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Show 54 The Southern Utes Early in the 20th century, the Utes still had a general feeling of hostility toward white people, but by this time they had also learned about the cash economy of white society and they sometimes made good use of this knowledge. During this difficult period following Ouray's death in 1880, Buckskin Charlie was chief of the Southern Utes. He was named Chief at Ouray's request and there was not a single dissenting voice to protest the appointment. Charlie had been a sub-chief under Ouray, and had learned much about governing from him. Charlie had even accompanied Ouray to Washington in 1880, and in 1905, with a band of 350 Utes, had marched in the inaugural parade of Theodore Roosevelt. But Buckskin Charlie was most important in the ways he helped his people through the difficult adjustment to life on the reservation. He was trusted and liked by the whites, and thus his advice was listened to with respect. But Charlie did not try to make the Utes become like white men. He insisted that all tribal festivals and ceremonies be carried out in the traditional ways, and encouraged the tribal crafts and customs. He spoke good English, but preferred his own Ute tongue, and he only wore white's clothes when he went to visit the white men. In things like farming, which were new to the Utes, Buckskin Charlie was open to new methods and new suggestions. He always tried to keep peace and protect the interests of the Utes, and he usually succeeded. Chief Buckskin Charlie died on May 8, 1936, and was succeeded by his son, Antonio Buck, Sr., but he was the last hereditary chief of the Utes. Later the same year, under the provisions of the Wheeler-Howard Act, the Southern Ute tribe adopted a Constitution and Bylaws which provided for a chairman and a council of six to conduct the business of the tribe. As hereditary chief, Antonio Buck, Sr. became the first elected chairman of the tribe. Chief Antonio Buck, Sr., died February 6, 1961, and was buried at Ignacio, Colorado, on Saturday, February 11, 1961. The funeral was held in the Presbyterian Church, followed by a graveside service in Ouray Memorial Cemetery and concluded with a feast in the agency recreation hall where tribesmen and other friends spoke in tribute to his leadership. He was wearing his beaded buckskin shirt, with a carved stem redstone pipe and a fringed and beaded pipe-and-tobacco pouch in his hands. An ocher stripe was painted on his face from his hairline |