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<br />O'JZH 7 <br /> <br />The Ute problem was not solved until 1879. In that year, <br /> <br />Nathan C. Meeker became agent at the White River Agency which had <br /> <br />been founded to care for the northern Utes. He was a typical pro- <br /> <br />duct of the nineteenth century and felt that the Indian was not <br /> <br />productive. To make him a useful citizen, he had to be taught the <br /> <br />ways of the white man. <br /> <br />A period of increasing tension climaxed in September with <br /> <br /> <br />the Meeker Massacre. The agency was burned. Meeker, plus eleven <br /> <br /> <br />male employees were killed; his wife, daughter and several other <br /> <br />women were captured. A detachment of troops under Major Thomas <br /> <br />Thornburgh was sentto quell the uprising. With the release of the <br /> <br />women captives, following the intervention of the powerful Chief <br /> <br />Ouray, a commission was established to determine guilt. In the <br /> <br />end, the citizens of Colorado who had cried that the "Utes must go" <br /> <br />got their way. The northern Utes were moved to Utah in 1881 where <br /> <br />they still reside, and the land that was taken from them opened to <br /> <br />settlement. <br /> <br />Once the northwest corner was cleared of Indians, homesteaders <br /> <br />moved in and the open range cattle industry expanded. Between 1880 <br /> <br />and 1895 a series of towns sprang up and became merchandising centers. <br /> <br />Steamboat Springs was founded in 1885, Craig in 1889, Hayden in 1895, <br /> <br />Meeker in 1882, Rangely in 1882 and numerous smaller places like Lay, <br /> <br />Haybell, and Axial developed as a direct consequence of the Ute re- <br /> <br /> <br />moval. <br /> <br />