| Before 1500's |
Story of the
Creation: The Ute Creator is Senawahu, who made land for the use
of the Indians. Ute
Creation Story
Ute Land Area was about 225,000 sq. miles
(Map)
(3-D Map
A) (3-D Map
B)
Ute's a Long Time Ago
(Lesson Plan).
Utah
History and Ute History Dual Timeline
Archeological Map
of the Southwest
Utah
Places with Indian names
Ute Collection
of Resources and Pictures
Utah Natives
Picture Collection |
| 1534 |
Alvaro Nuņez
Caveza de Vaca Travel thought the Southwest. He and three more man
where looking for Mexico. One of them was an African slave
called Estebanico (Map) |
| 1538 |
Fray Juan Marcos
de Niza and Estebanico with an small force, returned to the
Southwest, searching for the Seven cities of Cibola. |
| 1539-1543 |
Francisco Vazquez
de Coronado leads and expedition of more than 1,300 man, 4
Franciscan monks and several slaves in search of the Seven
Cities of Cibola. (Map) |
| 1540 |
Lopez de
Cardenas, an officer of Coronado, reach the Colorado River from
the rim of Grand Canyon |
|
1600-1640 |
First contact with Spaniards (Introduction to the Horse)
(Map)
Early Cartography of the Southwest |
| 1604 |
An Exploratory
expedition sent by Juan de Oņate met an Indian (Southern Paiute?) |
|
1607 |
Between 1607 and 1776, at
least 175 treaties were signed between the British
Empire and the Colonies with American Indian Tribes. |
| 1638 |
First recorded
conflict between the Spaniards and the Utes. 80 "Utacas" were
capture and taken to Santa Fe, New Mexico. |
|
1649, Dec. 30 |
First Treaty with the Utes, "One of Peace and Amity" |
|
1680 |
The
Pueblo "Revolt" in New
Mexico obligated the Spaniards to abandon Santa Fe.
It is said that Ute participated in the Pueblo Revolt.
(3-D:
Map of Pueblo,
Pueblo/North,
Pueblo/Central,
Pueblo/South)
|
|
1700 |
Achieved ascendancy among the other tribes; great powers
horsemen (Juan Armando Neil said they were: "the bravest Indians
that he had encountered in New Spain." |
|
1749 |
Leaders of three Ute groups, Don Thomas of the "Utas, Barrignton
of the "Chaugaguas" ad Chicito of the "Moaches" agree on "peace"
(alliance) with the Spaniards |
|
1765 |
The Old Spanish Trail
Juan Maria de
Rivera explored the area from Santa Fe to the Gunnison River in
Colorado. His purpose was to find a trail to reach California.
The first to complete the circuit from Santa Fe to Los Angeles
was Mexican trader Antonio Armijo in the winter of 1829-30.
(Trail
Map)
(Trail
Map 2) |
|
1776 |
Escalante's Expedition through the basin.
The Fathers used two Ute guides that they named Silvestre and
Joaquin. (More
Links) (Trails
Map)
Miera and
Pacheco, 1878 |
|
1786 |
Spanish Governor Juan Bautista de Anza arranged a a peace
between the Comanche leader Ecueracapa and the Ute leaders Mora
and Pinto |
|
1787 |
Between
1787 and 1868,
371 treaties were
signed between the U.S. and American Indian Tribes. |
| 1804-1806 |
Lewis and Clark Expedition
(Map)
(Satellite
Maps)
Westward Expansion of U.S. - Routes
(Map from1791
to 1912)
Westward Expansion of U.S. -
Regions (Map
of Regions) |
|
1806 |
Captain Zebulon Pike
was sent to explore the Colorado Rockies.
