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86-970: The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe are descendants of the Weeminuche band ( Weminuche , Weemeenooch , Wiminuc , Guiguinuches ) lived west of the Great Divide along the Dolores River of western Colorado, in the Abajo Mountains , in the Valley of the San Juan River its northern tributaries and in the San Juan Mountains including eastern Utah. They moved to the Southern Ute reservation in 1897. Two thousand years ago,

172-686: A national monument encompassing 400,000 acres of the Dolores River Canyon and the surrounding region in Mesa and Montrose Counties. There are also proposals for a smaller 30,000-acre national conservation area in the northern portion (Mesa and Montrose Counties) and a 68,000-acre national conservation area and special management area in the southern portion (San Miguel, Dolores, and Montezuma Counties). [REDACTED] Media related to Dolores River at Wikimedia Commons William Bent William Wells Bent (May 23, 1809 – May 19, 1869)

258-467: A "Cheyenne sub-chief", as he was given tribal membership with his marriage to Owl Woman. The marriage was important for both Bent and Owl Woman's father White Thunder. For Bent, the marriage reinforced his relationship with the Cheyenne. White Thunder believed the marriage would strengthen his alliance with Bent and provide protection for the Cheyenne. On a personal level, it enhanced his prestige within

344-557: A "negotiated community. ... Only constant renegotiation and the conscious creation of community through family ties, diplomacy, warfare, and dinner made it operate in a surprisingly stable way." In contrast, the Comanche had resisted traders and other incursions. They had for many years protected their territory to the south of the Arkansas River against almost all who attempted to move into it. They had built up their power with

430-538: A St. Louis native. The city had several major fur trading families. They left Missouri about 1826 to explore what is now southern Colorado along the upper Arkansas River to trap for furs and establish a trade business. Within a couple of years, the Bents and St. Vrain had built two stockades, one near the present town of Pueblo , Colorado and the other stockade either at the mouth of the Purgatoire River , or on

516-576: A constitution in 1940. In 1990 the tribe had 1,262 enrolled members. The Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation ( 37°06′14″N 108°39′46″W  /  37.10389°N 108.66278°W  / 37.10389; -108.66278 ) is located in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico consisting of 553,008 acres belonging to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, but held in trust by the U.S. Government. The reservation

602-509: A controversial topic. Currently, the Bureau of Reclamation operates McPhee on a "fill, then spill" policy, where the dam is filled first, and only in high water years when inflows exceed the reservoir capacity are larger flows released. This fact aggrieves recreational boaters, who claim it is difficult for anyone but a local resident closely watching the gauges to plan trips in advance on the river. The San Juan Citizens' Alliance has worked to start

688-433: A cook. In 1848 Charlotte Green described herself to George Ruxton as "de only lady in de whole damn Injun country". Her cooking won her a high reputation among the fur traders and travelers. One person called her a "culinary divinity". Bent's Fort held dances regularly; Colonel Henry Inman described Charlotte as "the center of attention, the belle of the evening. She knew her worth and danced accordingly." In 1846 Bent

774-442: A deep knowledge of their territory, shrewd trading arrangements, and their willingness to raid those who threatened or breached the arrangements. Their grip on the territory to the south of the river was one of the reasons why Bent's Fort had been constructed to the north. Although the Comanche continued to assert their power after Mexican independence, the influx of displaced tribes, the westward push of European-American settlers, and

860-567: A dialogue between Dolores River stakeholders in the hopes of shifting release policy to one that allows for greater, planned releases. The Dolores is navigable by rafts and kayaks (up to class IV) from McPhee Reservoir to its confluence with Colorado. When water is restricted from the reservoir, it may be possible to boat downstream from the San Miguel River. However, the river is extensively used for irrigation and, during low water years, can be wholly unnavigable. In high-runoff years,

946-636: A farm with a small brick house at 1032 West 55th Street in Kansas City, Missouri. While generally living at his home in Missouri in 1859, Bent was an agent to the Cheyenne and Arapaho at Big Timbers. At that time, Bent continued his trading business for new settlers lured by the Colorado gold rush . He also freighted goods for the United States government, which yielded a good profit. During

