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79-896: Following the Meeker Massacre (White River War) of 1879, he traveled in 1880 to Washington, D.C. He tried to secure a treaty for the Uncompahgre Ute , who wanted to stay in Colorado; but, the following year, the United States forced the Uncompahgre and the White River Ute to the west to reservations in present-day Utah . Ouray was born in 1833 near the Taos Pueblo in Nuevo México , now in

158-496: A "fact-finding tour" to determine the number of whites that were settling in the Uncompahgre and Gunnison River valleys and was alarmed by the number of miners and settlers on ancestral lands of the Utes. He understood, though, that fighting the whites would not turn back the tide of immigrants. Instead, he believed that the solution was to engage in treaty negotiations to protect their interests. Long time ago, Utes always had plenty. On

237-680: A Peace Commission at the Los Piños Indian 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

316-587: A command of 153 soldiers , and twenty-five militiamen , to the White River Indian Agency from Fort Steele on September 21, 1879, in response to a request for assistance by the Nathan C. Meeker, U.S. Government Indian Agent. The force consisted of Company E, 3rd Cavalry ; D and F Companies, 5th Cavalry ; and Company B from Thornburgh's own 4th Infantry. On September 29, 1879, Ute warriors simultaneously ambushed Thornburgh's forces and, at

395-541: A commission to determine a reservation for the Ute and Ouray and Chipeta went to Washington, D.C. in 1880 for the final treaty for the Utes. Members of the commission were Alfred B. Meacham , former U.S. Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon; Otto Mears , a railroad executive, and George W. Manypenny , former Commissioner of Indian Affairs . When President Rutherford B. Hayes met Ouray in Washington, DC, he said that

474-425: A delegation to negotiate a treaty that would result in the creation of a reservation for the Ute, served by an Indian Agencies at White River and near Montrose with a school, blacksmith shop, sawmill, and warehouse. They lost a little land in the treaty, but Ouray hoped that having a government presence would mean that their lands would be protected. The treaty was signed by 47 Ute chiefs. Silver deposits were found in

553-533: A fight ensued. This made further negotiations for peace between Native Americans and whites very difficult. Local settlers demanded that the Utes be moved. When Ouray found out about the massacre, he asked, as head of the Utes, for the warriors to disperse and release hostages to him. The hostages, including Josephine Meeker , were delivered to Ouray's house at the Los Piños Indian Agency and were cared for by Chipeta. The U.S. government appointed

632-636: A leader of the Tabeguache Ute band and the boys remained in Taos. Ouray received a Catholic education and was raised in the Catholic faith. Living in a culturally diverse location, he learned Ute and Apache languages, sign language , Spanish, and English, which he found helpful later in life in negotiating with whites and Native Americans. He spent much of his youth working for Mexican sheepherders. He also hauled wood and packed mules that were bound for

711-670: A line of high peaks along the main ranges of the Rocky Mountains and Andes , at a generally much higher elevation than the other hydrological divisions. Beginning at the westernmost point of the Americas , Cape Prince of Wales , just south of the Arctic Circle, the Continental Divide's geographic path runs through Arctic Alaska , where it reaches its more northerly point close to the U.S.-Canada border near

790-506: A line symbolizes the division. The Divide then proceeds south into western New Mexico , passing along the western boundary of the endorheic Plains of San Agustin. Although the Divide represents the height of land between watersheds, it does not always follow the highest ranges/peaks within each state or province. In Mexico , it passes through Chihuahua , Durango , Zacatecas , Aguascalientes , Jalisco , Guanajuato , Querétaro , México ,

869-495: A meeting with President Ulysses S. Grant . Tensions increased in the area following the Meeker Massacre (1879) at the White River Indian Agency. Not understanding the Utes' love of horses, Nathan Meeker had their race track plowed and tried to force the nomadic hunters and gatherers to farm, and Meeker sought military help. Seeking peace, a tribe of Ute men led by Chief Douglas asked Meeker for peace, but

