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Show Utah. 45 The Uintah Utes were not consulted in this arrangement. President Hayes appointed a commission to secure the necessary three- fourths approval of the male Utes to the agreement. Several councils were held. Many Utes refused to sign. Otto Mears, one of the commissioners, began bribing the Utes. He paid each Indian who signed $ 2, which altogether cost him $ 2,800.46Although charges were later brought against him by Indian Commissioner Manpenny, Mears was not only exonerated, but also the money was repaid him from the Federal Treasury. 47 Part of the congressional debate over the 1880 Agreement was concerning the system of allotment of lands in severalty to individual Indians. 48 During this debate the four major reasons for allotment were presented: ( a) the Indians had too much land which they did not use for worthy purposes, i. e. farming and mining; allotment would make it possible for " surplus" land to be made available to whites who would use it " properly"; ( b) by giving the Indian a permanent home and personal property, he would finally be forced to become " civilized" and assimilate into the dominant white culture; ( c) by breaking up tribal land holdings and forcing individual Indians to manage their own affairs, the wardship relationship of the Indians to the federal government would be " terminated" and the " Indian problem" settled once and for all; ( d) by giving the Indians title to individual lands, these lands would somehow be less vulnerable to white encroachment. There was some opposition to allotment legislation. Some questioned the acceptance of the policy by the Indians, the supposed protection it offered from white intruders, and the assumption that it would automatically result in " civilization" of the Indians. However, this opposition was overwhelmed by proponents of allotment- proponents who included humanitarian " friends of the Indians" groups. The Ute Bill of 1880, which ratified the 1880 Agreement, was one of several laws which included allotment provisions for certain tribes. 49 In 1887 the ^ allotment policy was extended to all Indian groups ( except in Oklahoma) by the General Allotment or Dawes Act. 50 Otto Mears was given the job of inspecting the lands near the Grand River as to their suitability for settlement by the Uncompahgres. He judged that they were not suitable. Therefore, lands in Utah adjacent to the Grand River were designated the new home of the Uncompahgres. 51 Under military escort the protesting White River and Uncompahgre Utes were moved off their Colorado lands into Utah- the White Rivers to join the Uintahs on the Uintah Reservation and the Uncompahgres to the southeast of them. The transfer to the Uintah Reservation of a recently rebellious group, who looked with contempt upon the Utes who were farming under his guidance, caused Critchlow to react negatively to the White River Utes. Soon after the arrival of the Colorado people, the abrasiveness between them and Critchlow resulted in the latter's release. The Ouray Agency was established for the Uncompahgres on the east side 13 |
