Show THE UTE A letter from the lana of r the tho flair oneitha Oni clia beo ileo FOHT FORT titon mannii mun nii IT T nov 16 I have now been in th the land lana of the tile ute fyr for nearly three and while one suffers considerable disturbance disturb anca of mind and body in i n reaching here after arrival there i is much to bo be seen that can call be met nowhere elso in tho the moral vineyard I was ushered into salt lake city on a mormon Sl ormon railroad ra train the destiny detiny de tiny of which was to toa A large part controlled by a polygamist conductor and my entire time while aboard of it nearly two hours was occupied in unsatisfactory endeavors to find the distinguishing marks between the mormon aud and gentilo gentile PaSS passengers eDgers transportation was furnished for our which comprised the ute commission and majer major thibaut ef of tho the regular army en route to his post at bort I ort thornburgh by general mccook at camp douglas to take us d down own into the indian country tho the outfit vaa was commanded bv by ca captain tain penney and all told toll num numbered beres sixteen souls four four mulo mule teams and two saddle raddle bogrees lions cs an early start wag wai made from ca camp mp duuglas the prettiest debt in t the lie voun country and by sunrise salt lake was lost to view in the distance wo we entered parleys yon and arid for miles traveled tra velea a narrow rucky road our way on either side by bv the eyged rugged brown sides eides of the mountains day after day I our path was over broken and at times almost impassable ways tho the trip now nov and then relieved by the presence of some mountain stream these c creeks rivers as they aro are called in this country abound with fi fish shand and the water just down from the tops of tho the requires no ice when used 43 a beverage oneff one of the first individuals we came across waa was a utah mormon mornion who stood near the entrance of a station and enlightened a number odthe tough looking populace rhems the ute commissioners sio ners goin down to put the on a farm to which his listeners res chorus ill beal be d the the fourth morning out after halting for an all hour to straighten up oae cue of our freight frel ht wagons which carried provisions our team emerged from the timber at a hight of feet above the sea lev level and we nye went down into strawberry valley the bead of tho the ute indian reservation and which the united states surveyor recommends shall be subdivided for indian location but iu in the winter season it was afterward learned no human being auld c uld stand the cult t there here at th the e cad of fight eight daye during doring which time tho the boxier examined the streams and lands of the indian domain and the surveying that had been partly completed we reached fort rort thornburgh li making an after stop at the uinta neney agency the licad u arters for the white hi te river and Tinta uinta ute indians here I met the first ute I had ever been called upon to witness and for the first time tinie I thought of how my italian barber in the east might be deprived rived suddenly of future earni earning he c had bad calculated on at thornburgh named after the lamented thornburgh who was killed by the utes cs two years since we were royally received by the commandant captain hawkins and find his staff lieutenants Wet wetherill berill day and dr shannon general mccookk Mc Cooka outfit being compelled to return to salt lakee lake the commission was turned over to the tender mercies of captain hawkins th tb ne needed ded transportation for the cornin missions is visits to the ouray and uinta reservations was soon supplied and since then the commission has been going to and fro among the cutca located thereon invests investigating abing their work oata obtaining i in i ia their ideas as to the near future and an arranging for their location upon their lands in severally severalty in obedience to the ute agreement entered into with them in 1880 and the instructions of the honorable secretary of the interior the sarv survey ore ors have not yet completed the su subdivision T of these lands land q and while the greater portion of them are barren and useless there is ample for the indians who on these two reservations number close onto three thousand ifft if it is properly perly irrigated igro which can be east easily V done done at a small cost and which I understand the commission is arranging for I will leave the commission at work and enlighten you on briefly as to who live here and aliat what they do for a living the military pest post and the agencies agencies arc are reached by three different trails traits from the railroad from green river city carter carters station and salt lake like all of them difficult to travel the salt lake road having the preference this post is located at the head of ashley valley wherein nearly mormons cormons Mor mons raise wheat and oats enough to give them n a livi living n g the militar military y comprises four companies allies or troops dvir who have lived ri here en a since lait spring in in tents thirty miles south are the uncompahgre utes and thirty miles west the uintah and white river indians durin during the past summer and vo up to the present time the sold soldiers i ers con n grem having made no appropriation fyr for this poe post t have been building quarters of adobes acobes or mud bricks cut cured ed in the sun while ugly and stud clumsy the structures arc are more comfortable than tents in cold weather which is h now close upon ui