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948-463: A particular piece of land. In addition to forcing agriculture on the White River Utes, Meeker had been attempting to convert the White River Utes to Christianity . He angered the Utes by plowing a field they used to graze and race horses. In addition, Frederick Walker Pitkin , the recently elected Governor of Colorado, had campaigned on a theme of "The Utes Must Go!" The Governor, other local politicians, and settlers made exaggerated claims against

1027-464: 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

1106-432: A total party of 31 men in 1860 or 1863. Their hunting camp, near Fort Lupton , was attacked by 300 Sioux warriors and Queashegut left the tepee where he sought shelter with Chipeta to follow Ute warriors. After the fight, they were unable to find him. He had been captured and traded to an Arapaho band. Ouray never saw his son again and remained in deep grief. He tried to find his son for the rest of his life and feared "he

1185-496: A treaty with the Ouray and other Ute leaders in 1867. In the meantime, the government became interested in obtaining some more Ute land. Since the government had not lived up to its agreement to provide provisions for the winter months, Ouray was reluctant to give the government more land. Many Native Americans, though, were "in dire straits" and he agreed to be part of a delegation. In 1868, Ouray, Nicaagat , with Kit Carson were among

1264-667: Is considered part of the Atlantic, then the triple point is at an unimportant-looking, permanently snow and ice covered hump on the border between Alberta and British Columbia , on the southern slope of Snow Dome at 3,456 metres (11,300 ft). The exact location of this potential triple point is somewhat indeterminate because the Columbia Icefield and the snow on top of it shifts from year to year. The snow that falls on it (about 10 metres (33 ft) per year) does not actually flow downhill as water, but creeps downhill in

1343-460: Is the main reason behind the designation of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park as the "Crown of the Continent" of North America. The summit of the peak is the world's only oceanic triple divide point. Discounting Antarctica and its ice sheets, only one other continent ( Asia ) borders three oceans, but the inward-draining Endorheic basin area of Central Asia from western China to

1422-679: Is the world's only oceanic triple divide, there are secondary triple divide points wherever any two continental divides meet. North America has five major drainage systems: into the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans, plus Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Other sources such as the International Hydrographic Organization add a sixth: Canada's Northwest Passage basin. Using just the five, there are four secondary continental divides and three secondary triple points,

1501-630: The American Civil War and related to efforts by the Army in the Dakota Territory. Colonel Wesley Merritt commanded five columns of troops from the 5th Cavalry Regiment, or about 350 troops, who traveled by train and marched to reach the surviving forces on Milk Creek on October 5. By the time Colonel Merritt arrived, the Utes had already dispersed. Subsequently, the 9th Cavalry returned to New Mexico to fight Chief Victorio, but

1580-519: The Aral and Caspian Seas is so vast that any Arctic and Indian Ocean tributaries are never within proximity of each other. Thus, North America's status of having a single location draining into three oceans is unique in the world. Sources differ, however, on whether Hudson Bay, entirely south of the Arctic Circle , is part of the Atlantic or Arctic Ocean. Hudson Bay's water budget connects to

1659-514: The Department of the Interior , planned a military post next to the Utah reservations. When Chief Jack and the White River Utes fled back to Colorado, the army tracked down and 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

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1738-787: The Federal District , Morelos , Puebla , Oaxaca , and Chiapas . In Central America, it continues through southern Guatemala , southwestern Honduras , western Nicaragua , western/southwestern Costa Rica , and southern Panama . The divide reaches its lowest natural point in Central America at the Isthmus of Rivas at 47 metres (154 ft) in Nicaragua. In Panama, the Canal cuts through it at 26 metres (85 ft). The Divide continues into South America , where it follows

1817-528: The International Hydrographic Organization (in its current unapproved working edition only of Limits of Oceans and Seas ) defines the Hudson Bay, with its outlet extending from 62.5 to 66.5 degrees north (just a few miles south of the Arctic Circle ) as being part of the Arctic Ocean, specifically "Arctic Ocean Subdivision 9.11." This hydrological apex of North America status of Triple Divide Peak

