Pernetta Sweet Murdock

In the many years I have spent reading and studying Mormon and Indigenous history one story has stood apart from all the rest. So much so that it has stayed with me, weaving deeply into my heart and forever changing my understanding of the world I was raised in. This is the story of Seccunup, an Indigenous woman who was raised and lived with the Mormon people. As a child the Mormon family she lived with renamed her Pernetta Sweet Murdock. The following history is of how Pernetta came to live with them and a small window into what her life was like. Though how she came to live with the Mormons is a heartbreaking history, she lived a life of courage, strength and kindness towards all those who knew her.

In approximately 1845 Pernetta (Seccunup) was born of the Timpanogos people, daughter of Chief Aeropeen and Cyagup; granddaughter of Chief Moonch and Tisham Igh, and great granddaughter of Chief Turunianchi – the Indigenous peoples of the Wasatch of Utah.“(1) 

In 1847 Heber C. Kimball declared “The Indians did not own the land in the first place.” Kimball continued, “The land belongs to our Father in Heaven, and we calculate to plow and plant it; and no man shall have the power to sell his inheritance for he cannot remove it; it belongs to the Lord.”(2) 

In March of 1849 Brigham Young assigned thirty families, one hundred and fifty people in total, to settle in the territory where Seccunup lived with her people. A few months after Brigham Young sent the settlers he said, “The old Indians will not enter into the new and everlasting covenant or gain knowledge, but they will die and be damned.”(2)

In January of 1850 Old Bishop, an older Indigenous man, was killed by three of the Mormon settlers for stealing a shirt from a clothesline. Their names were Rufus Stoddard, Richard Ivie, and Gerome Zabrisky. They shot Old Bishop, cut his stomach open, filled it with rocks, and dumped him into the Provo River. When they returned to their settlement they bragged about it. Old Bishop’s people went to find him and were angry when they saw what had been done to him. They wanted the murderers punished but the Mormons refused to punish those who had killed Old Bishop.The Indigenous peoples planned to respond in force. One of the Mormon settlers, Peter W. Cownover, traveled to Salt Lake City to request reinforcement from the Desert Militia. (3)(4)(5)

On January 31, 1850 Issac Higby had also traveled to Salt Lake City and petitioned Brigham Young. Brigham Young held a meeting with his counselors, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the militia commander Daniel H. Wells. During this meeting Apostle Parley P. Pratt stated, “It best to kill the Indians.”Issac Higby responded “every man and boy (at the Mormon settlement) held up their hand to kill them off…” Willard Richards added, “My voice is for war, and exterminate them.” Brigham Young proceeded to order an extermination campaign against the Indigenous peoples. Young ordered, “that all the men were to be killed, women and children to be saved if they ‘behave themselves.’” Military orders were immediately drafted. (2)

On February 7, 1850 the Mormon militia left Salt Lake. 

On February 8, 1850 “The campaign was carried out with zeal… a voluntary force made up of militia from Salt Lake City and Utah Valley, supported by cannon, surrounded,  and laid siege to a group of about seventy Indians under Big Elk.” Unit commanders of the militia were instructed to “take no hostile prisoners” and “let none escape but do the work up clean.” (2)

“While Big Elk was being pursued toward the mountains, a second militia company dispatched from Fort Utah (today’s Prov) marched south, eventually encountering scattered bunches of Utes near Peteetneet Creek. ‘Here,’ wrote one historian, ‘the violence shifted from warfare to killing.’ After disarming a large band of Utes at Table Point near the southern edge of Utah Lake, the militiamen shot them down in cold blood. But it was the brutal and senseless act that followed the slaughter that is most chilling. According to multiple historical sources, both Big Elk and the Utes gunned down at Table Point were beheaded and their skulls taken as trophies. One eyewitness witnessed Big Elk’s head hanging up in Fort Utah. In an interview conducted years later, Jane Park recalled seeing his head ‘hung pendant by its long hair from the willows of the roof of one of the houses.’ As for the Utes massacred at Table Point, both Abner Blackburn and Anna Clark Hale substantiated the fact that the Indians’ bodies had been mutilated and their heads brought back to Fort Utah. ‘I can never forget,’ Hale remembered, ‘the horrible and frightening scene when the boys brought into the Fort a number of Indian heads with their nasty bloody necks and their tongues sticking out of their mouths. It was awful.’” (2)(6)

