Wakara's War was a dispute between the Paiute Indians and the Mormon settlers in the Utah Valley. This war is characterized as a string of disputes and skirmishes over property and the land from July 1853 to May 1854. This war was influenced by factors such as religious differences, the slave trade, and the division of the Salt Lake Valley. Chief Wakara Wakara was a leader of the Ute Native Americans in Utah. He was also known as Wakarum, Walkara, Walkar, Wacker, Wacherr, Watcher, and his white name Walker. Wakara means "yellow" or "brass" in the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It is thought that Wakara went by that name because of his preference for yellow buckskin. The physical characteristics of the land largely separated Wakara's band from other Ute and Shoshone Indians in that area. They subsisted mainly on a hunter-gatherer diet, roaming the land to find the sustenance and supplies that they needed to survive. This was greatly aided by the influence of horses in the Ute culture, especially with Wakara as chief. He was known as the "Napoleon of the Desert", a nickname given for his cunning and strategy in horse raids. Wakara's band had a very profitable slave trade with the Spaniards, in which they traded captives from other tribes for European goods. Mormon Pioneers Wakara was the chief of the Paiute Indians at the time that the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly referred to as the Mormon pioneers) began to arrive in the Utah Valley and settle the land around 1847. The pioneers were fleeing from religious persecution in Illinois and Missouri and believed that religious freedom would be found outside the United States in lands at the time claimed by Mexico. The Mormons were led west from Illinois by their religious leader, Brigham Young, who was revered among them as a prophet. The Mormon settlers did not account for the indigenous tribes of the Goshute, Ute, and Shoshone whose territory they were wanting to settle outside the Salt Lake Valley, which led to protracted, and at times violent, conflicts. The Salt Lake Valley was claimed by none of the four surrounding tribes making it an ideal settling place for the early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Events Leading up to the War Religious Differences In the years following the Mormons' arrival