Sally Young Kanosh

Sally Young Kanosh (originally known as Kahpeputz or Sally Indian) was a Bannock woman who was kidnapped from her home and sold by a slave-trader named Batiste to Charles Decker, Brigham Young's brother-in-law. She converted to Mormonism and worked in Brigham Young's house as either an indentured servant, adoptive daughter or plural wife. She married Ute chief Kanosh as a plural wife. There is some evidence that she might have been killed by another wife of Kanosh who was jealous of her. In 1906, Susa Young Gates wrote about Sally, who portrayed Young's relationship with Sally as the ideal relationship between whites and Native Americans, which helped put Sally into the collective memory of second generation Mormons in Utah. Her kidnappers cut her body with knives and poured hot ashes on her wounds. A slave trader by the name of Batiste took her and another boy to sell to the Salt Lake Valley Fort, where Mormon pioneers had recently arrived. Initially, the Mormons refused to purchase the slaves, so Batiste killed the boy and threatened to kill Kahpeputz as well. Charles Decker bought Kahpeputz in exchange for his rifle. He then gave Kahpeputz to his sister, Clara Decker Young, wife of Brigham Young.

Life with the Young family When Kahpeputz was given to Clara, Clara renamed her Sally. The 1860 census gave her the name Sally Indian and listed her among the servants to the Young family. Writer, Sandra Jones, used Sally as an example of how adopted Indian children were not treated as equals to white children. There is indication that Sally might have been married and sealed to Brigham Young as a plural wife.

Marriage to Kanosh

During one of the meetings between Brigham Young and Kanosh, Kanosh saw Sally and offered a band of ponies for her. She was insulted and refused. On June 8, 1877, Sally and Kanosh were married by Dimick Huntington. They then lived in central Utah, in what is now Kanosh, Utah. It is not clear why Sally married Kanosh. Gates indicates that Sally was given a choice, and after an initial rejection changed her mind when Kanosh rescued her from Walkara. Mueller indicates there is no evidence that Walkara ever took Sally or that she chose to marry Kanosh. He believes she was married to strengthen the alliance between Kanosh and Brigham Young, and that Sally was either unwilling or reluctant. Ten years after her marriage, Sally died. There is some evidence that she might have been killed by another wife of Kanosh who was jealous of her.