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Show The Spanish Period 3 their own fashion.' They would hold a piece of meat, almost raw, in one hand, and a piece of suet in the other. The suet was used as bread. They would take a bite of the meat and then one of the bread. On this diet they were said to grow very strong and courageous. As weapons they had a spear with a long thick point, and arrows tipped with flint which were 'better than spears to kill cattle.' They were said to be very skillful with the bow and arrow and were able to kill a buffalo with the first shot. These Indians would hide themselves in blinds of brush near watering places and ambush the buffalo as they came to drink.5 After the attempts of Ohate to find the land of Copala the Spanish had contact with the Utes only occasionally for the next few years. During this period, the first known Spanish conflict with the Utes in or near southern Colorado developed. It was caused by an unjust war waged against them by the governor of New Mexico, Luis de Rosas. The first of these encounters recorded was in 1637. About 80 "Utacas" (probably Mouache of the Upper Rio Grande) were captured and forced to labor in work shops established in Santa Fe.6 The war on the Utes ended in 1641 with the naming of a new governor of New Mexico. During the next forty years, Spanish contact with the Utes was altered. Trade had existed between the Spanish and the Utes. After the Ute war this trade increased. Early reports indicate the trade was centered at Taos where the Utes were able to trade with both Spanish and Indians of the northern Pueblos. The items of trade for the Utes were those products derived from the buffalo hunts on the plains. Meat, hides, tallow, suet, and salt were all brought to the Taos pueblo for trading purposes. In the earlier stages of the trade with the Spanish the Utes used dogs as animals of burden to transport the goods to the trading locations. An account of this was recorded by Zaldivar. He wrote: It is a sight worth seeing and very laughable to see them travelling, the ends of the poles draging on the ground, nearly all of them snarling in their encounters, to load them the Indian women seize their heads between their knees and thus load them or adjust the load, which is seldom required, because they travel along at a steady gait as if they had been trained by means of a rein.7 In return for their goods the Utes received cotton blankets, pottery, corn and small green stones. Later, after the Utes had learned to 5 Ibid., pp. 66-67. 6 Albert H. Schroeder, "A Brief History of the Southern Utes," Southwestern Lore, XXX, No, 4 (1965), 53-78. 7 Tyler, "Before Escalante," p. 66. |