OCR Text |
Show history of invasion, conflict, negotiation, and deceit. The Spanish and, after 1820, the Mexican Government had granted lands in the area of Colorado and New Mexico to settlers who would agree to develop the land and protect the frontier. Many of these grants included lands occupied by the Ute people. The Utes had not been consulted. The United States had agreed to^ respect these Jand grants under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe H i ^ l g b ^ l S ^ ^ 1 ^ had ended the war with_ Mexico and had transferred to the United States the jurisdiction over the lands of the Ute people. In 1849 the officials of the federal government moved quickly to make treaty arrangements with the Utes. James S. Calhoun signed a treaty with the New Mexico and Colorado Utes near Santa Fe on December 13 of that year. 19 Under the terms of that treaty, the Utes agreed to United States supervision of the area. Although it is almost certain that no Utes north of New Mexico knew of the treaty, the United States assumed that all the Ute Indians were made subject to United States control by this document. This treaty was later used as the legal instrument to justify intrusion onto Ute lands. Although no boundaries were specified, the treaty provided that reservations would be established on which the Ute people were to confine themselves and become farmers. An Act of February 27, 1851, extended all the laws then in force regulating trade and intercourse with Indian tribes over the Indian tribes in the territories of New Mexico and Utah. 20 By 1853 three towns ( San Luis, San Pedro, and San Acacia) had been founded in the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado by former Mexican citizens. These were the first permanent white settlements in the area. Fort Massachusetts was established north of them in 1852 and was the first U. S. military post in Colorado. ( It was replaced by Fort Garland in 1858). 21 As usual the influx of settlers and domesticated livestock destroyed or pushed out the game animals and native plants upon which the Utes depended. Utes began- J^ raid the settlements in what became known as the TJteWar of. 1854- 1855. Led by Tierra Blanco, the Utes were initially successful. EvenFt. Massachusetts wasthreatened. However, six companies of U. S. troops were sent against them, and the Utes sued for peace. Two treaties were signed at Abiquiu in 1855- one with the Kapotas and one with the Moache. Congress did not ratify either treaty, mainly because the reservation designated to be the permanent home of the Indians ( 2,000 square miles north of San Juan and east of the Animas River) included land in the San Luis Valley west of the Rio Grande where several white farms were located. 22 Ute lands in New Mexico were thus occupied without treaties. It was the discovery of gold at Pike's Peak in 1859 that brought many whites into Colorado. The white population increased so rapidly that by 1861 Colorado was organized into a territory. A Colorado Indian Agency was established that same year at Conejos. The following year Congress established an agency at Hot Sulphur Springs for the Uintah and Grand River ( White River) people. 23 |