While camped in San Luis Valley, he and his men were arrested by
Spanish soldiers and put in jail. |
|
1822 |
Lechat, a Ute leader came to Santa Fe, New Mexico to propose
trade |
|
1823 |
Johnson vs. McIntosh Supreme Court
Decision: This case tested the validity
of land sold by tribal chiefs to private persons in 1773
and 1775. The court decided that Indian Tribes had
no power to grant lands to anyone other than the federal
government. The federal government, in turn, held title
to the all land based upon the "doctrine of discovery." |
|
1824-1844 |
Trappers seeks fur and trade in Ute Lands.
Peter Skene Ogden from the
Hudson's Bay Company,
Jedediah Smith
and Thomas Fizpatrick from the
Rocky Mountain Fur Company
(owned by William Ashley) and Independent trappers, such as
Etienne Provost and Robidoux
brothers who were traveling from Taos Pueblo. |
|
1824 |
Ashley's expedition of the Uintah Basin |
|
1826-1827 |
Opening of the Old Spanish Trail
(Trails
Map) Ute lands of
the Kapotas, Weeminuche, Tumpanawach, and Pah Vant
(Map) |
|
1830 |
Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen
on the Removal Act, April 9, 1830.
David Crockett, a Tennessee legislator and U.S.
congressman
also openly opposed to the Indian Removal (read pp.
143-144.)
Indian Removal Act, President Andrew Jackson
(Eastern Tribes) |
|
1830-1848 |
Ute levied "tax" on the Spanish Traders. Ute
traded animal pelts of beaver and otter, and tanned hides of
elk, deer, mountain sheep, and buffalo for weapons, ammunition,
blankets, utensils, and trinkets. |
|
1831 |
Antoinne Robidoux opened a trading post in the Northern end of
the Basin (More
Links) |
|
1831 |
Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia
Decision: the State of Georgia passed and
enacted policies that only limited the Cherokee Tribal
sovereignty but also were unconstitutional in their
view. The court proclaimed that that Indian were neither
US citizens, nor independent nations, but rather were
"domestic nations" whose relationship to the US
"resembles that of a ward to his guardian." |
|
1831 |
Worcester vs Georgia Court
Decision: Samuel Austin
Worcester, a religious missionary from Vermont who was
working with Cherokee natives sued the State of Georgia
which had arrested him, claiming that the State had no
authority over him within the boundaries of the Cherokee
Nation. The court ruled in favor of Worcester,
stating that state laws did not extend in Indian
Country. Indian tribes were under the protection
of the federal government. |
|
1833 |
Fort Kit Carson established near the present day Ouray Community
|
|
1837 |
Fort Uncomphagre established at confluence of Gunnison and
Uncomphagre rivers, Northwestern Colorado. Also
Fort Robidoux is
established.
(Ute
Lands in Utah Territory, 1847-1861 Map) |
| 1840's |
The Oregon Trail
(2,170 miles long) is started to be
used. Marcus and Narcissa Whitman were the first Euroamericans
to cross the Oregon Trail in covered wagon during 1836. The "Great
Migration" started in 1843. Over the next 25 years, more than a
half of million of people went West on the Trail
(Trail
Map) |
|
1843 |
Lieutenant
John Charles Freemont traveled
trough Utah Ute lands, leading the first scientific exploration
of the area |
|
1844 |
Fort Robidoux is burned by Ute Indians |
|
1847 |
Mormons arrived to Salt Lake City
(3-D
Map of Utah American Indians in 1846)
Utah
Places with Indian names |
|
1848 |
The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ends the Mexican War and
enlarges the U.S. territory to include Ute Lands.
(More
Links)
(Ute
Lands in Utah Territory, 1847-1861 Map) |
|
1849 |
Agent Calhoun negotiates a treaty with the
Ute people at Abiqui,
New Mexico
(United
States Control of Ute Lands Map) |
|
1849 |
March 1, 1849:
First confrontation between the Ute and the Pioneers.
"Battle Creek" in Pleasant Grove".
Captain Howard Stansbury
of the U.S. Topographical Engineers was sent to begin a survey
for a military post on the edge of the desert
Ute and Pioneer Confrontations, 1849-1853 |
|
1850 |
Mormon militia attacks a Ute group near Fort Utah.
