Powderhorn in Gunnison County, Colorado — The American Mountains (Southwest)
People of the Shining Mountains
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 21, 2025
1. People of the Shining Mountains Marker
The Utes called themselves the “People of the Shining Mountains” and at one time all of Colorado was their homeland.
At one time, this was the land of the Ute. 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.
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.
[inset panel]
Changes in Ute Homeland
Traditional Homeland
The original Ute homeland included traditional hunting grounds in
this page online
1868-1873
Ute reservation established under the Ute Treaty of 1868 and the Brunot Treaty of 1873 included land west of the Continental Divide in Colorado and an area in the Uinta Mountains of Utah.
1895 —
Ute reservations were established under the Washington Treaty of 1879. In 1895 the Ute Mountain and Southern Ute divided into two separate reservations. This map represents current reservation boundaries.
[background image caption] Ute horsemen crossing the Los Piños River.
Erected by Western Colorado Interpretive Association and Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1879.
Location. 38° 14.755′ N, 107° 15.556′ W. Marker is in Powderhorn, Colorado, in Gunnison County. It is at the intersection of State Highway 149 at milepost 88.9 and BLM Road 149B, on the left when traveling north on State Highway 149. The marker is in a pull-out on the west side of Colorado Highway
Denver Public Library — Western History Department
2. Marker detail: 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.
Regionally, this marker is in the Colorado High Rockies. It is also in the American Mountain West. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere.
Other nearby markers. At least 7 other markers are within 12 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Keeping the Peace (here, next to this marker); Lost in a Blizzard (approx. 3.9 miles away); The Old Spanish Trail (approx. 3.9 miles away); Saguache and San Juan Toll Road (approx. 3.9 miles away); Powderhorn Valley (approx. 7.7 miles away); Early Holocene Encampment (approx. 11.2 miles away); A Volcanic History (approx. 11.2 miles away).
Also see . . .
1. Ute History: Additional Land Cessions (History Colorado).
Excerpt: Increased pressure from white settlers and the US government led to additional treaties that diminished the Utes’ tribal lands. The Treaty of 1868 was signed by most of the Colorado Ute bands in 1868 and reduced Ute lands from approximately 56(Submitted on January 19, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)million acres to about 18 million. This treaty established the first Ute reservation in Colorado and promised the Utes that non–Native Americans could not pass through or reside on the reservation.
3. Marker detail: Changes in Ute Homeland — 1868-1873
Soon after the 1868 treaty, however, large mineral deposits were discovered in the San Juan Mountains, and under pressure from mining interests the US government negotiated the Brunot Agreement in 1873. The agreement appropriated an additional 3.45 million acres from the Colorado Ute bands.
The second half of the 1870s was characterized by anger, frustration, and tragedy as the various Ute bands adjusted to difficult and unfamiliar living conditions.
2. Meeker Massacre (Wikipedia).
Excerpt: Members of a band of Ute Indians attacked the Indian agency on their reservation, killing the Indian agent Nathan Meeker and his 10 male employees and taking five women and children as hostages. Meeker had been attempting to convert the Utes to Christianity, to make them farmers, and to prevent them from following their migratory culture. On the same day as the(Submitted on January 19, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)massacre, United States Army forces were en route to the Agency from Fort Steele in Wyoming due to threats against Meeker. The Utes attacked U.S. troops led by Major Thomas T. Thornburgh at Milk Creek, 18 miles north of present day Meeker, Colorado. They killed the major and 13 troops. Relief troops were called in and the Utes dispersed.Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 21, 20254. People of the Shining Mountains MarkerThis is the rightmost of two interpretive panels at this location.
The conflict resulted in the Utes losing most of the lands granted to them by treaty in Colorado, the forced removal of the White River Utes and the Uncompahgre Utes from Colorado, and the reduction in the Southern Utes' land holdings within Colorado. The expulsion of the Utes from Colorado opened up millions of acres of land to white settlement.
Credits. This page was last revised on January 19, 2026. It was originally submitted on January 17, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 86 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on January 19, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