1896-569: The San Juan Mountains in 1872 and the government wanted again to negotiate for more land. Feeding on his grief due to the unknown status of his son after the Utes were attacked by the Sioux, U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Felix Brunot had a 17-year-old orphan brought by Arapaho Chief Powder Face to meet Ouray and Chipeta in Washington, D.C. ten years after the abduction. This was the first of many attempts by Brunot to find his son and

1975-631: The Santa Fe Trail . In 1850, Ouray and his brother left Taos to join their father, who died soon after. Ouray was the band's best rider, hunter, and fighter, and he became an enforcer (like a chief of police) and then sub-chief of the band. He fought both the Kiowa and the Sioux while living among the Tabeguache. In 1860, Ouray became chief of the band at the age of 27. That year, he engaged in

2054-756: The Strait of Magellan , and separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain into the Atlantic and Arctic Ocean , including those that drain into the Gulf of Mexico , the Caribbean Sea , and Hudson Bay . Although there are many other hydrological divides in the Americas, the Continental Divide is by far the most prominent of these because it tends to follow

2133-659: The Ute Campaign ), took place on September 29, 1879 in Colorado . Members of a band of Ute Indians ( Native Americans ) attacked the Indian agency on their reservation, killing the Indian agent Nathan Meeker and his 10 male employees and taking five women and children as hostages. Meeker had been attempting to convert the Utes to Christianity, to make them farmers, and to prevent them from following their nomadic culture. On

2212-617: The White River Ute Indian Reservation , on the western side of the Continental Divide , near the present day town of Meeker, Colorado . He received this appointment, although he lacked experience with Native Americans . While living among the Ute, Meeker tried to impose his policy of religious and farming reforms, but they were used to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle with seasonal bison hunting, as opposed to one which would require them to settle on

2291-531: The 9th Cavalry at Fort Lewis in southern Colorado, who got through the enemy lines on October 2. Captain Francis Dodge and Sergeant Henry Johnson were among the reinforcements. Over the next three days, thirty-eight of the forty-two animals that Captain Dodge brought with him were killed, and the other four were wounded. Dodge focused on securing encampment and gathering drinking water. Henry Johnson, who

2370-738: The Arctic Ocean watershed from the Hudson Bay watershed. Another, mainly non-mountainous, divide, the Laurentian Divide (also sometimes called the Northern Divide), further separates the Hudson Bay - Arctic Ocean drainage region from the Atlantic watershed region. Secondary divides separate the watersheds that flow into the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River (ultimately into the Atlantic) from watersheds that flow to

2449-652: The Atlantic more than to the Arctic Ocean. The channels to the north of Hudson Bay are largely cut off by Baffin Island from the Arctic, so much of the water that enters it mixes with the Atlantic to the east via Hudson Strait rather than north into the Arctic. The result is that most of the ice flowing down the Saskatchewan Glacier eventually ends up as water in the Atlantic Ocean. If Hudson Bay

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2528-793: The Beaufort Sea. The Divide zig-zags southwardly over Yukon , and forms part of the boundary between Yukon and the Northwest Territories in the Mackenzie Mountains . It then proceeds through the Northern British Columbia Interior via the Cassiar Mountains , Omineca Mountains and northern Nechako Plateau to Summit Lake , north of the city of Prince George and just south of the community of McLeod Lake . From there

2607-514: The Continental Divide in Wyoming. The Panama Canal has this same feature, but is man-made. Both the Chagres and Gatun rivers flow into Gatun Lake , which empties to both oceans. Several small lakes along the Divide in the Rocky Mountains between Alberta and British Columbia flow into both provinces and thus into both the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. An example is the " Committee's Punch Bowl ",

2686-414: The Divide or the other by their lowest perimeter pass; in other words, an assignment is made by determining how the drainage would occur if the basin were to be progressively filled with water until it overflowed. Large-scale maps, such as those on this page, often show double divide lines when endorheic basins are involved. However, the detailed USGS topographic maps of the United States generally show only

2765-674: The Divide traverses the McGregor Plateau to the spine of the Rockies, following the crest of the Canadian Rockies southeast to the 120th meridian west , from there forming the boundary between southern British Columbia and southern Alberta . The Divide crosses into the United States in northwestern Montana , at the boundary between Waterton Lakes National Park and Glacier National Park . In Canada, it forms

