FLOOD10384 ‎(2)‎

• County: Statewide
• Title: Natural Resources of Colorado
• Date: 1/1/1963
• Prepared By: US Department of the Interior
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

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The Indians of Colorado and Their

Resources

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The mountain-dwelling Ute Indians of Sho-
shonean stock appear to have been the only
indigenous tribe of the State. There were
others, however, who came to occupy the moun-
tains and the plains, pressed on by stronger
people behind them. Chief among the tribes
of the plains were the Cheyenne, Arapaho,
Comanche, and Kiowa. Frequent, but less
permanent, residents of the Colorado plains
were the Pawnee, Sioux, Kiowa-Apache and
Plains Apache, the Lipan. Crow and Blackfoot
war parties sometimes penetrated from the north
as far as the South Platte River. Some Navajo
dwelt along the banks of the Rio San Juan in
southwestern Colorado, and the Jicarilla Apache
occasionally entered from New Mexico and
Arizona.
Today two groups of Utes-Southern and Ute
Mountain-occupy adjoining reservations in
the southwestern corner of Colorado, with lands

44

extending into New Mexico. Another bral
of the original Ute Tribe occupies the Uint
Ouray Reservation in northeastern Utah.

Lands
The area of Indian trust lands in Colond(
relatively small and is located on the tyro
joining Indian reservations in the southw~st
corner of the State. The Southern Ute Reset
tion is situated wholly in Colorado and cons
of nearly 300,000 acres of tribal land and ab
5,000 acres owned by individual members of
tribe. The Ute Mountain Reservation cont;
about 450,000 acres in Colorado and 107,
acres in New Mexico, all of it tribally OWl

Minerals
Oil and gas development represents virtu
all of the mineral activity on the two rese]
tions. Although gas has been produced
Colorado Indian lands since the 1920 period.