As the American West began to be invaded by white European gold prospectors and settler colonialists in the mid-1800s, the Utes were increasingly pressured or killed, and then eventually forced off their ancestral lands. They entered into treaties with the United States government to preserve their lives and some of their land, but were eventually relocated to the U.S. government created reservations. A few of the key tribal land defensive conflicts during this period include the Walker War when the religious sect of Mormons invaded (1853 (1865–72), the Black Hawk War where other original Americans went for treaty but were slaughtered by U. S. forces (1865–72), and the Meeker Massacre in which the Utes tried to regain control of their lands with warring tactics (1879).