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Show 60 The Southern Utes to acquire material possessions. Their interest in these whites was limited to what they could get from them, especially weapons such as knives and guns to fight their enemies. During this time, the Utes must have been very confused by the situations the white man created in his dealings with the tribe, its enemies, and its friends. These white men were individual trappers, lone traders, and strong-hearted, bold explorers. Many of them lived among the different tribes, married Indian women and a few were even strong enough to become chief of a tribe. James P. Beckwourth became chief among the Crows and led war expeditions against their enemies, one of whom was the Ute tribe. William Bent married a daughter of a Cheyenne chief and became popular among the Cheyenne, but must have been very unpopular among the Utes for helping these enemies. "Uncle Bill" Williams was a good Ute friend who had lived among them, but he was killed by a Ute war party who did not recognize him until he was dead. "Uncle Dick" Wooten made a treaty with the Utes and obtained passage through their country in exchange for tobacco and sugar. The first major effect of contact with whites on the intertribal relations of the Utes was the introduction of the horse, which came indirectly from the white man. Many tribes quickly saw the advantage which these animals would give them in hunting and in war. With horses, many, many tribes moved out into the Great Plains, developing new ways of life based on buffalo hunting. These Plains tribes soon were among the main friends and enemies of the mountain-dwelling Utes. As early as 1630, the Southern Utes were classified as horse-Indians ; it is believed that these animals were stolen from the Spanish in the Southwest by the Ute, Comanche, Apache, Kiowa, and Caddo tribes. The Western Utes, cut off from the rest by the natural boundary of the Colorado Plateau, did not obtain horses until 1776. As Utes acquired large herds of horses, a higher level of subsistence became possible through increased exploitation of buffalo herds; this, in turn, appears to have helped the rapid development of mounted bands organized around hunting. The coming of the horse intensified the peaceful or hostile relationships of the Utes with the neighboring tribes. Soon the buffalo became extinct in the Ute range, and the Ute hunting bands traveled farther east into the Great Plains, the land of the Plains tribes; so because of the horse, the frequency of wars with these tribes increased. |