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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />COJ:.ClWJO U'm INDIAN SETl'LEMEm' <br />BY <br />IlARIES C. LILE <br />DEX:EMBER 4, 1990 <br />CASPER. WYGIIOO <br /> <br />The COlorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Agreement is the result of <br />several YeaJ:S of haJ:d work am dedication by the people of Southwestern <br />Colorado. To accorrg;llish the Settlement there was a need for exceptional <br />leadeJ:ship from the ute Tribes, the State of COlorado, am water users, <br />It is important to explain some of the histoxy 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 claillS are <br />senior on the San Juan River system am its tributaries. <br />Indians living on the reservation in l895 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 reservation was opened to homesteading and <br />non-Indians as well as tribal members established farms and ranches, 'lhase <br />Irrlians Ttlho did not wish to become farmers were m:lved to the present community <br />of Towaoc near Cortez, COlorado, In 1934 the reservation was closed to <br />homesteading am the remaining lands returned to the tribes, This period of <br />development on the reservation created a checker boa1:d of Indian and <br />non-Indian lands on the Southern ute Indian Reservation. and the ute Mountain <br />