Colorado: The Highest State, Second Edition

6. Natives Versus Newcomers

77 In the 1880s, natives who had long occupied Colorado began to face new­ comers who also wished to live here. Both groups called this land home. Sadly, neither group ever completely understood the other. Neither the Native Americans nor the Euro­Americans, as US residents of European ancestryaresometimescalled,wereallbadorallgood.Theywerejusthuman beings trying to do their best for themselves, their families, and their friends. Their disagreement had started centuries earlier on the Atlantic Coast of the North American continent, where the struggling English colonists and eastern tribes had engaged in a series of bitter attacks and counterattacks. As European, then American, settlement moved west, the conflict continued. During the 1700s, the Spanish in New Mexico had campaigned against the Utes and the Comanche from Colorado. The Native Americans had raided Spanish lands, and the governor of New Mexico sent troops north­ ward to punish the raiders and show them Spain’s might. The Spanish, how­ ever, were never able to establish a permanent settlement in this part of the Rocky Mountains. This struggle, therefore, proved minor compared with what happened later. By the time permanent settlement by European Americans took hold in Colorado in the early 1850s, the civil war had been going on for over 230 years. The causes were as old as the struggle itself, and the result for the Native Americans would be the same as it had been during Virginia’s Natives versus Newcomers 6 78 N a t i v e s v e r s u s N e w c o m e r s troubles—they would lose their lands no matter how hard they fought to keep them. treaties aNd troubles When all of Colorado became US territory in 1848, the Utes, Cheyenne, and Arapaho found themselves governed by the United States. They had not asked for this to happen, nor had they been asked if they wanted this result. As was the land, Native Americans were simply traded as part of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo between the United States and Mexico. A treaty is an agreement between two or more groups of people. Ever since the United States of America had declared its independence in 1776, the government had been signing treaties with various Native American peoples that promised them land to live on and peace between the two groups. Unfortunately, the United States broke nearly all of the treaties. The pattern would continue in Colorado and throughout the West. Arapaho Indians camped in and around Denver. Courtesy, thomas J. Noel ColleCtioN. Little Raven, a Southern Arapaho chief, welcomed palefaces to share his campsite at the loca-­ tion where Denver now stands. He regretted his hospitality six year later after his people and the Cheyenne were massacred at Sand Creek in 1864. Courtesy, Colorado historiCal soCiety, deNver. N a t i v e s v e r s u s N e w c o m e r s 79 In 1849 the United States made its first treaty with the Ute people. The Utes promised to recognize the authority of the US government and remain at peace. In return, the Utes received gifts and a promise of $5,000 per year from the US government. Two years later the Cheyenne and Arapaho joined with other Plains tribes to sign the Fort Laramie Treaty. The land in eastern Colorado between the Arkansas and Platte Rivers was given to the Cheyenne and Arapaho. This had become their homeland, a fact the United States promised to respect. Meanwhile, the Utes in the San Luis Valley had threatened the small Mexican settlements located there. Ever since the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, these Hispanics had been American citizens, and the United States needed to protect them and maintain peace. To do so, the US government built Fort Massachusetts in 1852 and stationed troops there. The trouble that developed between the Utes and settlers in the southern San Luis Valley could have been expected. The settlers were living and farming on land on which the Utes had hunted for years. Because of this, the Utes occasionally The Utes moved around in search of buffalo and better campsites. Women, like the two shown here, made and moved the buffalo-­hide tepees. Courtesy, Fort lewis College, southwest studies CeNter, duraNgo, Co. 80 N a t i v e s v e r s u s N e w c o m e r...