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Show sible to describe their condition before they had the horse. More recent scholarship observed that Spanish sources are useful to demonstrate that the Utes were already big game hunters and traders of hides and dried meats by the time of the Spanish intrusion. Steward's point is well taken that the influence of the horse was indeed great. It increased the range and efficiency of hunting far beyond the prior capabilities of the Utes. It also allowed them to develop a unique and efficient method of defense. They made sorties on horseback from their mountains onto the plains where they were able to gather food then quickly return to the mountains which they knew so well, and where pursuers from other tribes were at a great disadvantage. These methods were developed by the Colorado Utes early. The widespread use of the horse by the Utes of Utah was characteristic of the l8th and early 19th centuries. As time passed, the relationship between the Utes and the Spanish continued to develop. They i were involved in wars, alliances, raids, and were sometimes forced to defend themselves against mounted Indians from other tribes, for the horse they cherished could also bring their enemies. In addition, the whites with their trade goods also brought an increasing level of conflict. ^Julian H. Steward, "Native Cultures of the Intermontane (Great Basin) Area," Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, (Washington, D.C, G.P.O., 19^0), pTTrri 5S. Lyman Tyler, "The Yuta Indians Before 1680," The Western Humanities Review, Vol. V. (Spring, 195l), pp. 153-63. |