%1 http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/ en Treaty of Abiquiú http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-abiquiu <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Treaty of Abiquiú</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2020-03-13T13:32:56-06:00" title="Friday, March 13, 2020 - 13:32" class="datetime">Fri, 03/13/2020 - 13:32</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-abiquiu" data-a2a-title="Treaty of Abiquiú"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Ftreaty-abiquiu&amp;title=Treaty%20of%20Abiqui%C3%BA"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Considered to be the first official treaty between the United States and the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/search/google/ute"><strong>Ute</strong></a> people of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, the Treaty of Abiquiú was made in 1849 with the intention of establishing peaceful relations between the two groups. Signed in the northern New Mexico village of Abiquiú, the treaty came at the end of a violent decade in present-day New Mexico and southern Colorado.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Although it did little to quell the violence in a hotly contested region, the treaty laid the groundwork for future Ute-American relations and granted the US government a foothold in the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/san-luis-valley"><strong>San Luis Valley</strong></a>, northern New Mexico, and other indigenous-controlled territories it claimed after the end of the <strong>Mexican-American War</strong> in 1848.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Origins</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>By the early 1840s, a violent situation was brewing along today’s New Mexico–Colorado border. Indigenous people—including the <strong>Apache</strong>, <strong>Arapaho</strong>, <strong>Navajo</strong>, and Ute—fought each other for access to hunting grounds and trade networks. At the same time, they found their ancestral lands increasingly traversed by European and American fur traders, Mexican ranchers and wagon trains along the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/santa-f%C3%A9-trail-0"><strong>Santa Fé Trail</strong></a> and other trading routes. In response to this growing threat, Indigenous people raided New Mexican towns, drove off would-be colonists on <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/mexican-land-grants-colorado"><strong>Mexican land grants</strong></a>, and attacked wagon trains.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Regional violence escalated after the outbreak of the Mexican-American War in 1846. Moving relatively unopposed down the Santa Fé Trail, the US Army quickly captured New Mexico, and President James Polk installed Charles Bent, an American trader, as governor of the unorganized territory. Apaches, Navajos, Utes, and other Indigenous nations continued their defensive campaign against the foreign invaders, increasing raids on New Mexican communities such as Las Vegas and Taos. In response, the US Army embarked on several campaigns to punish Indigenous nations, including one in 1848 that fought a combined Ute-Apache force near Cumbres Pass in the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/san-juan-mountains"><strong>San Juan Mountains</strong></a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>After the war ended in 1848, New Mexicans (now American citizens under the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-guadalupe-hidalgo"><strong>Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo</strong></a>) began expanding their claims in New Mexico and the San Luis Valley. This prompted more reprisals from Indigenous people. Finally, in March 1849, the US Army’s swift destruction of fifty Ute lodges in New Mexico convinced Ute leaders that peace was a wiser course. Not only would it spare them losses against a superior fighting force, but it would also give them time to deal with their own political crises and food shortage, both of which stemmed from the ongoing defense of their lands.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>A “Perpetual Peace”</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>New Mexico governor James S. Calhoun also came to believe that peace with the Utes was necessary if the United States hoped to populate its new territories. Like other American observers, Calhoun considered the Utes to be key in making this peace, as they were believed to hold “influence over the [other] wild tribes.” In late December 1849, in his capacity as <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/indian-agencies-and-agents"><strong>Indian Agent</strong></a>, Calhoun brought together Ute leaders—mostly from the <strong>Capote </strong>and <strong>Muache bands</strong>—and American officials at Abiquiú, a village along the Chama River in northern New Mexico. The subsequent agreement, signed by twenty-eight leaders of the “Utah tribe of Indians,” placed the Utes “lawfully and exclusively under the jurisdiction of the [US] government” in “perpetual peace and amity.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The treaty provided for “free passage” of American citizens through Ute territory, as well as for the construction of “military posts,” Indian agencies, and “trading houses” on Ute lands. In return, it promised to protect Utes against depredations by American citizens, as well as provide “such donations, presents, and implements” deemed necessary for the Utes to “support themselves by their own industry.” These “donations” would come in the form of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/indian-annuities"><strong>annuities</strong></a>—annual deliveries of food and supplies.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>From the Ute perspective, the most problematic section of the treaty called for Utes to “cultivate the soil,” to “cease the roving and rambling habits which have hitherto marked them as a people,” and to “confine themselves strictly” within American-imposed territorial limits.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>These clauses reflected a common misunderstanding in many treaties between the United States and Indigenous nations during the nineteenth century. To the Utes, many of whom had only a cursory understanding of the treaty’s contents, the agreement was merely a pragmatic parley that would bolster their chances of survival in a new geopolitical reality. Determined to remain on their land, they did not imagine the treaty as restricting their traditional migratory rounds, nor did they see it as erasing their sovereignty. To the government officials who penned it, however, the treaty was viewed as the Utes’ total surrender to American authority, the first step toward their eventual “civilization” and the acquisition of their land.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Treaty of Abiquiú was ratified by Congress on September 24, 1850, just weeks after the establishment of New Mexico Territory.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Aftermath</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Despite the treaty’s hopes for “peace and amity,” regional violence continued immediately after its signing, revealing the vast gulf between how the two parties understood the agreement. Not even a week later, Utes killed a group of Mexicans along the Chama River and stole their livestock. The Utes viewed the violence as necessary. Although the treaty promised annuities that would ease their starvation, they still needed food in the interim, and they decided to take what they needed from people they continued to consider trespassers.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As months went by and annuities still did not arrive—Calhoun’s agency was simply too large and underfunded to fulfill the treaty obligations—Utes continued to take livestock from Americans and Mexicans in New Mexico and Colorado. The US Army’s establishment of Fort Massachusetts (later <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fort-garland-0"><strong>Fort Garland</strong></a>) in the San Luis Valley in 1852 did little to stop the raids. American officials sought to curb the violence by regulating American and Mexican traders, who were the Utes’ chief suppliers of weapons and ammunition.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The new rules only made the Utes angrier, especially since similar regulations were not imposed on Plains traders who provided arms and ammunition to their enemies, the Arapaho and <strong>Cheyenne</strong>. Overall, the presence of white immigrants and military units, combined with the US government’s inability to fulfill its treaty obligations, exacerbated regional power struggles between indigenous peoples, precipitating a plague of violence across southern Colorado and northern New Mexico throughout the 1850s. Then the <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a> of 1858–59 brought thousands of American immigrants to Colorado, decisively shifting the regional balance of power toward the United States.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Legacy</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Even though it did not bring “perpetual peace” to New Mexico and southern Colorado, the Treaty of Abiquiú established a precedent of treaty making between the United States and Ute leaders that lasted until the 1870s. From the American perspective, this made the Utes reliable, if reluctant, partners, confirming many officials’ belief that the Utes were one of the “good” Indigenous nations.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>For the Utes, this status was a double-edged sword, for as much as it often put them in the good graces of a decidedly superior military force, it also paved the way for their continued acquiescence to US demands, especially the cession of their lands. By 1881, thirty-two years after Ute leaders marked their “x” at Abiquiú, many of the Ute bands had been removed from Colorado, and the remaining bands held only a small strip of land in the state.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/abiquiu" hreflang="en">abiquiu</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/treaties" hreflang="en">treaties</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/native-americans" hreflang="en">native americans</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ute" hreflang="en">ute</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/utes" hreflang="en">utes</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ute-indians" hreflang="en">ute indians</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/muache" hreflang="en">muache</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/capote" hreflang="en">capote</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/new-mexico" hreflang="en">new mexico</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/native-american-history" hreflang="en">native american history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/san-luis-valley" hreflang="en">San Luis Valley</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Ned Blackhawk, <em>Violence Over the Land: Indians and Empires in the Early American West</em> (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006).