| OCR Text |
Show Years of Loss, Years of Adjustment, 1882-1933 121 declared public domain and opened to ranchers, homesteaders, and mineral speculators. Thus, reservation land owned collectively by the entire tribe was to be broken into small parcels of land owned separately by individual tribal members. It was a system which dated from the American colonial period. However, it was not widely applied until the General Allotment Act (Dawes Act) of 1887. The theory behind the allotment policy was to civilize the Indians by forcing them to become independent ranchers and farmers on separate parcels of land. The fact that various Indian groups might not be oriented towards farming and ranching was ignored. The very process of providing tools, seed, animals, and, most of all, training was not thoughtfully detailed. The isolation of the Indian lands and the inexperience of the Indian People made intimidation by white farmers possible. In essence, the allotment program contributed to the destruction of Indian culture and tradition by breaking up their land base. The leaders of the Uncompahgre, White Rivers, and Uintah were not in favor of allotment. Agent Robert Waugh noted that even Tabby "expressed his entire disapproval of the matter, seeming to fear the contraction of their territory and the probable sale of the surplus if they took their lands in severalty."18 These fears were realized. In 1895 a commission was appointed to survey and allot the Uncompahgre lands. The commission found that suitable agricultural lands were to be found only around the subagency of Ouray. There was not enough to provide allotments to all Uncompahgre. It was, therefore, decided to take the needed additional lands from the Uintah and White Rivers. This decision caused a great furor. The Uncompahgre protested the loss of hunting and grazing lands in the southern part of their reservation. And they protested having to pay $1.25 per acre for the allotments made on the Uintah Reservation. Needless to say, the Uintah and White Rivers were dismayed to learn the Uncompahgre were to be forced onto their land. In the face of this opposition, the commission failed to make allotments. However, despite continued Ute protest, Congress passed a law which provided for a survey of the Uncompahgre Reservation |
