Nathan Meeker
Encyclopedia
Nathanial C. Meeker was a 19th-century United States
(US) journalist
, homesteading
entrepreneur, and Indian agent
for the federal government. He is noted for his founding in 1870 of the Union Colony
, a cooperative agricultural
colony in present-day Greeley, Colorado
. In 1878 he was appointed US Agent at the White River
Indian Agency in western Colorado, and was killed by Utes the next year in what became known as the Meeker Massacre, part of the Ute War
. His wife and adult daughter were taken captive for about three weeks. In 1880 the US Congress passed punitive legislation to remove the Utes from Colorado to reservation
s in present-day Utah, and take away some land formerly guaranteed them.
. As a young man, he married a woman named Arvilla and they had a family.
He became a newspaper
reporter for the New York Tribune
, where in the 1860s, when he was in his 50s, he served as its agricultural editor. Very interested in the West, in 1866 he wrote Life in the West. He went to the Rocky Mountain region for the Tribune in 1869, and was inspired to plan a utopian agricultural community there.
With the backing of his editor Horace Greeley
, Meeker organized the Union Colony to be settled in the Colorado Territory
. He advertised for applicants to move to the South Platte River
basin, in what was intended as a cooperative venture for people of "high moral standards." Meeker received approximately 3000 replies that winter, and accepted about 200 of them to purchase shares.
With the capital from the shares, Meeker purchased 2000 acres (8 km²) near present-day Greeley at the confluence
of the South Platte and the Cache la Poudre
(Powder Bag) rivers. The venture, which relied on funding from Horace Greeley, was initially successful. The settlers brought irrigation
techniques to northwestern Colorado, and helped attract additional agricultural settlement in the region. The town of Greeley
was incorporated in 1886. The predominant American Indian
tribes in the area were bands of Ute
s, who were struggling with the results of European-American encroachment on their lands.
In 1878, eight years after the founding of the colony, Meeker was appointed United States (US) Indian agent
at the White River Ute
Indian Reservation
, on the western side of the continental divide
. His political appointment was made despite his lack of experience with Native Americans
. While living among the Ute
s, Meeker tried to extend his policy of religious and farming reforms.
Meeker wanted to convert
the Utes from what he saw as a state of primitive savagery to Christian
farmers who worked in a way he recognized. He was warned that the Ute resented his reforms and attempts at conversion. Meeker ignored the warnings, and ordered that a horse racing track be plowed under to convert the track and horses' pasturage to farmland. The Utes, whose horses were a chief source of status and wealth, considered the order an affront. Meeker suggested to one man that the tribe had too many horses and they would have to kill some to give more land over to agriculture.
The recently elected Governor of Colorado, Frederick Walker Pitkin
, had campaigned on a theme of "The Utes Must Go!"; both he and other local politicians and settlers made exaggerated claims against the Utes. They wanted to gain the rich land occupied by the Utes under the Treaty of 1867.
After having the track plowed, Meeker had a tense conversation with an irate Ute chief. Meeker wired for military assistance, claiming that he had been assaulted by an Indian, driven from his home, and severely injured. The government sent approximately 150-200 soldiers, led by Major Thomas T. Thornburgh, commander of Fort Steele in Wyoming, to settle the affair. When the troops were about 50 miles (80.5 km) from the Indian Agency, a group of Utes rode out to meet them. The Utes said they wanted a peace conference with Meeker, and would allow Thornburgh and five soldiers to come. Remembering the Sand Creek Massacre
of 1864, the Utes wanted the main body of soldiers to stay 50 miles (80.5 km) away on a hill which they designated. Thornburgh ignored their demand and continued into the restricted Ute land.
On September 29, 1879 before troops arrived, the Utes attacked the Indian agency, where they killed Meeker and his 10 male employees. They took some women and children as hostages to secure their own safety as they fled, and held them for 23 days. Two of the women taken captive were of Meeker's family: his wife Arvilla and daughter Josephine
, just graduated from college and working as a teacher and physician.
At Milk Creek on the northern edge of the reservation, about 18 miles from the Agency, Ute warriors attacked Thornburgh's forces. In the first few minutes' exchange of fire, Major Thornburgh and 13 men were killed, including all his officers above the rank of captain. Another 28 men were wounded and three-quarters of the horses and mules were killed, but troops dug in behind the wagon trains and animals' bodies for defense. One man rode hard to get out a request for reinforcements. The US forces held out for several days, helped by 35 black cavalrymen (known as Buffalo Soldiers) from Fort Lewis
in southern Colorado, who got through the enemy lines. The nation was electrified by news of the two Ute attacks in Colorado.