</p> <p>Virginia McConnell Simmons, <em>The Ute Indians of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico </em>(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2000).</p> <p>“<a href="https://utulsa.edu/academics/academic-calendar/schedule-of-courses/">Treaty Between the United States of America and the Utah Tribe of Indians</a>,” December 30, 1849.</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>“<a href="https://www.southernute-nsn.gov/history/chronology/">Chronology</a>,” Southern Ute Indian Tribe, n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Sondra G. Jones, <em>Being and Becoming Ute: The Story of an American Indian People </em>(Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2019).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Fri, 13 Mar 2020 19:32:56 +0000 yongli 3168 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Conejos Treaty http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/conejos-treaty <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Conejos Treaty</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2020-03-12T16:03:42-06:00" title="Thursday, March 12, 2020 - 16:03" class="datetime">Thu, 03/12/2020 - 16:03</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/conejos-treaty" data-a2a-title="Conejos Treaty"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fconejos-treaty&amp;title=Conejos%20Treaty"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Signed in October 1863 at <strong>Conejos</strong> in the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/san-luis-valley"><strong>San Luis Valley</strong></a>, the Conejos Treaty was an agreement between the US government and the Tabeguache band of Nuche (Ute people). It granted the United States the rights to all land in Colorado’s <a href="/article/rocky-mountains"><strong>Rocky Mountains</strong></a> east of the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/great-divide"><strong>Continental Divide</strong></a>, as well as <a href="/article/grand-county"><strong>Middle Park</strong></a>. The Conejos Treaty is also known as the “Treaty with the Utah-Tabeguache Band,” as well as the “Treaty of 1864,” the year it was ratified.</p> <p>The treaty was an attempt to end hostilities that resulted when white immigrants occupied <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/search/google/ute"><strong>Ute</strong></a> lands during the <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a> of 1858–59 and after the passage of the <a href="/article/homestead"><strong>Homestead</strong></a> Act in 1862. The government had hoped that more of Colorado’s Ute bands would sign the treaty, but only the Tabeguache were willing to attend the negotiations in any significant number. From that moment on, the US government considered the Tabeguache leader <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/ouray"><strong>Ouray</strong></a> to be the de facto leader of all Utes, even though he was not recognized as such by Colorado’s other Ute bands. Five years later, in an attempt to avoid bloodshed, Ouray helped recruit other Ute leaders to sign <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/ute-treaty-1868"><strong>another</strong> <strong>treaty</strong></a> that pushed the Utes even farther west.</p> <h2>Origins</h2> <p>The first treaty between the US government and Ute people, signed at <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-abiqui%C3%BA"><strong>Abiquiú</strong></a>, New Mexico, in 1849, accomplished little for either side. It failed to award decisive control of the region to the United States, and it failed to give the Utes the reliable food supply they had sought through diplomacy. Perhaps most important, it failed to quell the violence that wracked the Colorado–New Mexico borderlands at the time.</p> <p>Roughly a decade later, the Colorado Gold Rush brought thousands of white immigrants to the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/front-range"><strong>Front Range</strong></a> of the Rockies. Gold seekers set up mining camps in <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/central-city%E2%80%93black-hawk-historic-district"><strong>Central City and</strong> <strong>Black Hawk</strong></a>, <strong>Idaho Springs</strong>, <a href="/article/fairplay"><strong>Fairplay</strong></a>, and other places in the mountains west of <a href="/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>. The Utes, who had lived in Colorado’s mountains for more than four centuries, generally viewed these newcomers with tolerant suspicion. But tensions increased as whites brought <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/impact-disease-native-americans"><strong>disease</strong></a> and competed with the Utes for game and other resources.</p> <p>The Utes felt a brief reprieve in the early 1860s, when many of the Front Range’s richest surface gold deposits were panned out and disgruntled prospectors headed back east. However, the passage of the Homestead Act in 1862 drew even more whites westward, seeking to set up farms and ranches on land wrested from the <strong>Cheyenne</strong>, <strong>Arapaho</strong>, and other indigenous people. As would-be homesteaders increasingly moved into favorite Ute campsites in Middle Park and the upper <a href="/article/arkansas-river"><strong>Arkansas</strong></a> Valley, the Utes increasingly found themselves without peaceful recourse.</p> <p>Some Ute leaders, such as <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorow"><strong>Colorow</strong></a>, made a habit of driving off white intruders, while others, including Ouray, were more hospitable. Overall, however, growing tensions and sporadic outbreaks of violence, as well as the opportunity for resource development, convinced the government that the Utes should be made to give up their lands.</p> <h2>Signing the Treaty</h2> <p>Anticipating treaty negotiations that year, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/lafayette-head"><strong>Lafayette Head</strong></a>, agent at the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/conejos-indian-agency-0"><strong>Conejos Indian Agency</strong></a> in the San Luis Valley, attempted to impress the Utes by bringing a delegation of them to Washington, DC, in February 1863. Leaders from each of Colorado’s Ute bands, including the Tabeguache leaders Shavano and Ouray, rode a train to the nation’s capital and visited New York City.</p> <p>Believing the Indians to be sufficiently impressed, Colorado territorial governor <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/john-evans"><strong>John Evans</strong></a> convened a treaty council at Conejos in October 1863, joining Head and other government officials for the parley. However, most Ute leaders declined to make the trip. Ultimately, Ouray’s Tabeguache, numbering about 1,500, was the only band present in sufficient numbers to legitimize an agreement.</p> <p>Frustrated but undeterred, government officials had the Tabeguache leaders sign over their claims to most of the lands already occupied by white squatters. This included all of the Rocky Mountains east of the Continental Divide, as well as Middle Park, which was targeted for development by influential Front Rangers <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/william-n-byers"><strong>William N. Byers</strong></a> and <strong>Ed Berthoud</strong>. The treaty also gave the United States rights to build military posts and roads on all “unceded” land. This clause proved especially troublesome, as the Tabeguache were essentially granting permission for US citizens to trespass on land belonging to other Utes who did not agree to the treaty.</p> <p>In exchange, the Tabeguache Utes were confined to a region that stretched from the Uncompahgre Valley in the west to the Sawatch Range in the east, and from the Colorado River valley in the north to the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/gunnison-river"><strong>Gunnison River</strong></a> valley in the south. Per the revised treaty, the Utes would also receive $10,000 worth of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/indian-annuities"><strong>annuities</strong></a>—food and provisions—each year for ten years, as well as a few stallions to improve their horse stock. This was in contrast to the earlier, Abiquiú Treaty, which directed the Utes to abandon their “roving and rambling” ways, of which the horse was an important part.</p> <p>Among the ten Ute signatories were Ouray and Colorow, but it soon became apparent that the rest of Colorado’s Ute bands would not agree to the treaty terms. Five years later, with Ouray’s reluctant support, the government would try again to get Colorado’s disparate Ute bands to sign a treaty that would take more of their ancestral mountain homelands.</p> <h2>Legacy</h2> <p>The Conejos Treaty did little to improve United States–Ute relations, largely because the majority of Colorado’s Utes had not agreed to allow miners, soldiers, and homesteaders to trespass or build on their land. This alone provoked the same kind of violence that the treaty sought to avoid; it also gave white immigrants a false sense of entitlement to Ute land, which they desired even more as the mining industry revived in the mid-1860s.</p> <p>In addition, as with most other Indian treaties, the government failed to provide the promised annuities; in 1865, just one year after the treaty was ratified, Governor Evans was already complaining about a delay in annuity shipments.</p> <p>Finally, the Conejos Treaty solidified Ouray as the de facto Ute ambassador to the United States, a role that earned him considerable enmity, as well as begrudging respect, among his Ute peers. Ouray reluctantly accepted the role, using his high diplomatic status to continually seek the most peaceful outcome for his people.