They laid seige to s a group of about seventy people lead
by Big Elk and Ope-Carry.
Ute and Pioneers Confrontation in Fort
Utah on February 1850 |
|
1851 |
The Utah territorial Indian Agency was established by Congress.
|
|
1853-1854 |
Wakara (Walker) leads the Utah Utes in a series of raids on
Mormon settlements, known as the
Walker War
Walkara War 1
and
Walkara War 2 |
|
1854 |
Peace was arranged by
Brigham Young and
Wakara at Chicken Creek in May
1854. Wakara died in January 1855 |
|
1855 |
Kapota and Moache were force to sign peace treaties (never
ratified) |
|
1856 |
Indian Agent Gallard Hurt established Indian farms at the Corn
Creek, Tewlve Mile Creek, and Spanish Fork. (More
Links) |
|
1857 |
Mountain Meadows Massacre |
|
1858 |
Federal Troops arrive in Utah to resolve rising tensions between
Mormons and the United States government. Indian Agent Jacob
Forney accompanies the troops. |
|
1859 |
Gold is discovered in Pikes Peak area |
|
1860's |
Major John Wesley Powell
began a survey of
Ute lands which would becom part of the U.S. Geological Survey. |
|
1861 |
Brigham Young sent a small party to explore the basin for
possible settlement. They reported "that all that section of
country lying between the Wasatch Mountains and the eastern
boundary of the territory, and south of Green River country, was
one vast contiguity of waste and measurably valueless. (Deseret
News, Sep 25, 1861)" |
|
1861 |
President Lincoln
sets
Uintah Valley aside as a Ute Reservation
(Utah
Ute Reservations, 1861-1898 Map)
(Satellite Map) |
|
1863 |
Tumpanawach, Pah-vant, Parianuche, and Yamparika Utes meet in
central Utah, Black Hawk leads series of raids known as the
Black Hawk Wars of Utah. |
|
1863 |
John Nicolay, secretary to President Lincoln was sent west to
head a commission to deal with the Utes. One tribe got its
territory described in the process. |
|
1863 |
The Taviwach leaders signed a treaty relinquishing the Colorado
territory and with its mineral rights (ratified March 25, 1864).
This followed skirmishes between the Taviwach band and intruding
prospectors in the Middle Park area. (Ute
Land Cessions in Colorado Territory, 1863-1868 Map) |
|
1864 Feb. 1 |
Indian commissioners ordered to collect and remove Indians. |
|
1864 May 5 |
Congress ratifies an executive order which set aside the Uintah
Valley Reservation as proposed (1861). |
|
1864 |
Mormons ask for
the removal of the Utes to the Sanpete and Uintah Valley. |
|
1864 |
At Sand Creek on November 29,
1864,
John Chivington led the
Colorado Volunteers in a dawn attack on
Black Kettle
and his band, who had been told they would be safe on this
desolate reservation. Two hundred Cheyenne men, women and
children were slaughtered, and their corpses often grotesquely
mutilated.
Native's report.
(3-D:Map
of the Sand Creek Massacre) |
|
1865 |
Treaty between U.S. and the Ute Tribes in
Utah in June 8, 1865
Treaty between U.S. and the "Weber Ute
Indians in October, 1865 |
|
1865-1868 |
Black Hawk War.
Black Hawk 1
and
Black Hawk 2 |
|
1866 |
Treaty between U.S. and the
Uintah and Yampa Utes in August 29, 1866
Circleville residents arrest and kill all the adult Utes at a
Ute camp near Circleville. |
|
1867 |
Most of Uintah
Utes were removed to Uintah Valley. |
|
1868, Mar 2 |
A
treaty was signed by the Uncompahgre. |
|
1868 |
Whiterocks Agency was established on the Uintah Reservation.
