the youngest son of a man named Joe Bishop and the second the son of Sanup. The two Utes later surrendered to the local sheriff, William Oliver, in Blanding, but while they were in custody they contracted food poisoning and were allowed to go home, with the agreement that they would return for trial. Meanwhile, the robbery and assault at Perkins ranch was used as a reason to begin rounding up all of the natives living around Bluff. While some were captured and put in a barbed wire compound in Blanding, the majority abandoned their lands and headed for the wilderness. When the trial began on March 20, the boys arrived back in town. Bishop's son was using a stick as a cane, apparently still feeling ill. Chief Posey and a few of his men attended the trial to try to help the boys and ensure that nothing would jeopardize the fight for their land in San Juan County. War Blanding Incident The first part of the trial concluded without incident but when the court adjourned at noon, Sheriff Oliver took the two boys to lunch. Sheriff George A. Hurst, who was present at the court proceedings, wrote the following: After that Chief Posey fled with his people, closely pursued by a posse in a Ford Model T. Posey opened fire at that point with his .30-06 rifle, disabling the vehicle and temporarily ending the chase. Now that Posey was a wanted man, he went north with his band from their homes in Allen Canyon to the desert around Navajo Mountain. There followed a series of yellow newspaper reports accusing the chief and his band of being either directly or indirectly involved in a number of various crimes, including rape and murder. Battle of Comb Ridge On March 22, the Times-Independent ran an article titled: "Piute Band Declares War on Whites in Blanding" . The article also said that county commissioners had requested permission from Utah Governor Charles Mabey to allow the use of a military scout plane to bomb and strafe the natives. This was not approved. A $100 reward was placed on Posey's head by the state, dead or alive. C. F. Sloane of the Salt Lake Tribune was in Blanding at the time and wrote hideously inaccurate reports of the situation. Sloane wrote that Blanding was surrounded for "thirty-six hours of terrorism", with Utes in war paint