OCR Text |
Show The Intruders, 1550-1882 In 1824 James Ohio Pattie and party exploring in the area were attacked by Comanches near the headwaters of the South Platte. The band of Ietan Indians who saved them were probably Ute. In 1825 traders from the major fur companies all confronted each other on the northern edge of Ute lands at Ogden's Hole. Peter Skene Ogden and company had come down from Canada exploring for the Hudson's Bay Company. Jedediah Smith and Thomas Fitzpatrick had come west from St. Louis, Missouri, for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company owned by William Ashley. Independent trappers, such as Etienne Provost and the Robidoux brothers, had come up from Taos, New Mexico. The Ute People approached these intruders with trust and friendliness and established profitable trade relations with them. The fur rendezvous held each summer from 1825 to 1840 were attended by Ute People. Even the 1829 opening of the Old Spanish Trail, a trade route which crossed the lands of the Kapota, Weeminuche, Tumpanawach, and Pah Vant, was initially to Ute advantage. Soon after the trail was opened, the Ute People were able to levy a sort of tribute on the caravans that went over the trail yearly from 1830-48. Which of the Ute leaders first demanded tribute is not known. But, by 1837 Wakara or Walker, the leader of the Tumpanawach Utes in military affairs, was getting wealthy from it. The 1830s was a period of prosperity for several of the Ute bands. Utes traded animal pelts of beaver and otter, and tanned hides of elk, deer, mountain sheep, and buffalo for weapons, ammunition, blankets, utensils, and trinkets. So extensive was the fur trade that several trading forts were established in the Uinta Basin and on Ute lands in Colorado. (See Map p. 32) By 1840 the Ute lands had been mapped and publicized, raided for beaver, buffalo, and other game, and marked by buildings.13 In the fur trade the Indian and the traders had found a common interest and had found ways to deal with each other. However, the fur trade was to prove destructive to the Indians. They became increasingly dependent on the white man's utensils. The trading posts became centers of vice and drunkenness. The land was stripped of beaver and other fur-bearing animals. The fur trade declined in the late 1830s. Men no longer wanted beaver hats. The Ute People complained to the traders. |