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1032-541: A friend who was a prominent American fur trader in Kansas City, Missouri . Bent died shortly after their marriage, and Adaline bore their daughter, his sixth child, after his death. William Wells Bent was born May 23, 1809 St. Louis, Missouri , a son of Silas Bent and his wife, Martha (nee Kerr) Bent. His father was later appointed as a justice of the Missouri Supreme Court . William was one of

1118-422: A group of Taos Pueblo and other warriors. Green was severely wounded but survived a trip back to Bent's Fort. Also allowing Charlotte Green to leave with her husband, the Bents gave her an informal freedom. As the demand for furs declined, business dropped at the fort. An 1849 cholera epidemic among the Cheyenne took the lives of half the tribe, including Tall Woman, Bent's mother-in-law. Bent wanted to build

1204-600: A new fort closer to Big Timbers, near the winter grounds for many tribes. Unable to agree on a selling price for the old fort, after removing his inventory of goods, Bent blew up and set fire to the old fort. In 1853 he established a stone fort in the Big Timbers area. Six years later, the US government purchased the new "Bent's Fort", renamed it Fort Wise and remodeled it for military use. Bent, Vrain & Company had other forts, including On April 6, 1858 Bent purchased

1290-536: A result of American westward expansion, the Utes now possess only a small fraction of the land that they once traveled seasonally. The Ute people consist of three populations of people: The Mesa Verde Region , the present day area containing the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe reservation and the Mesa Verde National Park, was the northernmost edge of the colonial territory of Spain. Initial exploration of

1376-548: A route to Spanish missions in California . They traveled through western Colorado and Utah , documenting the "lush, mountainous land filled with game and timber, strange ruins of stone cities and villages, and rivers showing signs of precious metals." Beset by hunger and illness, the men turned back at Salt Lake Valley and returned to Santa Fe. The maps and information provided from the expedition provided useful information for future travel and their route from Santa Fe to

1462-460: A solo, unarmed visit to the Pawnee village to seek peace and returned with two of the arrows and an agreement. White Thunder also arranged a formal marital alliance between Bent and his daughter Owl Woman. He believed that their children would represent another element of the new beginning, of peace for the Cheyenne and the region. By this time Bent had learned the language of the Cheyenne, and he

1548-440: A tailor, blacksmith, carpenter and herders. Caravans took goods to trade with regional Native American tribes. The fort was usually relatively empty during the summer months. During that period, Bent often made the six-month round trip on the 500-mile-long (800 km) trail to and from Westport, Missouri (present-day Kansas City) to trade the furs and goods gathered over the previous winter. He would purchase goods to replenish

1634-611: A treaty. In 1888 the United States takes more Ute lands, paying $ 50,000 to be divided among the Southern Utes. In 1895 the Hunter Act repeals 1888 treaties and establishes permanent reservation as outlined by 1880 treaties. The following year land allotments are distributed to Southern Utes. The tribe moved to the western end of the Southern Ute Reservation in 1897 (they were led by Chief Ignacio , for whom

1720-573: Is located in the counties of Montezuma and La Plata in Colorado and San Juan County, New Mexico . There are also individually owned lands at Allen Canyon and White Mesa totally 8,499 acres (3,439 ha), and 40 acres (16 ha) of school property, in San Juan County, Utah. Most of the people on the reservation live in the town of Towaoc which is also the site of the Ute Mountain Indian Agency. The elevation of

1806-538: Is located on the canyon wall near Uravan, Colorado . Measured at Cisco, Utah , not far above the confluence with the Colorado River, the average unimpaired discharge of the Dolores River between 1906 and 1995 was 841,000 acre-feet (1.037 km ), or about 1,160 cubic feet per second (33 m /s). The United States Geological Survey has operated a stream gage at Cisco from 1950 to the present. For

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1892-577: The American Civil War , Bent's farm was the site of the Battle of Westport in 1864. In 1871, two years after Bent's death, Adaline sold the Westport farm to Seth Ward , a prosperous businessman. In 1835 Bent married Owl Woman ( Mis-stan-stur ), the oldest daughter of White Thunder and Tail Woman, in a Cheyenne ceremony. Her father was an influential Cheyenne leader and medicine man. He