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ute" hreflang="en">ute</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ute-people" hreflang="en">ute people</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/utes" hreflang="en">utes</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ute-history" hreflang="en">ute history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/native-americans" hreflang="en">native americans</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/american-indians" hreflang="en">american indians</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/conejos" hreflang="en">Conejos</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/san-luis-valley" hreflang="en">San Luis Valley</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/lafayette-head" hreflang="en">Lafayette Head</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/indian-agent" hreflang="en">Indian Agent</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/abraham-lincoln" hreflang="en">abraham lincoln</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ouray" hreflang="en">ouray</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/tabeguache" hreflang="en">tabeguache</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/muache" hreflang="en">muache</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/treaties" hreflang="en">treaties</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Robert B. Houston Jr., <em>Two Colorado Odysseys: Chief Ouray, Porter Nelson </em>(Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2005).</p> <p>Virginia McConnell Simmons, <em>The Ute Indians of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico </em>(Boulder: University of Colorado Press, 2000).</p> <p>“<a href="https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=363524">Treaty with the Utah-Tabeguache Band, 1863</a>,” in <em>Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties</em>, vol. 2 (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1904).</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Peter R. Decker, <em>“The Utes Must Go!”: American Expansion and the Removal of a People </em>(Golden, CO: Fulcrum, 2004).</p> <p>Sondra G. Jones, <em>Being and Becoming Ute: The Story of an American Indian People </em>(Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2019).</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Thu, 12 Mar 2020 22:03:42 +0000 yongli 3163 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Ute Treaty of 1868 http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/ute-treaty-1868 <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Ute Treaty of 1868</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2020-01-15T15:39:02-07:00" title="Wednesday, January 15, 2020 - 15:39" class="datetime">Wed, 01/15/2020 - 15:39</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/ute-treaty-1868" data-a2a-title="Ute Treaty of 1868"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fute-treaty-1868&amp;title=Ute%20Treaty%20of%201868"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>The Ute Treaty of 1868, also known as the “Kit Carson Treaty,” was negotiated between agents of the US government, including <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/kit-carson"><strong>Kit Carson</strong></a>, and leaders of seven bands of Nuche (<a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/search/google/ute"><strong>Ute</strong></a> people) living in Colorado and Utah. The treaty created for the Utes a massive reservation on Colorado’s <a href="/article/western-slope"><strong>Western Slope</strong></a> in exchange for ceding the Central Rockies to the United States.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The treaty proved immensely important to the white population of Colorado, as it opened a huge portion of the mineral-rich <a href="/article/rocky-mountains"><strong>Rocky Mountains</strong></a> to development. For the Utes, however, it proved to be a major step toward their eventual expulsion from the state. The US government failed to fulfill the treaty’s obligations, and its coercive attempts to assimilate the Utes led to the bloody <a href="/article/meeker-incident"><strong>Meeker Incident</strong></a> of 1879 and the removal of most of Colorado’s Utes in the early 1880s.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Origins</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>By 1800 Ute people had lived in Colorado’s mountains for more than 500 years. By the 1860s, American mining camps and towns had been established on Ute land across the Colorado <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/front-range"><strong>Front Range</strong></a> as a result of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Gold Rush of 1858–59</strong></a>, and the United States officially claimed the Ute homeland when it established <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a> in 1861. After the passage of the first <a href="/article/homestead"><strong>Homestead Act</strong></a> in 1862 and the end of the <a href="/article/civil-war-colorado"><strong>Civil War</strong></a> three years later, many more whites came to the new territory.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In general, the Utes viewed the invaders with tolerant suspicion, only occasionally raiding or driving them off. As immigration increased, however, white Coloradans pressured the federal government to solve their local version of the nation’s so-called "Indian problem." The first treaty with Utes had been made in 1849 at <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-abiqui%C3%BA"><strong>Abiquiú</strong></a>, New Mexico, but it failed to encompass the lands that white Coloradans coveted—and had already begun occupying—in the 1860s. With mining and homesteading interests booming, the government brokered two major deals with the Utes to acquire Colorado’s mineral-rich peaks and lush mountain pastures.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The first <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/conejos-treaty"><strong>treaty</strong></a>, signed in 1863 at <strong>Conejos</strong> and approved by Congress in 1864, was made with just one band of Utes, the Tabeguache under <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/ouray"><strong>Ouray</strong></a>. It secured lands east of the Continental Divide and <a href="/article/grand-county"><strong>Middle Park</strong></a> for the United States. Among others, this included places such as <strong>Grand Lake</strong>, <strong>Hot Sulphur Springs</strong>, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/park-county"><strong>South Park</strong></a>, <strong>Buena Vista</strong>, and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/salida"><strong>Salida</strong></a>. Having secured these lands, the government now turned its attention to Colorado’s other Ute bands, many of which had far less experience with white Americans than the Tabeguache.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Signing the Treaty</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>In early 1868, the US government convened a treaty delegation in Washington, DC. On hand were Colorado territorial governor <strong>Alexander Hunt</strong>, Kit Carson’ <a href="/article/lafayette-head"><strong>Lafayette Head</strong></a>, Ouray, and representatives of six other Ute bands, including the Uintah band from Utah. Although Ouray represented only the Tabeguache, the government had recognized him as the de facto leader of all Utes during the 1863 negotiations, so he was again treated as such.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In the treaty, the US government agreed to create a reservation for all six bands of Colorado’s Ute people that encompassed nearly 16.5 million acres, or a third of the territory. Its boundaries ran between the <strong>White</strong> and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/yampa-river"><strong>Yampa</strong></a> Rivers in the north, the 107th meridian in the east, the Utah border in the west, and the New Mexico border in the south. The Uintah Utes would get their own reservation in northeast Utah. The government would set up one <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/indian-agencies-and-agents"><strong>Indian Agency</strong></a> in Utah and two in Colorado—one on the White River and another along the <strong>Los Piños River</strong>. There, agents would distribute <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/indian-annuities"><strong>annuities</strong></a>—deliveries of food and supplies—to the Utes, as well as farming equipment and animals for each family. Non-Natives could not enter, reside on, or cross the reservation.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>To keep receiving annuities, Utes would have to send their children to white schools and turn over any Ute who “commit[s] a wrong or depredation” to US authorities for punishment. The treaty also guaranteed a 160-acre <a href="/article/dawes-act-general-allotment-act"><strong>allotment</strong></a> and farming equipment to any Ute who chose to take up farming.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Leaders of the Capote, Grand River, Muache, Tabeguache, Weeminuche, and Yampa Ute bands all signed the treaty, though some signatures were later disputed. Back in Colorado, many Utes resented Ouray and other leaders for signing the treaty, and it soon became clear that most would not accept its “civilizing” dictums.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Trouble at the Agencies</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Establishing the agencies proved more difficult than laid out in the treaty. The <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/los-pi%C3%B1os-indian-agency"><strong>Los Piños Agency</strong></a>, for instance, was never actually established on the Los Piños River (in today’s <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/la-plata-county"><strong>La Plata County</strong></a>); first it was moved to <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/saguache-0"><strong>Saguache</strong></a>, an upstart town in the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/san-luis-valley"><strong>San Luis Valley</strong></a> that was already a trading hub for Indigenous people and whites. Saguache, however, was off the reservation, so the agency was soon moved to the frozen heights of <strong>Cochetopa Pass</strong>, south of <strong>Gunnison</strong>. This location proved to be too far from other Ute bands, so finally government officials settled on a site in the Uncompahgre Valley, south of present-day <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/montrose"><strong>Montrose</strong></a>, for the reservation’s southern agency.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Meanwhile, the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/white-river-ute-indian-agency"><strong>White River Agency</strong></a> farther north was established as per the treaty, but it was plagued with other problems. For one, it was in an extremely remote part of northwest Colorado, making travel and communication difficult. Annuities that were supposed to be delivered to both agencies under the treaty frequently arrived late or not at all, meaning that the Utes often did not have enough food or warm clothing.