Larger US Army relief columns were sent from forts Fred Steele and David A. Russell, both established in Wyoming Territory
after the American Civil War
as part of the Department of Dakota
. Col. David Merritt commanded 350 troops, who traveled by train and marched to reach the surviving forces on Milk Creek on October 8. They rescued the troops and put down the Ute uprising in the Battle of Milk Creek. Wintering over at the site of the former Indian agency, in the spring the US Army forces built Camp on White River, which the Army occupied until 1883. A few buildings still remain of the Army camp.
The following year the US Congress held hearings into the massacre and other circumstances. In retaliation for the killings, they passed the Ute Removal Act. The act denied the Ute 12 million acres (48,562.3 km²) of land that had formerly been guaranteed to them in perpetuity. Congress insisted that the Utes be forcibly removed from the “Shining Mountains” and relocated to eastern Utah.
Chief Ouray
of the Uncompahgre Ute, who had not been involved in the uprising, attempted to keep the peace after the massacre and attack on Army forces. He and his wife Chipeta helped negotiate the release of the women and children who had been taken hostage. Despite his efforts, the government forced his people also to leave the western slope and relocate to the new reservation in Utah. He died soon after this decision. On August 28, 1881, his people were forcibly relocated to the Utah Territory
.
The Meeker Memorial Museum is located in at 1324 9th Avenue Greeley, Colorado. It was originally Nathan Meeker's home.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(US) journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, homesteading
Homesteading
Broadly defined, homesteading is a lifestyle of simple self-sufficiency.-Current practice:The term may apply to anyone who follows the back-to-the-land movement by adopting a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle. While land is no longer freely available in most areas of the world, homesteading...
entrepreneur, and Indian agent
Indian agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with Native American tribes on behalf of the U.S. government.-Indian agents:*Leander Clark was agent for the Sac and Fox in Iowa beginning in 1866....
for the federal government. He is noted for his founding in 1870 of the Union Colony
Union Colony of Colorado
The Union Colony of Colorado was a 19th century U.S. private enterprise formed to promote agricultural settlement in the South Platte River valley in the Colorado Territory...
, a cooperative agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
colony in present-day Greeley, Colorado
Greeley, Colorado
The City of Greeley is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Weld County, Colorado, United States. Greeley is located in the region known as Northern Colorado. Greeley is situated north-northeast of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. According to the...
. In 1878 he was appointed US Agent at the White River
White River (Utah)
The White River is a tributary of the Green River, approximately long, in the U.S. states of Colorado and Utah. Flows vary from 450 ft³/s late summers in dry years to well over 12,000 ft³/s in spring....
Indian Agency in western Colorado, and was killed by Utes the next year in what became known as the Meeker Massacre, part of the Ute War
White River War
The White River War, also known as the Ute War, or the Ute Campaign, was fought between the White River Utes and the United States Army in 1879, resulting in the forced removal of the White River Utes and the Uncompahgre Utes from Colorado, and the reduction in the Southern Utes' land holdings...
. His wife and adult daughter were taken captive for about three weeks. In 1880 the US Congress passed punitive legislation to remove the Utes from Colorado to reservation
Reservation
Reservation may refer to:* Indian reservation, in the United States* Indian reserve, in Canada* Indigenous Territory, in Brazil* Reservation , a caveat to a treaty* Table reservation, for restaurant seating...
s in present-day Utah, and take away some land formerly guaranteed them.
Biography
Nathan Cook Meeker was born in Euclid, OhioEuclid, Ohio
Euclid is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Greater Cleveland Metropolitan Area, and borders Cleveland. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 48,920...
. As a young man, he married a woman named Arvilla and they had a family.
He became a newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
reporter for the New York Tribune
New York Tribune
The New York Tribune was an American newspaper, first established by Horace Greeley in 1841, which was long considered one of the leading newspapers in the United States...
, where in the 1860s, when he was in his 50s, he served as its agricultural editor. Very interested in the West, in 1866 he wrote Life in the West. He went to the Rocky Mountain region for the Tribune in 1869, and was inspired to plan a utopian agricultural community there.
With the backing of his editor Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley was an American newspaper editor, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, a politician, and an outspoken opponent of slavery...
, Meeker organized the Union Colony to be settled in the Colorado Territory
Colorado Territory
The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado....
. He advertised for applicants to move to the South Platte River
South Platte River
The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River and itself a major river of the American Midwest and the American Southwest/Mountain West, located in the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska...
basin, in what was intended as a cooperative venture for people of "high moral standards." Meeker received approximately 3000 replies that winter, and accepted about 200 of them to purchase shares.