2844-835: The Gulf of Mexico (also part of the Atlantic Ocean) via the Missouri-Mississippi-Ohio river system . Another secondary divide follows the Appalachian chain, which separates those streams and rivers that flow directly into the Atlantic Ocean from those that exit via the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park , Montana, is the point where two of the principal continental divides in North America converge,

2923-650: The Ignacio cemetery. A 1928 article in the Denver Post reads in part, "He saw the shadow of doom on his people" and a 2012 article writes, "He sought peace among tribes and whites, and a fair shake for his people, though Ouray was dealt a sad task of liquidating a once-mighty force that ruled nearly 23 million acres of the Rocky Mountains." Ouray's obituary in The Denver Tribune stated: In

3002-504: The Indian Agency, killed Meeker and Meeker's employees. Ute warriors, led by Chief Colorow , attacked Thornburgh's forces at Milk Creek on the northern edge of the reservation, about 18 miles from the White River Indian Agency. Within a few minutes, Major Thornburgh and 13 men were killed, including all his officers above the rank of captain. Another 28 men were wounded. Three-quarters of the horses and mules were killed at leisure by

3081-477: The Indian Agency. The attack on the Indian Agency occurred almost simultaneously with the Ute ambush of Major Thomas T. Thornburgh's soldiers near Milk Creek. The dead included: Nathan Meeker, Frank Dresser, Henry Dresser, George Eaton, Wilmer E. Eskridge, Carl Goldstein, W.H. Post, Shaduck Price, Fred Shepard, Arthur L Thompson, and "Unknown teamster" [Julius Moore]. Ute members of the raiding party took some women and children as hostages. These hostages were used by

3160-409: The U.S. government for the Treaty of Conejos (1863), which reduced their lands to 50% of what it had been, losing all lands east of the Continental Divide that included healing waters at Manitou Springs and the sacred land on Pikes Peak . It guaranteed that they would have the western one third of the state of the Colorado. The Utes agreed that they would allow roads and military forts to be built on

3239-442: The Ute Raiders to bargain with Government Representatives in order to secure a better outcome for the Ute raiders. The hostages were held by the Ute raiders for 23 days. Two of the women taken captive were of Meeker's family: his wife, Arvilla, and daughter, Josephine , who had just graduated from college and had started working as a teacher and physician. One Ute woman, Shawsheen , along with her husband, adamantly advocated for

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3318-406: The Ute lost thirty-seven killed in both the Meeker incident and the battle. 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

3397-478: The Ute was "the most intellectual man I've ever conversed with." When he had returned to Colorado, and while dying with Bright's disease , Ouray traveled to the Ignacio Indian Agency office to have the treaty signed by the Southern Utes. Utes were later put on a reservation in Utah, Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation , as well as two reservations in Colorado: Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and Southern Ute Indian Reservation . Ouray's first wife, Black Mare, died after

3476-401: The Utes for their "absolute and undisturbed use and occupation" by a Treaty. The Treaty also stated that the U.S. government would prevent any persons from trespassing on Ute lands without authorization. However, in the 1870s miners encroached upon the Ute Reservation. There was little effort by the U.S. to prevent the encroachment. From 1875 to early fall 1879, members of the 9th Cavalry were

3555-399: 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

3634-428: The Utes in their efforts to evict them from Colorado. Nathan Meeker had a tense conversation with an irate Ute chief. This occurred after Meeker began to implore on a change of lifestyle for the Utes. Meeker wired for military assistance, after he had been assaulted by an Indian, driven from his home, and severely injured. On September 29, 1879, the Ute attacked the Indian Agency, killing Meeker and ten men working at

3713-427: The Utes losing most of the lands granted to them by treaty in Colorado, the forced removal of the White River Utes and the Uncompahgre Utes from Colorado , and the reduction in the Southern Utes' land holdings within Colorado. The expulsion of the Utes from Colorado opened up millions of acres of land to white settlement. In 1879, the Ute Reservation included most of western Colorado and in 1868 had been granted