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The White River Agency experienced rapid turnover, and in 1879 Union Colony founder <a href="/article/nathan-meeker"><strong>Nathan Meeker</strong></a> was appointed to lead it. A devout zealot committed to “civilizing” the Utes, Meeker took a heavy-handed approach. He requested federal troops to keep Utes from leaving the reservation to hunt, and he deliberately plowed pastures and sought to destroy the Utes’ centuries-long relationship with the horse. Meeker’s treatment of the Utes culminated in the 1879 Meeker Incident, during which Utes killed Meeker and the agency’s staff. After an investigation into the matter, a new agreement was drawn up in 1880 that would remove all of Colorado’s Utes except the Muache, Capote, and Weeminuche, who were deemed not to be culpable in the incident.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Ouray refused to sign the 1880 Treaty, and he died before it was ratified and forced upon his people. Many Utes refused to abandon their homelands. In 1881 the US Army force-marched them onto a new reservation in northeast Utah, leaving the 110-mile strip of the <strong>Southern Ute</strong> Reservation as the only remaining Ute land in Colorado.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Legacy</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>In the national context, the Ute Treaty of 1868 was one of many treaties between the United States and Native Americans that year, including those with the <strong>Navajo</strong> and <strong>Lakota</strong>. At the time, these significant treaties were hailed as milestones in US-Indigenous relations. President Andrew Johnson gave silver peace medals to each Ute at the 1868 meetings. Yet no matter what the government promised in treaties, leverage remained with the United States and its superior military force.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>While Indigenous leaders often considered treaties to be binding agreements, the US government more or less considered them conditional arrangements, good only until the growing nation needed more land. For example, in 1871 Congress created a workaround to the 1868 Treaty by passing the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/indian-appropriations-act-1871-0"><strong>Indian Appropriations Act</strong></a>. Invalidating an 1832 Supreme Court decision, the act declared that Indigenous people did not belong to “sovereign nations” and thus could not enter treaties. This development made it easier to negotiate more land away from the Utes, such as in the 1873 <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/brunot-agreement"><strong>Brunot Agreement</strong></a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Still, without the 1868 treaty, white homesteaders and miners may have incited more violence against Ute people, and without leaders like Ouray, the Utes may have bled themselves out fighting a better-armed foe. In the end, the treaty might best be remembered as both a valiant attempt at peace on the part of Ute leaders and a pragmatic ploy by the US government to separate a people from their ancient homelands.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ute" hreflang="en">ute</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ute-treaty-1868" hreflang="en">ute treaty of 1868</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/treaty-1868" hreflang="en">Treaty of 1868</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/utes" hreflang="en">utes</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ouray" hreflang="en">ouray</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/tabeguache" hreflang="en">tabeguache</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/muache" hreflang="en">muache</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/weeminuche" hreflang="en">weeminuche</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/capote" hreflang="en">capote</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/yampa" hreflang="en">yampa</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/annuities" hreflang="en">annuities</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/reservation" hreflang="en">reservation</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/native-americans" hreflang="en">native americans</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/indian-agencies" hreflang="en">indian agencies</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/indian-agents" hreflang="en">indian agents</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/kit-carson" hreflang="en">kit carson</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/andrew-johnson" hreflang="en">andrew johnson</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Peter R. Decker, <em>“The Utes Must Go!”: American Expansion and the Removal of a People </em>(Golden, CO: Fulcrum, 2004).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Brandi Denison, <em>Ute Land Religion in the American West, 1879–2009 </em>(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2017).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Virginia McConnell Simmons, <em>The Ute Indians of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico </em>(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2000).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="https://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Treaties/TreatyWithTheUte1868.html">Treaty With the Ute, March 2, 1868</a>,” FirstPeoples.us, n.d.</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Laurence Armand French, <em>Legislating Indian Country: Significant Milestones in Transforming Tribalism</em> (New York: Peter Lang, 2007).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Sondra G. Jones, <em>Being and Becoming Ute: The Story of an American Indian People </em>(Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2019).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Robert Silbernagel, <em>Troubled Trails: The Meeker Affair and the Expulsion of Utes from Colorado </em>(Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2011).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Southern Ute Tribe, “<a href="https://www.southernute-nsn.gov/history/chronology/">Chronology</a>,” n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Richard K. Young, <em>The Ute Indians of Colorado in the Twentieth Century </em>(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Wed, 15 Jan 2020 22:39:02 +0000 yongli 3126 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Colorow http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorow <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Colorow</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2017-01-23T15:59:46-07:00" title="Monday, January 23, 2017 - 15:59" class="datetime">Mon, 01/23/2017 - 15:59</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorow" data-a2a-title="Colorow"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fcolorow&amp;title=Colorow"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>One of the best-known Nuche (Ute) leaders of the nineteenth century, Colorow (c. 1813–88) was involved in many significant events in Colorado history, from his first contact with white Americans during the <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a> to the <a href="/article/meeker-incident"><strong>Meeker Incident</strong></a> and his namesake “<strong>Colorow’s War</strong>” of 1887. Colorow’s relations with white Coloradans began amicably but soured over time as he lost a son to a sheriff’s posse and grappled with their deceit and the forced removal of his people.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Nuche Life</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Born a <strong>Comanche</strong> about 1813, the Spanish nicknamed the tall Native American “Colorado” (Red) because his skin was not as brown as the Muache Utes who had captured him as a child and raised him. Colorow did not know a time before white man arrived in the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/san-luis-valley"><strong>San Luis Valley</strong></a> and northern New Mexico. As a young man, he hunted and toured throughout ancestral Ute territory, gradually working his way northward as white Americans worked their way westward. Eventually he married three sisters—Recha, Siah, and Poopa—from the Yampa (Yampirika) Ute band in northern Colorado. The family probably traded at <a href="/article/fort-davy-crockett"><strong>Fort Davy Crockett</strong></a> in what is now Browns’ Hole in northwest Colorado and with trader <strong>Antoine </strong><strong>Robidoux</strong>’s men at Fort Uintah and Fort Robidoux in northeast Utah.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>By the time gold-seeking Americans arrived in what was western Kansas Territory in 1859, Colorow’s family—three wives and thirteen children—traveled the mountainous terrain of central Colorado, hunting pronghorn, deer, and <a href="/article/bison"><strong>bison</strong></a>. The women tanned the hides. The Nuche were renowned for their smooth and soft buckskin deer hides, which they made into clothing. They used buffalo hides for<a href="/article/tipi-0"> </a><a href="/article/tipi-0"><strong>tipis</strong></a> and also built <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/wickiups-and-other-wooden-features"><strong>wickiups</strong></a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorow’s favorite camping and hunting spots on the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/western-slope"><strong>Western Slope</strong></a> included the <strong>White River</strong> valley, the <a href="/article/colorado-river"><strong>Colorado River</strong></a> valley at <a href="/article/glenwood-springs"><strong>Glenwood Springs</strong></a>, the <a href="/article/yampa-river"><strong>Yampa River</strong></a> Valley near <strong>Steamboat Springs</strong>, and <strong>Hot Sulphur Springs</strong> in <strong>Middle Park</strong>. As the buffalo population dwindled in <strong>North</strong> and Middle Parks, the <a href="/article/northern-ute-people-uintah-and-ouray-reservation"><strong>northern Utes</strong></a> joined in buffalo hunts onto the plains with the Muache, led by Chief <strong>Kaneache</strong>, and the Tabeguache, led by Murah Guerro, father of <a href="/article/ouray"><strong>Ouray</strong></a> and Quenche. Heading east over the mountains, Colorow’s group would set up camp for weeks in the Evergreen Valley and on <strong>Lookout Mountain</strong>, where four sites bear his name: Colorow Hill, Colorow Point Park, Colorow Road, and the Colorow Transmission Tower.