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Show tfcijijH UTES ONCE POWERFUL FAMOUS INDIAN TRIDE FAST DE-COMINO DE-COMINO EXTINCT. Something About Red Men Who Recently Re-cently Left Their Reservstlon Marriage Cuitoma of the Race. Washington Whether tho band of l)to Indians, who were brought to a halt recently, after trailing some BOO mites diagonally ncroe the stale of Wyoming, were really out 011 tho warpath, war-path, or merely playing truant. Deems to bo opt 11 to question Indian Com mlssloner I-eupp belletes they wero only 'out visiting" Tho episode I serve, nt any rate, to drnw public at ! tentlon not only to the history and characteristics of an Interesting tribe, but lo tho Infrequiney with which our) red skinned ward figure In tho day news, Two tlt-tHdes ugo such 11 performance per-formance 11 Ihls of thu Ute would havo acd nil but unnoticed. The tile, or I'lnh Indians, form a division di-vision of tho KboHhoneflii family, formerly for-merly occupying Ihc region which ex tends from the Halt IjiVo basin In Utah eastward to thn highest ridge of tha Colorado IttKkle When, In tbo early days of the last century, American hunters nnd pioneer pio-neer first came In contact with them, tho lite went n powerful nation of some 26,000 soul. Ily tha yenr 1811, bowoter, when John C Fremont mado Ids first pnlhllndliiK expedition ncruss tho Itockle. they hnd been reduced through constant warfare with tho Cheyenne nnd tho Comanche to something Ilka 18,000 person. Moro fighting, amalgamation with neighboring neighbor-ing tribes, and dlsenso continued to depleto Ihtlr number fearfully. In 18KI they numbered but 4,000, and In 1901, when tho last enumeration wa attempted, there wero scarcely moro than 2,(00 of them, Tho Ulea havo never been known either for their docility or their tract-ability, tract-ability, and whenetcr thoy havo coma Into closo proximity to thn palefacea Ihcro lias been Irooblo Tho Uto Nation consists of IS direct tribes, but for many yeara It lias been divided Into three greater divisions. Of thesa tha Southern Dies bnvn retained re-tained their residence In Colorado, whlla tha branches known as tha White Illver Ule and their kinsmen, tho Uncnmpahgrcs, hnva lived since 1880 on tha Uintah reservation In Utah, Tha very Interesting customs and laws of tho Ulea, however, nro common to all three divisions, Thera Is a cortaln appropriateness in their living In Utah from the fact that a significant sig-nificant domestic practlco of tho people peo-ple Is iwlygamy. Time wa when It waa very much commoner than It Is to-day, but that was when warfare fcel.Ut.nombrtntbravHiaqwBvn.na the worn in outnumbered 4ho men, y moro than three to one. Tho men QaiH marry at 18, tho women at from 13 to HB II!, and If a Uto squaw remains un- v DB married at 20, she I treated an a pnrlnh and stands a very good chance of being put to death a a witch beforo eaiH aho la H Uto marriage ciutm-s are peculiar. Hi When n young girl reaches a mnrrlnge- IHj able age her parent shut her up In fLBflj tbo topee, where she I compelled to iflLHtl fast for four or flto day. At the entt ' llflLH of that time Imitation are acnt to gLHI tho friend of the family, who gather jLLHfl ntwut the tepee, where they are feast- aiiflB ed, and then nil. men and women iLflB alike, engage In 11 wind dance, bak- ling rattlts, blowing on reed pipe am) 1 'singing Incantations. The parent HK j feign dlcgust and go frequently to thu kLH door and bid them disperse A coin- LlB A Ute Indian Chief. H monly practiced procedure I to placo L the maiden on n couch of bough over LH heated stones. Upon theso stone H water I poured and tha victim is H given a thorough steaming. After that shn Is li-d lo the river for A plunge, H nnd I then considered worthy of a H The courting lime is ordinarily dur- H Ing tho harvesting of tho Utcs' ereftl H est crop, the mosquito bean. Tho "H young man approachn tho father of H the mnlden humbly nnd ask the ham) H of tho daughter. The father simulate H rago and nnler him awny. Tho yuuth H obeja, but returns shortly decked out In his gaudiest feather, bead and H paint. It always happen that the B maiden I atone, whereupon thoy be H como acquainted, nnd then, If sho I H favorable to lit quest, they go fur n H long walk or rldo together In Ibo H woods. When Ihey return thoy aro H considered married Thoy at onco bo- H gin housekeeping in tho homo BHI10 H brldo's mother, whore they remain tin- H Ul,th.nrt.chlU ls.bprptTtmyounr: H bravo then set up bis own tepee, "'B |