Interview with Ouray, Part 8

A VISIT TO A TRIBE OF UTES
New-York Tribune (New York, N.Y.) October 08, 1874, page 4

OBSERVATIONS IN A UTE VILLAGE

Their utensils consist almost entirely of what they have bought from the whites, iron and tin ware, but some peculiarly Indian manufactures are still in use, as for instance, gourd-shaped water-jars holding from two quarts to a gallon, made of close wickerwork, well pitched [waterproofed with pine pitch], one of which it is said, takes a squaw four days to make…
          The boys practice with bows and arrows and use them largely in getting small game; but the older ones are all well armed with Sharpes and Ballard rifles and the latest improved Winchester carbines. They have plenty of cartridges, too, and always wear revolvers, so that a favorite game, something like quoits [a game like horseshoes in which flat rings are tossed at a stake], is about the only use they find for their arrows.
          The tribe possesses some 6,000 horses—and almost 600,000 dogs—fine stock, too, which they have largely captured from the Cheyenne and Arapahos, who in turn stole them from Texas ranchers and Mexican herds. They take immense pride in this wealth, and each [man] manages to have a racer in his stud, the speed of which he will bet not only his “bottom dollar,” but his bed and board, if he thinks there is the least chance of winning. I was present at one of their races—the track is always a straight one—and it was an exciting scene I assure you.
          The greatest respect is exerted from one and all toward those older or greater in authority than they.
          They are hospitable to strangers. If a poor man comes among them and by his behavior gains their respect, he is furnished with a horse and good outfit, which he is at liberty to use as he pleases so long as he remains with them; and, when he chooses to leave, he is furnished the means for his journey.

This article was written by an unidentified member of the Hayden Survey team based on his August 27, 1874 interview with Ouray.

Photo courtesy the U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library.

Interview with Ouray, Part 7

A VISIT TO A TRIBE OF UTES
New-York Tribune (New York, N.Y.) October 08, 1874, page 4

SOUNDS OF A UTE VILLAGE

Views among the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Camp scene. Sketching. Dr. Hayden and Walter Paris. Colorado. 1874. (Stereoscopic view)

The noises which strike your ear are equally varied, running all the way from the squealing of a poor little papoose strapped in its coffin-like cradle, or the really melodious laughter of a squaw to the hoarse whinnies of a hundred horses and the ringing report of a revolver.
          The one sound though which will attract your attention, and which you will never fail to hear, is the monotonous droning drama in the medicine man’s tent, generally accompanied by the more monotonous chanting of a series of notes in the minor key which is neither song nor howl nor chant, and which could go on endlessly if it wasn’t occasionally stopped by a yelp from the leader. The young bucks enjoy this singing and swing their bodies in time with a seriousness of countenance that is very funny to a white man.
          I have seen two different drums among them: one nothing more than buckskin tied tightly over the mouth of a jar, and the other made of raw hide stretched very tense over a broad hoop, so that the shape was that of a sieve.

This article was written by an unidentified member of the Hayden Survey team based on his August 27, 1874 interview with Ouray.

Photo courtesy the U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library with desciption as written by a Hayden photographer.

Interview with Ouray, Part 5

A VISIT TO THE TRIBE OF UTES.
New-York Tribune (New York, N.Y.) October 08, 1874, page 4

RESERVATION LIFE

Tower Mountain, opposite Howardsville, Bakers Park. Upon its nearby perpendicular fact of 3,000 feet are exposed a number of quartz veins, traversing its whole length. The one cutting down diagonally from the left is the Mammoth lode. Most of the others are claimed as mineral-bearing veins. San Juan County, Colorado. 1874.

For the last few years the [Ute] nation had probably been decreased in numbers, especially by the ravages of small-pox, which was purposely communicated to them, it is said, by some traders with whom the Utes were unwilling to trade. Some Indians having taken the disease from the infected clothing sold them, others were advised to be vaccinated, but were instead inoculated with the disease…so the terrible story goes, by unprincipled quacks in the towns south of them. The epidemic raged with fearful power and hundreds of families were exterminated…
          For a number of years they have been supposed to live upon the reservation, which embraces some 14,000,000 acres in South-Western Colorado, and is the largest Indian reservation in the country. But the fact is that they are in its valley only in the Winter, roaming during the Summer all over the Territory, particularly in the dark country and west of Denver, where they hunt buffalo. From about the 1^st of August until it is time for them to retire to their Winter quarters in the Uncompahgre Valley, they keep near their respective agencies and live on the rations which are dealt out to them by the Government.

This article was written by an unidentified member of the Hayden Survey team based on his August 27, 1874 interview with Ouray.