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>From Lookout Mountain, they would travel down the Apex Trail single-file with their herds of goats and horses, and congregate at what is now the<a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/rooney-ranch"><strong> Rooney Ranch</strong></a> along the Hogback. There, with Green Mountain keeping them out of sight of their <strong>Arapaho</strong> enemies, they bathed in the waters of the Iron Spring. The grass along Rooney Creek and on Green Mountain was plentiful and tall, easily feeding the livestock while the women tanned the hides. The women also designed elaborate patterns on their moccasins using the beads they obtained by trading buckskins.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>After the Rooneys arrived in 1861, Colorow did not change his ways; he and the family returned to the Iron Spring and the pastures annually until the mid-1870s. Colorow and his chiefs often smoked the pipe with Alex Rooney. From Rooney’s Ranch, they often crossed Turkey Creek and camped at Colorow’s Cave, now called Willowbrook Event Center. Located behind the Hogback, this site was an excellent shelter that offered protection from enemies and inclement weather. The Utes arranged their camp with warriors’ tipis around the perimeter, family tipis inside the circle, and the chief’s tipis at the high point in the center.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As fall approached, Colorow’s family and other groups meandered south along the mountain front, eventually traveling through the <strong>Wet Mountain Valley</strong> and into northern New Mexico. In the spring, they wandered back north through the San Luis Valley, over <strong>Cochetopa Pass</strong> into the <a href="/article/gunnison-river"><strong>Gunnison</strong></a> Valley and from there north across the Colorado River into the Green and White River Valleys.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Relations with Whites</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>At first the Utes welcomed the early white explorers and gold seekers in Kansas Territory. Always friendly toward Americans, Colorow became famous for his antics—racing horses, arm wrestling, and eating biscuits. Often, Elizabeth Entriken in <strong>Bailey</strong> baked Colorow and his braves dozens and dozens of biscuits. The first time, she was puzzled as to the biscuits’ sudden disappearance. When she went outside to bid the braves and chief goodbye, she discovered that the men had stuffed the biscuits in their shirts to take to their families.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Photographers came west with the gold rush to document the newest population explosion. Knowing easterners would spend money for pictures of Native Americans, they paid Colorow and his family to pose for the camera. The first photographs with Colorow and his family members made their appearance in 1866; the last photo of the great chief was taken about 1883.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In addition to hunting, Colorow usually attended treaty meetings and subsequent signings. Such events were often photographed for the record, but the participants, other than <a href="/article/chipeta"><strong>Chipeta</strong></a> and her husband, <a href="/article/ouray"><strong>Ouray</strong></a>, were not usually named. However, a comparison with known photographs and face recognition software allows for the identification of Colorow’s family members. Colorow’s name (often appearing as Colorado) and those of his sons appear on most signed agreements with the Utes. The treaties all stated that the Utes had the right to hunt on ceded property, a fact that settlers often were not told or managed to forget. The existing treaties did not prevent whites from encroaching further on Ute land.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Compensation for the loss of their lands usually included “<a href="/article/indian-annuities"><strong>annuities</strong></a>,” which consisted of annual supplies of trade goods, blankets, clothing, and food paid to the Utes at <a href="/article/indian-agencies-and-agents"><strong>Indian agencies</strong></a> established on or near reservations. Each group was assigned to a certain agency to receive their annuities.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorow’s love for Americans changed when his son, Tabernash, was killed at close range by a member of a sheriff’s posse in Middle Park on September 2, 1878. By that time, the agency for the Northern Utes had moved from J. B. Thompson’s ranch near <strong>Craig </strong>to what is now <a href="/article/meeker-0"><strong>Meeker</strong></a>. There, Indian agent <a href="/article/nathan-meeker"><strong>Nathaniel Meeker</strong></a>’s mismanagement of the tribe’s affairs led to the <a href="/article/battle-milk-creek"><strong>Battle of Milk Creek</strong></a> and the Meeker Incident in September 1879. Colorow, along with <strong>Jack</strong> (Nicaagat) tried to prevent US Army major <strong>Thomas Thornburgh</strong> from bringing troops onto the reservation. Thornburgh, however, insisted and rode into a prelaid trap. He and twelve of his soldiers were killed during a five-day siege that was broken by soldiers coming in from Wyoming. At the same time, Utes at the agency killed Meeker and ten other men, taking the women and children hostage. The captives were later freed thanks to negotiations by Ouray.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Two months later, at the Uncompahgre Agency near present-day <a href="/article/montrose"><strong>Montrose</strong></a>, Colorow testified during the government’s investigation of the battle and massacre. Knowing the investigation’s outcome would dictate the future of his people, he answered the questions very sincerely, often asking a question in return. He received no answers. As a result of the investigation, Ouray and other Ute leaders were taken to Washington, DC, to establish a new agreement. They returned to the Southern Ute Agency (now <strong>Ignacio</strong>), where they and the other Utes signed their future away.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Following a year of US martial law, the Northern Ute tribe was banished from Colorado (except to hunt), and a new reservation was established for them in desolate northeastern Utah, near the sites of the old Forts Robidoux and Uintah. Colorow took up the tail end of the exodus from Colorado, the Ute’s own “Trail of Tears.” The Native Americans established themselves on the designated lands, eking out a living from the rocky soil. Then, just two years later, the Utes were invited back to Colorado to perform at the National Mining Exposition in Denver. There, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/william-henry-jackson"><strong>William Henry Jackson</strong></a> took two photos of the group, probably thinking it would be the last photos of the tribe. Most of the individuals in the photos have been identified, including Chipeta and her second husband and Colorow and his family members.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The tribe returned to Utah by train, and Colorow spent the next years traveling and hunting in Colorado, and soaking in the hot springs at what became Glenwood Springs, as allowed by the treaty. He gained a lot of weight, probably from failing kidneys, a common ailment among Native Americans.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In August of 1887, a new sheriff of <a href="/article/garfield-county"><strong>Garfield County</strong></a> proceeded to Chipeta’s camp, southeast of Meeker, to order her away. She told him in plain English that she had a right to stay according to the treaty. Undeterred, the sheriff intimidated her to the point where she took the women, children, and old men and hid in the shrubs. The posse left, then returned, ransacking and burning her camp. This was the beginning of “Colorow’s War,” the last conflict between Native Americans and white Americans on Colorado soil.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Enny Colorow, Colorow’s fifth son and interpreter, had family staying with Chipeta and had gone back to the reservation to report for the family’s annuities. When he returned to Chipeta’s camp, he found it burned. He rode as fast as he could back to Utah and got agent Timothy Byrnes to contact the soldiers at the newly constructed Fort Duquesne. The commandant there led a battery of twelve soldiers and a large contingent of Ute men back east, where they found the sheriff’s posse firing at Colorow’s group as they were camped along the White River, just east of the reservation boundaries. The Utes in Colorow’s camp thought they were safe. On the heels of the posse were a number of Colorado volunteers whom Governor <strong>Alva Adams</strong> had ordered into action. In probably the only incident of federal troops protecting Native Americans, the US commander pulled rank over the sheriff’s posse and negotiated a truce. The fiasco cost the state of Colorado over $80,000 and an additional $31,000 when the Utes sued the federal government for compensation of their lost possessions.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorow was a depressed and defeated man when he died of pneumonia just over a year later on December 13, 1888. In a final interview with the tribal interpreter, the great chief, totally disappointed in Americans, told how white men had deceived him. His group killed thirty horses to take him to his happy hunting ground as he was buried in his blankets alongside the White River.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Fourteen of Colorow’s fifteen children gave birth to many descendants. Many of them are still living on one of the Ute reservations in Utah or in Colorado. They have played vital roles in tribal leadership and negotiating Ute-American tribal relations, always noting that the Americans had cheated them out of their rightful annuities and money. The American government is finally setting the record straight and compensating the Utes for monies owed; in 2016, for instance, the tribe received $4.5 million.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/simmons-beth" hreflang="und">Simmons, Beth</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorow" hreflang="en">colorow</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/muache" hreflang="en">muache</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ute" hreflang="en">ute</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/chief-colorow" hreflang="en">Chief Colorow</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/meeker-massacre" hreflang="en">meeker massacre</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/rio-blanco-county" hreflang="en">rio blanco county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/jefferson-county" hreflang="en">jefferson county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/meeker" hreflang="en">meeker</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ute-history" hreflang="en">ute history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorows-war" hreflang="en">colorow&#039;s war</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/chipeta" hreflang="en">Chipeta</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ouray" hreflang="en">ouray</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/garfield-county" hreflang="en">Garfield County</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/montrose" hreflang="en">Montrose</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/bailey" hreflang="en">bailey</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>“‘Colorow’: He makes a Desperate Fight to Capture a Rifle,” <em>Denver Daily Times</em>, October 18, 1876.