Cowboys, Indians, Troops & Hostages Part 2:
I read The Meeker Herald Times as part of my early day ranching heritage growing up 30 miles from the infamous Milk Creek Indian War took place. Indian Agent Meeker’s letters are fascinating, with this history almost forgotten. The letters from the White River Museum, reprinted in The Meeker Herald-Times, describes the desperate efforts by Meeker to make the White River Agency Indians into farmers. The end result was his death and the longest U.S. Indian war in history. The battle lasted for five days, 18 miles Northeast of the present town of Meeker. Indian Agent Nathan Meeker was killed the same day at the Agency on Sept. 29, 1879, along with ten of his workers. His wife Arvilla, and daughter Josephine, were part of five women and young children taken hostage. Then the White River Utes ambushed Major Thomas T. Thornburgh and 153 of his soldiers and 25 militiamen, coming to the aid of Agent Meeker at Ft. Steele in the Wyoming Territory. Meeker had been severely injured before at the Agency and summoned military help. The Milk Creek War lasted until October 5, and Major Thornburgh was killed, along with 24 troops and 44 wounded from Company E, 3rd Calvary. A rider was dispatched from the pinned-down troops to ride for help. The unit was dug in behind wagons with dead horses and mules. The first troops to the rescue were a small unit of Black Buffalo soldiers from a southern territory outpost. The battle with reinforcements raged on for additional days with more deaths occurring to troops and Indians. History relates that there were 15 Medals of Honor awarded to heroic surviving troop members. Indian Chief Colorow was the leader of the insurgent Indians, along with Captain Jack who had passed through Black Hawk and Central City noted by The Weekly Register-Call newspaper.(Circa:1862.) Jack was killed after leaving the Uinta Indian reservation where the tribes were relocated to Utah.
The hostages who were taken were released unharmed 22 days later through the efforts of Indian Chief Ouray and his wife Chipeta near present day Delta. Chief Ouray, a peacemaker, was the leader of the Uncompahgre Utes, and his tribe was not involved in the Milk Creek War.
of History Colorado and Colorado Encyclopedia
The number of deaths and injured are conflicting but this was a major Indian uprising with many casualties. A conflict was almost inevitable with the influx of settlers and miners from the 1859 discovery of gold in Gregory Gulch at present day Black Hawk and Central City. Thousands of miners and settlers poured into the territory, and many invaded the vast Indian lands stretching across most of today’s Western Colorado. This was ordained to them by a U.S. Treaty that gave the Indians “absolute and undisturbed use and occupation” of these area and also authorized U.S. troops to prevent persons from trespassing on Ute lands. Regardless, after the uprising, both tribes were rounded up and relocated to Utah. The Uncompahgre Utes were able to regain and return to parcels of their lands along the present Utah and Colorado border with present day towns in Southwest Colorado at Ignacio and in the Durango/Cortez areas where they operate several successful casinos, as well as with farming.
Chief Ouray and his wife Chipeta traveled to Washington D.C. before his death in 1881. The town of Ouray is named in his honor.