1978-610: The Cheyenne ; it was near La Junta and land occupied by the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. It became an important center of trade, principally in furs but also in numerous other goods, including horses and mules. It was the only privately owned, fortified installation in the west. William and Charles operated the fort in partnership with Ceran St Vrain , a fur trader who had already established significant trading contacts in New Mexico. Sometimes referred to as Fort William,

2064-684: The Dog Soldiers . This group of warriors formed to retaliate for the Sand Creek Massacre that year, when US forces attacked and killed numerous Cheyenne. Adaline Harvey After Yellow Woman and Island had both left him, Bent married Adaline Harvey, the 20-year-old mixed-race daughter of his friend Alexander Harvey, a fur trader based in Kansas City and a Blackfeet mother. He was then 60 years old. They married on April 4, 1869, in Jackson County, Missouri . Harvey traded in

2150-791: The Mancos River Canyon and another from Towaoc to the Cache oilfield and Aneth, Utah , and off-road trails. The population was 1,687 as of the 2000 census . The Ute Mountain Tribal Park, part of the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation, is approximately 125,000 acres (51,000 ha) of land along the Mancos River. Hundreds of surface sites, cliff dwellings, petroglyphs and wall paintings of Ancestral Puebloan and Ute cultures are preserved in

2236-657: The Mexican–American War and New Mexico and southern Colorado are ceded to the United States. The next year, the first United States treaty is made with Utes made at Abiquiú, New Mexico ; Utes acknowledge United States authority and the United States agrees to pay the Utes $ 5,000 per year to keep the peace. Americans recruited Southern Utes to aid them in conflicts with the Navajos, which the Ute saw as an economic need. In 1868 both

2322-774: The San Miguel Mountains , in Dolores County, Colorado . The headwaters are located about 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Lizard Head Pass in the San Juan National Forest . The river flows southwest in a canyon past Rico , receiving the West Dolores River , then flows into McPhee Reservoir near Dolores in Montezuma County . Formed by McPhee Dam, the reservoir is about 10 miles (16 km) long and diverts flows of

2408-494: The 1820s, the central plains area was subject to political and economic turmoil resulting from the Mexican War of Independence . The Arkansas River delineated the border, with Mexico to the south and the United States northward. The people looked for new opportunities for trade alliances, in part to replace those that had involved the now-deposed Spanish governors. United States settlers and military forces began to arrive in

2494-466: The 36-year period December 1950 to September 1986, the river flow at Cisco averaged 845 cubic feet per second (23.9 m /s). By contrast, in the 27 years from October 1986 (the year McPhee Dam was completed) to October 2013, the river averaged only 599 cubic feet per second (17.0 m /s) due to the McPhee Dam diversions. Measured at Bedrock, Colorado , at the entrance to Paradox Valley (above

2580-732: The American Southwest by the Spanish occurred in 1540, but Spaniards didn't settle into present day New Mexico until 1598. They established their first capital near the pueblo of Ohkay Owingeh , which they renamed San Juan de los Caballeros. In 1626 an account was taken of the Utes by a Spanish scribe in New Mexico. About 1640 the Utes began trading with the Spanish for horses. Spanish traders followed trails to Ute villages and Utes traveled to New Mexican towns. The Utes brought buckskin, dried meats, furs, and slaves to exchange for horses, knives, and blankets. Spanish officials negotiate

2666-728: The Bents' eleven children. The first three were born in Charleston, Virginia , present-day West Virginia and the remaining children were born in St. Louis after the family migrated there. His uncle (Martha Kerr's brother), James Kerr , served in the Missouri House of Representatives and Missouri State Senate and later led colonization, military, and political matters in Texas. Three of William's brothers, George, Charles , and Robert, partnered with him in trading with Native Americans in

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2752-572: The Bureau of Reclamation as the Dolores Project. In some years, almost all the water entering the reservoir is diverted, leaving only a small legally mandated minimum flow to pass downstream, as a result reducing the 150 mile (242 km) stretch between the dam and the confluence of the San Miguel River to a large creek. The dam's construction allowed local farmers to extend the irrigation season through September, whereas natural river flows would have been insufficient by July or August. While

