The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1879-10-15

l ludt uo suOulu dDduuOu tl6 dBcuCy ~
once. To this he made no reply.
Shortly after Ute Jack came into the
room where we were sitting and pro.
ceeded to catechize me nearly as before.
He then turned to Mr.. Meeker and
repeated the talk about work, then
asked the agent If he had sent for sol
diers. Mr.. Meeker. told him he had
not. Jack then said, 'Utes have heap
more talk and left US.
"During the conversation Mr.. Meek
er said that Chief Douglass was head
chief at that agency, but that he had
no followers and little influence. That
Douglass and his party had remained
on the reservation all the summer and
had been friendly to the whites; that
Colorow, Ute jack, Johnson and their
followers paid no attention to his Or
ders and had been off the reservation
most of the summer; that Chief Ouray
was head chief but had lost his in
haence with and control of the north
| ern Utes.
l
"On the return trip to Bear river i
met many Indians going to the agency
for the issue of rations. Several of the
bucks hailed me, but 1 hadn't time to
stop. At the traders in the canon /
found several Indians purchasing sup
plies. At the crossing of Howard's
fork, thirty miles from the agency, 1
met three Indians, two of whom saw
at the agency the night before. They
stopped me and inquired for ammuni-
tion for Winchester rifles. / replied,
mo sabe.' After OBTAINING me for
nearly one-half hour 1 persuaded them
to let me pass, and reached Rawlins
without further incident worthy of
mention, and Immediately telegraphed
and wrote Gen. Sheridan the condition
of affairs at White River, and received
his reply that aid would be sent at
once.
eastern papers, the secretary of the
interior, and Brooks are seeking some
provocation for this outbreak. 1t was
not the encroachment of miners, for
there are none nearer than Hahn's
Peak, one hundred miles away.
s'It was not settlers, for there are
none nearer than Bear river, fifty miles
from the agency; they are few and
scattered, and their only safety for life
and property has been IN retaining the
friendship of the Utes. On the other
hand, these Utes have since early sum-
mer been off their reservation from
fifty to two hundred miles, have de-
stroyed all the timber and grass they
could, have destroyed the property of
miners near Hahn's Peak; and burned
the houses and hay of settlers on Bear
river; they have killed cattle belonging
to settlers on Bear and Snake rivers,
and terrorized that whole region.
!They complained only that Father
Meeker urged on them the benefits of
civilization.
81 knew that these Indians meant
war. Early in the summer they occu-
pied the territory over which troops
must pass to reach them. Slowly they
retreated toward the agency, burning
the grass to render it difficult for cav
airy to operate against them. They
purchased arms and ammunition of the
most improved pattern and in large
quantities. Within six weeks of the
outbreak our trader sold them three
cases of Winchester rifles and large
amount of ammunition, and the last
Utes 1 met inquired of me for more.
They gathered disaffected bucks from
the Uncompahgre and Uinta agencies,
and got mad because the agent at
White River would not feed them.
When everything was ready they as
saulted Agent Meeker and shot at his
employees to provoke an attack by the
troops, and whae the troops ap-
preached, with peaceful intent, to ad-
just the difficulty and right the wrongs
of all parties, they laid an ambuscade
and prepared to annihilate the whole
command.
H'The attack on Major Thornburgh
twas not war; it was unprovoked muir
der, and to the last Indian, the Utesl
engaged in it, shouldanswer for it with
thar I;uao .,