Show CHIPETA as she appeared when she charmed US of in Washington D C during the year 1880 Photo Courtesy Thorne Studio f ft I I i 11 f t OURAY Chief of the Ute and good friend of early Utah settlers Photo courtesy Thorne Studio WIFE OF CH F OURAY I Queen of the Utes I The Story of Chipeta first ap in thE Vernal Express May 26 1932 It was written I by Wallace Starke agricultural agent of the Indian Service at Ouray retired and Albert B Reagan in charge of the Ouray Indian Day School at Ouray at that time This is the Indian woman oC whom Gene Field these lines But give her a page in his I tory too Though be rotting in a humble shroud nd write on the whitest of Gods God's I clouds Chipeta's name in eternal blue It is of her and of hel husband Chief Ouray these lines are written was born June 10 She was of thE bl nd of the Ute tribe and spent her childhood days near the pI sent Conejos Colorado She Shewa wa s a very beautiful hE became the wife of Ouray in and his fortunes with the utes were hers until his dath proceeding farther with the of Chipeta a horl sketch of Ouray's life will not le out of place here I OURAY said by to be bethe the t pt to pronounce the name Willie given him by the white family to which he was as a boy Other auth give the name meaning as The Arrow A chief of the Utes bon in Taos New Mexico in 1833 Ouray was engaged in ina a fierce struggle with Sioux in his early manhood only son was captured DY the Kiowa ne er to be restored HIS RELATIONS with the United States government so far as recorded began with the treaty made by the hand at Colorado Oct Oct- October ober 7 1863 to which his name is signed or Arrow It ItlIe lIe also signed the of Washington bythe March 2 1868 by the name Ure though to the amendment of August 15 1868 it is written Ouray lIe is noted chiefly for his un wavering for the whites with whom he always kept faith and whose interests he protected as far as possible even on trying occasions IT WAS in all probability his firm stand the restraint he imposed upon his people that prevented the spread of the out break of the Utes in September 1879 when agent N C Meeker and others were killed and the women of the agency made cap tives As soon as Ouray heard of this outbreak he commanded the cessation of hostilities which the agent claimed would have stopped further outrage had soldiers been withheld Ouray nt this time signed him him- himself self head chief of the ute For his efforts to maintain peace at this time he was grant cd an annuity of 1000 as long longas as he remained chief of the Ute Ouray had a fair education speaking both English and Spanish death occurred at 11 am August 24 1880 while he was residing in a comfort able house on a farm which he owned and cui OURAY WOULD have taught the czar and of the east much to their interest and to the happiness of their subjects lIe was a model in habits for he never chewed tobacco abhor red whiskey took but a sup of wine in company when it offered him and then only as asa a matter of courtesy He never swore nor used obscene or vulgar gar language lie was a firm in the Christian faith and two years before his death united with the church Thus passed a real In dian who richly deserves the grateful consideration of the people of thc Vest The authors mentioned that after Ouray's the Utes had three chiefs Ouray 1 a tel be killed by a Ute gaves gave's father now called Old an 1 in front of the store at Ouray utah The Indian killed him it was alleged because hc claimed the chief used bad on his son be I him so that he died I IThe The Indians then took the mur tied a rope around his I neck and him by the saddle horn to Green I it is alleged They then I IJU hed the horse off into the ri l it wag shot I superseded him ami also took his name I After death Dick Wn h acting chief MANY OF the Utes of Once ern Chipeta's and five other Ind i et out to IS him hut at the thelast last moment the five tail and ran leaving Sapinero to his opponent single Ill was no match for Our incensed tion no bounds Ill reach ld for his hunting knife with I to cut out the heart of the upon grasped it out of its sheath he could lay his hAnd upon it and by saved her life lIne it not for Ouray would have I n hol no s sit it was in the tribe I likely the spilling I of much blood in an I conflict I THEN CAME the leeker 1 In July about I toO en of the Hi veri I agency Colorado from the into south I I Wyoming to hunt During this I time some forests ere by byI I rail lY in a grent lo s of timber and ing forth against the who were to re henceforth