With the capital from the shares, Meeker purchased 2000 acres (8 km²) near present-day Greeley at the confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
of the South Platte and the Cache la Poudre
Cache La Poudre River
The Cache la Poudre River is in the state of Colorado in the United States.Its headwaters are in the Front Range in Larimer County, in the northern part of Rocky Mountain National Park. The river descends eastward in the mountains through the Roosevelt National Forest in Poudre Canyon...
(Powder Bag) rivers. The venture, which relied on funding from Horace Greeley, was initially successful. The settlers brought irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
techniques to northwestern Colorado, and helped attract additional agricultural settlement in the region. The town of Greeley
Greeley, Colorado
The City of Greeley is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Weld County, Colorado, United States. Greeley is located in the region known as Northern Colorado. Greeley is situated north-northeast of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. According to the...
was incorporated in 1886. The predominant American Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
tribes in the area were bands of Ute
Ute
-Tribes:*Ute people, an American Indian people now living primarily in Utah and Colorado**Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado**Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, Utah...
s, who were struggling with the results of European-American encroachment on their lands.
In 1878, eight years after the founding of the colony, Meeker was appointed United States (US) Indian agent
Indian agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with Native American tribes on behalf of the U.S. government.-Indian agents:*Leander Clark was agent for the Sac and Fox in Iowa beginning in 1866....
at the White River Ute
White River (Utah)
The White River is a tributary of the Green River, approximately long, in the U.S. states of Colorado and Utah. Flows vary from 450 ft³/s late summers in dry years to well over 12,000 ft³/s in spring....
Indian Reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
, on the western side of the continental divide
Continental divide
A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not connected to the open sea...
. His political appointment was made despite his lack of experience with Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
. While living among the Ute
Ute Tribe
The Ute are an American Indian people now living primarily in Utah and Colorado. There are three Ute tribal reservations: Uintah-Ouray in northeastern Utah ; Southern Ute in Colorado ; and Ute Mountain which primarily lies in Colorado, but extends to Utah and New Mexico . The name of the state of...
s, Meeker tried to extend his policy of religious and farming reforms.
Meeker Massacre
The federal government had been trying to get the Utes to leave their nomadic lifestyle, and become farmers, send their children to school and adopt other elements of European-American culture.Meeker wanted to convert
Convert
The convert or try, in American football known as "point after", and Canadian football "Point after touchdown", is a one-scrimmage down played immediately after a touchdown during which the scoring team is allowed to attempt to score an extra one point by kicking the ball through the uprights , or...
the Utes from what he saw as a state of primitive savagery to Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
farmers who worked in a way he recognized. He was warned that the Ute resented his reforms and attempts at conversion. Meeker ignored the warnings, and ordered that a horse racing track be plowed under to convert the track and horses' pasturage to farmland. The Utes, whose horses were a chief source of status and wealth, considered the order an affront. Meeker suggested to one man that the tribe had too many horses and they would have to kill some to give more land over to agriculture.
The recently elected Governor of Colorado, Frederick Walker Pitkin
Frederick Walker Pitkin
Frederick Walker Pitkin , a U.S. Republican Party politician, served as the second Governor of Colorado from 1879 to 1883. Pitkin County, Colorado was named in his honor....
, had campaigned on a theme of "The Utes Must Go!"; both he and other local politicians and settlers made exaggerated claims against the Utes. They wanted to gain the rich land occupied by the Utes under the Treaty of 1867.
After having the track plowed, Meeker had a tense conversation with an irate Ute chief. Meeker wired for military assistance, claiming that he had been assaulted by an Indian, driven from his home, and severely injured. The government sent approximately 150-200 soldiers, led by Major Thomas T. Thornburgh, commander of Fort Steele in Wyoming, to settle the affair. When the troops were about 50 miles (80.5 km) from the Indian Agency, a group of Utes rode out to meet them. The Utes said they wanted a peace conference with Meeker, and would allow Thornburgh and five soldiers to come. Remembering the Sand Creek Massacre
Sand Creek Massacre
As conflict between Indians and white settlers and soldiers in Colorado continued, many of the Cheyenne and Arapaho, including bands under Cheyenne chiefs Black Kettle and White Antelope, were resigned to negotiate peace. The chiefs had sought to maintain peace in spite of pressures from whites...
of 1864, the Utes wanted the main body of soldiers to stay 50 miles (80.5 km) away on a hill which they designated. Thornburgh ignored their demand and continued into the restricted Ute land.
