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Show As the Spanish pushed northward they encountered the Utes. The Utes may have been contacted by Coronado, but were definitely known to the Spanish by the early years of the 17th century. The effects of the coming of the French onto the plains, and the Spanish to New Mexico, altered the relationships of the Utes to the other tribes. The arming of the Pawnee by the French meant that the response to this new military threat could and did alter relationships further west. The Comanche were able to ally themselves with the Pawnees and assert force against the Muache Utes in eastern New Mexico. As the "Yutas," as the Spanish called them, were gaining more power based on the use of Spanish tools, they began to change their relationships with other tribes, particularly the Navajo. The raids by Utes on the Navajo, and Navajo response, was to remain a theme for a long period of time, beginning in the 17th century and not ending for over one hundred years. The Spanish were able to use the enmity between the Utes and other tribes to the advantage of themselves and the Pueblo Indians with whom they closely identified Spanish interests. It was in the 1770's during the reign of Charles III of Spain that a renewed push to the northward by the Spanish led them to new entrances into Ute lands, a theme to be further developed as the study proceeds. The Spanish horse changed Ute life profoundly; so profoundly, in fact, that one scholar is of the opinion that it is nearly impos- |