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Show Pages From The Past ' - " ' : , ;' ' '''"',. . ; ; " . - r - SCHOOL BOYS draw for about 5,772 homestead claims. There were 37,702 applicants. Opening of f he Indian Reservation in 1905 by Doris Karren Burton Uintah County Librarian The Uintah Indian reservation was established by President Lincoln Oct. 3, 1861. By an act of Congress, dated May 5, 1854, the superintendent of Indian Affairs Af-fairs for the territory of Utah was authorized to collect and settle upon the reservation all or as many of the Indians In-dians of Utah Terriroty as might be induced in-duced to inhabit it. It proved to be a very difficult matter to get the Ute Indians In-dians to occupy the reservation. They were a powerful tribe, divided into numerous bands, and ranged over a vast extent of country in northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah. In 1873 there were known to be seven tribes of Utes in Utah which were officially of-ficially supposed to be on the reservation. reserva-tion. However, they were really roaming roam-ing all over the country most of the time, occasionally assembling to receive such supplies as were furnished them by the government. Later there were only three tribes recognized, the Uintahs, White Rivers and Uncom-pahgres. Uncom-pahgres. A reduction was made of the reservation on May 24, 1888 when the section known as the 'Strip' was excluded exclud-ed and set aside for the development of a large deposit of gilsonite. For years there was talk of opening part of the reservation for white settlement. settle-ment. Throughout the 1890s there were articles in the Vernal Express stating that senators in Washington were trying try-ing to get the reservation opened. Many people reading that, 'it is believed the reservation will be opened soon,' wanted to be first in line and began moving to the area. As early as 1887 the Salt Lake Tribune recommended the allotment of 160 acres to each Indian who was the head of a family and one who had no family to be alio ted 40 acres. It was the paper's belief that, with proper education, after 15 years when the old Indians had died off, the whites need expect no more trouble from their red neighbors. The government govern-ment had an opportunity to test this hypothesis in 1898 when, pursuant to an act of June 7, 1897, surveyors began making out plots for the Indians and readying the rest of the reservation for its opening to general settlement. Owning to an extremely hard winter, the allotting commission could not finish its survey in time to beat the rush of settlers which began early in April 1898. Several congressmen tried to obtain ob-tain a stay of the proceedings, but were unable to do so, and others hoped to protect pro-tect the mineral lands from speculation by reserving them to the government. In spite of these efforts, the asphalt claims came under the control of a group which the Tribune called "the St. Louis syndicate." When the Indians learned that their reservation had been opened before the survey was completed, they were justifiably angry; and there was fear of retaliation. Indian police tried to keep settlers away from dangerous parts of the reservation. Reports indicated that the Indians had driven settlers away from the reservation toward both Castle Cas-tle Gate and Vernal, and that they were afraid to go near Fort Duchesne because of Indian hostility. The agent at the reservation asked the soldiers to keep trespassers away from the gilsonite land; but, as the troops received receiv-ed no authorization from the War Department, they did not act. Fortunately, For-tunately, the allotting commission succeeded suc-ceeded in issuing land to those Indians who wanted it, and serious trouble was averted. In June 1898 Congress passed an act which authorized allotments to be made on the Uintah reservation with the consent con-sent of the people. The Uintah and White Rivers would not give their consent. con-sent. A delegation of their leaders went to Washington in November to express their opposition: "Our land is small, and we do not want to sell it to anyone.. .We have no more land than we want ourselves for our own use." The Uintah and White River people continued "unanimous and determined in their opposition to making cession to the government of any of their lands and to allowing any Uintah or White River Indian to take and hold an allotment.. ..However, non-Ute mining, ranching, and farming interest continued con-tinued their pressures to open the reservation. reser-vation. In the fall of the same year (1898) commissioners came from Washington to negotiate a treaty with the Uintah Indians. In-dians. By November 2, however, the commissioners returned to their station at Washington because the Indians opposed op-posed giving up their lands. The commissioners com-missioners admitted that the allotment or severalty system had not worked successfully on the Uncompahgre Reservation, where surveyors had apportioned ap-portioned 70,000 acres. Few of the Indians showed any interest in-terest in settling on their allotted land, most of them did not know where their plot lay, and those who did had no desire to occupy them. Later in the same month, the secretary of the interior in-terior gave these Indians control over their mineral lands and allowed them to lease the mineral rights to the Raven Mining Company of Chicago. In this way, many of the troubles which had come on the Uncompahgre Reservation at its opening were avoided. On May 17, 1902 the following article appeared in