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Show Colorado state boundary. 20 With this creation of the two sub- agencies on the eastern portion of the old reservation along with the agencv on the western sector, the Southern LItes now received better service from the Government than thev had at any time in the past. After the allotting period had ended and the new agencies had been established, the surplus land left from the old reservation was ready to be opened to white settle-ment- or so the white community of southwest Colorado thought. There was, however, one problem with the eastern boundary of the reservationsi The Utes felt that the boundary was five miles too far west and they brought this to the attention of their agent. They based their claim on what they had been told in earlier negotiations and the agreements they had signed. Although the records were unclear on the matter the agent agreed with the LItes." The matter was finallv settled in 1898 by several Government surveys. Finally, the Reservation was ready for opening to white settlement. The anticipation of President William McKinley's proclamation opening the reservation was great. The local papers, The Durango Herald and The Durango Evening Herald, regaled their readers with the numbers of people expected to take part in the land rush. One article quoted an " Oklahoma Rush Line Expert" as estimating there would be an influx of fifty thousand people taking part in the land grab, and that the farming population of La Plata County would double in twelve months. 23 The whole event was seen by the local residents as being a tremendous boom to the southwest area of Colorado. The actual opening of the land on May 4, 1899, was a disappointment to many. The land rush was hardly equal to that of Oklahoma; the good agricultural land had already been taken by the Utes. However, over a period of several months a number of claims in the area were registered with the land office in Durango. The opening of the reservation, the allotting of the lands to the Indians and the creation of the smaller reservation marked the end of a period of Ute history. The Southern Utes, the politicians, the Government officials and the settlers had finallv agreed on a location that could be called the Southern Ute Reservation. 20. Durango Herald, May 16. 1896, p. 4. 21. Ibid., September 30, 1896, p. 1; New York Times. April 11, 1897, 22. Durango Herald, June 9, 1897, p. 2. 23. Durango Evening Herald. February 21, 1899, p. 4: May 3, 1899, - 56- |