Book Review: The Ute Indians

The Ute Indians of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico, by: Virginia McConnell Simmons, University Press of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 2000.

 

This is a fairly extensive history.  It starts from the earliest history of the Ute, what were their origins? Etc.  How do they relate to the Anasazi or the Fremont Indians. 

The original territory of the Ute was quite extensive.  They lived from Western Utah through Colorado to Denver and into New Mexico.  Their hunting grounds extended further than this.  They were quite war like and their traditional enemies included the Cheyenne, Navajo and Arapaho.  The tradition was that if a tribe killed one of yours, then you had to kill one of theirs and so on.  This also included raids to steal possessions.  When the horse became prevalent this was a coveted item, but also made raids much more efficient and possible. 

The first contact of the Ute with whites was with the Spanish and then Mexican.  This included the Dominguez Escalante exploration.  Relations with the Mexican government where generally quite cool.  This because of the raiding like nature of the Ute.  However, transition to American government only made things worse.

This history relates who the traditional territories of the Ute were slowly eroded.  In Colorado, The Uncompagre were removed to Utah.  The Southern reservations remained, but most of the original native American land was removed, including that that was given by treaty. 

Chief Ouray was an important figure in this history.  He was selected to be the head chief, by the government rather than his fellow Indians.  He negotiated several treaties, giving away land for annuity subsidies. 

This book gives a fairly good account of the affair at the Meeker massacre, in which the White River Utes killed the BIA agent Nathan Meeker, and several of his staff, and took the women hostages.  Ouray intervened and ordered the hostages be released and they stop fighting.  The Indians were expected to subsist with farming and education.  Farming was always a hard sell because of the poor lands given.  Cattle grazing was a much more viable option.  Education also was a bit of a hard sell for a time, but many tribal members have taken advantage of free tuition and other incentives to get an education.

I missed more detail as to why everyone was moved to Utah.  It seemed to skip over this other than saying it happened.  However, this book is failry good reading.

Book Review: Ute

Native American: Ute, Barbara A. Gray Kanatiiosh, ABDO Publishing Company, Edina, Minnesota, 2004.

 

This is a brief introduction to the Ute people.  The native area for the Ute extended through Utah, Colorado and northern Arizona and New Mexico.  Because they were able to acquire horses, their area of influence expanded and they were able to hung buffalo in season on the great plan.  There are now four Ute reservations, two in Colorado and one in Utah. 

There is much about the Ute culture.  There is a picture of Bear dance.  This is a springtime festival and the dance is a couple’s dance.  There is talk of the creation of the world.  Also a picture of a Ute cradle board.  There are also pictures of people dancing.  The story of Chief Ouray is presented.  It talks of the Ute population losing much of their land and being forced onto reservations. 

I lived on the Ute reservation in Utah for many years, and this is an interesting look at this people.  However it is not a very extensive research, but only scratches the surface.

The Uncompagre Ute Indians

I am using for my information the first three chapters of my Dad's thesis: Reluctant Immigrants of Utah: The Uncompahgre Utes.  My father is James W. Wardle and his thesis is available at the library at Utah State University.  These chapters talk about the history of the Utes, from their first beginning to their territory becoming part of the United States.  The traditional territory of the Uncompahgre was on the Utah, Colorado border and centrally located from North to South.  This area was close to the area of the Anasazi, and then the Fremont.  These groups coexisted for a time, and then ceased to exist about the same time, about 1300 A.D.  A lingering question for archeologist is to determine the cause of this extinction.
The first historical mention of the Utes was 1540 A.D. when they came in contact with Coronado's expedition to find the lost gold cities.  They were fist known as the Tabeguaches and later as the Uncompahgre.  Escalante documented them as being in the are of the confluence of the Dolores and Colorado rivers.  They were a desert nomadic people.  The Spaniards improved the lifestyle of the Tabeguache as they were introduced to the horse, and became more a Plains type Indian, hunting buffalo and living in teepees.  It also brought increased opportunities for trade.  They traded for horses, guns, needles and brandy.
No one is sure when they name of this group changed to Uncompahgre, nor the reason for the change.  During the early 1800s this area pertained to Spain, and then Mexico.  Early American explorations visited the area.  Lieutenant Zebulon Pike in 1806 visited the area, but was escorted by the Spanish to Chihuahua where he and his men were permitted to return to the United States.  American interest waned during the War of 1812.  However it picked up, and early explorers often met the same fate as Pike.  Over the years an American presence was allowed in the area with fur trappers and trading posts.  However it wasn't until the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that the relationship between this group of Native Americans and European settlers began to change.  This treaty signed in 1847, concluded the Mexican American War and this area became a part of the United States.