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>John Davidson, Katherine, Honda, and Beth Simmons, <em>The Rooney Ranch</em> (Morrison, CO: Friends of Dinosaur Ridge, 2010).</p>&#13; &#13; <p><em>Denver Daily Times</em>, June 1, 1877.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Kenny Frost, Southern Ute Tribal representative, communication with author, March 14, 2015.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Grand County History Stories, “<a href="https://stories.grandcountyhistory.org/category/indians">Indians</a>,” n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>A. B. Meachem, “Signing the Ute Treaty,” <em>The Friend: A Religious and Literary Journal</em> (1827–1906) 54, no. 6 (September 18, 1880).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Ken Reyher, <em>Antoine Robidoux and Fort Uncompahgre</em> (Lake City, CO: Western Reflections, 2007).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Joseph Emerson Smith, “Bailey’s Two Oldest Settlers Part after Thirty-eight years, Joseph Barnett 85 and wife leave Plate Canyon Village and bid goodbye to Mrs. Entriken, 91; Latter Tells of Old Times,” <em>The Denver Post</em>, October 12, 1919.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“The Ute Treaty,” <em>Rocky Mountain News Weekly</em>, September 5, 1866.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“Testimony of Colorado, Chief of the White River Utes,” Congressional Series Set, Secretary of the Interior, transmitting copy of evidence taken before White River Ute Commission, vol. 24, no. 83, Appendix D, December 1, 1879.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Walker D. Wyman, “A Preface to the Settlement of Grand Junction: The Uncompaghre [<em>sic</em>] Utes ‘Goes West,’” <em>Colorado Magazine </em>10 (January 1933).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Beth Simmons, <em>Colorow: A Colorado Photographic Chronicle</em> (Morrison, CO: Friends of Dinosaur Ridge, 2015).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-4th-grade--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-4th-grade.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-4th-grade.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-4th-grade field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-4th-grade"><p>Colorow (c. 1813–88) was one of the best-known Ute leaders of the nineteenth century. He was involved in many events in Colorado history. Colorow’s relations with white Coloradans were friendly at first. They soured after he lost a son to a sheriff’s posse.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Ute Life</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorow was born a <strong>Comanche</strong>. The Spanish nicknamed the tall Native American “Colorado” (Red) because his skin was not as brown as the Muache Utes who captured him as a child and raised him. Colorow did not know a time before white man arrived. As a young man, he hunted throughout Ute territory. He married three sisters—Recha, Siah, and Poopa—from the Yampa (Yampirika) Ute band in northern Colorado. The family probably traded at <strong>Fort Davy Crocke</strong>tt in what is now Browns’ Hole in northwest Colorado.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1859, Colorow’s three wives and thirteen children traveled through central Colorado. They hunted pronghorn, deer, and <strong>bison</strong>. Utes were known for their smooth and soft buckskin deer hides. They made them into clothing. The Utes used buffalo hides for tipis. <strong>Tipis</strong> were a mobile form of shelter adapted from <strong>Plains Indians</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Some of Colorow’s favorite camping and hunting spots included the <strong>White River</strong> valley and the <strong>Colorado River </strong>valley at <strong>Glenwood Springs</strong>. As the bison population fell, the northern Utes joined in buffalo hunts on the plains. Colorow’s group would set up camp for weeks in the Evergreen Valley and on <strong>Lookout Mountain</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>From Lookout Mountain, they would travel down the Apex Trail. They gathered at what is now the <strong>Rooney Ranch</strong> along the Hogback. Green Mountain kept them out of sight of their <strong>Arapaho</strong> enemies. They bathed in the waters of the Iron Spring.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>After the Rooneys arrived in 1861, Colorow did not change. He and his family returned to the Iron Spring until the mid-1870s. From Rooney’s Ranch, they crossed Turkey Creek and camped at Colorow’s Cave. The site offered protection from enemies and bad weather. The Utes arranged their camp with warriors’ tipis around the outside. Family tipis were inside the circle. The chief’s tipis were at the high point in the center.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As fall came, Colorow’s family and other groups went south along the mountains. They traveled through the <strong>Wet Mountain Valley</strong> and into northern New Mexico. In the spring, they came back north through the San Luis Valley. They went over <strong>Cochetopa Pass</strong> into the <strong>Gunnison</strong> Valley. From there they went north across the Colorado River into the Green and White River Valleys.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Relations with Whites</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>At first the Utes welcomed the early white explorers. Colorow became famous for racing horses, arm wrestling, and eating biscuits. Elizabeth Entriken in <strong>Bailey</strong> baked Colorow and his braves dozens of biscuits. The first time, she was puzzled as to the biscuits’ sudden disappearance. She discovered the men had stuffed the biscuits in their shirts to take to their families.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Photographers came west to document the growing population. The photographers knew easterners would spend money for pictures of Native Americans. They paid Colorow and his family to pose. The first images with Colorow and his family members made their appearance in 1866. The last photo of the great chief was taken about 1883.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In addition to hunting, Colorow attended treaty meetings and signings. Colorow’s name (often appearing as Colorado) and those of his sons appear on most signed agreements with the Utes. The treaties stated that the Utes had the right to hunt on ceded property. The treaties did not prevent whites from coming further on Ute land.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Compensation for the loss of their lands usually included “<strong>annuities</strong>.” These included annual supplies of trade goods. Items like blankets, clothing, and food were paid to the Utes at <strong>Indian agencies</strong>. Each group was assigned to a certain agency to receive their annuities.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorow’s love for Americans changed when his son was killed by a sheriff’s posse in Middle Park on September 2, 1878. The agency for the Northern Utes had moved from J. B. Thompson’s ranch near <strong>Craig </strong>to what is now <strong>Meeker</strong>. There, Indian agent <strong>Nathaniel Meeker</strong>’s mismanagement of the tribe’s affairs led to the <strong>Battle of Milk Creek</strong> and the Meeker Incident in September 1879. Utes at the agency killed Meeker and ten other men. They took the women and children hostage. The captives were later freed.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Two months later, Colorow testified during the government’s investigation of the battle. He answered questions sincerely. He asked questions in return. Colorow received no answers. As a result of the investigation, Ute leaders were taken to Washington, DC. They established a new agreement.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Northern Ute tribe was forced out of Colorado except to hunt. They were sent to a reservation in Utah. They eked out a living from the rocky soil. Two years later, the Utes were invited back to Colorado to perform at an event. <strong>William Henry Jackson</strong> took photos of the group.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The tribe returned to Utah by train. Colorow spent the next years traveling and hunting in Colorado as allowed by the treaty.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In August of 1887, the sheriff of <strong>Garfield County</strong> went to the Ute camp near Meeker. He ordered the Ute leader, Chipeta, and her people to leave. Chipeta told the sheriff in English that she could stay according to the treaty. But the sheriff scared her. She took the women, children, and old men and hid in the shrubs. The sheriff and his posse left. However, the men came back and burned the camp. This was the beginning of “Colorow’s War.” It was the last conflict between Native Americans and white Americans on Colorado soil.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorow’s son, Enny, had left Chipeta's camp to report for the family’s annuities. When he returned, he found the camp burned. He rode as fast as he could to Utah. Enny got help from Fort Duquesne. Twelve soldiers and a large group of Ute men headed back to Colorado. When they arrived, they found the sheriff’s posse firing at the native people. The soldiers negotiated a truce.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorow was a defeated man when he died on December 13, 1888. In a final interview, the great chief told how white men lied to him. His group killed thirty horses to take him to his happy hunting ground. He was buried in his blankets alongside the White River.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Many of Colorow's descendants are still living on Ute reservations in Utah and Colorado. They have played important roles in negotiating Ute-American tribal relations. They have always noted that the Americans cheated them out of their rightful annuities. The American government is compensating the Utes for monies owed. In 2016, the tribe received $4.5 million.