Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1899-06-24
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their ancient tribal reservation. the
formal opening Of the reservation Tor
white settlement, and particularly the
acceptance BY the utoa u an annual
stipend from Congress and Of govern
mont ratious, all mark another chapter
IN the rapid passing Of one Of the most
powerful and interesting savage Tribes
that ever roamed tho Western plains.
The Utes are the last OF the great In
dian tribes. az the Comanches. the
Cheyennea, Kiowas, Apachoa aud
Arapahoes tmnstcra % the Central 1
West through countless agcs). who
have accepted the white mans terms.
have abandoned an hope of maintain
ing their own aboriginal mode Of liv-
Ing and tribal customs and have Hot-
tied down TO be- victims of an over
whelminF civilization All over the
wcst there are old-timc hunters, scouts
and plalnHmcn who feel the phthos of /
the passing away OF tho great Ute /
tribe az distinct and separate people. |
The fact TINT the Utos were the SUR /
vivors OF all the half dozen greatest /
bodies Of American Indians. who rc-
tanned their tribai characteristics for
years after other tribes had accepted /
the mngdlin. unplcturcaque civilization |
~ tuuchlnuly sentimental 90 veteran
whites on the plains. Tho pruWgHa OF !
tho ttoH. their great battles with the |
Apaches and Comnnchos and their ln-
tenscly proud spirit ~ superiority 90
all plains tribes ana their devotion TO
tto customs and Legends are being re-
counted nova days IN every nHHumbluge
OF old-timcra In this region.
ON May =. by PROCLAMATION Of Prcal-
dent Mckinley tho Ute reservation,
consisting 81 500 acres. was thrown
open TO settlement. The ttDa with
drew 10 small farming locations re-
served Tor thcm Ia Ia Plata and
Archulota counties, ana hv that act
forever abandoned the hunting ground.
the birthplace and tho home OF theme
selves and their ancestors fr0m time
immrmori1l. For fursnkug their tribal
customs. the cessation uf their tribal
organization and tho adoption nf
white mems ways. the Utca are 90 rc-
colvc $4,000 annually from the United
States government besides rntiuuH.
nut 10000 Of the government money o.
TO be- set aside for the maintenance u
schools Tor the Ute children. The rest
OF the sum ~ TO be- distributed among
the momburs N the diminishing ana
now hopcloaaly depended Ute race Tor
ton years "tte Indian no more big
and strong. Ute ull gone. By and by
there be- no more Ute Indian. White
man get ALL" says chief iguncio path
etically. summing up the recent Inn
pottant events In the history OF his
once formidable tribe:
The reservation recently abandoned
By the utoa 10 the whites Hes IN the
extreme southwestern corner NJ Colo
RADIO. II has been Tor twenty years the
only Indian reservation loft IN the
state. II 81 fifteen miles wide by 10
miles long, ana u h fertile, we'll
wutcrcd region. II comprises several
valleys separated from one another by
ranges N low mountains md wntcr"d
by several streams that How aouthward
90 the San Juan and the colorado
rivers. There are fow regions In the
West 20 well adapted Tor indian pur-
poses as the Ute reservation has been,
and the Indians held II as long as their
diminishing members permitted. lt1
mesas. valleys streams ana mountains
have made Il almost ideal Tor hunting
and fishing, 10 will be- a famous re-
gion for farms ia another decade. Tho
t'teH have q legend that ages ago an
Indian boy-tho orphan Of big brave
chicf-waa reused from slumbgr one
day by "a great spirit who lovcrd brnv-
cry ana strength, ana. amid thuuderH
and llghtniuga among the mountains.
was led By spirit hand over hill and
dale, across deserts ana over rivers uu-
tll he was brought 20 this region on the
western slope u the Rockies, whore DO
founded tho Ute race,
The uteH once numbered about % 900
persons. Whom General John g., Fro
mont mado his frst expedition across
the plains 30 California iu 1851 the UtDH
were thought 90 De- about 5000 lu NUM-
Der. They had been ut war with tho
Chcycnnes ana the COmunchca Tor four
years. and they had lost between 1000
% az
the earliest Western scouts, used TO
Hay that the utcH were the most recl-
less among tho plains Indians except
the Apachos. lie said that the Ute war
rlora were tho braveHt OF nlll and he
used 20 tell anecdotes ~ Utes who de-
llherntcly sacrificed their lives In order
that the tribe might gain "a point In
strategy.
From 1850 to 1876 the utcs gave the
United States troops a great deal Of
trouble when tho Union Pacific rail-
road was built, In 1865 and 1861 the
Utes thought they could keop the plains
60 themselves by checking work on the
road toward the SiOrrnH. 40 they made
Systematic attacks on the milrOni
builders aud tho troops that were
guarding them. Hundreds of Ute braves
were Killed. Smallpox ragged among
the Utes at that time and ny 1876 tho
Ute tribe numbered less than 5000.
The utes have been largely mountain
dWellerfs lno sites or thelf ancient ana
largest camps urc among the lofty yul-
leyH OF tho Rocky Mountains They
were famous bear hunters. aud AZ long
as the whites kept away the Utes hold
possession Of their hunting lands
against an Corners, but little by little
the constantly growing number ~ pale
faces hpdged In the tribe, bit by bit
their lands were taken away, ana grad
unlly the Utes withdrew into the chulc-
est OF their ancestral Possessions In
southwestern Colorado, There the goy-
eminent by treaty In 1850 granted them
the reservation which they abandoned
IN May for gold and ratlona. Tho
tribe divided I'm tho early acventlef,
when the part OF Il known ms the Sou
thorn t'tes remained IN Colorado, while
the part known as the uncompn shrcs
and 'Vintahs went and dwelt over the
boundary line In Utah A. that time
NH three branchsc OF the Utcs acknowl.
edged tho authority ~ a common head
chief although each subdivision had lts
own subchlef. Ourny was the last chief
10 hold sway over AN the tteR Since
his death the subdivisions have muln-
tanned separate tribal organization, but
have kept up close intercourse with
onch other and have cherished the same
traditions. The Southern Utes have
chief Ignacio at their head, ana he
a. 10 yvbn uauptlAfpl tho treaty hN which