Grand Junction - history of railroad

http://www.rockymountainroads.com/bl-070a_co.html

Located in ColoradoТs fertile agricultural area of the Grand Valley, Grand Junction is the biggest town here. The first Europeans in the Grand Valley were two Spanish explorers, Francisco Antanasio Dominguez and Silvestre Velez de Escalante, who, at the end of the eighteenth century, wanted to find a route to connect the missions in New Mexico to the missions in California. But it wasnТt until 1821 that the valley was made part of the United States.

In 1853, John Gunnison and John C. Fremont mapped part of the land while searching for a railroad route. In 1870, The United States Geological Survey constructed an in depth book of maps of the entire area called the Haden Survey. It was widely sold throughout the U.S.

The Valley was originally Ute land, but they signed a treaty in 1880 agreeing to move onto a reservation in Utah, leaving the area free for settlers to inhabit. The first settlers quickly irrigated the area using the waters of the Colorado River and established the town of Grand Junction.

By 1882, the population of the town consisted of 150 men and two women, who relocated from Gunnison, 125 miles upstream. In order to entice more women into moving there, the town offered a free plot of land to the first woman married in Grand Junction. Also that year, a bridge was built across the Colorado, bringing the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad into the area. Soon there was a population of over a thousand people. Hotels and restaurants sprung up, as well as a drug store, a blacksmith shop, and about a dozen saloons.

During that same year, expanded irrigation of the valley proved successful for fruit orchards, such as peach, pear, and apple. D.S. Grimes of Denver planted 100,000 fruit trees along the Colorado River, and stated that it was Уthe best fruit growing between Salt Lake and KansasФ. In 1899, the states first sugar mill was established in Grand Junction and named УThe Colorado Sugar Manufacturing Company.Ф

By the early part of the twentieth century, the agricultural production in Grand Junction had become so successful, that it became known as one of the most productive areas in all of Colorado. Also around that time, oil and uranium wells were being drilled in the area, and up until the 1960Тs, uranium production brought more notoriety to the area.

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo, the Grand Valley, the Colorado National Monument tower over a prehistoric landscape where the world''s largest and smallest dinosaurs once roamed.

In this diverse land, where the Rocky Mountains meet the desert on Colorado''s Western Slope, paleontologists claim it as a geological wonderland, and declare that the diversity of bones uncovered here make it one of the most scientifically important areas on earth. The lofty views are awe-inspiring -- also including the barren Book Cliffs and the world''s highest flat-topped mountain, the Grand Mesa. But the Grand Valley floor is verdant. It is carved out by the mighty Colorado River creating a special place to grow fruit and grapes. Winemakers thrive in the Grand Junction area and the peaches grown in next door Palisade are world-class.

Grand Junction''s five-block North Seventh Avenue Historic Residential District area is lined with trees and is an exceptional stroll for those interested in 100-year-old architecture. Restaurants and shops abound in the historic downtown area - http://www.travelgolf.com/departments/travelfeatures/colorado/grand-junction-golf-467.htm


The Utes

The Ute Native Americans inhabited much of the territory in Colorado, and parts of Utah and northern New Mexico, for thousands of years before the EuropeanТs settled the area. Although there was plenty of fights between the Utes and the new settlers into the region, for the most part the Utes were friendly to the newcomers and many times helped the early development of the area.

There were originally seven Ute tribes called Capote, Mouache, Parianucs, Tabeguache, Unitah, Weeminuche, and Yampa. These were forest dwellers and nomadic tribes, encompassing an area of about 150 square miles. The word Ute, for which the state of Utah was named, means Уland of the sunФ.

The Utes lived in wickiups, which were like teepees, except they were covered with juniper bark, which made them bulkier and harder to move than the teepee. Later, the Utes converted to teepees, like those of the Plains Indians. The Utes used bows made from cedar and sheep horn, knives made from flint, and clothing made from deerskin and the fur of smaller animals.

Religious practices were structured around nature. Animals were honored and worshipped, especially the bear, whom the Utes believed they were closest to. They tried to live in harmony with nature, not against it. They never exploited the natural resources of the land, and never killed more game than they could eat.

Utes traveled on foot, following the changing seasons. The men would hunt and the women would gather, as they roamed their vast territory. Each of the seven tribes had itТs own territory, but often went into territory controlled by other Ute tribes.

Because of their lifestyle, the Utes were one of the first tribes to establish a relationship with both Spanish and later Americans. They wanted to make life easier, and when the Spanish gave them horses, and the Mormon settlers taught them how to farm, it gave them a taste of the Уgood lifeФ. Thus, the Utes were soon raising livestock, exploiting the land, and hunting buffalo by horseback. Because of this advantage, they almost completely destroyed the buffalo population in the Ute territory.

As Mormon settlers arrived in the region, the Southern Utes began to adapt a lifestyle where farming the land was central, but the Northern Utes resisted the change the Mormons tried to impose on them. As the Mormons continued to settle in Ute territory, the Northern Utes began to raid their settlements. The Utes were eventually defeated by the settlers, and in 1869 the Northern Utes were ordered into a reservation in the Uintah Valley by President Lincoln.

The last of the great Ute chiefs, Chief Ouray, knew that the whites outnumbered his people, so around 1870 he traveled to Washington D. C. to try to arrange a treaty to stop the relocation of his tribe. He did arrange a treaty between the Utes and the US Government to hold onto his land, and because of his diplomacy, he had also won the respect of the whites. In the treaty, the Utes agreed to allow the whites to take possession of the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, while they lived a few miles north of Ouray, a city named in honor of Chief Ouray. But in 1881, after the death of Cheif Ouray, the remaining Utes were moved to a small reservation along the southwest boundary of Colorado.

Chipeta, also known as Уqueen of the UtesФ, was the wife of the Ute Chief Ouray (they were married when she was 16 and he was 26). She became confidant and advisor to Chief Ouray, who was fluent in many languages, including English and Spanish, and who was considered by the U. S. government to be УChief of all UtesФ. In 1880, the year Ouray passed away, respect for Chipeta as a diplomat had grown so much that when she would accompany Ouray to Washington, she was considered a Уmember of the delegationФ in her own right, and not just the wife of Chief Ouray. On January 7, 1880, she and ten Ute chiefs traveled to Washington to try and work out reservation relocation matters. When they tried to board a train in Alamosa, Colorado, which was headed for Washington, Chipeta was nearly hung by a lynch mob. Early Colorado settlers were irate at the Utes for the killing of eleven cavalrymen and the wounding of forty three others in the massacre at Meeker, Colorado.

The last years of ChipetaТs life were spent on a relocated reservation in northeast Utah. On the reservation, she was highly valued, and always sat in on the chiefТs meetings, which was very unusual for a woman. She passed away in 1924.

Today there are about 3500 Ute Indians living on the 1,300,000 acres of land included in the Uintah and Ouray Reservations in Utah. Farming, raising cattle, and petroleum production provide a good lifestyle in the area while much of the original Native American heritage is still practiced - http://ghostdepot.com/rg/history/utes.htm.


Colorado National Monument - Gr Junction

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