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    Thomas Alex (1872–1932)

    Thomas Alex was a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a leader in the Washakie Ward, a skilled outdoorsman, a father, and an active part of the wider Shoshone community.1 He was a Western Shoshone born on 10 February 1872 to mother Ho-tim-a-sow-wop (or Jane) and father Elk in Deeth, Nevada.2 His Shoshone name was Biza Guchu, meaning milk cow.3 At some point, he adopted the English name Thomas, using Tom for short, and took his father’s given name as his surname.

    Tom’s parents apparently separated when he was about two years old. His mother, Jane, evidently married Thomas Pabawena Sr. in the mid-1870s and relocated after 1880 to northern Utah, where she joined the church.4 She and Thomas Sr. were sealed in the Logan Temple in 1885, and she appeared in Washakie Ward records beginning in 1891.5

    Tom probably remained with his father in Nevada, but little is known about his life through the age of 42, when he moved to Washakie in mid-1914.6 He began using the surnames Elk and Alex interchangeably soon after his arrival, likely to differentiate himself from a fellow Shoshone ward member, George Elk.7 Tom accepted baptism in August and then married Lucy Zundel (1889–1966), a widow who hailed from a prominent Washakie family, that November.8 Together they had seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood: Marjorie Ruby (1915–1984), Clara Bernice (1922–1938), Geneva (1925–1979), and Melvin Alma (1931–2007).9 Tom worked a seasonal circuit of jobs in Utah, Idaho, and Nevada to support his family.10 As an accomplished outdoorsman, he used his skills as a trapper, sheep shearer, fisher, and hunter to earn a living and enjoy the bounties of his ancestral homeland.11 He also leased farmland in Bannock Creek and spent months planting and harvesting crops there from 1926 to 1927.12

    During a hunting trip in 1925, Tom was arrested by the deputy game commissioner for killing a deer out of season.13 Treaty advocate and fellow Shoshone Willie Ottogary accompanied Tom to the courthouse in Brigham City. Willie likely contributed to Tom’s defense by explaining the hunting rights that the Treaty of Box Elder afforded to them as Northwestern Shoshone.14 Tom was released after the judge heard the case, which marked an early chapter in the Northwestern Shoshone fight for treaty rights.15

    After his baptism and confirmation as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Tom remained faithful to his religion for the rest of his life and served in a variety of callings. He was tasked with meetinghouse care soon after his baptism in 1914 and two years later was called as deacons quorum president.16 In the 1920s, he simultaneously served in the superintendencies of the Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association, where he worked with the young men in the ward, and the Sunday school, where he oversaw the ward’s religious education.17 He also served as a ward teacher, tasked with visiting ward members and assessing their needs.18 Throughout his time as a teacher and as a frequent sacrament meeting speaker, Tom spoke often on priesthood duties, individual responsibility, faithfulness to gospel principles, the Book of Mormon, and even some dreams he had.19

    Tom maintained ties with his family and friends in Deeth and traveled there often for holidays. He also stayed connected to his Shoshone roots as a Sun Dancer.20 Around 1930, when his daughter Marjorie Ruby (1915–1984) was in high school, the family permanently standardized their surname to Alex.21 After a life of hard work and service, Tom died of pneumonia on 18 December 1932.22 At his funeral on 21 December, the Washakie Ward bishopric praised Tom’s willingness to serve in the congregation. He was buried at the Washakie cemetery.23

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    Thomas Alex (1872–1932), Native Saints, accessed May 28, 2026 https://www.churchhistorianspress.org/native-saints/biographies/thomas-alex

      Footnotes

      1. [1]“Thomas Alex,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.

      2. [2]Washakie Branch, part 2, image 148, Record of Members Collection, 1836–1970, Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (Church History Library hereafter cited as CHL); “Jane Pabawena,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.

      3. [3]Elva Roma Neaman Schramm, interview by Paula B. Watkins, 3 Mar. 2015, transcript, p. 29, CHL. In some Shoshone dialects, Biza Guchu means “Milk Cow.” (Shoshoni Dictionary, “biza guchu,” last updated 1 April 2026, shoshoniproject.utah.edu/language-materials/shoshoni-dictionary/dictionary.php.)

      4. [4]Before their sealing, Jane and Thomas had four children together. The first was Katie, who was born in Nevada in 1874. This indicates that Jane split from Elk as early as 1873 to pursue a relationship with Thomas Pabawena. Likewise, the birth of their third child, John, in 1880 in Nevada gives clues as to when they left Nevada to come to Washakie. (“Katie Pabaweena Neaman,” Idaho Death Certificates, 1938–61, FamilySearch database, available at familysearch.org; Washakie Branch, part 1, image 158, Record of Members Collection, CHL; Utah Military Records: World War II 4th Draft Registration Cards, 1942, DGS 101539323, no. 496, 7 May 1942, familysearch.org; see “Thomas Pabawena Sr.,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.)

