an issue in the trial.

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