3792-445: The belief that war with the whites likely meant the demise of the Ute tribe, other more militant Utes considered him a coward for his propensity to negotiate. Disturbed by the treaties that Ouray entered into, his brother-in-law "Hot Stuff" tried to kill him with an axe during his near-daily visit to the Los Piños Indian Agency in 1874. Colorado Territory was established on February 28, 1861. In 1862, he convinced Utes to negotiate with

3871-407: The birth of their only child, a boy named Queashegut, also known as Pahlone, and called Paron (apple) by his father because of his round, dimpled face. In 1859, Ouray married the sixteen-year old Chipeta ( Ute meaning : White Singing Bird), who had been caring for Ouray's son since Black Mare's death earlier that year. When Queashegut was five years old, Ouray took him along on a buffalo hunt with

3950-431: The death of Ouray, one of the historical characters passes away. He has figured for many years as the greatest Indian of his time, and during his life has figured quite prominently. Ouray is in many respects...a remarkable Indian...pure instincts and keen perception. A friend to the white man and protector to the Indians alike. Meeker Massacre Meeker Massacre , or Meeker Incident , White River War , Ute War , or

4029-435: The eastern third of the state boundary between Idaho and Montana. The Divide crosses into Wyoming within Yellowstone National Park and continues southeast around the Great Divide Basin , through the Sierra Madre Range into Colorado where it reaches its highest point in North America at the summit of Grays Peak at 4,352 metres (14,278 ft). It crosses US Hwy 160 in southwestern Colorado at Wolf Creek Pass , where

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4108-409: The end of the White River War. Continental Divide The Continental Divide of the Americas (also known as the Great Divide , the Western Divide or simply the Continental Divide ; Spanish : Divisoria continental de las Américas, Gran Divisoria ) is the principal, and largely mountainous , hydrological divide of the Americas . The Continental Divide extends from the Bering Strait to

4187-420: The first twenty-four hours of the engagement. Eleven soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor and approximately thirty were decorated for heroic conduct in one of the most decorated battles of the Indian Wars. The Medal of Honor awardees included Sergeant Henry Johnson and Captain Francis Dodge. Chief Jack estimated that nineteen Ute warriors were killed and seven were unaccounted for, though other sources say

4266-420: The form of glacial ice. That ice flows down the Athabasca Glacier to the Arctic Ocean via the Athabasca and Mackenzie rivers. Ice flowing west goes to the Pacific Ocean via Bryce Creek and the Bush and Columbia Rivers . Ice flowing down the Saskatchewan Glacier goes via the North Saskatchewan , Saskatchewan , and Nelson rivers into Hudson Bay . While Triple Divide Peak (or, alternatively, Snow Dome)

4345-483: The government in negotiating with his tribe, who kept in good faith all treaties that were made by him. He protected their interests as far as possible, and set them the example of living a civilized life. It might be added that Ouray himself, who pronounced his name as 'You-ray', never seemed to have objected to being called 'Chief of all the Utes' and he did not hesitate to sign documents by that title. Although Ouray sought reconciliation between different peoples, with

4424-531: The government to enter into a treaty to ensure the protection of hereditary lands of the Tabeguache. Kit Carson had noticed in 1862 that prospectors were mining and settling in areas that had been traditional hunting grounds for the Utes and game was becoming scarce. Carson helped him draft a treaty. Ouray was part of the delegation and was the translator in a meeting with the new Territorial Governor John Evans , after which he traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Abraham Lincoln . Ouray negotiated with

4503-561: The land. As an encouragement to take up farming, they were given sheep, cattle, and $ 10,000 in goods and provisions over ten years. The government generally did not provide the goods, provisions, or livestock mentioned in the treaty, and since game was scarce many Ute continued to hunt on ancestral Ute lands until they were removed to reservations in 1880 and 1881. Around 1866, there were some Native Americans who had stolen livestock and otherwise upset new settlers. Following an uprising by Chief Kaniatse, Colonel Kit Carson successfully negotiated

