Battle of Milk Creek

A joint attack by Ute forces against autocratic Indian Agent Nathan Meeker and nearby US Army troops at Milk Creek occurred on this day in 1879. Ute forces led by Nicaagat attacked U.S. troops led by Major Thomas T. Thornburgh as they crossed Milk Creek onto the Ute reservation. Nicaagat had previously warned Major Thornburgh that entering their reservation would be considered an act of war. As a child, Nicaagat had been orphaned and then sold by slave traders to a Mormon family where he was beaten regularly until his successful escape. His original tribal background is possibly Ute, Goshute, or Apache but he became White River Ute after his escape from slavery. At this time, White River Utes lived on the White River Ute Indian Reservation, with Nathan Meeker appointed as Indian Agent in 1878. He was a particularly autocratic Indian Agent and had no respect for Ute lifestyle. Their strained relationship came to a head when he ordered the land the Utes used for pasturing and racing horses to be plowed. After Nicaagat warned Thornburgh to not enter the reservation, Thornburgh did so with 153 soldiers, and twenty-five militiamen, where they were attacked. Major Thornburgh and 13 men were killed, including all his officers above the rank of captain, with another 28 men injured. Meeker and 10 of his associates were killed at the same time in a joint attack and his family members kidnapped. One account says Meeker was stabbed in his mouth by Colorow to stop his lies. In the aftermath of this uprising, the White River Utes were forcibly removed from Colorado, who used this uprising as an excuse for thier ethnic cleansing. One of many examples of the premeditation of this forced removal is that the Governor of Colorado at the time, Frederick Walker Pitkin had used as his campaign slogan "The Utes Must Go". The Ute Removal Act of June 15, 1880, 21 Stat. 199 forcibly removed Utes to Uintah Reservation in Utah, and stole 12 million acres of land in Colorado. The Uncompahgre Utes who were not involved in the uprising were also forcibly removed to the Ouray Reservation.