us the mountains around us being covered with and fires being indi indispensable spen gen howard commander comander in of this department was here some time ago to consult with the ute commission nd indian agents as to the advisability of removing the troops to salt lake like C city ity the former protested against it freighters charge three cents per pound fur for hauling here from the r railroad oil road and when the deer deep snows come it will be impossible tor r even a mail carrier to reach the road it would be safe to advise a large reduction of the force here but not the entire abandonment of the post while the indians are quiet now some som of them having actually actu aly gone to raising wheat and corn befort before another ten month sno one can predict what they mado when they get whisky they are frantic and the bad bid set of white living hero here constantly fit smuggle the poison to them las last t week otio ot of them thein named davia via was n as caught gelling selling to the indians an and d arrested he ile was brought here and tind one midnight ese eca echoed oed aued though two shots were f fired ired at him b by y the guard he ile was rearrested the next da day y there being no means for him tu to get over the mountains and he is now nosy in jail at salt lake luke the utes are peculiar they differ in many respects from other indians when they kill they do not scald scalp rn and d when one of their number dies es t they I ley burn up all of his effects and slaughter ona one or two of liia his horses that ho may ride over t th happy hunting grounds the last named superstition they will be long on in ever gettin gelling over and it would therefore be difficult for the government to even indica any tiny considerable number of them to reside in wooden or log houses they prefer to live in or tents they aro are great hunters and in the coune course of the season kill great numbers of deer for tha the skins of which they geta get a good round price theado they do no not t li like ke the pr presence evence of soldiers and hold the commission in higher esteem than they do the agents the tho ww day when they receive rations from the government the quam and young ones mostly string into the agency on ponies and the number of cattle necessary nece for their provision profir ion are driven out to an enclosure near by where they are brought down oy by the latest improved rifle of the ute and before the poor beast centes breathing and while he yet struggles in the throes of death a horde borde of savages are li IY alo skinning and quartering him bini it is a grab game with the indiana indians the youn young and stron usually get tha the select bit bits I saw a poor old squaw in her rags riding a diminutive excuse for a pony out of tho the agency grounds the other day with a pair of beef lungs thrown over tha the rear of her saddle teeming perfectly perfect lT happy h y afla I have a ve been looking around since my debut here for the beautiful indian maiden we read about so far the old etory has proven a to romance chipeta chapeta Chi peta the widow of the late chief our ouray of the utes and who was a friedal friend to the whites at a salary of 1000 Oa a year lives with the durin during her husbands life she resided sitf with him in a home house and conducted a waking cooking store and on one occasion while in washington purchased a 90 table ft tio p but since the old bucks death ke her r ladyship ladye hip has gone back to her matiie iez p I ep hills bills and customs old douglas who figured in tho the sleeker meeker massacre lives near uin tab he ile is crazy his coti confinement at leavenworth having deranged his mind he runs around where he pleases and is faid said to be dangerous not long since he drew a bead on agent critchlow at uintah and fired upon another indian he is a great gasser and makes pretentious to be a great reader lie ile is frequently seen with a new newspaper paper vh vigorously the news to a group of attendants while he holds the paper inverted wrong side up there is quite a number of f white river utes who have cultivated the coil soil this seas season on and I am told by the agent at air uintah tah that his hi indians wheat product will reach 2000 bushels they like horses and cattle eattle all of them and from my iny observation arc are inclined to pastoral rather than agricultural pursuits pursuits ur suits A great many of the uin uintah I and white rivers express their willi willingness ngn es to go onto their landi lands if the same nine are capable of cultivation and to work the soil oil the cociu coming sarn ng if allotted them the I have heard aay say do not propose to do any farm work in III fact they rather ridicule the an suggestion that they should become husbandmen they ex express res their feelings in the premi aca when they responded no bor bov no good etc heap bunt one res came to the C Commin ioni i C camp a mp some days since and after gulping down a cup of rice soup said to the give me your injun home house 31 me e parm you krivo civo me injun heap dox money wasi ington utes come cowe house I tell utes all parin farm the js and white rivera rivers will no doubt if their land lands are properly irrigated become settled at once the othera others are doubtful cusses how long I shall remain remain amon among these brown ribbed peaks which form the nucleus of the great american deseret I cannot now tell but it shall be my constant aira to keep my powder dry and wear my hair like general grants speeches very short I until cremation D |