OCR Text |
Show sheep onto unsold, open Indian tribal lands in the southern part of the Uintah Reservation. ,84 The court ruled against Hanson and in favor of the United States as trustee of the lands of the Uintah and White River Utes. The court ruled that the 1902 law and subsequent laws allotting lands to the Uintah Reservation Utes did not extinguish their beneficial title to the rest of the reservation. There were also concerns for land of the Uncompahgre Reservation. When these lands had been thrown open for entry of the white man, most of the Indians were left on the lands. Many continued through the following years bewildered by the action of white men who had invaded the boundaries of the reservation originally established for the Utes. Some removed themselves to the plots of land allotted them. Some remained to eke out a living as best they could. 183 Except for the mineral claims and homesteads, much of the land in the Uncompahgre Reservation was not entered. The Utes competed with non- Utes for use of these lands as grazing areas. Some officials suggested that a grazing reserve be created for the Utes out of the Uncompahgre Reservation. However, officials were also eager not to " open the entire Uncompahgre land matter." 186 Therefore, efforts to obtain the grazing reserve were not based upon the grounds that the land had belonged to the Uncompahgres. After the $ 1,000 per capita payment had been made in 1931 following the settlement of the Ute claim for Uintah Forest lands, ,87 the Uncompahgres were urged to invest their money in cattle and sheep. Competition with whites became more acute. Several white cattlemen agitated to have some 2,000,000 acres withdrawn from entry and established as a grazing unit under an association in which the Indians were to be represented. Bills proposing this grazing unit were introduced into Congress. In June 1934 the Taylor Grazing Act was passed to abolish unrestricted grazing on public domain lands., 88 It authorized the establishment of grazing districts and the issuing of permits to graze livestock on them. The Department of the Interior had already approved the establishment as a grazing reserve of all vacant and unentered lands within the Uncompahgre Reservation - about 2,500,000 acres. At the same time, efforts were made to establish part of the area as a permanent reserve for the exclusive use and benefit of the Utes. Local stockmen, landowners, officials and representatives from the Indian Service ( no Utes were in attendance) made an agreement on July 10, 1935, to support a proposed bill to establish such a permanent grazing reserve. The bill proposed to " extend the boundaries of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation" to include an additional 726,000 acres - 380,000 of which were within the Uncompahgre Reservation. The bill failed of enactment as did other similar bills. 189 However, the Indian Service, in anticipation of favorable Congressional action, proceeded to acquire, using tribal funds, privately owned lands within the Uncompahgre Reservation. This purchase program was completed in 36 |