2838-423: The Cheyenne tribe and became a sub-chief. In the 1840s, according to the Cheyenne custom for successful men, Bent took Owl Woman's sisters, Eagle Woman and Island, as secondary wives. He had his fifth child with Eagle Woman. After Owl Woman died in 1847, Island cared for her children. Each of the sisters left Bent and, in 1869, he married the young Adaline Harvey, the educated mixed-race daughter of Alexander Harvey,

2924-502: The Cheyenne, "The Great Peace of 1840", they agreed to stay south of the Arkansas River and the Cheyenne and Arapaho north of it. The Comanche invasion of the southern plains was, quite simply, the longest and bloodiest conquering campaign the American West had witnessed - or would witness until the encroachment of the United States a century and a half later. The long-settled and the recently settled tribes had different views of

3010-542: The Dolores River to its present northward course, causing it to carve the Dolores River Canyon on its way to the Colorado River, creating unusual geologic features such as the Paradox Valley. The Dolores Canyon exposes rocks ranging from 300-million-year-old Pennsylvanian limestone to the 140-million-year-old Entrada sandstone deposited during the Jurassic . A cap of Cretaceous Dakota sandstone forms most of

3096-505: The Navajo and Ute tribes were removed to reservations. As more Americans moved into the western frontier, conflicts arose with the establishment of forts, reduction in land and access to ancient hunting and gathering grounds, and significant reduction in the Ute population from disease and malnutrition. In 1868 Utes are confined to western third of Colorado Territory by treaty. In 1873 the gold and silver rush occurred in San Juan Mountains ;

3182-609: The Salt Lake Valley became known as the Old Spanish Trail . The Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819 established an official boundary line between Spanish and United States possessions in the southwest. Spanish territory included the southern plains, a large part of the western Rocky Mountains, and the entire western plateau region of Colorado. Even with the boundary, the Spanish did little to maintain their northern borders. When Mexico gained its independence from Spain,

3268-606: The San Miguel confluence) the effect of the flow reductions is more obvious, with an average of 504 cubic feet per second (14.3 m /s) before September 1984 as compared to 240 cubic feet per second (6.8 m /s) between October 1984 and May 2014. The ancestral Dolores River is believed to have flowed south to join the San Juan River near the Four Corners in what is now northwestern New Mexico . The uplift of Sleeping Ute Mountain about 70 million years ago diverted

3354-529: The Santa Fe trail, fur-trappers, and local Mexican and Native American people. Bent negotiated a peace among the many Plains tribes north and south of the Arkansas River, as well as between the Native American and the United States government. In 1835 Bent married Owl Woman , the daughter of White Thunder, a Cheyenne chief and medicine man . Together they had four children. Bent was accepted into

3440-540: The Spanish lands became Mexican land. American fur trappers headed into the western frontier in 1811 and encountered the Utes. The Santa Fe Trail was opened in 1821 by William Bucknell; passage of goods through Ute territory became common. William Bent and Ceran St. Vrain complete Bent's Fort in 1834 on the Arkansas River , a trading stop along the Santa Fe trail. In 1848 the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends

3526-582: The United States, Mexico and overseas nations. The children enjoyed pumpkin pie and pancakes made by Charlotte Green , an enslaved cook whose husband was also held by the Bents. Chipita, the French-Mexican wife of a Bent worker, made taffy for the children. She performed housekeeping and laundry services at the fort. Owl Woman's mother Tall Woman taught the children to be respectful and courteous to their elders. They gave discipline by stern glances and waving fingers. In their multi-cultural environment,

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3612-493: The Upper Missouri region; his company was named Harvey, Primeau & Company. When the son George Bent met his father's new wife, he recognized Adaline Harvey as having been a student at his school; she was five years younger than he. They had both been assigned Robert Campbell as a guardian while at the boarding school. The marriage was short, as William died later that year. Pregnant at his death, Adaline Harvey Bent

3698-644: The Utes cede the San Juan mining area to the United States, it is one-fourth of their remaining lands. In the 1870s, Utes were pushed to the western part of the state of Colorado and held just a small portion of their land in Utah. Between 1859 and 1879 the Ute population fell from 8,000 to 2,000 due to disease and diminished hunting grounds. In 1880, a year after the Meeker Massacre , a Ute delegation, including Chief Ouray , went to Washington, D.C. to negotiate

