Conejos Indian Agency

The Conejos Indian Agency was established in the San Luis Valley for the Ute Indians in 1860. It was an important place where annuity goods were distributed to the Utes and treaty negotiations took place. After the Treaty of 1868 established a reservation for the Utes west of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, a new agency was established in 1869 on the reservation and the Conejos Agency was abandoned.

An Agency in the Valley

The Tabeguache and Muache Utes were attached to the Taos Agency in northern New Mexico under the jurisdiction of Kit Carson by 1856. Despite being administered by the Taos Agency, the Tabeguache Utes resided in a large area in what would become western and south-central Colorado, including the Uncompahgre and San Luis Valleys. The Muache band roamed farther south and was more closely attached to the Taos Agency. Annuity goods—annual payments made to Native Americans as stipulated by treaties—for the Tabeguache and Muache Utes were distributed at Conejos in the San Luis Valley beginning in 1858. For convenience, the goods were stored and distributed at Lafayette Head’s ranch at Conejos in 1859. In order to more effectively administer the Tabeguache Utes, the Conejos Agency was established in 1860 at Head’s ranch, and Head was appointed Indian agent.

With the establishment of Colorado Territory in 1861, the Conejos Agency came under the jurisdiction of Territorial Governor William Gilpin, who served as the superintendent of Indian Affairs. Head was confirmed as the Indian agent at Conejos because he was a Republican and a friend of the administration. The Muache Utes were encouraged to move northward from New Mexico into the San Luis Valley, where the agency could better serve them. But during treaty negotiations at the Conejos Agency in 1863, US representatives attempted to extinguish all title held by the Utes in Colorado and move them to a reservation on the San Juan River in northwestern New Mexico. These conflicting intentions—the United States was simultaneously arguing for the Utes to both leave and stay in Colorado—were fueled by a mix of counteracting forces in the nation’s capital. Delegations from Colorado and New Mexico wanted the Utes out of their states and Washington politicians in general had a poor understanding of the two territories and knew almost nothing about Ute culture.

In the 1863 agreement, the Tabeguache Utes agreed to cede the San Luis Valley and a large portion of the Colorado mountains, giving the United States control over nearly all of the existing mines on those lands. Congress substantially altered the treaty, then failed to ratify it or put it into effect. This fostered animosity and distrust of the US government among the Utes, who thought that the government failed to honor their agreement. As the San Luis Valley began filling with Hispano settlers, conflicts with the Ute increased, so the annuity distributions for the Tabeguache and Muache bands were moved to the Salt Works in the southern portion of South Park. Relations continued to deteriorate between the Ute and settlers, and movement of the agency was seen as a priority by 1868.

After 1868

The Treaty of 1868 was negotiated at the Conejos Agency. It established an eastern boundary of the Ute Reservation at 107 degrees latitude, west of the Continental Divide, and stipulated that two agencies would be constructed, subsequently known as the Los Piños Agency in the southern part of the reservation and the White River Agency in the northern part. Lafayette Head’s commission as Indian agent expired in 1867, but he continued to serve at the agency and facilitated the treaty negotiations. As it was too late in the year to move the agency in 1868, the task of finding a new location for the Conejos Agency fell to Lt. Calvin T. Speer under the direction of Governor Edward M. McCook in 1869.

The agency was temporarily moved to Saguache in July 1869 and put under the direction of William S. Godfrey, Head’s former clerk. Intending to establish the new agency in the Uncompahgre Valley, the Ute refused to go much farther west of Cochetopa Pass, so a suitable location was found along Los Piños Creek just west of the pass, and the agency was renamed the Los Piños Agency. Both the Muache and Capote Utes resided in New Mexico; the latter, served by an agency at Abiquiú, New Mexico, refused to be parties to the 1868 treaty and did not desire to move onto the reservation. They remained in New Mexico and were not afforded additional benefits beyond subsistence.