This is Ute Country

This is Ute Country. People of the Shining Mountains. , The Utes called themselves the “People of the Shining Mountains” and at one time all Colorado was their homeland, At one time, this was the land of the Ute, distant cousins of the Shoshones. Historically, the Utes were nomadic and moved seasonally between the mountains and the valleys to hunt and gather food or to rendezvous with other Ute bands throughout what is now Colorado. With the discovery of gold in the San Juan Mountains, prospectors knowingly trespassed on Ute land. Seeing the inexorable wave of settlers, Chief Ouray negotiated the Brunot Treaty with the United States in 1873. This treaty allowed miners and settlers to occupy Ute land in the San Juan Mountains. , When Antoine Robidoux built his trading post in 1828, about two miles downriver from where these reconstructed buildings stand today, he encouraged the local Ute people to trap beaver and exchange the hides for trade items. The Ute women were eager to acquire cloth, needles, thread, and related sewing items. They also were able to obtain copper and iron cooking utensils. This was especially important since the Utes had almost no pottery. In less than one summer they were lifted from the Stone Age into one of factory-made items such as steel knives and hand axes. Life became much easier. , The men traded for firearms, ammunition, tobacco, Taos whiskey, and various personal items. Under Mexican law the sale of firearms and alcohol was illegal but Robidoux sold both. For sixteen years the enterprising trade maintained a thriving business along the banks of the Gunnison River. In September, 1844 Ute raiders from outside the region attacked the fort killing most of the personnel. Although the raiding party took the inventory of trade goods, they did leave hides, furs and building materials intact. Word was sent to Robidoux that the raiders had no quarrel with him and that he could return and reopen the post. But by that time the glory days of the fur trade were gone. Robidoux was concerned he would be held accountable for providing guns to the Utes. , In 1879, a confrontation between the Utes and Indian Agent Nathan Meeker, at the White River Indian Agency, led to the death of Meeker and the taking of hostages. As a direct result of this incident, the Utes were forced to accept reservation land in southern Colorado and central Utah. With confinement to reservations, a way of life ended for the proud Ute People. , In spite of the cultural and historical tragedies that followed from the Utes being removed from western Colorado in 1881, there remains a feeling among contemporary ranchers that the Utes were good caretakers of the land. , [damaged photo caption] Chief Ouray and his wife Chipeta. Ouray was a man of vision. Against the advice of his own people, he convinced the Utes that they must live peacefully with the settlers or the Utes would perish.