 “The Mormon militia approached the Timpanogos, telling them that they were friendly. The militia proceeded to line them up and execute them. Dozens of Timpanogos women and children were enslaved.”(7)

On February 10, 1850 Brigham Young said, “I am sent now to confiscate all their property – and then put them in the heat of battle and kill them.”(2)

On February 13, 1850 General Daniel H. Wells wrote to Brigham Young that 15 or 20 warriors with their families had surrendered to the militia led by Captain Grant by the lake shore of Table Mountain. The following morning Wells wrote, “Please to make some suggestion in relation to the disposal of some 15 or 20 squaws and children…”(2)

Many of the prisoners were placed in Mormon families to be servants. This was done to keep the survivors from their “savage pursuits, and bringing them up in the habits of civilized and Christian life.”(8) Most survivors died or escaped.

Pernetta was very young at this time, around five years of age when her people were attacked by the Mormon militia at one of Walkara’s camps. She and another child, a boy named Subpickets, were put into the back of a wagon. Subpickets, not much older than Pernetta, had been pulled off the remains of his mother and placed in the wagon with his little sister and Pernetta. Orrin Porter Rockwell sold Pernetta and Supickets to Joseph Stacey Murdock who paid two oxen for them. Supickets was renamed Albert Subpickets Murdock, but was often called Picket. Albert and Pernetta were raised by the Murdocks. Albert was told that Pernetta was his sister, but he always said she was not the same sister as the one in the wagon he had been separated from. 

In a Murdock family journal it states, “Grandfather (Joseph S. Murdock) called him (Orrin Porter Rockwell) ‘Traveling Port,’ he told Joseph S. Murdock that the children had been stolen in one of the raids…¨ In a second Murdock family record it adds, “Joseph feared what might happen to the children if he did not take them, but greater than his fear for their lives was his love for the children.” Joseph S. Murdock gave the children to his first wife Eunice. Eunice gave Seccunup the name Pernetta, which had been Enuice´s grandmother’s name, and the boy was called Albert Supickets Murdock. Joseph wrote in his journal, “The boy was just shedding his baby teeth, and the girl was about a year younger still.” Eunice loved the children as her own. (11)

The Murdock family journals convey the kindness that the children experienced in the Murdock home. Especially from Eunice, who was very loving to both the children. One journal states, “During her childhood Pernetta was taught to read and write by her mother Eunice, along with Picket (Albert Supickets) and many of Joseph Stacy Murdock´s children by his other three wives. Later, Pernetta had grown into a beautiful young woman, well educated and refined. A young Indian man became attracted to her and both Eunice and Joseph were concerned that she might be lured away from both family and the church by him. Joseph went to his friend Brigham Young and asked for his counsel and guidance. Brigham listened closely and then to Joseph‘s shock and dismay, he advised Joseph to marry Pernetta. “Brigham Young prophesied to Joseph that ‘Pernetta would give him a fine family which would be an honor to his name and that the marriage would also promote an even closer bond between Joseph and his Lamanite brothers. On June 26, 1859 Joseph and Pernetta were married in the Endowment House by Brigham Young. Pernetta was the first Lamanite to enter into the Temple in this dispensation according to a history seen and read by Luann Murdock.” When Pernetta married her adopted father she became his fourth and youngest wife. Pernetta was 13 or 14 years of age at the time of the marriage. 

Pernetta lived until 1884. 

Amelia Brittingham Murdock Witt writes, “Many time the girl’s heart was made to ache but Joseph was just a man and he tried so hard to see that she wasn’t bad hurt knowing too well what she was up against.”(11)  Pernetta went on to have five children. Her first child, named Benjamine Sweet Murdock, died around four months of age and was buried in the old American Fork Cemetery. Pernetta´s second child was a little girl she named Betsy Eunice Murdock. Next was her son Albert Alma, then Edward Teancum, and last was Franklin Judson.

