b'Jews in the Old WestPART 5 By Alan RockmanMEARS AND UTEzealot who had dreams of establishing a utopia where CHIEF OURAY all would live in peace - but according to his rules and Mears was not just an averagestrict dictates.self-assured man, but a self-assured man who hadThe Southern Ute tribes, who directly dealt with to have it within him to beMeeker much more so than Chief Ouray initially self-assured, especially asliked and appreciated the extra rations he brought Colorado was being built andthem. But when the stubborn Meeker insisted that the indigenous Indian population was either beingthey had to adjust to the white ways of farming to driven off their land or forced onto reservations.feed themselves, which was a totally alien concept He had arrived in Colorado just two years afterto Ute tribesmen who were more used to hunting the notorious massacre of the Cheyenne at Sandbuffalo and game, all hell broke loose. The more Creek. The Cheyenne had been dispersed to bothMeeker insisted they follow his ways, the more the north and the south of Colorado Territory, buttheir collective backs stiffened, until one day, in a there remained the Utes under their proud chieffit of anger, Meeker told the Ute tribal leaders that Ouray. Even after a decade of peace between braveshe would cut off the rations to any and all Ute who and settlers, the mistreatment of Utes who venturedrefused to farm for their living. The fuse was lit, into the towns rankled the other members of thethe Ute raided Meeker\'s agency, killed him, leaving tribe, even the noble and peaceable Ouray. Clearlyhim with a barrel stave down his mouth, absconded something needed to be done to placate the Indians.with his wife and daughter, and at the same time They needed someone who was compassionate yetambushed and almost wiped out a company of U.S. blunt, sympathetic yet firm, someone whose own lifeCavalry that had been sent, too late, to the Meeker experiences, the hardships he endured, would causeagency. The cry for war echoed throughout the him to be more understanding of the plight of the Utemountains, but Ouray refused to heed it, and when and the Shoshone, but also clearly cognizant of thethe revolt was quickly suppressed by Colonel Wesley needs for the territory to grow. Merritt and five companies of the U.S. Fifth Cavalry, it was Mears, together with his friend Ouray, who, with And who did they call upon? None other than OttoOtto Mears the assistance of Cavalry General Charles Adams, Mears, that Russian Jewish immigrant, road builder,guaranteed the peace would be kept by the other Ute and problem solver. They would appoint him thetribes and secured the release of the white captives territory representative to the Ute and none too soon$25,000 per year for the next 10 years and Ouray anincluding Meeker\'s widow and daughter - of the ill-as events would soon play out. extra $1,000 for each of those years, that mollifiedfated Meeker Agency. But then came the betrayal, a the chief enough to allow the limited land grab andbetrayal of trust Mears did his utmost to prevent but While Mears was slight and unassuming, he hadkeep the peace. would be swept away as the fear of the mob held sway.proven his courage many a time and his ability to speak forcefully and purposely as he did to theBut not all Ute bands followed his leadership orBut the cry for blood was up, no matter if the former Governor Gilpin was, to put it mildly quiethis desire to live in peace with the whites. His ablemajority of the Ute joined Ouray in refusing to impressive. But even more so, he might be bellicoseleadership, as well as Mears\' own negotiation skillsjoin the uprising. They demanded the heads of one moment, but he knew very well how to speakand inner compassion would be sorely tested whenOuray and the innocent, and when they were not to the common man, and to the Indian, even if histhe foolhardy actions of a honest, but extremelyallowed to harm the great chief nor his followers, Russian-accentuated English was at times a bit hard toarrogant and condescending religious zealot wouldthey demanded that the Ute be expelled from understand. To quote Lavender: turn the Rocky Mountains aflame and almostColorado to less desirable land in Utah. Mears tried ". . .he could squat down in a filthy, lice-infestedcompletely undermine the fragile peace so diligentlyhard to prevent the expulsion, or at least find more tepee and chatter to its occupants without the leastcrafted by men like Mears and so diligently adhereddesirable land for the Ute, but when the already ill show of repugnance or superiority, attributes whichto by Chief Ouray. Ouray, who had kept the peace and had been such completely tainted the average white man\'s contacta devoted friend to Mears, passed away in the fall of with his red brethren" (Ibid.,p. 98). And in the end, an Otto Mears who was proud in1880, Mears, having lost his most eloquent ally and the fact that he always kept his word, would, to hisfriend came to the realization that in the end the And most importantly, the great Ute Chief Ourayeternal sadness, be unable to keep his word to hisgovernment and the incoming flux of settlers would befriended and completely trusted that slight, littletribal friends when the whites came to take their lastinsist on taking the Ute land and that he could do no Russian Otto Mears; in turn Mears considered Ourayvestiges of Colorado land, in great part due to themore for the Ute except negotiate as best as he could to be one of his best friends. Ouray according toactions of that aforementioned religious zealot andon their behalf, and when that failed, at least get them one well-known expert on the Old West "was anstubborn, uncompromising man who would pay thesome Utah land for their new reservation, barren, and Indian of exceptional wisdom and force of character.ultimate price for his foolishness and stupidity. inhospitable as much of it was, a government stipend, His name signified "The Arrow" and he was all thatand some of his own money to ease their pain. Even the name implies - keen, straight, direct and swift.NATHAN MEEKER AND THEthat was not enough, and when Mears went to the Over the Ute he had tremendous influence. HeUTE UPRISING new Ute Reservation in Utah to inspect conditions was recognized as head chief of the UncomphrageEnter Nathan Meeker, a 61 year old journalist, formerand give Ouray\'s widow Chipera the $700 allotment (his own tribe), White River, Unintah and otherCivil War correspondent and confidant of the famedpromised her in the treaty, another Ute chieftain tried Ute bands" (Wellman, Paul, Death on the Prairie,Editor-Publisher Horace Go West Young Manto murder him. It was a grotesque ending to what Bison Books, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln,Greeley had been appointed to the post of Indianwas a genuine personal partnership and friendship Nebraska, 1987, p. 250).During one tense time,agent to the Ute in 1878 despite having no priorbetween Mears and the people of his late close friend when Ouray balked at allowing the government toexperience dealing with Native Americans, muchOuray. No doubt it was a very bitter Mears, who take a portion of Ute land rich in mineral resources,less understanding them. What was worse was thatfought and failed to save even the innocent Ute from it was Mears, who kept a promise of giving the UteMeeker, though personally honest, was a religiousbeing expelled from their ancestral lands.18 November 2023'