Also a treaty established two other agencies, the Colorado Ute
People had one at Whiteriver, and another at Rio de Los Pinos
(ratified July 25, 1868). |
|
1868 |
Chief
Black Kettle and a Southern
Cheyenne peaceful village at Washita was attacked by the 7th
U.S. Cavalry, under
Lt. Col. George A. Custer, just
before dawn on November 27, 1868 during the era of the Plains
and Indian Wars.
Custer's Report,
Native's Report
(3:D
Map of the Washita) |
|
1870 |
Chief Black Hawk died. |
|
1871-1875 |
The Photographs of
John Hillers, who
accompanied Powell during 1871-75 are important primary sources
of the area at that time |
|
1872 |
The Secretary of the Interior convinces Congress to draw up a
new treaty that had no discussion with Indians before hand.
The Indians defeated it. |
|
1873 |
The Brunot Agreement deprives the Ute people of San Juan
Mountain land and gold deposits (ratified April 29, 1894).
(Ute
Land Cessions in Colorado Territory, 1873-1876
Map) |
|
1873 |
U.S. government officials appoint
Ouray as Head Chief of the Utes. |
|
1876 |
On June 25, 1876, federal troops led by
Lt. Col.
George Armstrong Custer
and a band of
Sioux and
Cheyenne Indians confronted in
a battle known as
Battle at the Little Bighorn River,
Montana. The U.S. government had ordered the northern Plains
tribes to return to designated reservations and had sent troops
under
Gen. Alfred H. Terry to enforce
the order. Terry hoped to surround an Indian encampment at the
mouth of the Little Bighorn, but a party of some 200 soldiers
led by Custer launched an early attack and was slaughtered.
Government troops subsequently flooded into the area and forced
the Indians to surrender. (3-D Map,
The Battle of Little Big Horn) |
|
1877 |
The 1877
flight of the Nez Perce from
their homelands while pursued by U.S. Army
Generals Howard, Sturgis and
Miles, is one of the most
fascinating and amazing events in Western U.S. History. Finally,
Chief Joseph's camp was
captured in the Battle of Bear Paw, a few miles South of Canada.
Chief Joseph's Speeches.
(3-D Maps:
Nez Perce's
Trail,
The
Battle of Bear Paw)
|
|
1878 |
Meeker became agent at Whiteriver agency. |
|
1879 |
Agent Nathan Meeker is killed by Yamparika Utes. |
|
1879 |
As
a result of the Meeker incident, officials force the Colorado
Utes to sign an agreement which removes the Yamparika and
Taviwach Utes to Utah (ratified June 15, 1880). |
|
1880, Mar 6 |
Treaty signed by the Indians. |
|
1880, June 15 |
Treaty signed by
congress for Indian removal from Colorado. |
|
1880, Aug 24 |
Death of Ouray. |
|
1880-1891 |
Ghost Dance Movement |
|
1881 |
Yamparika Utes are moved to the Uintah Reservation in Utah. |
|
1882 |
Act of January 5, 1882--Uncompahgre Reservation |
|
1885 |
Miners found Gilsonite--significance--only deposit in U.S. |
|
1886 |
Uintah and Ouray agencies consolidate. |
|
1887 |
President Cleveland establishes the
Fort Duchesne Military
reservation near the Agency. (More
Links) |
|
1887 |
Congress passes
the
Dawes Act, or the Allotment Act.
(More
Links)
Allotment Act or Dawes Act, February 8, 1887
(pdf.) |
|
1887 |
Act provides for surveys and allotments on the reservations. |
|
1890 |
Ouray
Boarding School opens at Randlett, then called Leland.
(Boarding
School Pictures) |
|
1897 |
A
small group of Uncompahgre, Uintah, and Whiteriver (Yamparika)
Utes received Allotments. (Opening
of Utah Ute Reservations, 1888-1898 Map) |
|
1897 |
Posse attacks Utes camped on the Snake River in Colorado |
|
1898 |
Uintah and Whiteriver Utes sell land to the Uncompahgre Utes. |
|
1898 |
Allotments made on
the Uintah Reservation as Mormon settlers rush into area.