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-8th-grade--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-8th-grade.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-8th-grade.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-8th-grade field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-8th-grade"><p>One of the best-known Ute leaders of the nineteenth century, Colorow (c. 1813–88) was involved in many events in Colorado history. Colorow’s relations with white Coloradans were friendly at first but soured after he lost a son to a sheriff’s posse.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Ute Life</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Born a <strong>Comanche</strong>, the Spanish nicknamed the tall Native American “Colorado” (Red) because his skin was not as brown as the Muache Utes who had captured him as a child and raised him. Colorow did not know a time before white man arrived. As a young man, he hunted and toured throughout ancestral Ute territory. He married three sisters—Recha, Siah, and Poopa—from the Yampa (Yampirika) Ute band in northern Colorado. The family probably traded at Fort Davy Crockett in what is now Browns’ Hole in northwest Colorado and with trader <strong>Antoine </strong><strong>Robidoux</strong>’s men at Fort Uintah and Fort Robidoux in northeast Utah.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>By the time gold-seeking Americans arrived in what was western Kansas Territory in 1859, Colorow’s three wives and thirteen children traveled the mountainous terrain of central Colorado, hunting pronghorn, deer, and <strong>bison.</strong> The women tanned the hides. Utes were renowned for their smooth and soft buckskin deer hides, which they made into clothing. They used buffalo hides for <strong>tipis</strong>, a mobile form of shelter they adapted from <strong>Plains Indians</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Some of Colorow’s favorite camping and hunting spots on the <strong>Western Slope</strong> included the <strong>White River</strong> valley and the <strong>Colorado River</strong> valley at <strong>Glenwood Springs</strong>, the <strong>Yampa River </strong>valley near <strong>Steamboat Springs</strong>. As the buffalo population dwindled in <strong>North </strong>and Middle Parks, the <strong>northern Utes</strong> joined in buffalo hunts on the plains. Heading east over the mountains, Colorow’s group would set up camp for weeks in the Evergreen Valley and on <strong>Lookout Mountain</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>From Lookout Mountain, they would travel down the Apex Trail and gather at what is now the <strong>Rooney Ranch</strong> along the Hogback. There, with Green Mountain keeping them out of sight of their <strong>Arapaho</strong> enemies, they bathed in the waters of the Iron Spring.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>After the Rooneys arrived in 1861, Colorow did not change his ways. He and the family returned to the Iron Spring and the pastures until the mid-1870s. Colorow and his chiefs often smoked the pipe with Alex Rooney. From Rooney’s Ranch, they often crossed Turkey Creek and camped at Colorow’s Cave, now called Willowbrook Event Center. Located behind the Hogback, this site offered protection from enemies and bad weather. The Utes arranged their camp with warriors’ tipis around the perimeter, family tipis inside the circle, and the chief’s tipis at the high point in the center.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As fall approached, Colorow’s family and other groups meandered south along the mountain front. They traveled through the <strong>Wet Mountain Valley</strong> and into northern New Mexico. In the spring, they came back north through the <strong>San Luis Valley</strong>. They went over <strong>Cochetopa Pass</strong> into the <strong>Gunnison Valley</strong> and from there north across the Colorado River into the Green and White River Valleys.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Relations with Whites</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>At first the Utes welcomed the early white explorers and gold seekers in Kansas Territory. Always friendly toward Americans, Colorow became famous for racing horses, arm wrestling, and eating biscuits. Often, Elizabeth Entriken in <strong>Bailey</strong> baked Colorow and his braves dozens and dozens of biscuits. The first time, she was puzzled as to the biscuits’ sudden disappearance. When she went outside to bid the braves and chief goodbye, she discovered that the men had stuffed the biscuits in their shirts to take to their families.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Photographers came west with the gold rush to document the population explosion. Knowing easterners would spend money for pictures of Native Americans, the photographers paid Colorow and his family to pose. The first images with Colorow and his family members made their appearance in 1866. The last photo of the great chief was taken about 1883.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In addition to hunting, Colorow attended treaty meetings and signings. Colorow’s name (often appearing as Colorado) and those of his sons appear on most signed agreements with the Utes. The treaties all stated that the Utes had the right to hunt on ceded property. The existing treaties did not prevent whites from coming further on Ute land.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Compensation for the loss of their lands usually included “<strong>annuities</strong>.” These included an annual supplies of trade goods. Items like blankets, clothing, and food were paid to the Utes at <strong>Indian agencies</strong>. Each group was assigned to a certain agency to receive their annuities.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorow’s love for Americans changed when his son, Tabernash, was killed by a sheriff’s posse in Middle Park on September 2, 1878. The agency for the Northern Utes had moved from J. B. Thompson’s ranch near <strong>Craig</strong> to what is now <strong>Meeker</strong>. There, Indian agent <strong>Nathaniel Meeker</strong>’s mismanagement of the tribe’s affairs led to the <strong>Battle of Milk Creek </strong>and the Meeker Incident in September 1879. Colorow tried to prevent US Army major <strong>Thomas Thornburgh</strong> from bringing troops onto the reservation. Thornburgh insisted and rode into a trap. He and twelve of his soldiers were killed during a five-day siege. At the same time, Utes at the agency killed Meeker and ten other men. They took the women and children hostage. The captives were later freed.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Two months later, at the Uncompahgre Agency near present-day <strong>Montrose</strong>, Colorow testified during the government’s investigation of the battle and massacre. Knowing the outcome would decide the future of his people, he answered the questions sincerely. He often asked a question in return. He received no answers. As a result of the investigation, Ute leaders were taken to Washington, DC, to establish a new agreement. They returned to the Southern Ute Agency where they and the other Utes signed their future away.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Following a year of US martial law, the Northern Ute tribe was forced out of Colorado except to hunt. They were sent to a new reservation in northeastern Utah. Colorow took up the tail end of the exodus from Colorado, the Ute’s own “Trail of Tears.” The Native Americans established themselves on the land. They eked out a living from the rocky soil. Two years later, the Utes were invited back to Colorado to perform at the National Mining Exposition in Denver. There, William Henry Jackson took two photos of the group.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The tribe returned to Utah by train. Colorow spent the next years traveling and hunting in Colorado as allowed by the treaty.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In August of 1887, a new sheriff of <strong>Garfield County</strong> proceeded to Chipeta’s camp, southeast of Meeker, to order her away. She told him in English that she had a right to stay according to the treaty. The sheriff intimidated her until she took the women, children, and old men and hid in the shrubs. The posse left. However, they returned and burned her camp. This was the beginning of “Colorow’s War.” It was the last conflict between Native Americans and white Americans on Colorado soil.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Enny Colorow, Colorow’s fifth son, had family staying with Chipeta. He had gone back to the reservation to report for the family’s annuities. When he returned to Chipeta’s camp, he found it burned. He rode as fast as he could back to Utah. Enny got agent Timothy Byrnes to contact the soldiers at the newly constructed Fort Duquesne. The commandant there led a battery of twelve soldiers and a large group of Ute men back east. They found the sheriff’s posse firing at Colorow’s group camped along the White River, just east of the reservation boundaries. The Utes in Colorow’s camp thought they were safe. On the heels of the posse were a number of Colorado volunteers whom Governor <strong>Alva Adams</strong> had ordered into action. The US commander pulled rank over the sheriff’s posse and negotiated a truce. The fiasco cost the state of Colorado over $80,000 and an additional $31,000 when the Utes sued the federal government for compensation of their lost possessions.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorow was a depressed and defeated man when he died of pneumonia just over a year later on December 13, 1888. In a final interview, the great chief told how white men had deceived him. His group killed thirty horses to take him to his happy hunting ground. He was buried in his blankets alongside the White River.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Many of Colorow's descendants are still living on one of the Ute reservations in Utah and Colorado. They have played vital roles in tribal leadership and negotiating Ute-American tribal relations, always noting that the Americans had cheated them out of their rightful annuities. The American government is compensating the Utes for monies owed. In 2016, the tribe received $4.5 million.</p>&#13; &#13; <p> </p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-10th-grade--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-10th-grade.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-10th-grade.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-10th-grade field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-10th-grade"><p>One of the best-known Ute leaders of the nineteenth century, Colorow (c. 1813–88) was involved in many events in Colorado history. Colorow’s relations with white Coloradans were friendly at first but soured over time as he lost a son to a sheriff’s posse and grappled with the forced removal of his people.