Throughout this early period of her life, as she had children, the crops were failing and food was scarce. In the History of Pernetta Sweet Murdock it states, “Pernetta searched along the rocky hillsides for sego roots while Elizabeth (Joseph´s second wife) had to grind moldy grain to make bran for their mush. Starvation seemed to be a real threat, but their faith and pioneer courage kept them going. Joseph remembered where a deer had been killed several months earlier and he went to that place and searched in the snow until he uncovered the hide. He took it home, singed the hair from it and cut the hide into inch wide strips, which were then cut into small pieces. Pernetta boiled their empty flour sack to make a thin broth and then added the pieces of hide. Elizibeth set their poor table with the best dishes she had and filled a large serving bowl with the glue soup made from deer hide. Neighbors who had even less than they had were invited in for Christmas dinner. Joseph blessed their food and gave thanks to God, saying how lucky they were to have such a fine meal when there were others who had nothing for Christmas. In December of 1870 a message came from Brigham Young advising them to abandon the mission as quickly as possible. As they were leaving the children sang a song which said, ‘Of sego roots and glue soup, we´ve had enough to eat, and we’d like to change our diet, to buckwheat cakes and meat! Pernetta and Elizibeth gave up the little orchard and vineyard they had labored so hard carrying water to, just as they were becoming mature enough to bear fruit. They simply closed their doors, turned their backs, and walked away. They were headed home to Heber City.”(10)

In Heber City Pernetta gave birth to her last two children. She settled into life – providing for and raising her children, “Pernetta and many of the women would gather hops along the river. They would take their sacks and a little lunch and be off real early. They would gather hops until their sacks were full then walk home. They would spread the hops on clean sheets on the upstairs floor to dry. When they were dry they would take them to Mark Jeff´s store and he would send them to Salt Lake to the Brewery to put in the beer. They could earn a little extra money from the sale of the hops. They saved scraps of cloth that were too small or not fit for quilts, rugs, or carpet rags. They sold them for making paper bags. They were thrifty women and earned extra money by washing or cleaning or helping others.”

In the Sketch of Aunt Pernetta it states the following: “Pernetta, full blood Ute wife of Joseph S. Murdock was held in great esteem and as a favored member of the tribe. Boy Chief Tabby and the members of the Ute Band, many other meetings took place at Pernetta Murdock´s home. It was made a rest haven for many tired Indians and their stock – moving to the new homes on the reservation. Pernetta remained a favored member of her tribe until her death.”(11) Pernetta was in a position to help her people as they experienced continuous trauma, loss of lands and lives, and forced relocation. (Though Pernetta’s identity is labeled as Ute in this record, she was of the Timpanogos people.)

Pernetta Sweet Murdock died at the age of 39 or 40, in Heber City on November 18, 1884. Joseph Murdock´s second wife Eliza raised Pernetta´s living children and cared for them as if they were her own. She was greatly loved in her Mormon family, and was a favorite Aunt of all the children.

Pernetta´s great granddaughter recently expressed, “It has been such an exciting experience to learn more about my grandmother Pernetta. I have felt a closeness to her by reading letters that my father kept all these years. She must have been a brave and strong woman to endure the choices that were made for her. I can’t even imagine the emotional turmoil that came from being someone’s adopted daughter to being his wife. I like to think that my endurance is a gift that has been passed down from her. In times of struggle I know she did the best she could and has set an example for those that followed, like me.” Ann Bonner, daughter of the late Bertell Murdock Bonner.

This is written in dedication to the memory of Pernetta Sweet Murdock, for her bravery during a time in which her people experienced great trauma. Even now she is an inspiration to others, just as when she lived. I am honored to know her story and through her the experience of the people. Indigenous peoples have lived in Utah for many thousands of years with archeological finds dating as far back as 12,000 years. Her people have their own unique and beautiful history that must be remembered. They are not my people, but I stand with them in honor of Pernetta, their daughter, mother and grandmother.

