The Delta independent. [volume] (Delta, Colo.) 1886-19??, 1911-08-25
HISTORIC INDIAN CHARAC-
TER VISITED DELTA SUNDAY
Chipeta. Wife Of Chief Ouray, Pays
Us a Visit on Horseback Trip
to Reservation.

Chipeta, aged squaw of Chief
Ouray, made her first trip through
Delta in many years, on horseback
Sunday.
Chipeta is supposed to be about
seventyfve years old, although she
does not know just how many SHOWS
her life numbers.
Chief Ouray was a friend to the
whites and was in every way the
most influential Indian of his race.
AS ruler of the combined Ute ma
tions he was both loved, hated and
feared by his Uncompahgre White
river and Uintah subjects. Loved
for his noble character, hated for
his friendliness to the whites and
feared for his influence.
The allotment of Chipeta is up
Green river in Utah, where she has
considerable bands of both sheep
and horses. With her modest needs
she is comfortably well off.
Her party camped at Delta Sun
day consisted of, beside herself.
Mountain Sheep and his squaw,
Right Arrow and his squaw, wild
owed squaw and a ten-year-old In
dian girl named Mamie which
proves that 10" can pattern after
the whites in names if nothing else.
Chief McCook. who started out
with the party, had passed on to the
reservation by train.
The party left their reservation
early in June on a thirty-days' leave
OF absence. They were returning
after having been away sixty days
Chipeta, who is respected and
held as an attraction all over the
West. visited all the Western Slope
celebrations, at each of which, a
purse OF $50 to 500 was subscrib-
ed and given to her. She was at
Colorado Springs, Durango, Ouray
and Montrose.
BY invitation Sunday, she took
dinner with Mr.. and Mrs. n. H.
Castle, who went to the camp and
brought her in, with the little girl,
bile. She enjoyed the fried chicken
and vegetable dinner greatly.
In company with Mr.. Castle she
visited the old Ute camping ground
along the Gunnison. At the big
cottonwood tree in front of ]. P.
Kernohan's in North Delta. she COM
mented: Much old tree" and then
pointing along the street, said:
Here was Indian trail; now all
gone, everywhere much white man.
Then cheap land, now worth much
money-too much money Point
ing to Grand mesa she said: Plat
erias muchu.' meaning flat topped
or mesa mountain. There many
deer. SHOWS ago; now no deer, white
man and many steers"
Mr.. Castle, who is one of Delta's
earliest pioneers and who knew
great many of the Indians, asked
about a number. ''All dead" said
Chipeta, with sad shake of her
head.
At the time of the Meeker mas
sacre Chipeta is said to have rid
den on horseback from the Ute
agency in forty-eight hours to res
cue white woman friend, whom
she feared the Indians would get.
On this trip she rode through Delta
and up across Surface Greek mesa.
She is still vigorous and talks in
telligently, though in slow and
studied way, after the style or
the old and uneducated manner
of the tribes people.
After the death OF Chief Ouray,
Chipeta was married to Coneguache'
a sub-chief of the White river utes,
who is also dead. Asked about chill
dren. the famous old character re-
piled: "Ouray no papoose. Conegua-
che no papoose-Chipeta no pa
poose." Chief Mountain Sheep and
his family are said to be her only
living relatives.
One of her greatest experiences
of this outing was trip to the sum
nit of Pixies Peak on the cog rail-
road.
Probably in all frontier history
there is no two greater characters
than Chief Ouray and Chipeta.