The tale of Sally, an Indian captive purchased in 1847 and raised in Brigham Young's household, appears most commonly in Utah histories as little more than a quick anecdote or a brief footnote. Typically, her story is used to illustrate the brutality of Utah's Indian slave trade, the short-lived practice of indenturing Indian children, and Mormon attempts to proselyte and “civilize” Utah's Indigenous people.
The best-known of many versions of this story describes a young Bannock girl being rescued from brutal Ute raiders for the price of a rifle. Once cleaned up and fed, she was delivered into Young's household where she learned English and was trained to behave properly and work hard. An arranged marriage with the Pahvant chief, Kanosh, ended tragically when she was murdered by a jealous wife.
This was the accepted story.
But in Sally in Three Worlds, Virginia Kerns provides historians with a long-needed corrective...
