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Show CHAPTER VIII The Traditional Pattern Emerges The Uintah Indian Reservation after 1881 was bordered on the southeast by an additional reservation, the Ouray. The short life of the Ouray Reservation might have been expected. After the hasty and almost offhanded way in which it was selected and founded, it seems appropriate that it was temporary. As the Uncompahgres were moved from the Los Pinos Agency in Colorado, their Agent, W. H. Berry, was transferred with them to their new reservation. Upon his arrival Berry made one of his first acts the writing of his resignation. Berry stayed at the Ouray Agency until June 1882, when his replacement J. F. Minniss arrived. Minniss's first annual report is for a total of only two months, and is a poor source. The Ute Commission members were at the Ouray Agency managing events for the first stages of the founding of the Agency. The Commission was working so feverishly, and with so little contact with Washington, that they were greatly surprised when a military force arrived across the river from the Agency. Further, the commission was of the opinion that the military reserve designated was a threat to the interests of the Indians. The "Report of the Ute Commission," states: |