3784-695: The Utes lived and ranged in the mountains and desert over much of the Colorado Plateau present day eastern Utah , western Colorado , northern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico . The use of lands in the Four Corners area, where the Ute Mountain Ute tribe now live, though, came later. Most anthropologists agree that Utes were established in the Four Corners area by 1500 C.E. The Ute people were hunters and gatherers who moved on foot to hunting grounds and gathering land based upon

3870-563: The West. Robert and George died at Bent's Fort (1846 and 1841, respectively). Charles was the oldest son, born in 1799, and the remaining brothers were born in or after 1806. Later based in Santa Fe , Charles Bent lived in Taos . He served briefly as the first territorial governor of New Mexico . Charles , George, Robert, and William Bent partnered in the fur trade with Ceran St. Vrain , also

3956-478: The area as people were exploring the west. The Native American tribes of the central and southern plains were also defining or redefining their territories. Tribes moved to new lands within the plains for various reasons: they may have been displaced in their previous land, had internal disputes that caused them to relocate, sought better hunting or gathering grounds, or sought land that supported their way of life. The Comanche, Kiowa, Cheyenne and Arapaho were among

4042-513: The area for trading, such as the Sioux , Apache and Kiowa , as well as Comanche and Cheyenne also established temporary camps outside the fort. It was the hub of a trading area that encompassed a 500 miles (800 km) radius. It was also a stop each year for hundreds of wagons of European Americans traveling the Santa Fe trail . Hyde writes in Empires, Nations and Families that Bent's Fort

4128-467: The children learned to speak many languages; George learned to speak Cheyenne, English, Spanish, Comanche, Kiowa and Arapaho. The boys learned to ride horses bareback, to hunt and to be warriors. The girls learned to assist in the household, assessing the dryness of wood for gathering, learning to recognize the varieties of berries and other plants, and their uses. Girls were taught to be gracious, generous hosts. Later George Bent recalled of his childhood at

4214-460: The children there. In February 1854, she had her lodge moved to just outside the new fort. That winter, William's oldest son George Bent, then age 11, was sent to Kansas City to attend an Episcopal boarding school. In the following years, he was separated from his family for much of the time in order to attend school. Island later left Bent for Joe Baraldo. In 1864 Yellow Woman also left Bent. She left with their son Charley Bent, then 19, who joined

4300-466: The competing tribes. The Cheyenne likely moved into the plains in the 17th and 18th century from Minnesota . By the mid-1800s, they lived with the Arapaho north of the Arkansas River near the site later developed as Bent's Fort in Colorado. The Comanche came to the grasslands of southern plains for a better life but competed for resources and territory with other tribes. In an agreement reached with

4386-670: The confluence with the Dolores in eastern Utah and leaving Unaweep Canyon as a huge dry gap across the plateau. However, some geologists contend that Colorado never flowed through Unaweep and the lower Dolores River, as the erosive force of the river should have created a water gap here; instead, the canyon may have been formed by glaciation during the Paleozoic . The Dolores is dammed at McPhee Reservoir near Cortez, Colorado to irrigate about 61,660 acres (24,950 ha) of arid plateau land. The dam and diversion canals are operated by

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4472-445: The dam has reduced and sometimes completely halted spring peak flows in the lower Dolores, it provides supplemental flows in late summer (August through October) in the range of 75 cubic feet per second (2.1 m /s), maintaining downstream fisheries. Before the dam was built, irrigators diverted nearly the entire river flow, leaving as little as 10 cubic feet per second (0.28 m /s) to flow downstream. Releases from McPhee Dam are

4558-480: The development of the Santa Fe Trail generated new conflicts. Raids and battles resulted in many fatalities. The Comanche raided the fort and its surroundings north of the river in 1839, provoking a retaliatory raid by the Cheyenne. The trading environment improved after 1840, when Bent's Fort became the site of a truce between the Comanche, Apache and Kiowa tribes of the north and the Cheyenne and Arapaho of

4644-412: The eastern capital is named). In 1906 an agreement was made to trade Utes out of Mesa Verde National Park for land on Utah border. In 1905 the U.S. Government allotted new reservations with 80 to 160 acre plats for farming and access to communal grazing areas; This reduced the Ute land holdings by more than 85%, limited water access and limited the viability of successful livestock ranching. The remainder of

