Gunnison Massacre Site

Nearest town: Delta, Utah 10 miles.
Location: Travel west from Delta on Highways 6&50 about 3 miles west of Hinckley. Turn south from Highway 6&50 at site sign and travel about 1/2 mile on well-maintained gravel road to site. Not recommended for winter or in rainy weather.

In 1853, Chief Walkara an his band of Pahvant Indians was on the warpath in what was called the Walker War. So tensions were high in the area when a Missouri wagon train came through on their way to California.

On Sept. 25, 1853, pioneers in Fillmore told the Missourians that they could camp for the night at Meadow Creek about five miles south of Fillmore. They were warned about the tensions with the Indians and they were told to be friendly and swap goods with them. However, the Missourians ended up killing an old Indian who was trying to swap goods with them and they wounded two other Indians. The man they killed was the father of the war captain in Chief Kanosh's band of Indians. Kanosh was Walkara's brother and his band was normally friendly, but despite his efforts to stop them, 20 to 30 braves rode out to seek revenge.

Meanwhile, Captain John W. Gunnison was exploring and surveying a possible route to California in the area of the present-day Delta, Utah. He happened to take his band of surveyors to the same place the Indians were camped on the banks of the Sevier River. The Indians surrounded the men as they slept and as dawn broke, they attacked. It was the morning of October 26, 1853. Eight of Gunnison's party were killed while four escaped. No Indians were killed.

It was 12 days before a burial party including Chief Kanosh arrived at the scene. By then the coyotes had left only mutilated skeletons glistening in the sun. Captain Gunnison and another man's remains were wrapped in blankets and taken with the group while the others were buried at the site of the massacre. In 1855 some of the Indians were tried, found guilty, and given jail sentences for the massacre.

A stone monument marks the spot where the massacre occurred. To get to it, travel west from Delta on Highway 50, and several miles past Hinckley to a road sign that marks the turn off. Go south about 1/2 mile to the marker. Because of vandalism, the plaque describing the event was moved to the Great Basin Museum in Delta.

Source: "Discovering Millard County" magazine.