Posey War

Part of the Ute Wars, American Indian Wars

A group of Ute and Paiute Native Americans who were involved in the Posey War of 1923, Chief Posey is standing second from left.

Date	March 20–23, 1923
Location	San Juan County, Utah
Result	United States victory

Belligerents

United States

Ute
Paiute

Commanders and leaders

Charles Mabey

Posey †

Casualties and losses

none

2 killed

The Posey War, also known as the Last Indian Uprising and several other names, occurred in March 1923 and may be considered the final Indian War in American history. Though it was a minor conflict, it involved a mass exodus of Ute and Paiute native Americans from their land around Bluff, Utah to the deserts of Navajo Mountain. The natives were led by a chief named Posey, who took his people into the mountains to try and escape his pursuers. Unlike previous conflicts, posses played a major role while the United States Army played a minor one. The war ended after a skirmish at Comb Ridge. Posey was badly wounded and his band was taken to a prisoner-of-war camp in Blanding. When Posey's death was confirmed by the authorities, the prisoners were released and given land allotments to farm and raise livestock.

The Posey War was the last in a long series of conflicts between the United States and the Ute and Paiute tribes. For years prior to 1923, the Avikan Ute people were fighting to maintain their ancestral land in present day San Juan County. Though most of the conflict took place at the negotiating table, there were occasional outbreaks of hostilities, such as the Bluff War in 1915 and the Bluff Skirmish of 1921. By 1923, Chief Posey and members of his band were already well known for their activities in the earlier conflicts. Between 1881 and 1921, Posey's band fought in several engagements against either the local Mormon settlers or other native American tribes. Posey was half Paiute and half Mexican himself though he married into the Ute Mountain tribe, his band included about 100 people, both Ute and Paiute men, women and children. They lived around the outskirts of Bluff, along Allen Canyon, where they could find for the settlers in town. According to one Ute, Posey's band refused to live on the reservation because they felt the natives there were unfriendly.

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