Additional Notes

1- Orrin Porter Rockwell told the Murdock family that the children were bought from an Indian who had captured them and was selling them. Rockwell said the two children were tied upside down by their feet, hurt and bleeding, and that was the reason given for the terrible state the children were in when they were sold to the Murdocks. Rockwell said that if he did not buy the children from the Indian that they would have been killed. Once the children were in the care of Rockwell he sold the children to the Murdocks.(10)(11)

2- The Timpanogos history says Pernetta and Albert Supickets were taken during attacks by the Mormon Militia on the Timpanogos settlements. Supickets was pulled off the body of his dead mother and put into a wagon. His younger sister was also in the wagon. They were separated and he was sold to the Murdocks with Pernetta. Albert Supickets Murdock always maintained that Pernetta was not the same sister as the one on the wagon, and that he and Pernetta were unrelated. Subpickets own memory of being pulled of his mother and put in a wagon as well as the timeline the Timpanogos people have recorded both directly conflict with Orrin Porter Rockwell’s account of an Indian capturing them to sell.(10)(11) 

Regardless – the Murdocks saw children in need and took them in. Eunice was unable to have children of her own and did love them as her own. In the Murdock journals much is written about the children being cherished and loved by the family. 

3- “George Thompson, ( a descendant of Joseph Stacey from one of his other wives), shared information from the journals with the Murdock family that told about Chief Aeropeen, Pernetta’s father, coming down from the mountains once a month to the Murdock home to visit her. Her obituary reads that she is a full-blood Shoshone woman. She died at the Young age of 44 and is buried in the Heber cemetery.”(9)

Sources

1. Escalante Silvestre Vélez de, & Warner, T. J. (1995). The domínguez-escalante journal: Their     expedition through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico in 1776. University of Utah. 
2. Christy, Howard. A. (2019, August 2). Open Hand and Mailed Fist: Mormon-Indian Relations in Utah 1847-52. Volume 46, Number 3. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume46_1978_number3/s/129356 
3. Joshua Bernhard, B. Y. U. (2017). The Provo River Battle. Intermountain Histories. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://www.intermountainhistories.org/items/show/44
4. Young, Brigham., & Harwell, W. S. (1997). Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1847-1850. Collier’s Pub. Co.
5. Gottfredson, Philip. B. (n.d.). The Black Hawk War; Fort Utah & Battle Creek Massacre (Gottfredson). Fort Utah and Battles Creek Massacre. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://www.blackhawkproductions.com/fortutah.htm
6. Johnson, Brandon. (2009, April 1). Massacre at table point. Utah Humanities. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://www.utahhumanities.org/stories/items/show/176 
7. Mormons Massacre Timpanogos (Utah) – Investing In Native Communities. https://nativephilanthropy.candid.org/events/mormons-massacre-timpanogos-utah/. (n.d.). Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://nativephilanthropy.candid.org/events/mormons-massacre-timpanogos-utah/
8. Smith History Vault: 1852-55 H. Stansbury’s report. (1852). Retrieved March 3, 2023, from http://www.olivercowdery.com/smithhome/1850s/1852Stan.htm 
9. Timpanogos Nation: Our ancestors. The Timpanogos Nation: Uinta Valley Reservation – Utah. (n.d.). Retrieved March 3, 2023, from http://www.timpanogostribe.com/ancestors.html
10. Hopper, Clixie M., Great Granddaughter of Pernetta, History of Pernetta Sweet Murdock, Murdock Family Records, In Print. 8 November 2018.
11. Murdock Witt, Millie, Sketch of Aunt Pernetta or Nettie Murdock, Murdock Family Records, In Print. 8 November 2018.

Blog post updated and edited on March 3, 2023

Published by Newcomb

Sarah Newcomb is Tsimshian of the First Nation from Metlakatla, Alaska. She works as a freelance editor, writer, and blogger. She has a Bachelors in English with a Focus in non-Fiction Creative Writing, an Associates in Communications, and a Minor in Philosophy. She currently lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband and four children. View all posts by Newcomb