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Show 131 distant. At the new location, there was ample farming land, irrigation water easily diverted, adjacent supplies of good timber, and a coal mine for fuel. It is hard to imagine a much better set of circumstances in which to establish an Indian agency. Problems existed in the White River band of Utes. The major difficulty was that there were two strong leaders of the band, Douglas and Captain Jack. Douglas was the more conservative of the two, and he was more disposed to cooperate with the Agent. When this cooperation took place, Jack and his men would ridicule and harass the work of Douglas and his friends. Another problem, endemic to American Indian history, existed: the White River Agency Utes hated farming, and left for summer hunts rather than tend to crops. As the Utes hunted, they inflamed the tempers of the white residents of the new state of Colorado. The residents accused them of killing game wantonly, burning the forest to make hunting easier, and intimidating the citizens. Governor Frederick Pitkin wrote to Commissioner Hoyt in strong terms on July 5, 1879, claiming that farms, ranches, and mines were being disrupted by the Utes who were absent from their reservation. The complaints of the Governor created pressure on the agent to keep "his" Indians on his agency. Meeker's response was to ask for military support to keep the Utes at the new post. He expected that Major Thornburgh of Fort Steele, Wyoming, would be sent to help him. Thornburgh failed to receive any instructions from |