Ute Country
The Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute nations, Chief Ignacio, the reservation boundaries, and the documented record of Ute presence in the San Juans.
- 01
Chief Ignacio and the Southern Ute Reservation After 1880
Chief Ignacio led the Southern Ute through the period of reservation establishment following the Brunot Agreement of 1873 and the Meeker Incident of 1879, and negotiated the tribe's retention of its southwestern Colorado lands against federal pressure to relocate.
- 02
Where the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation Meets the Park Boundary
The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe's reservation shares a boundary with Mesa Verde National Park and includes the Ute Mountain Tribal Park, which contains documented cliff dwellings comparable to those in the NPS park.
- 03
The Brunot Agreement, 1873, and the San Juan Cession
The Brunot Agreement of 1873 extinguished Ute title to approximately 3.7 million acres of the San Juan Mountains, opening the silver country to mining while the Ute retained reservation lands to the south and west.