Ute Indians
The Ute Military Campaign occurred between September 1879 and November 1880 after Indian agent Nathaniel C. Meeker, at White River Agency in northwest Colorado, became involved in a dispute with Northern Ute in September 1879 and requested assistance from the Army.
Meeker was appointed agent to the White River Agency on March 18, 1878, after actively pursuing the position through political acquaintances in Colorado and Washington, D.C. Meeker’s goal was to transform his Indian agency into a kind of utopian state that combined his religious views and the lessons from the Union Colony, a cooperative farming reforms experiment in Greeley, Colorado.
In response to Meeker’s request, Major Thomas T. Thornburgh’s column of 200 men moved out from Fort Fred Steele, Wyoming. Thornburgh was operating under orders from the Department of the Platte commander, Brigadier General George Crook, to proceed to the agency and assist the reservation agent.
On September 29, 300 to 400 warriors attacked and besieged this force in Red Canyon. Thornburgh’s command was finally relieved by elements of the 9th Cavalry, which arrived on October 2, and the 5th Cavalry under Colonel Wesley Merritt, which arrived on October 5. In the meantime, Meeker and most of his staff were killed in what was called the Meeker Massacre.
The “Meeker Massacre” Meeker by Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, 1879.
Several thousand troops had taken the field before the Ute were pacified in November 1880. In 1906, the Ute of this area left their reservation and roamed through Wyoming, terrorizing the countryside, until they were forced back on their reservation by elements of the 6th and 10th Cavalry.
Compiled and edited by Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated March 2024.
Also See:
Battles and Massacres of the Indian Wars
Ute Tribe – Roaming the Rockies
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