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SouthwestTreaty

Brunot Agreement with the Ute, 1873-74

In 1873 the Ute relinquished the San Juan Mountains for a $25,000 yearly fund; Congress ratified the Brunot Agreement on April 29, 1874.

Signed
September 13, 1873
Senate
Ratified April 29, 1874
Land given up
about 3.7 million acres
Promises
1 of 1 broken or only partly kept
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

The 1868 treaty with the Ute defined a large reservation. By 1872 the United States wanted part of it back, and Congress authorized negotiations to extinguish the Ute right to a portion. The Colorado Encyclopedia says miners had entered the San Juan Mountains despite the treaty. The first negotiation failed, as the agreement's preamble puts it, "owing to the refusal of said Indians to relinquish their right to any portion of said reservation."

A new commission was named in June 1873. On September 13, 1873, at the Los Pinos agency, commissioner Felix R. Brunot and the chiefs, headmen and men of seven Ute bands signed an agreement. In Article I the Ute relinquished a described strip of the reservation, but kept Uncompahgre Park. In Article II the United States agreed that the Ute could "hunt upon said lands so long as the game lasts and the Indians are at peace with the white people."

Article III promised a perpetual trust fund producing $25,000 a year for the Ute "annually forever." Article VI gave Ouray, head chief, a $1,000 salary for ten years. Congress ratified and confirmed the agreement by an Act approved April 29, 1874 (18 Stat. 36). The Colorado Encyclopedia puts the land taken at 3.7 million acres and says it led to mining in the San Juan Mountains. It also says the surveyor failed to exclude Uncompahgre Park, which was quickly settled, and that the Utes were later force-marched to Utah in 1881.

What was promised, and what happened

  • Broken

    Uncompahgre Park would not be part of the ceded land and would stay in the Ute Reservation. (Art. I proviso)

    the surveyor failed to exclude Uncompahgre Park, and it was quickly settled, much to the dissatisfaction of the Utes coloradoencyclopedia.org

Good to know. Sources differ on the ratification date: the Act of Congress is dated April 29, 1874, while the Colorado Encyclopedia says Congress approved it on April 24, 1874.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error

What the sources say, and how this was checked

Well supported by the sources below.

  1. to hunt upon said lands so long as the game lasts and the Indians are at peace with the white peopleTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Brunot Agreement, 1873
  2. said negotiation having failed, owing to the refusal of said Indians to relinquish their right to any portion of said reservationTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Brunot Agreement, 1873
  3. the surveyor failed to exclude Uncompahgre Park, and it was quickly settled, much to the dissatisfaction of the UtesBrunot Agreement (Colorado Encyclopedia)
  4. led to the development of mining in the San Juan Mountains by taking 3.7 million acresBrunot Agreement (Colorado Encyclopedia)

Research notes. Sources differ on the ratification date: the statute text on the Oklahoma State tribal treaties database says April 29, 1874 (18 Stat. 36), while the Colorado Encyclopedia says Congress approved it on April 24, 1874; the statute date is used.

What the treaty did to the land

About 3.7 million acres given up. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.

  • ceded to the United Statesabout 3.7 million acres

    Land of the Uta in Colorado, ceded 1873 (area 566)

    Set apart as part of the Uta reservation by the 1868 treaty, then ceded in a September 1873 agreement ratified in April 1874; a 4-mile-square tract in the Uncompahgre Valley was kept in 1876.

What happened next

Everything the record holds about this land and this treaty, in order: what earlier agreements said, what this one did, and what the United States, the courts and the nations did afterwards.

  1. 1868

    Land kept

    About 3.7 million acres set aside as a reservation for the Uta

    By Treaty with the Ute (Kit Carson Treaty), 1868

    area 566

  2. 1872

    Land record

    About 3.7 million acres named in the record

    The 1899 record: “Secretary of the Interior authorized to negotiate with Utes for cession of the S. part of their reservation by treaty of Mar. 2, 1868”

    area 566

  3. 1873

    This treaty

    About 3.7 million acres ceded to the United States by the Uta

    In 1873 the Ute relinquished the San Juan Mountains for a $25,000 yearly fund; Congress ratified the Brunot Agreement on April 29, 1874.

  4. 1874

    Land record

    Earlier terms confirmed for the land of the Uta

    The 1899 record: “Ratifies agreement with Uta of Sept. 13, 1873, for cession of a portion of their reserve by treaty Mar. 2, 1868”

    area 566

  5. 1874

    This treaty

    Ratified by the Senate

  6. 1876

    Land record

    About 3.7 million acres named in the record

    The 1899 record: “President declares a tract in Uncompahgre valley to be a portion of Ute reservation, in accordance with agreement ratified Apr. 29, 1874”

    area 566

Who is doing the work today

The nations connected to this treaty come first, then groups returning land and defending treaty rights. Support goes directly to them.

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Working with these nations

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Sources

No source is linked to this record yet. That is a gap we are working to close.

Research notes

All fields except the existence of the agreement are; needs verification. Ratification detail: 1874-04-29

Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.