Photo by William Henry Jackson, with his notes, courtesy the U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library.

Interview with Ouray, Part 1

A VISIT TO THE TRIBE OF UTES.
New-York Tribune (New York, N.Y.) October 08, 1874, page 4

Los Pinos Indian Agency, Col., Aug 27

Antelope Park

This point is 47 miles west of Saguache, on the Cochetopa trail to Antelope Park, to the valley of the Cochetopa and Los Pinos creeks. [Cochetopa is a Ute word meaning "pass of the buffalo."]
          The officer who had charge of locating the agency was instructed to put it on the Los Pinos River, 180 miles or so south-west of here, but he said: “Put it anywhere and call it Los Pinos.” So, here it is.
          The valley is eight or ten miles long and three or four wide, full of good grass and water, surrounded by high timber ed hills, and is a favorite Indian camping ground.

Hayden Team Piching Tents (from a stereographic picture). 1874. William Henry Jackson photographer.

          We—that is, the Hayden Expedition—camped at the agency about a week, occupying the time principally in making Indian pictures, but it was with the greatest difficulty that negatives could be obtained, for the redskins have a superstition that calamity will follow the photographic of groups and camp scenes, although one at a time it was safe enough. The squaws were especially superstitious about it. “Make heap Injun, heap sick,” they averred.
          But one morning, remarkable for its rare magnificence of sunrise color, as was the previous evening for its beautiful sunset, the train moved off, leaving me behind to get such mail as might come, but chiefly because I wished to “interview” Ouray, head chief of all the Ute nation, which is now a confederation of seven tribes. Through the kind exertions of Mr. Harris, post trader and interpreter, this operation was satisfactorily accomplished in his store.

This article was written by an unidentified member of the Hayden Survey team based on his August 27, 1874 interview with Ouray.

Photo courtesy U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library 

Ouray by William Henry Jackson

 

This photo of Ouray was taken by William Henry Jackson on the porch of the Ute Agency at Los Pinos in August 1874.  Author Aylesa Farsee in William Henry Jackson: Pioneer Photographer of the West (Viking Press, 1964), said Jackson was surprised to find Ouray dressed in a tailored suit and shiny black boots. It is part of the William Henry Jackson Collection at Brigham Young University.

William Henry Jackson’s Ute Photographs

1874 painting of Ute camp near Los Pinos signed by William Henry Jackson

Photographer William Henry Jackson left camp near Denver on July 21, 1874, travelling with the Hayden Expedition. They arrived at Los Pinos Indian Agency on the Ute Reservation in Western Colorado in August.
          Agent Henry Bond and his wife warned Jackson that the Utes were superstitious about cameras. They suggested Ouray would be his best hope for a photo since he spoke English and was well acquainted with the ways of white people. Bond may also have been aware that Ouray had been photographed several times during trips to Washington, DC.
          According to Aylesa Farsee in William Henry Jackson: Pioneer Photographer of the West (Viking Press, 1964), ”Jackson was delighted by the intelligent, alert questions Ouray put to him,” and Ouray agreed to pose for the camera. Jackson set up a temporary studio on the Agency porch using canvas and blankets for backdrops. Both Ouray and Chipeta sat for portaits.
         Then Jackson travelled to a temporary camp 3/4 of a mile away where a number of Utes had gathered to receive their annual government supplies the following day. Jackson set up his equipment but the Utes surrounded him, covered his camera with a blanket, and refused to be photographed. Perhaps that is when Jackson turned to paint and canvas.
         The painting is part of the William Henry Jackson Collection at Brigham Young University.



SS Chief Ouray, Part 2

During World War II, any person or group who raised two million dollars by selling war bonds could propose the name for a ship. There were five  Liberty Ships named for Indian Chiefs.
          The SS Chief Ouray, hull number 513, was the first of the five entered into production. Its keel was laid down for assembly at the Permanente Metals Corporation, Yard #1, in Richmond, California on November 27, 1942. It was built in “way #1″ of the seven ways (assembly slots). The completed ship was christened and launched on December 28, 1942. It was delivered to the Navy on January 12, 1943.
          Three days after the Chief Ouray’s keel was laid down, assembly of the Chief Washakie, hull number 613, began at the Oregon Shipbuilding Company in Portland, Oregon. The Washakie was launched December 24, 1942, four days before the Chief Ouray, thus becoming the first Liberty Ship christened in honor of an Indian chief.
          The five chiefs honored with namesake Liberty Ships included Charlot of the Flathead, Joseph of the Nez Perce, Ouray of the Ute, Osceoloa of the Seminole, and Washakie of the Shoshone.
Complete List of Liberty Ships

SS Chief Ouray, Part 1

On December 28, 1942, a square-hulled grey cargo ship slipped from its berth and splashed into the Pacific Ocean. The vessel was one of 2,710 Liberty Ships built to support the U.S. military during World War II. This one was christened the SS Chief Ouray. 

