Gobo Fango (ca. 1855 – died 1886) was a South African (

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

Tribe) who emigrated to the United States with a white Latter-day Saint family in 1861. While he never joined

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church) he was one of the most prominent people of African descent in nineteenth-century Utah. He was murdered in a confrontation with white cowboys in Idaho in 1886.

Early life

Gobo Fango was born near the Eastern Cape Colony of South Africa following the Eighth Cape Frontier War in 1855. The War began when Dutch settlers introduced cattle disease to South Africa which led to a famine. A Xhosa priestess named

Nongqawuse Nongqawuse (; ''c.'' 1841 – 1898) was the Xhosa people, Xhosa prophet whose prophecies led to a millenarianism, millenarian movement that culminated in the history of the Cape Colony from 1806 to 1870#Xhosa cattle-killing movement and famine (1 ...

promised the Xhosa that if they killed all of their cattle that they would be resurrected and multiplied, providing more food and labor for South Africans. The prophecy failed and multiplied the famine. Fango's mother, whose name is not known, died in the famine. A white family who belonged to the LDS Church, Henry and Ruth Talbot, found Fango on their property. According to Talbot family tradition, the Talbots adopted him. Other records suggest he was a servant. Fango was never

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

as a Latter-day Saint.

Life in Utah

On February 20, 1861, the Talbots and other Latter-day Saints boarded the ship ''Race Horse'' from Port Elizabeth, South Africa to begin their journey to Utah, where they planned to gather with other Latter-day Saints. They smuggled him onto the ''Race Horse'' inside a carpet or inside of a box. Once in the United States, they continued to conceal that they were traveling with a Black child. The Talbots and Fango settled in Kaysville in 1861. Fango worked as a laborer for the family. His feet froze one year and had part of one of his feet removed. He later left the Talbots and worked for the Mary Ann Whitesides Hunter of

Grantsville, Utah Grantsville is the second most populous city in Tooele County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 12,617 at the 2020 census. The city has grown slowly and steadily through ...

Life and death in Idaho

Gobo Fango moved to the Goose Creek Valley of

Idaho Territory The Territory of Idaho was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1863, until July 3, 1890, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as Idaho. History 1860s The territory w ...

by the early 1880s where he worked as a sheepherder and became a business partner with Walter Matthews and Edward Hunter. In 1886 Fango became embroiled in a land dispute over grazing lands. Consequently, a cowboy named Franke Bedke accused Fango of trespassing and attempted to force him to leave the valley. After a verbal confrontation, Bedke shot Fango and left him for dead. Fango walked more than a mile in pursuit of medical help. He left $200 to Grantsville' Utah's impoverished citizens and smaller donations to Hunter family members. He left $500, half of his net worth, to the

Salt Lake City Temple The Salt Lake Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. At , it is the largest Latter-day Saint temple by floor area. Dedicated in 1893, it is the sixth temple ...

Construction Fund. Fango’s grave is located in the Oakley, Idaho city cemetery. The headstone reads: “Gobo Fango, died February 10, 1886.”

References

{{Black people and the Latter Day Saint movement 1850s births 1886 deaths African Americans in Idaho African-American history of Utah People murdered in Idaho South African emigrants to the United States Xhosa people