The Ute Tribal Leader Who Helped Found the West

Published October 29, 2025 at 10:00 PM MDT

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41-72-10/427; 99050027 — “Sketch of Walker, War Chief of the Utahs. Taken from life by W. W. Major in Council Sept. 4, 1852.” Peabody Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology, Harvard University.

When Brigham Young and the Mormons arrived in Utah in the mid-1800s, they encountered a Native American leader who already dominated the region. Wakara, a Timpanogos Ute, was a fierce warrior, prolific horse thief and merciless slave trader. In a new biography, the historian Max Perry Mueller argues Wakara should be considered one of the founding figures of the American West.

Wakara led a pan-tribal coalition of horse thieves that expanded the Old Spanish Trail and made it easier to travel. They also exacted tribute from travelers, stole horses and traded slaves. Mueller writes that Wakara was “the most prolific trader in enslaved Indians” for hundreds of miles, providing white settlers the labor and horsepower needed to expand the colonial empire. He was also a shrewd and pragmatic leader, converting to Mormonism and drawing on the settlers’ own systems to expand his power. Mueller joins us to explore Wakara’s complex life and enduring influence.

Max Mueller and Ute knowledge keeper Forrest Cuch will hold a discussion at the Hinckley Institute Forum on the University of Utah campus on Tuesday, Nov 4, 2025. More information is available about the event here.

GUEST –

Max Perry Mueller | Associate professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. His latest book is “Wakara's America: The Life and Legacy of a Native Founder of the American West.” [Bookshop | Amazon]

Thurs., Oct. 30, 2025 at 9 a.m. and Sat., Nov. 1 at 11 a.m.