By Sandy Cameron

“Never judge your neighbor until you have walked 1,000 miles in his (or her) moccasins.” While admonished in this oft-quoted saying to be less judgmental and more empathetic to the plights of others, the illusive image of a Ute Indian in those well-worn moccasins might come to mind for those of us who call Western Colorado home. History tells the story of their circular migrations and foraging, so they most certainly walked their share of miles. But what do we really know about the Utes who created some of the first footprints in the Western Slope?

Although many tribal groups migrated into Colorado within the past few hundred years, archaeological records show that the Utes camped in the Grand Valley and throughout parts of the West for a thousand years or more. Some Utes believe that they have “always” lived in this region, while none of their legends contradict this belief. Nomadic in nature, the Utes traversed parts of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona in small bands, as they hunted game and gathered wild plants. In the spring and summer, the Utes camped in mountain valleys where they could grow corn, harvest wild onions and pick berries. This was the best time to fish the clear streams and hunt the elk, deer, and antelope, so they could dry meat in preparation for winter.

Although they faced many challenges, from sickness to drought to attacks from other tribes, they also experienced a transcendent peace in the beauty of nature and the love of family. When spring came, bands met together for celebration: visiting, dancing, marrying, telling stories and playing games. They looked forward to celebrating winter’s survival and spring’s new life. The first major festival, the Bear Dance, sought the bruin’s spirit of strength over a number of days and culminated in a feast.

The Ute tribes called the Grand Mesa “Thingunawat,” or the “Home of the Departed Spirits.” According to legend, three pairs of thunder birds ruled the skies above Grand Mesa and attacked a Ute village, carrying off the son of a chieftain named Weasel Bear. He sought revenge and disguised as a tree, climbed to the top of Grand Mesa to destroy their nest. After he threw the young eaglets to the valley below, a large hungry serpent quickly swallowed them. The great birds swooped down on the serpent and tore it into huge pieces that fell to the mesa, creating deep pits. Because of their anger, fire flashed from their eyes and their beating wings caused thunder to shake the surface, i.e., Thunder Mountain. Eventually, torrential rains fell and filled the pits, forming the 300+ lakes to be found on the Grand Mesa.

A loose association of seven bands made up of many family groups, the Utes were some of the first Native Americans to come into contact with early Spanish explorers. In fact, the name “Utes” is attributed to the Spanish. It may have been a corruption of Nuutsiu, meaning “the people” (their common reference for themselves) or possibly even the Apache word yuda, meaning “high up.” Through this early contact with the Spanish in the 1630s, the Utes were introduced to the attributes of the horse. They traded for them with colonists in New Mexico and other Native Americans. The predecessor of the Mustang was particularly useful for hunting bison, which was in steady supply in the eastern Plains. More practical than their dogs and travois, the horse was also helpful in moving villages. A number of Ute children worked on haciendas so they could earn horses, as well as learn the art of training them.

Most western Utes preferred living in wickiups, small round or cone-shaped houses made of a willow frame and covered with brush. After their exposure to the Plains cultures, many eastern Utes adopted the tipi for their ease of transport and set-up. The Utes were distastefully labeled the “Black men” by many of the Plains tribes. Utes were shorter and darker than the Arapahoes and Cheyennes, who may have migrated to Colorado and Wyoming from the Minnesota region. The Utes, also known as “the mountain people,” periodically fought with the eastern Apaches and Comanches, and the southern Navajos and Pueblo Indians as they sought more horses and territorial hunting privileges.

Although treaties were signed with the U.S. government and a reservation of the western third of Colorado was ultimately established in 1868, some of the land was also “claimed” by other tribes. In 1873, with gold and silver discovered in abundance in the San Juan Mountains, miners and others were eager to have the Utes constrained to reservations. After the “Meeker” and the “Milk Creek” incidents in 1879, the removal of the majority of Colorado Utes was sadly guaranteed.

The White River Utes who killed Nathan Meeker and 10 others were adamantly resistant to an agricultural lifestyle being forced upon them. When their racetrack was plowed under and their horses threatened, the Utes at the White River Indian Agency lashed out with ferocity. Women and children from the agency were taken captive, including Meeker’s wife and daughter, and kept for 23 days. Then, when the men realized government troops from Wyoming’s Fort Steele were heading to the agency, they attacked the soldiers at Milk Creek and killed or wounded 42 others.

Chief Ouray, an Uncompahgre Ute and well-respected leader, and his wife Chipeta (“Singing Bird”) helped negotiate the release of the hostages. Despite their good efforts, the Ute Removal Act was passed, denying the Utes 12 million acres of land that had formerly been guaranteed to them in perpetuity. Sadly, most Utes were forcibly moved August 28, 1881, from Western Colorado to a reservation in Utah Territory. Chief Ouray died and was buried in secret a year earlier, but his bones were reinterred in Montrose in 1925. Chipeta joined in solidarity with the Utes who resettled in Utah. Prior to her 1924 death, Chipeta, nearly blind, had two (unsuccessful) cataract surgeries at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction.

The bands of Utes remaining in Colorado were organized into two reservations in the southwest corner of the state. Although their reservation lands were repeatedly reduced by various government actions, several 20th century federal court decisions restored portions of the original lands to the Ute Tribes’ jurisdiction and awarded monetary compensations for losses. Today, the 1,500 Southern Utes and the 2,000 Ute Mountain Utes carry on the Ute traditions. The native language is kept alive by a quarter of their population.

When we consider the 10 or so major historical sites in Western Colorado, the list undoubtedly includes the Ute Indian Museum in Montrose. The museum is home to one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of items belonging to the Ute tribes of the southwest. Among the unique items seen in this museum is a beaded buckskin shirt made by Chipeta for Ouray, who wore it to Washington, D.C., for treaty negotiations in 1880. The graves of Chipeta, Chief Ouray and John McCook are nearby. For those who wish to discover more of the rich history of the Utes, the Ute Indian Museum is an excellent point to start.

There is also the 2.5-acre Ethnobotany Ute Learning Garden, open to visitors of all ages and located at Grand Junction’s CSU Extension Office. The garden has created a model for Ute life and native landscaping. Utes occasionally perform here, and have been involved in the design and construction of the site.

Tog’oiak. A humble “thank you” to the Utes for the footprints they left in this, their land of flowing memories.

Photo Gallery

The Ute Indians