White River War - Aftermath

Aftermath

After the Milk Creek and White River incidents, there was intense hostility toward the Utes, both within Colorado and the American army, and mounting pressure to drive them entirely from the state, or to exterminate them altogether. There had already been a desire to move the Utes off their land prior to the outbreak of the war so the fighting added fuel to the fire.

The treaty negotiations were the result of the intercession of Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz, who stopped any movement of forces against the Ute until such time as the hostages were safely released. Former Indian agent Charles Adams, who had previously served at White River, managed to secure the hostages' release by the White River Utes. Schurz was accompanied during his trip to Colorado for those negotiations by a young German diplomat named August von Dönhoff, the father of Marion Gräfin Dönhoff, a well known German journaliat and Anti-Nazi resistance fighter.

The official ceding of Ute land occurred after negotiations that began in November 1879 with a Peace Commission at the Los Pinos Agency. After this commission failed to produce results, Congress summoned the participants to Washington in 1880. A treaty was agreed upon where the White River Utes agreed to be removed to Uintah Reservation in Utah, and the Uncompahgre Utes, who had not participated in the uprising, were to remain in Colorado, but on a smaller parcel of land. Later this plan was changed, and the Uncompahgre Utes too were removed to Utah. The Southern Ute were also to be moved, although it proved difficult to find them land in neighboring states. Ultimately they remained on a reservation along the border of Colorado and New Mexico.

After removal the Uncompahgre Utes named their new land reserve Ouray Reservation after the late Chief Ouray, who died in August 1880, occurred on August 28, 1881. The Uncompahgres were moved under the accompaniment of the army, commanded by Colonel Ranald MacKenzie. The army was used to force the Utes to move, but it also served to protect the Utes from the wrath of the settlers who followed the exodus of the Uncompahgres.

The White River Utes were more difficult to move. The Indian Bureau lured them to the Uintah Reservation by sending their rations and land compensation payments there. The White River Utes remained largely nomadic, and remained a threat to return to Colorado. For that reason, the army, with the aid of the Interior Department, planned a military post next to the Utah reservations. When the Captain Jack and the White River Utes fled back to Colorado, the army tracked down located them on April 28, 1882. Soldiers killed him while he was trying to avoid capture and being forced to return to Uintah Reservation. The removal of the Utes from most of their lands in Colorado effectively marked the end of the White River War.