The Jeremiah O’Brien, one of two surviving Liberty Ships

          Liberty Ships were built assembly-line style at eighteen U.S. shipyards. At the peak of production, three ships were launched per day. The first Liberty Ship was lanched September 27, 1941 and the last was completed September 2, 1945. Of the 2,710 Liberty Ships built, only two remain.
           The Chief Ouray was assembled in 31 days at the Richmond, California shipyard of Permanente Metals Corporation.  This yard turned out a total of 130 such ships.  The Chief Ouray went into active service with the U.S. Navy on January 23, 1943, where it was renamed Deimos.  Just six months later, on June 23, 1943, an enemy torpedo struck the ship and it was scuttled off San Cristobal in the Solomon Islands.

The Closing Era

On the east side of Colorado’s State Capitol grounds, the lithe figure of an Indian stands over the body of a bison, an image from a past era captured in bronze. 
     The sculpture was big news in 1892. The Rocky Mountain News reported the Fortnightly Club met in the basement of the First Congregational Church on the afternoon of Feb 27, 1892. Mrs. Eliza Routt called the meeting to order at 2:30 in the afternoon. The women viewed an artist’s sketch of the statue, titled “The Closing Era,” which they planned to raise $10,000 to purchase. 
     Mrs. E.M. Ashley reported a proposal to substitute Chief Ouray’s face for that of the generic Indian on the statue.
     Mrs. Ashley said, ”We hope to have [it] cast in best bronze, sent to the Columbian exposition as a work of art from Colorado and, after the close of the exposition, placed permanently on our capitol grounds as a gift from the women of Denver to their state…” 
          “To those present who have lately come to make Colorado their home this may seem an insignificant change, but to the many old-timers who are present, it is an important one, for Ouray, too, was an old-timer. Twenty years ago his face was as familiar on the streets of Denver as is now the face of our governor. He was connected with and is a part of the history of Colorado…”
          Apparently, the idea did not suit sculptor Preston Powers. The completed figure bears no resemblance to Ouray but it is does effectively represent pre-settlement life in what is now Colorado. 
          Thanks to Joyce Lohse, author of First Governor, First Lady: John and Eliza Routt of Colorado, for this tidbit of history.

Stridiron’s Story Gets Stranger

Six years after St. Clair Stridiron’s tale of life as an Indian captive was published by the Rocky Mountain News, another version appeared in the January 13, 1901 Denver Times (see previous post for the first story). This time he called himself Stephen Stridiron and regaled guests at Denver’s St. Elmo Hotel with tales of a boyhood spent in Chipeta’s tipi.
          Stridiron claimed he was taken captive by the Utes at age four and raised by Ouray and Chipeta along with their own son–a boy called Julian. Chipeta kept his skin painted with dark stain so no one would know she was raising a white child. At the age of fifteen, Stridiron and Julian joined Ute warriors in battles with the Arapahoe and Cheyenne. At age seventeen, he was loaned to the Army as a scout for General Crook. It was the general, he said, who washed the dye from his skin and for the first time Stridiron knew he was not a Ute.
          When stolen by the Utes in about 1860, Stridiron said, he wore a locket that held a daguerrotype of himself as a baby. Chipeta made a necklace of beads and trinkets, including the locket, and insisted that he must always wear it. The locket later allowed his birth mother to identify him.
          Stridiron told an interesting tale but one that is hard to believe. It is well documented that Ouray had one son, variously called Cotoan, Pahlone, Paron, and Queashegut. The boy was about six years old when stolen by Plains Indians in 1863. He never returned to his Ute family. It is also hard to believe a young man would not notice he was the only one with painted skin and that his skin was white.

Between 1872 and 1882, General George Crook served two terms in command of the Army in Arizona Territory. He did use some Ute scouts, including the unidentified young man pictured here. Photo courtesy The Gallery of the Open Frontier, University of Nebraska Press
          Chipeta was certainly alive in 1901 but Stridiron gives no hint of interest in reunion with this woman who he considered to be his mother for some sixteen years.
           The 1900 census records one Sinclare Stridiron, born in Kentucky in 1857. He was living in Summit County, Colorado with his wife Annie. A search of the U.S. census 1850-1920 on Ancestry.com found no other record of a person named St. Clair, Sinclare, or Stephen Stridiron.
          Whatever his true background, the man knew how to spin a rousing good yarn.