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Show 122 Years of Loss, Years of Adjustment, 1882-1933 in preparation for its being opened to settlement. Federal officials gave up trying to secure formal consent from the Uncompahgre. They relied instead on the 1880 Agreement. The opening was set for 1 April 1898.19 (See Map p. 114) The Uncompahgre Commission failed to make a single allotment within the reservation prior to 1 April. However, the lands were opened that date as scheduled. Federal troops were called in to keep order. In May the commission made eighty-three allotments. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs doubted this was legal since the lands had become part of public domain. But, in March of 1899 Congress acted to confirm these allotments.20 The protests of the People had gone unheeded. The allotments had been issued hastily. Little consideration was made of the wishes of the People as to whom they wanted for neighbors. Most of the Uncompahgre continued to live on the reservation. They refused to believe the land did not still belong to them. Ironically, very little of the land was claimed or entered by non-Utes. The land was not suitable for farming. The gilsonite and other mineral lands had been reserved to the United States. Not until 1906 were these lands opened to entry.21 Thus, the gilsonite interests which had pushed for the opening of the Uncompahgre Reservation did not even get the lands they wanted. But, the Uncompahgre lost control of their land anyway. As Agent James Randlett explained, the opening of the Uncompahgre Reservation was a result of the demands of: . . . the rich asphaltum sharks, whose schemes have brought nothing good to themselves and only fruited in unrest and anguish for these wretchedly poor, long-neglected, legal wards of the Government.22 1897 Colorado Hunting Trip In 1897 the People's annual hunting trip to Colorado resulted in another tragedy. Despite the 1887 incident, some People still continued to travel each fall into northwestern Colorado. Friction between the whites and the People continued to grow year after year. In 1897 a local man, G. W. Wilcox, was appointed as the game warden with the definite purpose of driving the People out of the country. In October of that year Wilcox received reports that a |
