Chapter 4

The Indian Slave Trade in Utah to 1852

When Mormon pioneers entered Great Salt Lake Valley in 1847 they found the Indian slave trade between Utes and New Mexican traders along the Old Spanish Trail flourishing. They were dismayed by the practice, but not necessarily because they were abolitionists--some of the earliest pioneers were southern slave holders, and black slaves were among the first settlers to enter the valley. However, Mormon ideology made a distinction between African Americans and American Indians; where forcible servitude was justifiable within Mormon doctrine for the black "sons of Cain," the American Indians were "Lamanites," a chosen remand of the House of Israel upon whom spiritual and priesthood blessings had been pronounced.

...