the Vernal Express : "The passage of the bill for the opening open-ing of Reservation is hailed by delight by the people of this county in particular. par-ticular. "By the consent of the Indians," In-dians," is the only clause the people are afraid of, but as the bill grants a lease on mineral land. ..it is thought the agent Myton will advise the Indians to give their consent. Agent Myton is in Salt Lake and is reported saying he "believes the $70,000 provided for them by the bill asking for the opening of the lands, will smooth over all objections they might have." In 1903 the government moved to open more of the Uintah Reservation to entry and settlement, with or without Ute consent. This capped years of frustration for the people. Councils were held at the reservation. The Ute people expressed their opposition. Congress Con-gress then proceeded without their consent. con-sent. A large delegation of leaders traveled to Washington in 1905 to protest this action. ac-tion. They demanded that provisions of the treaties and agreements of 1863, 1868 and 1880 be fulfilled. They pleaded that they be removed to a reservation where they could be left alone. The same procedure was used as on previous visits by Ute delegations. They were met, photographed and given promises. However, their requests re-quests were not granted. Their trip to see the 'Great White Father' was but another wasted effort. Despite the sad experiences of the t allotting commission on the Uncompahgre Uncom-pahgre Reservation, and the reluctance of the Uintah Indians to the conclusion of a treaty with the government, the reservation was opened in 1905. The government gave the Uintahs their own plots of land. Once again the government govern-ment had difficulty getting them to ac- cept the allotments, partly because they did not accept or understand the concept of private property. i In 1905, the area contained within the boundaries of the reservation was 2,460,285 acres. Of this area 1,010,000 acres, consisting of timbered mountains moun-tains was added to the Uintah Forest ! Reserve; about 61,000 acres were withdrawn for reservoir sites; about 103,000 acres were allotted to the Indians In-dians for agriculture purposes; 276,000 acres were reserved Indian grazing lands and timber reserves; 2,020 acres were disposed of by act of Congress as mining claims; the Fort Duchesne military reserve occupied 3,860 acres, and the remainder, approximately 1,000,000 acres, which was estimated would make 5,772 homestead claims, -were opened to settlement on Aug. 28, 1905. On account of the known richness of the reservation in gilsonite, elaterite, and other asphalt substances, taken in connection with the rumors of gold and silver mines that the reservation was - alleged to contain, (one being the Lost Rhoades Mine which will be the subject of a later article), it was regarded as a certainty that if these lands were simp- ' ly thrown open to entry without any regulations there would be a rush similar to those which took place at the opening of the first Oklahoma lands, with hardships, violence and bloodshed. In order that the lands might be entered in a peaceful and orderly manner, Congress Con-gress authorized the President to prescribe by proclamation the manner in which it should be settled. Therefore, it was directed that the unalloted, unreserved portions of the reservation would be open to entry under the homestead law and would be paid for at the rate of $1.25 per acre. All monies realized from the sale of mineral lands, shall be held in trust by the treasury of the U.S. for the use of the Indians. The proclamation also prescribed that there should be a registration at Vernal, Price, and Provo, in the State of Utah and at Grand Junction, in the State of Colorado. A drawing was then held in Provo. There were 37,702 applicants. A little more than half this number were from Utah. Colorado furnished the next largest number, while all adjoining States and Territories, and a majority of the States in the Union were represented in the registration, but the agriculture class actually wanting to obtain homes on the government land were in majority. As each applicant was registered, he signed his name on a card containing a description sufficient for his identification. identifica-tion. The card was inclosed in a small plain envelope and sealed up. At the end of the registration, all of these cards were brought together at Provo. On the day fixed for the drawing, they were placed in a box which could be revolved, revolv-ed, and which was situated upon a platform plat-form in a public square, where all could see the drawing. The actual drawing of the envelopes was done by school boys, and the man whose name was contained in the first envelope drawn had the privilege of making the first entry of land, their having the choice of any one-hundred-and-sixty acre tract of the land opened to the entry. The succeeding ones drawn making entry in the order in which their names were drawn. One hundred and eleven entries could be made each working day during the sixty-day period prescribed by the proclamation, pro-clamation, after which the remainder would become public land. The registration and drawing were successfully suc-cessfully concluded, and the entries, begun on Aug. 28, were progressed in a quiet and orderly manner. Information used for this article was taken from the following: A History of the Ute People by Fred A. Conetah; Utah Historical Quarterly fall 1964; The 1905 American Monthly Review of Reviews courtesy David Ahrnsbrak. |
