Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-01-05
FACTS ABOUT THE UTEs
Major Powell Talks About the Indians Who
u a.s~ :. :. Have Made Scare. 500 :.
".' 90 i"" 90. : s,sa...a
and They Have to Depend on
" AZ Arid Land Tilknge. e..

1.-The utes, with regard to whom there
has been such a Scare .fecenAy,~.aue VsRxs
Indians said Major j. W.,
Powell, director of the bureau of ethnology,
to a Star writer: Their home is one of
the most remarkable regions in the world
on the western slope Of the Rocky noun
tains, and extending to The Uintah and
Wasatch ranges, inciuding- the" wonderfui'
canyon country that lies batXeen,, With the
Yampa, Mite, Green. Grand. San Juan
and Colorado rivers. On the slope of the
Rockies are those beautiful natural parks
the North, Midd1e, South and San Luis
Parks-which, though now transformed
into, agricultural areas. were for long
time resorts for tourists. , p.
1.-The Utes originally were distributed
mainly through, ce9tral and western Cul-
orado and eastern ID )tah,. The territory OF
Utah was named after them a few tribes
of the family were locatednnin northern
Arizona and southern Wyoming. They
were never, very strong nation. being df-
vided up into smaIhtribes widely scattered
through that largesarea. They spoke six
or seven different dialects. which, how
ever, were not so distinct but that inter-
communication could be maintained by oral
speech supplemented by gesture signs.
they lived mainly by hunting. fishing and
she eN Of ss ana trpt
practiced a Iimtted agriculture with irriga-.
ton. 81 ."
'" >.t''~ Need OF irrigation.
They gatheued acorns, fruits of some
cacti, suntiower seets and great variety.
of seeds and grasses.-,The latter may be
considered as Wild grain, since corn wheat,
barley and all our other grains are seeds
of species of grasses. They hunted the
elk. the deer, the antelope and the noun
tain sheep. All of these animals were
abundant. Trout were plentiful in the
streams, and there were numerous game
birds, such as grouse, sage-cocks and part
ridges. Since the coming of the whites the
game and fishes have been pretty nearly
wiped out Thus these Indians are no
longer able to procure subsistence by
their Old methods. They are Obliged to re-
sort to agriculture and stock-raising
Eat present the UteS have four reserva-
tons. The most important of these is in
the Uintah valley, and the valley of the
Green river adjoining. 1t Is within the ter
ritory Of Utah. A second reservation is in
southwest Colorado. of large area, but af-
fCrding a limited space of tillable land. I
The third reservation is in southwest Utah
and southeast Nevada, on the Moapa river.
The lands there are not very promising for
agricultural purposes. There is also a
small reservation on Deep creek, in Utah.
Most of the tribes are gathered on these
reservation but few OF them still exist
away from them in southern Utah. northern
Arizona ard southwest Colorado Occa-
sionally some of these Indians wander into
southern Nevada.
."These reservations are amply sufficient
to furnish all of the Utes with lands, but
the latter cannot. be utilized without irri-
CATION The region has been so thickly
settled by whites that hunting, fishing and
the gathering of wild roots and seeds no
longer Weld a subsistence TO the aboriginal
people, 4 few of the tribes not yet gath
cred on the reservations are settled near
Mormon towns, being located on lands to
which they have no title But the Nor
mons do not desire to disturb them. On
the contrary they encourage them TO 1e-
main, finding them useful as laborers
More than that 1t is part OF the religious
idea of the Morrnons to civilize the Indians.
a duty which is inculcated by their sacred
writings.
Not Likely to Make Trouble.
1.-THE Utes generally are peaceful and in
dustrious In fact, they are remarkably
good Indians. They are chiefly deferred
from agricultural pursuits by the cost of
bor required for digging canals and ere
a,ing other irrigating works. Though in
1;viSuals among them commit crimes oc-
casionaly, there is not the slShteSt reason
to anticipate any outbreak.
1.-THE recent scare was occasloned by the
fact that a few of them ventured ont OF
tho JTintah reservation into lands owned |
Nv, tho Mormons The latter We're not in |
the least alarmed, and there was no rea-
son why they should be.
THE peaceful character of the Utes does
not arise from pusilanimity. They used to
nossess considerable skill in warfare, as
was discoveredr by The Mormons when they
tackled them They did credit to them
selves in their conflicts with the Navahoes
ard Comanches IN the earlier history Of |
this country ate recorded a few such out
breaks as that which was fatal to the |
agent Meeker.-c SIeeker was a good man,
but he wanted to- insist that the Etes
should abandon hunting and take up agi-i- |
culture They've not then quite ready |
fer the change! You know how it is With
indians generally. They regard manual Ia
Dor as the duty of women and degrading
to men. OfteIfi they will fight rather than |
undertake it. 1t is not easily possible to |
accomplish century of progress in year
or two AS rEatuTal consequence, Meeker |
was killed. There has been no trouble with
the Utes for q very long time, and they
are not likely ito cTeate any important dis |
in hn future.