Show THE SOUTHERN DTES The Fight Going on Over Their Proposed Removal A VERY VIGOROUS PROTEST Some Small Settlements Making a Very Large Kick The Dangers of Conflict Between the Whites and Indians While the people of Utah arc doing and saying but little concerning the proposed removal of the Southern Utes to the new reservation in San Juan county the inhabitants inhab-itants of Denver and other Colorado cities and towns are worked up to a fever heat and the Colorado papers are almost daily besieged by some one from the neighborhood neighbor-hood of the proposed new reservation who prpose rseraton is anxious to give reasons why the Utes gve should not come to Utah I is true a majority of the people of Colorado favor the removal of the Indiant because such a step would mean the opening up to settlement settle-ment of thousands of acres of the choicest land in the Centennial state which has been looked upon with covetous eyes for many years past There are those however how-ever principally stock companies nedoubt who are bitterly opposed t the coming of the Utes In a recent communication communi-cation to a Denver exchange we find the following dated Richardson Utah Theletter of yourDurango o correspondent contains three facts First the Dui rango people will be benefited b > the removal re-moval of the Utes to Utah secontl the mova Utes will be obliged by it and third the proposed reservation is better than the one they are leaving and more extensive Al the other statements however honest maybe may-be the writers intention are fake directly or indirectly I Durango needs help Utah could better afford to make up a subscription for her than to take her Utes on the terms offered He says Nor would their removal work a wrong to any person The bill before Congress makes ample prevision to reimburse the settler in good faith whose possessions ho in their new path I does no such thing The valuation does not cover one fourth the real value of the improvements im-provements made by setters The bill simply rums three claims that are patented The rest have no title but that of settlement settle-ment in good faith is the country was withdraw market at the commissioners commission-ers orders The bill practically CONFISCATES MINING rrOPEBTY cattle claims and orchards and vineyards from white people Mormons and Gentiles for the use of and benefit of Indians Again he says the new reservation is practically cut oft from the settlements of Utah On two sides it is but men are goingand coming with teams between it and the Moab every day 1 Except some very small ones that are provided for Does that mean Moab and Richardson How are they provided for Those very small settlements will make avery a-very large kick when the time comes It is contiguous to the coveted hunting grounds Yes it is and those hunting grounds arc nowoccupied bj cattle ranches and farms 1 Conflict between the Utes and white people would be only a remote possibility I say and I speak for the settlers that conflict con-flict would be a certainty The talk about the rich fruit lands is misleading San Juan county is in New Mexico and not occupied by Indians at nresent Its fruit lands are insicnificant in arc eomparod ruth the noble domain about to be stolen from Utah The Colorado Colo-rado reservation is well water and may raise apples and hardy fruits but I hae been all over it and where it has one acre valuable for fruit culture we have five The Blue mountains contain some of the finest grazing lands in the world The comprise fine fruit lands good wheat and potato lands and their settlement cannot be long delayed In five years the Utes would have to give them up Colorado gve get choice fruit from southern Utah with the greatest ease There are probably a hundred tons this season in the young fruit > raismg valley of Cattle Grand alone The present difficulty is the want of good roads to the railroad OPPOSING INTERESTS All the best jncn of the section are interested inter-ested in forming a new count La Sal which runs down to the north end of the proposed reservation The project is regarded re-garded as certain of success in Sat Lake where it has the highest influence on its side The officials will probably attend to the Utes Cowboys enough can be mus XJred to wipe out the tribe I the Durango people mean to provoke war to get rid of the Utes two ca play at that game We may as well die fighting for our Tights as wait t be murdered or driven out An Indian told Mr Frank Smith this summer that he would have to move when they came down a they meant t take all the land to the Dolores ten miles north of us Until this infamous scheme of plunder was planned the Utes were very shy of this neighborhood Buckskin Charlies war party stole some horses killed two men and were attacked by cowboys a few years ago between Mill creek and Little Castle creek The fight lasted two or three days and twentyseven dead Indians and one squaw were left on the ground Counting those who were murdered about ten white men perished But the reults were highly satisfactory They behaved themselves after that the prowling thieves We cannot afford to give up our homes to the control of savages The attempt must be made t teach those Jtes to live like whites or else tcct One ninth of Utah has been taen esc Unth for Colorado Indians Now 000000 more acres with a vast range of hunting is offered ered them Gentlemen we have had enough This case has to go before the United States where we have rights as well as Colorado and the Indians A BAD LOT As for the character of those Indians they are already too well know hero The La Sal mountains were their rendezvous after the Thornburg and Meeker massacre in which they so fiendishly participated Buckskin Charlie and his band fled here and remained until danger was past Of course they know and like the country I repeat that not until they had assurances that they were to possess this country did they dare to venture in here after the Little Castle fight There are now at this iVi ga ott smiting 200 Indians camped around the La Sal who claim that the government has given them this country and that the setters set-ters have got to get out because it soon will be in their hands They aro killing deer by the thousand for summer skins while white men are compelled to obey the game laws of Utah It would appear from the present indica ions that the pioneers of southeastern Utah have no rights which government agents and Indians are hound to respect Time will tell whether the Senate can be induced to ratify so great an outrage There is considerable similarity between Artemus Wards heroic resolve to sacrifice all his wifes relations and the profuse generosity with which Colorado is willing to give away Utahs property to the Indians In-dians |