Chronology

Time immemorial Indigenous societies thrive on all the lands of Colorado.

1598 – Spanish trade begins with the Ute
1670 – First Spanish peace treaty with the Ute
1760 – Ute grant Spanish the right to trade up to Gunnison River in Colorado
1819 – Adams-Onis Treaty establishes U.S. boundary with Spain along Arkansas River
1821 – William Bucknell “opens” Sante Fe Trail across Ute land
1834 – Bent’s Fort built on the Arkansas River
1842 – Fort Pueblo established
1849 – Treaty of Abiquiu between the U.S. and the Ute that directed the Ute to officially recognize the sovereignty of the United States and allow passage of U.S. citizens through Ute Territory, along with military forts and Indian agencies on Ute lands
1851 – Treaty of Fort Laramie protects Arapaho and Cheyenne sovereignty in exchange for allowing U.S. citizens and government to travel and build forts on Indigenous land
1855 – Peace treaty concludes U.S. and Ute War at Poncha Springs
1859 – Colorado Gold Rush begins
1861 – Treaty of Fort Wise reduces Cheyenne and Arapaho land to small area south of Sand Creek on Arkansas River and cedes most of Colorado’s Front Range to the United States; however, very few Cheyenne and Arapaho signed this treaty and many said they did not intend to cede lands secured under the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty.
1863 – Conejos Treaty forces the Tabeguache Ute to relinquish all claims to mineral rights and lands of the San Luis Valley, the Front Range and Middle Park
1864 – Territorial Governor Evans issues proclamations to kill all “hostile Indians.” This was rescinded by Governor Jared Polis August 2021.
1864 – November 29: Sand Creek Massacre perpetrated upon Cheyenne and Arapaho by 675 Colorado volunteer soldiers
1867 – The Medicine Lodge Treaty removed Cheyenne and Arapaho to reservations in Kansas and Oklahoma; the treaty was then amended to include the Jicarilla Apache, Comanche and Kiowa Nations.
1868 – Ute are confined to western one-third of Colorado territory on consolidated reservation
1873 – Brunot Agreement between Ute and the U.S. government; Ute are led to believe the agreement allowed only mining on lands within San Juan Mountains, and 4 million acres of land not subject to mining would remain Ute land. This results in the forcible seizure of all lands by the U.S. government of western Colorado.
1878 – Fort Lewis established in Pagosa Springs
1880 – Mouache, Caputa, and Weenuchiu Ute Reservation established in southwestern Colorado after 1879 Meeker Incident
1880 – Uncompahgre, Yampa, White River and Grand River Ute forced removal to eastern Utah
1895 – the Hunter Act opened the Ute Reservation in Colorado to allotment, creating a division between the confederated Ute bands. The Weenuchiu agreed land could not be owned individually and moved to the western half of the Reservation and the Mouache and Caputa staying on the eastern half, agreeing to individual ownership. Many of the allotments were purchased by non-tribal members with a steady decline in Ute ownership.
1906 – Ute land ceded for Mesa Verde National Park
1910 – Fort Lewis Indian boarding school opens in Hesperus, CO
1924 – Snyder Act recognizes Native Americans as U.S. citizens
1937 – Restoration Act returns 222,000 acres to Southern Utes and 30,000 acres to Ute Mountain Ute
1942 – Fort Carson founded
1970 – Ute Tribal members are allowed anywhere in Colorado
2009 – Colorado state government negotiates a memorandum to Brunot Treaty, assuring Ute of Colorado hunting and fishing rights in the off-Reservation lands of the Brunot Treaty

Sources: Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Inside Out Youth Services and Colorado Encyclopedia