th h on reser- reser I This together with the i of gold seeking I miners in the San Miguel mountains the summer play grounds and hunting grounds of the Utes was in a measure the cause of the trouble I IN SEPTEMBER the agent Meckel was after a quarrel with a petty chief military aid which was granted Orders were Inter issued for the arrest of the Indians charged with the recent forest fires and Major Thorn burgh was sent with a force of 75 men Suspecting the out I come the Indians ammunition from the neighbor ing traders and informed the agent that the appearance of the troops would be regarded as asan an act of war ON SEPTEMBER 20 Thorn burghs burgh's detachment was am bushed and their leader and thirteen men killed The com mand fell back On October 2 a of cavalry arrived and three days later Col ler 1 ritt with troops reached the scene At 01 the agency the bodies of l and seven were found and all allbut but one of the buildings had rifled and burned When Ouray heard of the out break of his people he was amazed and sent word to his chiefs Jack and Douglas to cease fighting The conflict was soon ended through this peaceful attitude and influence CHIPETA FLEW into action and made her name immortal Once before upon learning of a raid to be made upon her white neighbors she her pony and swam the Gunnison a treacherous whirl ing river then large and at flood time and delivered meso sage in time to sa ve the set Ii ves THIS TIME she rode four days and nights to rescue the white women and children held as hostages by the hostile Utes An old squaw silently led her herto to the tent In which the Meckel family was kept then ac companied them on their journey to Ouray's home Meeker said Chief Ouray and his wife did everything to us comfortable We were given the whole house and found pets on the floor lamps on the tables an n stove with fire brightly burning Irs I Ouray our Chipeta shed us In 1880 Chipeta accompanied Oura to Washington on a me morable trip which settled the Ute troubles Carl Schurz then Secretary of the Interior tod of that trip in his memoirs RA Y AND Chipeta otten visited me at my home and al ways conducted themselves with perfect They ob served the various belongings of the drawing room but keen decorous interest and were especially Iy a lar e crystal chandelier which IVas suspended from the ceiling They wi to know where such a cha delier could be bought and it would co t it would be such an for their home IN OFFICIAL his talk was quite different from that of the ordinary Indian I chief lie spoke like a man of I higher order of intelligence and of larger views who had above the prejudices and a ions of hi race and ed his thoughts in clear and precise ed by the figures of speech and com in Indian talk was by far the brightest r have ever met President also said of him lie was the most man I eler conversed wil h After the conclusion of our pence negotiations which cd in the restoration of in removal 01 I Ithe the to a in I Utah Omay returned to hi home Soon after Ill I fell III died I IT SHOULD be here I that till annuity confer confer- lcd on her husband by thc the gifts on liming the trip It that over overa a thousand dollars worth of re given her at att t his time all of which away in ole a she it was all fired After death Chipeta Secretary Schurz a of the suit that her had orn on the Wash ington trip She would in fOl it saying that if the made a in it would be by herself hel as signifying th he did value their friendship much si wished to rid of an obligation anti be quits with them This make them On the other hand if he accepted the as a friendship she asked that hl keep it while hI Ii fOl his It would then be by her and hr people as proof of true hip on his part they would esteem his very highly UPON THE nl of the to the vic vic- of Ouray utah in it was Chipeta that a ahouse house would be built for her and would all be fixed up IS her home had been short in this She was g en a log house on While river was never II was but plaster cd it as in a location here no could be ob- ob obtained for irrigating purposes Otherwise when issuing rations in till y ars t hat came and went she was always favored where it was If any any- thing anything was about it it was just It is for Chip Chip- Chipeta eta where upon the complain I usually hung his head und walked away Il should be I ther added that she was never but was tive of anything the govern ment officials ever did for CHIPETA WAS well thought of by her o n She lYs ah allowed and often esp esp- inthe especially invited to take part