Historic bands The Southern Ute Indian Tribes is made up of the followings bands: the Mouache, Capote, and the
Weeminuche, the latter of which are at
Ute Mountain. These bands were considered the Southern Utes.
Capote The Capote (
Kapuuta Núuchi,
Kapota,
Kahpota) band lived east of the
Great Divide south of the
Conejos River and east of the
Rio Grande towards the west site of the
Sangre de Cristo Mountains, they were also living in the
San Luis Valley, along the headwaters of the Rio Grande and along the
Animas River, centered in the vicinity of today
Chama and
Tierra Amarilla of
Rio Arriba County. Like the
Mahgrahch the Kahpota maintained trade relations to
Puebloan peoples and came into conflict with southern plains people because of their alliance with the
Ollero band of the Jicarilla Apache.
Muache The Muache (
Moghwachi Núuchi,
Mouache,
Mahgruhch,
Mahgrahch,
Muwac) band lived along the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains from
Denver in the north to
Las Vegas, New Mexico, in the south, traded with northern Puebloan peoples, especially with
Taos Pueblo, therefore often called
Taos-Ute, ranged after adoption of the horse with their allies, the
Llanero band of the Jicarilla Apache, southeastward as far as the
Texas Panhandle.
Treaties with the U.S. government Ouray of the
Uncompahgre band was appointed by President
Abraham Lincoln as head of all Ute tribes, which was not agreed upon by the Southern Ute bands. The first reservation created by the treaty of 1868 encompassed about 1/3 of present-day Colorado, mostly the mountainous regions west of the continental divide. When precious metals and minerals were discovered in the central mountains settlers sought access to the land. In 1873 The
Brunot Agreement was created. This agreement limited the reservation to the narrow strip of land that is called The Southern Ute Reservation today. The United States also made treaties with various bands of Ute in 1855, 1865, and 1866, which the Senate failed to ratify. Initially given the whole of western Colorado for a reservation, the discovery of gold there in the 1860s brought a quick reduction in territory. The treaty with the Ute in 1865 provided for the cession of land in exchange for the entire valley of the Uintah River in Utah, plus $25,000 per year for ten years, then $20,000 for 20 years, and thereafter $15,000 per year, based on an estimated population of 5,000 Ute. The treaty also banned liquor and provided for the establishment and maintenance of a
manual labor school for ten years. In 1895 The Hunter Act distributed the land in the reservation in plots to the heads of households in the Mouache and Capote tribes. The Weeminuche tribe had approved an 1888 congressional bill relocating them to
San Juan County, Utah, however this bill did not pass so the Weeminuche were brought back to Colorado. They refused to go back to the old grounds of the agency so they established camps on the western end of the Southern Ute Reservation. With the three tribes given their land the final provisions of the Hunter Act were implemented opening over of the Reservation to non-native settlers. ==Description ==