(More
Links) |
|
1902 |
Congressional hearings on Uintah reservation allotments. |
|
1905 |
President
Theodore Roosevelt withdrew 1,100,000 acres from the Utes to create the Uinta National Forest Reserve.
(Opening
of Uintah reservation, 1905 Map)
Opening of the Uintah Reservation to Homestead Claims 1
Opening of the Uintah Reservation to Homestead Claims 2 |
|
1909 |
By
right of "Eminent Domain" the
Strawberry Valley Reclamation
Project appropriate 56,000 acres of land. |
|
1918 |
Native
American Church - This Indian church was organized in
Oklahoma to combine an ancient Indian practice - the use
of peyote - with Christian beliefs of morality and
self-respect. The Church prohibits alcohol, requires
monogamy and family responsibility, and promotes hard
work. By 1923, 14 states had outlawed the use of peyote
and in 1940, the Navajo tribal council banned it from
the reservation. In1944, the Native American Church of
the United States was incorporated. Today, the Church
continues to play an important role in the lives of many
Indian people |
|
1924 |
Indian Citizenship
Act passed.
However, voting procedures are delegated to the states, and well
past 1924 some states misused this power to continue to deny
Native Americans the right to vote. For example, as late as
1962, New Mexico still overtly prohibited Native Americans from
voting. |
|
1928 |
The Meriam Report
describe the challenging conditions on Indian Reservations and
reforms were enacted.
Indian Education Report |
|
1930's |
During the
Great Depression the Ute
Business Committee bought land from bankrupted white farmers |
|
1931 |
Ration system stopped. |
|
1933-1934 |
Taylor Grazing Act:
Agency withdrew 429,000 acres from the Uncompahgre
Reservation and placed in the public domain. |
|
1934 |
Indian Reorganization Act 1934
(pdf.)
Indian
Reorganization Act and Indian New Deal
(pdf.) |
|
1937-1938 |
Utah Utes adopted
the
Wheeler-Howard Reorganization Act of 1934; wrote a
Constitution and By-laws; established a Tribal Business
Committee.
Ute
Constitution
Ute Business Council By Laws |
|
1939 |
Utes of Colorado
and Utah brought suits against the government payment on
4,404,000 acres of surface and subsurface land, including the
territory embraced within the Rangely Oil Field.
(Satellite
Map) |
|
1946 |
The
Indian Claim Commission
was established, it created a special system for the Indians to
sue the federal government |
|
1957 |
Termination Policy
Senator
Watkins on Termination Policy, May 1957
Secretary of Interior Seaton on Termination Policy, September
1958 |
|
1957 |
Utah disenfranchised Indian voters by claiming that Indians
residing on reservations did not qualify as residents of the
state, despite the 1881 Supreme Court decision to the contrary.
This statute stood until 1957 when, under threat of reversal by
Supreme Court, the state legislature abolished it. |
|
1969 |
Report:
Indian Education: A National Tragedy - A
National Challenge (Kennedy
Report) |
|
1969 |
"Indians
of All Tribes"
occupation of Alcatraz - A group of young
Indians seized the abandoned Alcatraz Island in the San
Francisco harbor. They issued a "Proclamation to the
Great White Father" in which they stated their claim
that Alcatraz was suitable as an Indian Reservation and
thus, should be converted into an Indian educational and
cultural center. The
Indians of All Tribes continued to
occupy
Alcatraz (pictures) until June, 1971.
More links:
Alcatraz by Sthepanie Rosa
(Paper) |
|
1970 |
Nixon's
"Special Message on Indian Affairs" - President Nixon
delivered a speech to Congress which denounced past
federal policies, formally ended the termination policy,
and called for a new era of
self-determination for
Indian peoples.
