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Show River Valley in northeastern Colorado. All of the bands in Colorado continue to exist exceptor the Parianuche who became a part of the Yamparikas. The^ Taviwache are now called Ungp_ mpahgre, and the: Yajrjj2anka are called White River Utes. These bands of Utes constitute the Ute nation. They were one people. They traveled to see each other, intermarried, came to each other's aid in time of war, shared religious, social, and ethieatbeliefs, and thought of themselves as a people, or, in their own wordsp ' Nuchel' which means " thejaeople." Virtually the entire area of Ute occupation was undisputed. Very occasionally there were Comanche raids from the Wyoming area into northwestern Colorado and into northeastern Utah. There seems to have been some conflict between the Shoshonis to the north and the Utes; but, as the Cumumbah experience indicates, there was usually intermarriage and friendship between these Uto- Aztecan speaking peoples. Occasional warfare occurred between the Weeminuches and the Navajos in the extreme southeasten corner of the state along the San Juan River frontier. Peace with the Southern Paiutes seems to have been regular until post- white- contact times when, from 1830 until roughly 1860, some Utes raided southern Paiute communities to capture their erstwhile friends as slaves to be sold in New Mexico or California; and, on rare occasions, to be sold to the new Mormon settlers.' The first known penetration into Ute lands by whites was in 1776 by two Franciscans, Fathers Altanasio Dominguez and Silvestre de Escalante. Acting under orders from the Viceroy of Mexico, and more directly under the Governor of New Mexico, they attempted to discover a route from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Monterey, the newly settled capitol of Alta, California. Most of their journey was made over Ute territory following Indian trails. In the Ute areas in Utah, the Fathers found a remarkably peaceful and friendly people. The travelers visited the Utes at Utah Lake and in the Pah Vant areas and were befriended by both groups. Subsequent to that journey, other expeditions to the Ute areas in Utah were made. In an entry dated September 1, 1805, Joaquin de Real Alencaster, Governor of New Mexico, reported that Manuel Maestas had been to visit the Timpanogos Indians. The purpose of the journey was to recover stolen horses. 2 In 1813 a group of seven men under command of Lagos Garcia traveled for four months and visited the Tumpanawach ( Timpanogos) Utes for three days. After violence broke out, the Spaniards retreated. Two forms of trading were carried on- one in slaves and a second in pelts. The total recorded is 109 pelts, and this was stated to be but a few. It is apparent that between 1776 and 1813 enough contact with aggressive people had made the Utes more retaliatory, as well as more alert to the possibilities of trade. The 109 pelts collected by the Arze- Garcia expedition is the first recorded fur trade in the Great Basin. 3 During the decade 1810- 1820 a great number of activities began in the |
