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Show 30 The Southern Utes for government goods for the band although some rations were received at Tierra Amarilla. Of the three bands the Capotes seemed to rely most on government for survival. The one exception was the group under the leadership of Sapota. His people, about 65 in number, stayed near the San Juan river most of the time and rarely ventured south to either Abiquiu or Tierra Amarilla. His hunting skill was so great that he was able to provide game for nearly all of the needs of his people.1 Other leaders of the Capotes at this time included Timpioche and Chorez. In 1863, a reservation had been defined for the Utes, although little attempt was made to restrict the Utes to this land. After 1868 the three Ute bands were forced to occupy much smaller territories. The reduction of this reservation in 1868 came not from pressure of other Indian tribes but rather from the pressure of the Anglos. One of the Anglo groups pressuring the Utes onto smaller territories was the miners. Gold had been discovered near Denver, Colorado, in 1859. Soon prospectors were spanning out from the area towards the mountains to the south and the west looking for more of the precious mineral. By 1860 a group of miners had entered the western slope of Colorado and had located gold in the San Juan mountains of southwest Colorado in the heart of Ute land. After the Ute treaty of 1868 miners came in increasing numbers to find the rich minerals of this region. In direct violation of the previous Ute treaties miners trespassed on the reservation. The Federal Government, unable to stop the invasion of Anglos, responded to the crisis by calling the Ute leaders together. The Government tried to negotiate with the Indians for the land occupied by the miners. Congress had passed a law in 1871 stating that the Government would no longer sign treaties with the Indians but rather would now sign agreements. The change in terminology meant little to the Indians for the meaning was the same; the Government wanted the Utes' land. In 1873, the Utes signed the Brunot agreement, in which they gave up their claim to the San Juan mountains. The agreement, also known as the San Juan Cession, was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1874.2 1 Schroeder, "Brief History," pp. 64-73. 2 Gregory G. Thompson, "Southern Ute Lands, 1848-1899; The Creation of a Reservation" (unpublished Master's thesis, University of Utah, 1971), pp. 12-13. |