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Ute Life</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Born a <strong>Comanche</strong> about 1813, the Spanish nicknamed the tall Native American “Colorado” (Red) because his skin was not as brown as the Muache Utes who had captured him as a child and raised him. Colorow did not know a time before white man arrived in the <strong>San Luis Valley</strong> and northern New Mexico. As a young man, he hunted and toured throughout ancestral Ute territory. He married three sisters—Recha, Siah, and Poopa—from the Yampa (Yampirika) Ute band in northern Colorado. The family probably traded at <strong>Fort Davy Crockett</strong> in what is now Browns’ Hole in northwest Colorado and with trader <strong>Antoine </strong><strong>Robidoux</strong>’s men at Fort Uintah and Fort Robidoux in northeast Utah.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>By the time gold-seeking Americans arrived in what was western Kansas Territory in 1859, Colorow’s three wives and thirteen children traveled the mountainous terrain of central Colorado, hunting pronghorn, deer, and <strong>bison</strong>. The women tanned the hides. Utes were renowned for their smooth and soft buckskin deer hides, which they made into clothing. They used buffalo hides for <strong>tipis</strong>, a mobile form of shelter they adapted from <strong>Plains Indians</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorow’s favorite camping and hunting spots on the <strong>Western Slope</strong> included the <strong>White River</strong> valley, the <strong>Colorado River</strong> valley at <strong>Glenwood Springs</strong>, the <strong>Yampa River</strong> valley near <strong>Steamboat Springs</strong>, and <strong>Hot Sulphur Springs</strong> in <strong>Middle Park</strong>. As the buffalo population dwindled in <strong>North</strong> and Middle Parks, the <strong>northern Utes</strong> joined in buffalo hunts onto the plains. Heading east over the mountains, Colorow’s group would set up camp for weeks in the Evergreen Valley and on <strong>Lookout Mountain</strong>, where four sites bear his name: Colorow Hill, Colorow Point Park, Colorow Road, and the Colorow Transmission Tower.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>From Lookout Mountain, they would travel down the Apex Trail and congregate at what is now the <strong>Rooney Ranch</strong> along the Hogback. There, with Green Mountain keeping them out of sight of their <strong>Arapaho</strong> enemies, they bathed in the waters of the Iron Spring.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>After the Rooneys arrived in 1861, Colorow did not change his ways. He and the family returned to the Iron Spring and the pastures until the mid-1870s. Colorow and his chiefs often smoked the pipe with Alex Rooney. From Rooney’s Ranch, they often crossed Turkey Creek and camped at Colorow’s Cave, now called Willowbrook Event Center. Located behind the Hogback, this site offered protection from enemies and bad weather. The Utes arranged their camp with warriors’ tipis around the perimeter, family tipis inside the circle, and the chief’s tipis at the high point in the center.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As fall approached, Colorow’s family and other groups meandered south along the mountain front. They traveled through the <strong>Wet Mountain Valley</strong> and into northern New Mexico. In the spring, they came back north through the San Luis Valley, over <strong>Cochetopa Pass</strong> into the <strong>Gunnison</strong> Valley and from there north across the Colorado River into the Green and White River Valleys.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Relations with Whites</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>At first the Utes welcomed the early white explorers and gold seekers in Kansas Territory. Always friendly toward Americans, Colorow became famous for racing horses, arm wrestling, and eating biscuits. Often, Elizabeth Entriken in <strong>Bailey</strong> baked Colorow and his braves dozens and dozens of biscuits. The first time, she was puzzled as to the biscuits’ sudden disappearance. When she went outside to bid the braves and chief goodbye, she discovered that the men had stuffed the biscuits in their shirts to take to their families.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Photographers came west with the gold rush to document the population explosion. Knowing easterners would spend money for pictures of Native Americans, the photographers paid Colorow and his family to pose. The first photographs with Colorow and his family members made their appearance in 1866. The last photo of the great chief was taken about 1883.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In addition to hunting, Colorow attended treaty meetings and signings. Colorow’s name (often appearing as Colorado) and those of his sons appear on most signed agreements with the Utes. The treaties all stated that the Utes had the right to hunt on ceded property. The existing treaties did not prevent whites from encroaching further on Ute land.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Compensation for the loss of their lands usually included “<strong>annuities</strong>.” These included an annual supplies of trade goods, blankets, clothing, and food paid to the Utes at <strong>Indian agencies</strong> established on or near reservations. Each group was assigned to a certain agency to receive their annuities.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorow’s love for Americans changed when his son, Tabernash, was killed by a sheriff’s posse in Middle Park on September 2, 1878. The agency for the Northern Utes had moved from J. B. Thompson’s ranch near <strong>Craig</strong> to what is now <strong>Meeker</strong>. There, Indian agent <strong>Nathaniel Meeker</strong>’s mismanagement of the tribe’s affairs led to the <strong>Battle of Milk Creek </strong>and the Meeker Incident in September 1879. Colorow tried to prevent US Army major <strong>Thomas Thornburgh</strong> from bringing troops onto the reservation. Thornburgh insisted and rode into a trap. He and twelve of his soldiers were killed during a five-day siege. At the same time, Utes at the agency killed Meeker and ten other men. They took the women and children hostage. The captives were later freed.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Two months later, at the Uncompahgre Agency near present-day <strong>Montrose</strong>, Colorow testified during the government’s investigation of the battle and massacre. Knowing the outcome would dictate the future of his people, he answered the questions sincerely. He often asked a question in return. He received no answers. As a result of the investigation, Ute leaders were taken to Washington, DC, to establish a new agreement. They returned to the Southern Ute Agency (now <strong>Ignacio</strong>), where they and the other Utes signed their future away.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Following a year of US martial law, the Northern Ute tribe was banished from Colorado except to hunt. A new reservation was established for them in desolate northeastern Utah. Colorow took up the tail end of the exodus from Colorado, the Ute’s own “Trail of Tears.” The Native Americans established themselves on the designated lands, eking out a living from the rocky soil. Then, just two years later, the Utes were invited back to Colorado to perform at the National Mining Exposition in Denver. There, <strong>William Henry Jackson </strong>took two photos of the group.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The tribe returned to Utah by train, and Colorow spent the next years traveling and hunting in Colorado, and soaking in the hot springs at what became Glenwood Springs, as allowed by the treaty. He gained a lot of weight, probably from failing kidneys, a common ailment among Native Americans.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In August of 1887, a new sheriff of <strong>Garfield County</strong> proceeded to Chipeta’s camp, southeast of Meeker, to order her away. She told him in plain English that she had a right to stay according to the treaty. Undeterred, the sheriff intimidated her to the point where she took the women, children, and old men and hid in the shrubs. The posse left, then returned, ransacking and burning her camp. This was the beginning of “Colorow’s War,” the last conflict between Native Americans and white Americans on Colorado soil.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Enny Colorow, Colorow’s fifth son and interpreter, had family staying with Chipeta and had gone back to the reservation to report for the family’s annuities. When he returned to Chipeta’s camp, he found it burned. He rode as fast as he could back to Utah and got agent Timothy Byrnes to contact the soldiers at the newly constructed Fort Duquesne. The commandant there led a battery of twelve soldiers and a large contingent of Ute men back east, where they found the sheriff’s posse firing at Colorow’s group as they were camped along the White River, just east of the reservation boundaries. The Utes in Colorow’s camp thought they were safe. On the heels of the posse were a number of Colorado volunteers whom Governor <strong>Alva Adams</strong> had ordered into action. In probably the only incident of federal troops protecting Native Americans, the US commander pulled rank over the sheriff’s posse and negotiated a truce. The fiasco cost the state of Colorado over $80,000 and an additional $31,000 when the Utes sued the federal government for compensation of their lost possessions.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorow was a depressed and defeated man when he died of pneumonia just over a year later on December 13, 1888. In a final interview with the tribal interpreter, the great chief told how white men had deceived him. His group killed thirty horses to take him to his happy hunting ground as he was buried in his blankets alongside the White River.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Fourteen of Colorow’s fifteen children gave birth to many descendants. Many of them are still living on one of the Ute reservations in Utah or in Colorado. They have played vital roles in tribal leadership and negotiating Ute-American tribal relations, always noting that the Americans had cheated them out of their rightful annuities and money. The American government is finally compensating the Utes for monies owed. In 2016, for instance, the tribe received $4.5 million.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Mon, 23 Jan 2017 22:59:46 +0000 yongli 2206 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org