4582-525: The main Divide as determined by the overflow rule. Among other things, this eliminates the need to trace out the boundary for a basin that is very shallow and has a nebulous rim, such as the San Luis Closed Basin in Colorado and the basin of the lost streams of Idaho . Another rare exception occurs when a stream near a divide splits and flows in both directions, or a lake straddling the divide overflows in both directions. Examples of these are, respectively, North Two Ocean Creek and Isa Lake , both located on

4661-404: The only Army troops near the Reservation. By 1879, most of the 9th Cavalry troops were fighting Apaches in New Mexico in Victorio's War , and only two troops were stationed in Colorado. K Troop was escorting surveyors who were marking the Colorado-Utah border. D Troop patrolled between Fort Lewis and Fort Garland . In 1878, Nathan Meeker was appointed United States (US) Indian Agent at

4740-433: The other regiments wintered at the site of the former Indian Agency. In the spring, US Army forces built a Camp on the White River, which the Army occupied until 1883. A few buildings remain of the Army Camp. Several of the Ute escaped and wintered in North Park , where their wickiups still stand. Meeker and his ten associates were killed. The army and militiamen lost thirteen dead and forty-four wounded, most of them in

4819-599: The others and its two main triple points are much more prominent. The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (CDT) follows the Divide through the U.S. from the Mexico–US border to the Canada–US border . The trail itself is a corridor of pathways; that is, dedicated footpaths or back roads, either on or near the Continental Divide. A less-developed Canadian extension called the Great Divide Trail continues through five national parks and six provincial parks , ending at Kakwa Lake in east-central British Columbia. Many endorheic regions in North and South America complicate

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4898-482: The peaks of the Andes Mountains , traversing western Colombia , central Ecuador , western and southwestern Peru , and eastern Chile (essentially conforming to the Chile- Bolivia and Chile- Argentina boundaries), southward to Cabo San Diego at the southern end of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego . The Divide passes through the Punta Cancanan Pass in Peru at 4,700 metres (15,420 ft). The Arctic Divide or Northern Divide in northern and western Canada separates

4977-424: The prairie, antelope and buffalo, so many Ouray couldn't count. In the mountains, deer and bear everywhere. In the streams, trout, duck, beaver, everything… White man came, and now Utes grow hungry a heap… White man grow a heap, red man no grow—soon die all. —Ouray, in an Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs Ouray was known as the "White man's friend," and his services were almost indispensable to

5056-406: The primary Continental Divide and the Northern or Laurentian Divide. From this point, waters flow to the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean via the Gulf of Mexico, and the Arctic Ocean via Hudson Bay . Most geographers, geologists, meteorologists, and oceanographers consider this point the hydrological apex of North America, as Hudson Bay is generally considered part of the Arctic Ocean. For example,

5135-477: The release of the captives and their safety. Josephine Meeker said of her captivity, "We all owe our lives to the sister of Chief Ouray..." Chief Ouray of the Uncompahgre Ute , who had not been involved in the uprising, attempted to keep the peace after the massacre at the Indian Agency and attack on Army forces. Chief Ouray and his wife, Chipeta, helped negotiate the release of the women and children who had been taken hostage. Major Thomas T. Thornburgh led

5214-412: The same day as the massacre, United States Army forces were en route to the Agency from Fort Steele in Wyoming due to threats against Meeker. The Utes attacked U.S. troops led by Major Thomas T. Thornburgh at Milk Creek, 18 miles (29 km) north of present day Meeker, Colorado . They killed the major and 13 troops. Relief troops were called in and the Utes dispersed. The conflict resulted in

5293-427: The simple view of east or west, "ocean-bound" water flow. Several endorheic basins straddle or adjoin the Continental Divide, notably the Great Divide Basin in Wyoming, the Plains of San Agustin and the Animas Valley in New Mexico, the Guzmán Basin in New Mexico and Chihuahua, Mexico, and both the Bolsón de Mapimí and the Llanos el Salado in Mexico. Such basins can be, and routinely are, assigned to one side of