in the council no Ute here was ever so allowed inthe Her later years ero in the neighborhood of her brother l on Bittel creek about twenty five miles d 31 flom Dragon and about sixt l fi of Ouray in August 17 1921 of chronic It the of IH been member of the Episcopal faith for t en years I kr bur her in a sand wash here in only a at most her bod would I uway I AFTER had bUl ld some one of the I authors went to Ditter Crek on and while he to l Ill I told leCook l that his heart lS I ClY sd that was bur in such a and that he should be re in u ubet bet tel location The talk cover cover- covered ed s a oC this talk 1 and then to her re mains remo ld to old home near 1 Colorado Ill then took thc tip the agent I A 1 ho made the final ur with the DAn and other ions for the of the bOdy and the erecting of the and in her honor at her and Ouray's it being both the governments government's and the Indians wish that her be transferred ACCOMPANIED b 11 1 Hugh Owens of I thc Indian service at Fort Hev 1 J I Ia a who had I the and who had into the Episcopal I church a of I a her Ute by bythe the name of the body at Montrose l 15 1925 ami was taken to the White J At it was taken to the memorial park where a suitable had blen constructed amid eel people attended the funeral PALL BEARERS were Jesse Dell D Catlin Jr Harry lonell I Ducket E K Alva Galloway S J Phillips an Al Wood Among those Iho took part in the last rites under the supervision of C Adams who had the program were the Hev l T McCook hit Owens Rev lIeI se and lIon John C Bell a former of congress AND gave in the Ute ton ton- tongue gue as they placed tokens on the casket The tokens consisted of picc's of bead ork I and some buckskin the fashion of s Thc read Episcopal church burial services l a of Company D taps THE TWO Indians gave which i of thc I tomb l through an anI I interpreter cx pressed his and appreciation for forthe the honors his not only he but three tribes of jO in expression Thu was the Coming of Chipeta Th IS was he to the place here she and hel rious husband had ha tW Indians whom the world did wa it till I to call I II I Notes Chipeta the Ute Troubles A file letter in the Indian of- of office fice Utah of the date of August 21 1923 in Chipeta hud the fol I lowing with hel a girl aged 17 I and boys John leta andI age Francisco age 5 and I Jose La age 17 The Thelast I last lre carried on the I tolls with to It should be that I was blind in her old age given the senior by that I never had my but that she children hose I I were a girl and Atchu and I t O being hoys An a aUte Ute by the name of stated that Ouray had a boy by wife name Vas and that when this boy about ten years of age he was stolen by the in a fight with the Utes that he was never of again This does not quite agree with the other accounts we have Ono of thes accounts states a abright bright little boy was born to Chipeta The further says A hunting p under the command of was at one lime located near the present site of Fort Lupton e miles from Denver The camp was surprised by a band of who the boy then about six ears old the account previously quoted says that he was engage cd in 1 struggle with the Sioux when his only son was hy the Thi was a source of deel sarro ever after to the great chief and his wife for they neer him This further note should be added concerning the Ute out out- outbreak break Colorado also written Colo row Coloru a White UtI was the leader iu outbreak of 1879 The Ut Uta a nt N C Meeker fin who believed that I coule inure India to interested himself I the internal quarrels of th and thus incurred the 1 of Colorados Colorado's faction I the agency to thell I favorite pasture lands but when he to make of agricultural op they the I by rOlCe They ere I hunter and did carl to learn farm Ing Troops under l T I were dispatched 1 till of 1 but a the Indians tha t they would not till Whether 1 made n second for troops is not known At am the troops and got word by mail 01 the l movements Now th I l had in their home by the name of Jal a Ute girl who 1 been by a white ramil it being by her in lat years h r people got hal halup up her to the for grub This la vilis overheard Meeker re the dispatch to his wife that II IIi i coming me it to ot 1 e eI I by so I II I she al as place and near here So when the advanced Colorado thus b bing ing advised of the move led 01 of the parties that ambushed the command and killed Thorn Thorn- Thornburgh burgh many of his men on 29 Others then massacred the 0 the agency made captive of of the women as Ve h previously |