1977 Ute Comanche Peace Treaty
From the Ute-Comanche Peace Treaty Ceremony and Powow program dated July 21-24, 1977, “Members of the Ute and Comanche Indian nations are together in Ignacio this week to conclude a peace treaty between the two peoples over a century ago by their ancestors. Linguistic cousins of the Shoshonean language family, the Utes and Comanches once resided peacefully side by side in the Great Basin, according to Leon Motah, the official tribal historian of the Comanches. The Utes at that time occupied most of the mountainous lands of western Colorado while the Comanches were the neighboring relatives to the north. When the Comanches first arrived on the Colorado plains about 1700, the Utes helped them drive out the Apaches. The same time the two tribes banded together to raid the Pueblo Indians of northern New Mexico for horses and agricultural products.” (Program © Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Courtesy of Ft. Lewis College Library)
Ute Comanche Peace Treaty Ceremony and Powwow, July 21-24, 1977
Courtesy of Fort Lewis College
Newspaper article about the Ute-Comanche Peace Treaty
Freeport Journal Standard, Freeport, Illinois, July 25, 1977
“But in 1746, when the Apaches had finally been driven out of northeastern New Mexico into an area southwest of the Ute lands, the uneasy Ute-Comanche alliance broke up, and the two tribes fought each other in scattered battles for the next 40 years. By 1748, the Comanches had turned on their Ute allies and had also become strong enough to cause problems for the Spanish as well. The Spanish in retaliation marched on both the Utes and Comanches and defeated them in a battle at Abiquiu, New Mexico. The Utes, tired of fighting both the Spanish and the Comanches and needing the trading in horses that the Spanish could provide, made peace with the Spanish in 1750.” (Program © Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Courtesy of Ft. Lewis College Library)
In 1779, some 200 Mouache Utes and Jicarilla Apaches formed an alliance with the Spanish against the Comanches who had been raiding the settlements of New Mexico. Well into the 1800s, the Utes remained friendly with the Spanish acting as a check against the raids of the Comanches, Navajos, and Apaches. Finally, around 1870, the Utes and Comanches, tired of more than 100 years of intermittent warfare, agreed to make peace. Led by Southern Ute Chief Buckskin Charlie and Comanche Chief Quanah Parker, the two Indian nations met on the plains of the West Texas panhandle near Dalhart, Texas to sign the treaty. But the treaty was never to be concluded. Indian folklore of both tribes has it that just as the Comanche and Ute leaders were about to shake hands to conclude the peace pact, a lone shot was fired into the air. Edgy warriors on both sides, fearing ambush, immediately took to the battlefield, and the treaty was never concluded. To this day, no one is sure who fired that fateful shot.” (Program © Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Courtesy of Ft. Lewis College Library)
Quanah Parker, Comanche Chief
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Buckskin Charlie, Southern Ute Chief
Detroit Photographic, CSPM Collection