5372-419: The state of New Mexico . His father, Guera Murah, also called Salvador, was a Jicarilla Apache adopted into the Ute, and his mother was Uncompahgre Ute. His parents had another son named Quench, and then his mother died soon after. His father remarried and his stepmother left Ouray and his brother to live on a ranch with a Spanish-speaking couple around 1843 or 1845. His father returned to Colorado and became

5451-404: The surrounding Utes. Surviving troops dug in behind the wagon trains and animals' bodies for defense. One man rode hard to get out a request for reinforcements. The US forces held out for several days. Chief Colorow joked with his band of warriors about the smell of dead animals the troops had to endure. The troops were reinforced by 35 African-American cavalrymen known as Buffalo Soldiers from

5530-400: The two mentioned previously and a third near Hibbing, Minnesota , where the Northern Divide intersects the Saint Lawrence Seaway divide. Since there is no true consensus on what a continental divide is, there is no real agreement on where the secondary triple points are located. However, the main Continental Divide described in this article is a far more distinctive geological feature than

5609-448: The war, so the fighting added fuel to the fire. 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. Negotiations began in November 1879 with

5688-747: The western boundary of Waterton Lakes National Park, and in the US bisects Glacier National Park. Further south, the Divide forms the backbone of the Rocky Mountain Front (Front Range) in the Bob Marshall Wilderness , heads south towards Helena and Butte , then west past the namesake community of Divide, Montana , through the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness to the Bitterroot Range , where it forms

5767-544: Was a member of a Methodist church; Ouray was an Episcopalian. Ouray never cut his long Ute-fashion hair, though he often dressed in the European-American style. Ouray died on August 24, 1880, near the Los Piños Indian Agency in Colorado. His people secretly buried him near Ignacio, Colorado . Forty-five years later, in 1925, his bones were re-interred in a full ceremony led by Buckskin Charley and John McCook at

5846-457: Was changed, and the Uncompahgre Utes too were removed to Utah. The Ute Removal Act denied the Ute 12 million acres (49,000 km ) of land that had formerly been guaranteed to them in perpetuity. Congress insisted that the Utes be forcibly removed from the "Shining Mountains" and relocated to eastern Utah. The Southern Ute were also to be moved, although it proved difficult to find them land in neighboring states. Ultimately they remained on

5925-401: Was conducted so that Ouray would relinquish mining property and keep treaty talks open. The boy was clearly not Ouray's son, he did not know anything from the Ute language, did not want to go with Ouray, and the details of his capture did not match the experience of Ouray's son. Tribal historians have stated that this meeting was upsetting to Ouray, but author Richard E. Wood states that the chief

6004-650: Was impressed by the effort taken by the government. In 1873, with Ouray's help, the Brunot Agreement was ratified and the United States acquired the mineral-rich property they had been seeking. In exchange, the Native Americans were to receive provisions over time. Ouray was given land and a house in the Uncompahgre Valley near the Indian Agency. The government, though, was again reluctant to provide provisions. His negotiations had included

6083-587: Was later found by Utes and returned to Ouray's tribe. He had several homes in Colorado, one of them by the town of Ouray. For twenty years, Ouray lived with Chipeta on a farm on the Uncompahgre River near Montrose. The 300-acre farm had pasture land and 50 acres of irrigated farm land. The six-room adobe house was well-furnished, including a piano and fine china. The Ute Indian Museum is located on their original 8.65 acre homestead in Montrose. Chipeta

6162-529: Was raised to fight against his own." While visiting Kit Carson at Fort Garland in 1866, Ouray and Chipeta met and adopted two girls and two boys. Ouray's sister, Shawsheen (also Tsashin and Susan), was in Big Thompson Canyon in 1861 or 1863 when she was abducted by the Arapaho . Soldiers from Fort Collins found her two years later in 1863 or 1865, but she was afraid of them and escaped. She

6241-413: Was responsible for the guards in the outposts, made rounds of the outposts under heavy fire to check on his men. In gathering water for the troops from the nearby creek, there were some accounts that the Utes would not shoot at black soldiers. Larger U.S. Army relief columns were sent from two forts, Fort Steele and Fort D.A. Russell . Both forts were established in the adjacent Wyoming Territory after

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