      5. [5]Logan Temple Sealings of Living Couples, 1884–1957, microfilm 178135, vol. A, p. 36, 4 Mar. 1885, FamilySearch Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (FamilySearch Library hereafter cited as FSL); Washakie Ward Minutes, 1883–1910, p. 31, 18 July 1891, CHL.

      6. [6]This move date is based on his earliest record in the Washakie Ward records, a tithing donation on 5 July 1914. (Historian’s Office Local Unit Financial Records, 1844–1963, Washakie Ward, Malad Stake, 1904–15, p. 135, CHL.)

      7. [7]Although George Elk was not baptized until 1918, he first appeared in Washakie Ward records as early as 1909. (Historian’s Office Local Unit Financial Records, Washakie Ward, Malad Stake, 1904–15, p. 87, CHL; Washakie Branch, part 2, image 230, Record of Members Collection, CHL; Helen Pubigee Timbimboo, interview by Alicia Martinez and Rios Pacheco, 5 Jan. 2012, transcript, p. 13, CHL; “George Elk,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.)

      8. [8]Washakie Branch, part 2, image 153, Record of Members Collection, CHL; biography of Lucy Zundel Alex.

      9. [9]“Marjorie Ruby Alex,” “Joseph Young Alex,” “Edward Wayne Alex,” “Daniel Lawrence Alex,” “Geneva Alex,” “Clara Bernice Alex,” and “Melvin Alma Alex,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.

      10. [10]Matthew E. Kreitzer, ed., The Washakie Letters of Willie Ottogary: Northwestern Shoshone Journalist and Leader, 1906–1929 (Utah State University Press, 2000), 148–53.

      11. [11]Kreitzer, Washakie Letters of Willie Ottogary, 108, 124, 166, 178.

      12. [12]Kreitzer, Washakie Letters of Willie Ottogary, 195, 200. He may have leased land or worked farms in the Bannock Creek area in other years as well, since he is recorded going there to work periodically over the years.

      13. [13]"Indian Up for Killing Deer," Box Elder News (Brigham City, UT), 30 Jan. 1925, 1; “Indian Held on Game Law,” Salt Lake Telegram, 31 Jan. 1925, 5.

      14. [14]“The Northwestern Shoshone and the Latter-day Saints”; Ratified Indian Treaty 325, Box Elder Co., Utah Territory, 30 July 1863, NAID 74859412, General Records of the United States Government, RG 11, National Archives, Washington, DC; biography of Willie Ottogary.

      15. [15]He also was fined $200. “Indian Up for Killing Deer,” 1.

      16. [16]Washakie Ward General Minutes, 1902–33, 1943–62, vol. 1, image 75, 18 July 1915, CHL; Washakie Branch, part 1, images 158, 234, Record of Members Collection, CHL.

      17. [17]Washakie Branch, part 1, image 251, Record of Members Collection, CHL; Washakie Ward General Minutes, vol. 7, p. 195, CHL.

      18. [18]Washakie Ward Relief Society Minutes and Records, 1926–37, 1959–61, vol. 1, image 61, CHL. For more information on the duties of a ward teacher, see William G. Hartley, “‘Brethren, It’s the Last Day of the Month’: A History of Ward Teaching, 1912–1963,” Journal of Mormon History 44, no. 4 (2018): 90–111.

      19. [19]Washakie Ward General Minutes, vol. 2, images 18, 158, 25 Mar. 1917, 4 Apr. 1920; vol. 3, images 9, 17, 5 Feb. 1922, 26 Mar. 1922; vol. 6, image 127, 29 Jan. 1922, CHL.

      20. [20]Kreitzer, Washakie Letters of Willie Ottogary, 114.

      21. [21]Kreitzer, Washakie Letters of Willie Ottogary, 292. When sorted from smallest to largest, Tom’s records in the database show a definitive shift to “Alex” around 1930. Helen Pubigee suggested in an interview that Geneva Alex was the one to suggest the standardization because their mail used to get mixed up with another Elk family in the community. See Timbimboo, interview, 5 Jan. 2012, transcript, p. 13, CHL.

      22. [22]Washakie Ward General Minutes, vol. 8, p. 143, CHL.

      23. [23]Washakie Ward General Minutes, vol. 8, p. 134, 21 Dec. 1932, CHL.