The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1912-04-15
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ouray--a fat, inscrutable.faced Ute
4[ndian-loudly proclaimed himself
4 The Friend OF the White Man" Ger
| lain white men living near his resef.
ratioa proclaimed quite as loudly that
line chief was a most unmitlgated OLD
\ ,coundrel. Others held that he was
line OF those somewhat rare specimens
good indian" Here is his history,
woven with the tale Of an Indian up.
IrisiIg that brought his, people Into
3traglc prominence about thirty years
ago;
Tho branches 81 the Ute nation
we're scattered over large sections OF
Utah, Colorado and other states. Ouray'
land bis tribe lived in Colorado. They
were more or less at peace with the
white settlers. ouray, who was rather
we'll educated, had gone, several times
Ito washington to urge his tribesmsnS
rights. Nathan G.. Meeker, the local
Indian agent, managed to dispense
Justice on the reservation and was
Thought to have won his red wards
love and absolute trust. stf
Il Forecasts Of Trouble.
4 Colorado was becoming more and
more thickly populated by white men,
Land that had once been practically
/ free to all corners began to take on a.
much higher value. Settlers grumbled.;
that the Ute reservation was too large
and that. so much good ground would.
be in better use II parcelled out among /,
white men than under native owner.
ship. Meeker saw that the reserwa
ton must soon or late.sbe scut down.
He is said to have talked the matter
over with Ouray and, with the chiefs
liapproyal, to have suggested a plan Tor
easing the coming blow to the utes.
1 Hunting needs far more territory than
does farm work. So Meeker suggest.
ed that the Indians under his care
turn their minds to agriculture. He
Cevtn went SO far as to supply them
wlthNploughs, etc, and to order them
to till the soil. sN'r
The Utes whether inspired BY
Ouray, or, as he claimed, against his
advice) fatty refused. They said they
were hunters, like their ancestors, not
mere farmers. They rebelted against
tho agents authority. Daily the sttu-
alton grew worse. Atlast, In Julyfof
1859, Meeker told the Indian depart
ment al Washington that an outbreak
seemed imminent. He asked that. sol.
di0rs be sent to oyeraye the savages.
J Accordingly two months later "a
/ force under Major Thorrburgh came
Ito look into the state Of affairs. Every
1 effort was made to keep the coming
of the soldiers a profound secret. But
4 in the mysterious fashion known only
to Indians the news was flashed from
one end OF the reservation to the.
other. Added5to the original facts was
a wild rumor that the troops were co.
ing to ,expel the Utes from their old
hunting grounds. Like wildttre the
tidings-false and true alike-spread,
from village to village. The tribe
. sprang to arms. large band of Ute
braves fell upon the advancing sol;.
diers at Milk River, near the reserV .!
tion's northernmost boundary. Ihorn'
: burgh and thirteen OF his troopers
: were killed and the horses Sot.itne enc
tire command were captured. sI !lg
rest Of the soldiers defended them'
! selves as best they could behind Tor
5 tifcatlcns that had enhasttly thrown
/ UP. And here, for days, they were be-
: sieged by the furious sayages. 4
On the same day That Thornnurgn
/ was killed a party OF Utes sswooped
e down upon the local agency buildings
Meeker was Killed, as was every man
in hisempioy. The white women and
t children of7the agency were captured,
; but were later released unharmed.t u
Meantime General Merritt andSs
strong force of regulars hurried 10 the
rescue of the besieged SURVIVORS 81
Thorpburgh's command Onray sent
word to all concerned that the whole
uprising had taken place without MS
knowledge. He claimed that at hrst
news of it he had thrown himself heart
and soul into the task OF making mig
people return peacefully to their
homes. Angry settlers retorted that
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