4730-407: The family changed dramatically. In 1849 a cholera epidemic swept through the Cheyenne tribe, killing up to half of the people, including the children's maternal grandmother, Tail Woman. After this, Bent destroyed his old fort and built a new stone one at Big Timbers. Island became the primary caregiver for Owl Woman's children. She did not want to stay in the Bents' new stone fort, nor did she want

4816-565: The first peace treaty with the Utes in 1670. In search of gold, Juan de Rivera made three expeditions between 1761 and 1765 from Taos through southwestern Colorado to the Gunnison River. He did not return with gold, but did establish trade with Utes and other Native Americans along the Gunnison River. On July 29, 1776 two Franciscan priests, Francisco Atanasio Domínguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante and eight men left Santa Fe to conduct an expedition through Ute territory to find

4902-416: The fort in the fall for seasonal trading. European-American travelers sometimes stayed for as long as three weeks at the fort before resuming their journeys. From fall through spring, the fort was busy with people coming to trade, and travelers resting and restocking supplies. The Bents had up to 100 employees, depending on the season, who had a variety of skills: clerks, guards, traders, teamsters, trappers,

4988-436: The fort: Something was always going on, and we children had no lack of amusements. In the fall and winter there was always a large camp of Indians just outside the fort – Cheyenne and Arapahos, and sometimes Sioux , Kiowas , Comanches , and Prairie Apaches . William and his wife Owl Woman had several homes. Where they lived depended on the season, which affected both his travels and the Cheyenne's seasonal movements. In

5074-501: The land was opened for white entry. In 1918 the Consolidated Ute Indian Reservation is established. By 1934, a reservation is established in southwestern Colorado for Southern Utes, an arid, desolate strip of land 15 by 100 or 110 miles. In 1937 the Restoration Act returns 222,000 acres to Southern Utes. 30,000 acres were returned to Ute Mountain Utes in 1938. The U.S. Court of Claims awards the Confederated Bands of Colorado and Utah almost $ 32 million in 1950. The Ute Mountain Utes adopted

5160-448: The last traditional chief of the Utes, died in 1971. Dolores River The Dolores River is a tributary of the Colorado River , approximately 241 miles (388 km) long, in the U.S. states of Colorado and Utah . The river drains a rugged and arid region of the Colorado Plateau west of the San Juan Mountains . Its name derives from the Spanish El Rio de Nuestra Señora de Dolores , River of Our Lady of Sorrows. The river

5246-482: The main stem, the San Miguel is typically the same size as the Dolores if not larger, providing most of the flow below the confluence in dry years. Below the confluence with the San Miguel, the Dolores enters Mesa County , flowing north-northwest past Gateway and then turning west into Utah . The last segment of the river, entirely within Grand County , joins the Colorado near the historic Dewey Bridge , about 30 miles (48 km) above Moab . The Hanging Flume

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5332-421: The northern side of the Arkansas River. The historian Grinnell suggested that William Bent was likely trapping furs before the first stockade was built. St. Vrain and his older brother, Charles, made the round trips to St. Louis, a regional trading center, to sell furs and return with supplies. To set up their trading venture, the brothers used a legacy of their father, Judge Silas Bent . The brothers reinvested

5418-483: The park. Native American Ute tour guides provide background information about the people, culture and history who lived in the park lands. National Geographic Traveler chose it as one of "80 World Destinations for Travel in the 21st Century," one of only 9 places selected in the United States. In 1880 Chief Ouray went to Washington, D.C. as part of the Ute delegation to negotiate a treaty. He made it to Washington, but died that year at 47 years of age. Chief Jack House ,

5504-411: The post was in "the perfect place at the perfect time" for someone looking to make money from trading. For example, the Bents could buy a gallon of brandy in St Louis for US$ 2 and sell it at the fort for US$ 25. The historian Anne Hyde has dated the moment when the Cheyenne chief White Thunder realized a common interest with Bent. In November 1833, they talked together as a meteor shower lit up

5590-457: The reservation varies from about 4,600 feet (1,400 m) along the San Juan River near Four Corners to about 9,977 feet (3,041 m) at the peak of the Ute Mountain . The reservation lands consist of Sleeping Ute Mountain , the Mancos River and canyons, a high mesas and semi-desert grassland. U.S. Highways 160 and 491 and State Highways 41 and 789 cross the reservation. In addition, there are two maintained gravel roads, one that follows

