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<br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />COUJRADO UTE INDIAN ~ <br />BY <br />DARIES C. ULE <br />DEX::EM3ER 4, 1990 <br />ClISPER. WEIoIIm <br /> <br />The Colorado ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Agreement is the result of <br />several years of haJ:d work and dedication by the people of Southwestern <br />Colorado, To accomplish the Settlement there was a need for exceptional <br />leadership from the ute Tribes, the State of Colorado, and water users, <br />It is important to explain some of the history leading up to the <br />settlement of the Indian claims. The original ute Reservation was established <br />by treaty in 1868. The reservation dates back far earlier than the arrival of <br />settlers in the basin. Consequently, the Indians water rights claims are <br />senior on the San Juan River system and its tributaries. <br />Indians living on the reservation in 1895 were given the option of taking <br />up 160 acre allotments or moving to the western portion of the reservation. <br />In 1900 the eastern portion of the reseI:Vation was opened to homesteading and <br />non-Indians as well as tribal members established farms and ranches. Those <br />Indians who did not wish to become farmers were moved to the present cormnunity <br />of TowaOC near Cortez, Colorado, In 1934 the reservation was closed to <br />homesteading and the remaining lands returned to the tribes, This period of <br />development on the reservation created a checker boal:d of Indian and <br />non-Indian lands on the Southern ute Indian Reservation, and the ute Mountain <br /> <br />0340 <br />