On September 29, 1879 before troops arrived, the Utes attacked the Indian agency, where they killed Meeker and his 10 male employees. They took some women and children as hostages to secure their own safety as they fled, and held them for 23 days. Two of the women taken captive were of Meeker's family: his wife Arvilla and daughter Josephine
Josephine Meeker
Josephine Meeker , was a teacher and physician at the White River Indian Agency in Colorado Territory, where her father Nathan Meeker was the United States agent. On September 29, 1879, he and 10 of his male employees were killed in a Ute attack, in what became called the "Meeker Massacre". ...
, just graduated from college and working as a teacher and physician.
At Milk Creek on the northern edge of the reservation, about 18 miles from the Agency, Ute warriors attacked Thornburgh's forces. In the first few minutes' exchange of fire, Major Thornburgh and 13 men were killed, including all his officers above the rank of captain. Another 28 men were wounded and three-quarters of the horses and mules were killed, but troops dug in behind the wagon trains and animals' bodies for defense. One man rode hard to get out a request for reinforcements. The US forces held out for several days, helped by 35 black cavalrymen (known as Buffalo Soldiers) from Fort Lewis
Fort Lewis College
Fort Lewis College is a public liberal arts college in Durango, Colorado.-History:Military FortThe original site of Fort Lewis College began southwest of its present location back in 1880. Set up originally as a Military Fort for the 22nd Regimental Infantry which occupied the land from...
in southern Colorado, who got through the enemy lines. The nation was electrified by news of the two Ute attacks in Colorado.
Larger US Army relief columns were sent from forts Fred Steele and David A. Russell, both established in Wyoming Territory
Wyoming Territory
The Territory of Wyoming was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 25, 1868, until July 10, 1890, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Wyoming. Cheyenne was the territorial capital...
after the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
as part of the Department of Dakota
Department of Dakota
A subdivision of the Division of the Missouri, the Department of Dakota was established by the United States Army on August 11, 1866 to encompass all military activities and forts within Minnesota, Dakota Territory and Montana Territory. The Department of Dakota was initially headquartered at Fort...
. Col. David Merritt commanded 350 troops, who traveled by train and marched to reach the surviving forces on Milk Creek on October 8. They rescued the troops and put down the Ute uprising in the Battle of Milk Creek. Wintering over at the site of the former Indian agency, in the spring the US Army forces built Camp on White River, which the Army occupied until 1883. A few buildings still remain of the Army camp.
The following year the US Congress held hearings into the massacre and other circumstances. In retaliation for the killings, they passed the Ute Removal Act. The act denied the Ute 12 million acres (48,562.3 km²) of land that had formerly been guaranteed to them in perpetuity. Congress insisted that the Utes be forcibly removed from the “Shining Mountains” and relocated to eastern Utah.
Chief Ouray
Chief Ouray
Ouray was a Native American chief of the Uncompahgre band of the Ute tribe, then located in western Colorado...
of the Uncompahgre Ute, who had not been involved in the uprising, attempted to keep the peace after the massacre and attack on Army forces. He and his wife Chipeta helped negotiate the release of the women and children who had been taken hostage. Despite his efforts, the government forced his people also to leave the western slope and relocate to the new reservation in Utah. He died soon after this decision. On August 28, 1881, his people were forcibly relocated to the Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
.
List of the dead
- Nathan Meeker
- Frank Dresser
- Henry Dresser
- George Eaton
- E.W. Eskridge
- Carl Goldstein
- W.H. Post
- Shaduck Price
- Fred Shepard
- Arthur L Thompson
- "Unknown teamster" [Julius Moore]
Legacy and honors
- Meeker, Colorado was named after him.
- Mount Meeker, a shorter neighbor to Longs PeakLongs PeakLongs Peak is one of the 53 mountains with summits over 14,000 feet in Colorado. It can be prominently seen from Longmont, Colorado, as well as from the rest of the Colorado Front Range. It is named after Major Stephen Long, who explored the area in the 1820s...
, the tallest mountain in Rocky Mountain National ParkRocky Mountain National ParkRocky Mountain National Park is a national park located in the north-central region of the U.S. state of Colorado.It features majestic mountain views, a variety of wildlife, varied climates and environments—from wooded forests to mountain tundra—and easy access to back-country trails...
, was named for him.
The Meeker Memorial Museum is located in at 1324 9th Avenue Greeley, Colorado. It was originally Nathan Meeker's home.
External links
- "The Last Major Indian Uprising: THE MEEKER MASSACRE AND THE BATTLE OF MILK CREEK", Meeker, Colorado Website (no footnotes or sources)
- "Meeker Home Museum", Greeley, Colorado Website
- "Meeker Family History", Greeley, Colorado Website