Photo courtesy John M. MotterSpanish colonizers were the first to contact the Ute peoples. This happened in New Mexico late in the 16th century. Contact with the Spanish was the beginning of the end for the centuries-old Ute lifestyle.
The Spanish colonizers brought with them the horse, soon adopted by the Utes. They also brought trade, providing the Utes with metal knives and other metal tools, woven cloth and other trade goods exchanged for furs, meat, slaves and safe passage through Ute country, including Pagosa Country.
The Spanish government tried to prevent unauthorized trade with the Utes. The idea was, if all trade had to be approved by the territorial government, then the trade goods could be taxed, putting money in the pockets of government agents. Spanish frontiersmen living in remote frontier outposts tended to ignore the ban on trading. The Utes and other Native American tribes had been trading among themselves long before Europeans entered the New World.
Taos was well-known as a trade center long before the Spanish trod New Mexican soil. The Old Spanish Trail served as a trade route between the New Mexico settlements and California settlements and points in between. Settlements such as Abiquiu were in the center of Ute winter homes and promoted contact and trade between Hispanic and Ute. Consequently, the two groups came to know each other’s languages and cultures.
Early in the 19th century, annual caravans of Spanish traders, authorized and unauthorized, entered Ute country. Indian captives were sold to Spaniards at a great profit. Often, these captives were the spoils of war between Ute tribes and their Paiute cousins living in Utah and Nevada. Sold as slaves to the Spanish, these captives became servants in Hispanic homes, learned the Spanish language and ways, and adopted Catholicism. These slaves were the most valuable trade item. A large antelope or deer hide was worth 2 pesos, a horse worth 3 pesos. A common soldier earned 15 pesos a month and a working man was paid 1 peso a day. In contrast, a slave woman was worth eight horses.
Most Indian slaves worked on farms or became house servants. Some worked in mines in Mexico. Those working in New Mexico learned about civilized life, including the care and value of horses. Ute slaves freed during the 1680 Pueblo revolt returned to their people and homeland with horses and the knowledge of their care.
The ownership of horses had a drastic impact on Ute culture. Before having the horse, the nomadic Utes lived in small bands scattered across the countryside. With the horse, they were able to easily hunt buffalo on the plains, thereby facilitating a larger food supply and enabling the Utes to subsist together in greater numbers. They could raid other tribes and retreat quickly if necessary. The Utes were among the first of western tribes to use the horse.