5676-447: The river crosses into San Miguel County and then from there into Montrose County . Continuing north, the Dolores cuts across the Paradox Valley which runs in an unusual transverse direction to the river. Immediately below Paradox Valley it is joined by the San Miguel River , its main tributary, from the east. (Incidentally, the Dolores and San Miguel have their headwaters to either side of Lizard Head Pass.) Due to diversions on

5762-413: The river in Colorado, though permits are required from the Moab BLM office for boaters wishing to make the run from Gateway, CO, into Utah and to the confluence with the Colorado River near Dewey Bridge. In 2010, flash flooding altered Diversion Dam Rapid and Stateline Rapid on this section, making the latter very difficult to run in any vessel larger than a kayak. Advocates have proposed establishment of

5848-429: The season. The men hunted animals, including deer, antelope, buffalo, rabbits, and other small mammals and birds. Women gathered different types of grass, nuts, berries, roots, and greens in woven baskets. They also processed and stored meat and plant materials for winter use. Ute in the western part of their territory lived in wickiups and ramadas. Hide tipis were used in the eastern reaches of their territory. As

5934-667: The section from Bradfield Ranch near Cahone, Colorado down to Slick Rock, Colorado , offers scenery, camping, and rapids for inflatables and kayaks. The section from Slickrock to Bedrock, Colorado goes through the goosenecks of a sandstone canyon with several mostly class II rapids. The Bureau of Land Management recommends minimum flows of 200 cubic feet per second (5.7 m /s) for canoes, kayaks, and inflatable kayaks, 800 cu ft/s (23 m /s) for small rafts of up to 14 feet (4.3 m), and 1,000 cu ft/s (28 m /s) for larger rafts of up to 18 feet (5.5 m) in size. The BLM does not require permits for groups running

6020-400: The sky over the plains. Many Cheyenne believed that the celestial event was a signal of the end of the world; it was subsequently referred to as "the Night the Stars Fell". White Thunder saw it as a new beginning. He sought a truce with the Pawnee and the return of the four sacred arrows which they had captured in a battle with the Cheyenne earlier that year. To achieve this, White Thunder made

6106-432: The south. Hyde describes this as a "network of enormous significance." The tribes negotiated a peace over several weeks during the summer of 1840. Bent hosted the various camps and their celebrations. Hyde has said that For William Bent, Owl Woman, and their families and business associates, the Arkansas River as border between Mexico and the United States was an abstraction. However, the Arkansas River as border between

6192-486: The stocks of the fort for the forthcoming hunting season. Westport Landing was an ideal terminus for the Bents' trade. Located on the Missouri River , it was a port for steamboats that hauled goods eastward to St. Louis. Sometimes five or six steamboats would be unloading goods for the Santa Fe trade at one time; dried buffalo meat, buffalo robes and furs would be loaded onto the boats for the return east. Westport

6278-471: The substantial profits of their enterprise to develop their business. By around 1832, although possibly as late as 1834, the partners built a permanent trading post called Bent's Fort . The elaborate adobe construction could accommodate 200 people, and had been built on the northern "Mountain Route" of the Santa Fe Trail , by then open for business. The partners picked this location after discussions with

6364-439: The trade caravans as an opportunity for enrichment rather than as a threat. The Cheyenne favored Bent because he had intervened to protect them against Comanche raiders. Bent worked to negotiate a resolution to the inter-tribal disputes, and to end their raids on settlers and traders. While the truce was uneasy, it enhanced his position. The historian Anne Hyde described the situation as similar to that in northern California, as

6450-426: The traders, which exacerbated inter-tribal rivalries. In 1833 White Thunder led the Cheyenne into a fight with the Pawnee; his people lost many warriors, and the Pawnee captured the four sacred arrows. White Thunder and his tribe lost much respect as a result. During the mid-1830s, the Cheyenne and the Arapaho had become eager to work with the incoming trade caravans , and notably those associated with Bent. They saw

