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Show concern some Senators were expressing about the protection of Indian rights and lands. Certainly they reflected an attitude different than that reflected in the House bill. The Senate version became law in March. ,57 This Act also repealed that part of the 1903 Act which had provided for a grazing reserve in the Strawberry Valley. A grazing reserve was selected, instead, in the Deep Creek area. A commission ( W. H. Code, C. G. Hall, C. S. Carter) was appointed April 3, 1905, to allot lands to the Uintahs and White Rivers. Since many of the Utes continued to refuse to choose allotments, land was allotted without their taking part in what they were given. A total of 103,265 acres was allotted in a period of less than two months. These allotments were approved by the Interior Department ( not Congress) July 18, 1905.158 Later observers commented that the Indians were actually allotted " some of the most worthless land on the reservation, while some of the very best land was opened to entry....", 59Some of the better allotments were isolated tracts along the several streams. These tracts were to prove especially vulnerable to later acquisition by whites. Pursuant to the requirements of the March 1905 Act, a Presidential Proclamation of July 14, 1905, set the date for entry on the unreserved and unallotted lands of the Uintah Reservation for August 28, 1905.16° The rules and regulations prescribed for entry provided for the registration of applicants and a drawing for the order of entry. Only after 60 days was the land to be entered under the general provisions of the homestead laws. A Presidential Proclamation of the same day set aside 101,000 acres of Ute lands as an addition to the Uintah National Forest which had been created in 1897.161 Other Presidential Proclamations reserved for the Utes resource, agricultural, and reservoir lands, including part of the Strawberry Valley. 162 Presidential Proclamations also reserved lands for town sites. I63 The announcement of the opening started a land rush. Stories were told of fabulous wealth in minerals and natural resources. Several hundred people located farms on the lands- many for speculation, " although there existed some doubt as to the suitability of the soil and climate and the adequacy of the water supply for cultivated agriculture...." 164 But the land bubble burst. Ironically, much of the land that whites were so eager to take away from the Utes proved to be as barren as whites had first evaluated it in 1860. The mining and ranching interests fared better, but by 1912 many of the new settlers were so poverty stricken that they had to plead that Congress grant a moratorium on land payment. 165 The opening of the Uintah Reservation provoked the last insurrection of the Utes. 166 After their requests to be removed from the Uintah area to their own territory in Colorado were not met, from 300 to 600 of the White Rivers gathered at what is now called Bridgerland with their horses, wagons, and supplies. They did not want whites moving onto their lands. They decided that they would leave the area and form a league with the Sioux, the Crow, and all 32 |