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Show The Spanish Period t 9 Although Escalante failed to find the riches of the land of Copala, his expedition was important for the exploration of country unknown to the Spanish and for the locating of the Indian groups that lived in the present day states of Colorado and Utah. This penetration into Ute land marked the beginning of a new era for the Utes. No longer was their land considered an unknown area. Now people would journey from Sante Fe far into the interior of the Ute domain to trade. The Spanish felt a stronger tie to the Utes after Escalante's expedition and continued to cultivate their friendship and alliance. In 1779, 200 Mouache Utes and Jicarilla Apaches joined Governor Juan Bautista de Anza in a campaign against the Comanche who had been raiding the settlements of New Mexico. A peace between the groups was not established until 1786 when the Utes, the Comanches and the Spanish met at Pecos. This alliance and past experiences caused the Spanish to look to the Utes for assistance when either the Comanches or the Navajos raided the Spanish settlements. In support of these alliances a second peace treaty between the Utes and the Spanish was signed in 1789. The Navajos had caused trouble for both the Spanish and the Utes for many years. Ute-Navajo relations varied according to the need of both groups for protection from outside raiding groups. If either tribe was threatened by a group of Plains Indians an alliance was struck. When this outside threat was not great, the two groups would raid one another and compete for the land that was common to both tribes. During these periods the Navajos often formed an alliance with the Apaches or with a Pueblo tribe to raid the Utes, and the Utes banded together with Plains groups such as the Comanche. At other times the Spanish would form an alliance with the %tes against the Navajo to defend the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. The treaty of 1789 was made by the Spanish with the Utes to insure this alliance against the Navajos. At the same time, the Navajos and the Utes were enjoying a period of good relations. It wasn't until 1804 that history records a campaign of an alliance of Mouache Utes, Jicarilla Apaches and Spanish against the Navajos. As in the past the Utes remained friendly to the Spaniards and acted as a check against raids by the Navajo, Comanches, and Apaches.11' 15 Schroeder, "Brief History," pp. 61â€"63. |