More links:
Self-Determination Act Report 1999 |
|
1970's |
Self-Determination Policy, President Johnson 1968
Self-Determination Policy, President
Nixon, 1970 |
|
1972 |
Trail of
Broken Treaties - "Over 500 Indian activists traveled
across the United States to Washington, DC where they
planned to meet with BIA officials and to deliver a
20-point proposal for revamping the BIA and establishing
a government commission to review treaty violations.
When guards at the BIA informed the tribal members that
Bureau officials would not meet with them and threatened
forcible removal from the premises, the activists began
a week-long siege of the BIA building. The BIA finally
agreed to review the 20 demands and to provide funds to
transport the activists back to their home.
Indian Education Act - This Congressional Act
established funding for special bilingual and bicultural
programs, culturally relevant teaching materials, and
appropriate training and hiring of counselors. It also
created an
Office of Indian Education in the U.S.
Department of Education." 1 |
|
1973 |
Wounded
Knee Occupation - "At the Pine Ridge Reservation of the Oglala Sioux in South Dakota, trouble had been brewing
between the Indian activists that supported AIM, and
tribal leaders who had the support of the BIA. After a
violent confrontation in 1972, tribal chair Richard
Wilson condemned AIM and banned it from the reservation.
In February 1973, AIM leaders led by Russell Means and
about 200 activists who were supported by some Oglala
traditional leaders took over the village of Wounded
Knee, announced the creation of the Oglala Sioux Nation,
declared themselves independent from the United States,
and defined their national boundaries as those
determined by the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. The siege
lasted 71 days, during which time federal marshals, FBI
agents, and armored vehicles surrounded the village. AIM
members finally agreed to end their occupation under one
condition - that the government convene a full
investigation into their demands and grievances."1 |
|
1975 |
Indian
Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act -
"This
Congressional Act recognized the obligation of the U.S.
to provide for maximum participation by American Indians
in Federal services to and programs in Indian
communities. It also established a goal to provide
education and services to permit Indian children to
achieve, and declared a commitment to maintain the
Federal government's continuing trust relationship, and
responsibility to, individual Indians and tribes."1 |
|
1978 |
American
Indian Religious Freedom Act - "This Congressional Act
promised to "protect and preserve for American Indians
their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and
exercise" traditional religions, "including but not
limited to access to sites, use and possession of sacred
objects, and the freedom to worship through ceremonial
and traditional rites." Although the enactment seemed to
recognize the importance of traditional Indian religious
practices, it contained no enforcement provisions."1
Santa Clara v. Martinez Supreme Court Decision
US v. Wheeler Supreme Court Decision |
|
1980 |
United
States v. Sioux Nation of Indians - U.S. Supreme
Court ruled that the Sioux Indians were entitled to an
award of $17.5 million, plus 5% interest per year since
1877, totaling about $106 million in compensation for
the unjust taking of the Black Hills and in direct
contravention of the Treaty of Fort Laramie. The Sioux
have refused to take the money and sits in a trust fund
in Washington, collecting interest |
|
1990 |
Native
American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act - This
Congressional Act required all institutions that receive
federal funds to inventory their collections of Indian
human remains and artifacts, make their lists available
to Indian tribes, and return any items requested by the
tribes |
|
1990 |
Native American Language Act:
The congress passed a policy to "preserve, protect, and
promote the rights and freedom of Native Americans to
use, practice and develop Native American languages."
|
|
1993 |
Hagen v. Utah (92-6281), 510 U.S. 399
(1994).
Support link:
Indian Country Legal Definition
|
|
1996 |
National
American Indian Heritage Month - President Clinton
declared November of each year to be National American
Indian Heritage Month |
|
1999 |
Shannon
County, South Dakota, home of the Oglala Lakota on Pine
Ridge Reservation is identified as the poorest place in
the country
Self-Determination Policy Report |
|
2006 |
Uintah and Ouray Indian
Reservation Map |
| |
|
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