Ahvote

Ahvote was a young Paiute warrior who in 1890 had to track down and kill his own brother when the latter had turned renegade and murdered a U.S. Mails carrier. This was the outcome of a working agreement between the American Indians and settlers: If the tribe executed its own renegades, the Paiutes would have nothing to fear from the law or the U.S. military-that is, no punitive action would be taken against the tribe if the chief dealt with any of its members who had committed crimes against the settlers. In 1897, Ahvote blamed two local teamsters for luring his wife away, and on May 12, 1897, he aired his grievance with gunfire. When the smoke cleared, the town had the bodies of the two suspected teamsters plus those of four innocent by-standers. However, the old "working agreement" was still in force and Ahvote's father carried out the deed of killing him, his own son.