6536-550: The tribe. Owl Woman and Bent had the following children, named in English and Cheyenne: As a successful man, Bent followed Cheyenne custom and by 1844 took Owl Woman's two younger sisters, Yellow Woman and Island, as secondary wives. He had another son with Yellow Woman: George, Julia, and Charley all survived the Sand Creek Massacre. Owl Woman died in 1847 or later. In the following six years, life for

6622-477: The upper Dolores River for irrigation. Downstream from McPhee Dam, the river re-enters Dolores County and carves the Dolores River Canyon , which stretches north for over 40 miles (64 km) and averages 1,100 feet (340 m) deep. This section of the Dolores River is noted for its exposed sedimentary strata , desert wildlife, and during years of heavy snowmelt for its whitewater. Near Egnar

6708-579: The upper rim of the canyon. It also includes red Wingate Sandstone . The lower Dolores River may have once been the original course of the Colorado River, which flowed through the now dry Unaweep Canyon , currently occupied by West Creek, a small tributary of the Dolores. When the Uncompahgre Plateau was formed, it diverted the larger Colorado northwards through what is now the Grand Valley , looping around through Westwater Canyon to

6794-628: Was a frontier trader and rancher in the American West , with forts in Colorado. He also acted as a mediator among the Cheyenne Nation , other Native American tribes and the expanding United States. With his brothers, Bent established a trade business along the Santa Fe Trail . In the early 1830s Bent built an adobe fort, called Bent's Fort , along the Arkansas River in present-day Colorado . Furs, horses and other goods were traded for food and other household goods by travelers along

6880-475: Was a boom town until a cholera epidemic in the mid-1840s reduced the town's population by 50%. In 1853 Westport was renamed Kansas City. While Bent and the pack trains were away, the fort managed with a skeleton crew of herders, clerks, traders and laborers for Native Americans and travelers. William and Charles Bent had brought three slaves from St. Louis to work in their households: the brothers Andrew and Dick Green, and Dick's wife Charlotte , who served as

6966-472: Was explored and possibly named by Juan Maria Antonio Rivera during a 1765 expedition from Santa Fe . The mean annual flow of the Dolores prior to damming was approximately 1,200 cu ft/s (34 m /s), but due to diversions it has been reduced to about 600 cu ft/s (17 m /s). The Dolores River rises in a meadow called Tin Can Basin, near 12,520-foot (3,820 m) Hermosa Peak in

7052-413: Was given the title of "Colonel" by the United States (US) Army after supplying US troops and guiding them into New Mexico during the Mexican–American War . George and William Bent freed Dick Green for his heroic efforts in an Indian revolt in 1847 at Taos, during which their brother Charles was killed. Green had gone north with American soldiers to defend Bent's Taos home. He bravely led a skirmish against

7138-548: Was known as Little White Man by the native tribes. When the Bents first met with the Cheyenne, the Indians gave them names in the Cheyenne language. The Bent brothers' respect for the Cheyenne protocols during the convivial occasion created a relationship base for their future development of the fort and trading. The fort, and the area immediately outside it, comprised a multi-cultural, multi-lingual center with permanent inhabitants from many nations and visitors. Native tribes in

7224-462: Was reported to have had a daughter. Adaline Bent inherited her husband's property in Kansas City in 1869 and sold it in 1871. Life at the fort, called the "mud castle of the plains", reflected the heritage of both Owl Woman and Bent. The children's clothes included linen shirts and soft-leather moccasins. They ate on fine china and, according to Cheyenne custom, slept on the ground in soft hides. The furnishings and household goods included items from

7310-508: Was the one spot on the Santa Fe trail where exchanges with Indians were welcomed and encouraged, and the effects of those conversations on both sides were far-reaching  ...   archaeological evidence tells us that people sat in the courtyard together and smoked—a lot". Bent managed trade to and from the fort: he provided a safe zone in the area and a supply of goods for its store, as well as shipping buffalo robes back to St. Louis for sale. As many as 20,000 Native Americans camped near

7396-468: Was the tribe's "Keeper of the Arrows," four arrows thought to have a sacred or medicinal role. The prestige of his position as a medicine man meant that his daughters also had high status. Owl Woman As a part of the marriage ritual, Owl Woman was carried into a lodge which was constructed for them in the Cheyenne village near the fort, while Bent dispensed numerous gifts to her people. Bent later became

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