Story of the Land

View of a rock promontory identified as Tunnel Point on the Colorado River near Glenwood Springs, Colorado; shows and unfinished Denver & Rio Grande railway bed.

Please note this post contains a racist and offensive graphic. It is presented with context below.

Traditionally, the Ute moved across land which spanned Colorado, most of Utah, and portions of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming. Glenwood Springs was a hunting ground and a crossroads for Ute bands to meet. The hot springs and steam vapor caves were especially vital, serving as social and sacred spaces.

The Meeker Incident led to the end of how the Ute moved and interacted with their traditional lands. The fervent desire to remove the Ute, stoked by fear and economic interests of Colorado politicians and journalists, finally had the pivotal event to force removal. Although newspapers outside of Colorado pointed to encroaching miners as the cause of the uprising, rumors and newspaper accounts within the state put the blame squarely on the shoulders of the Ute.

Hearings to examine the “Ute Indian Outbreak” started on January 15, 1880 in Washington DC. At the conclusions of the hearings in late March, the state of Colorado was given the land along with reparations for the families of those killed at the White River Agency. A total of 665 Utes from White River were forcibly relocated to the Unitah Reservation in Utah.  An additional 361 Uncompahgre Utes were moved to an adjacent reservation in 1882.

Advertisement for a Denver grocery store owned by Wolfe Londoner and 20^th mayor of Denver, elected in a fraudulent election. This offensive Ute portrayal reflected the attitudes and beliefs of White Coloradoans that has continued to permeate modern American culture. After 87 years, the Washington football team owner decided to change a nickname which was also a racial slur in 2020. The Cleveland baseball team and several college teams have changed team names and mascots which were offensive, insensitive or racist in recent years.

Even prior to the Meeker Incident, the land ceded to the Ute was being intruded on by miners in the 1870s. As the territory was large, the Ute were initially able to maintain their way of life. The encroachment became impactful for the Ute when White settlers moved into sacred places, traditional territories, and medicinal hot springs. Tribal leaders Ouray and Ignacio diffused simmering Ute tensions for the encroachment. This was not beneficial to government officials such as the second Colorado Governor and silver miner Frederick W. Pitkin. Pitkin ran on a popular platform to get the Ute out of Colorado as it would also benefit mining interests. In his Biennial Message to the Colorado Legislature in 1881, Pitkin addressed the “Indian Troubles” and removal of White River Utes [starting on page 36]:

Biennial Message to the Legislature of Colorado, Frederick W. Pitkin

Providing additional context, the western slope was viewed as a new Eden, containing the best land for grazing cattle and sheep and agriculture in the newly formed state of Colorado, as can be understood by another address to the legislature prior to becoming governor:

 It…is nearly three times as large as the State of Massachusetts. It is watered by large streams and rivers and contains many rich valleys and a large number of fertile plains. The climate is milder…Grasses grow there in great luxuriance, and nearly every kind of grain and vegetables can be raised without difficulty…No portion of the State is adapted for agricultural and grazing purposes than many portions of [the Ute] reservation.

-Fredrick Pitkin addressing the Colorado Legislature, 1876