Old Agency Ranch

History of the Old Agency Ranch

The Los Piños (the Pines) Ute Indian Agency was established soon after the Civil War. Some Utes, including Chief Ouray, agreed to the Treaty of 1868. This founded a reservation that covered nearly all of Colorado west of the Continental Divide. Under provisions of the 1868 treaty, an agency was to be established by the Office of Indian Affairs on the Los Piños River in extreme southern Colorado to serve some of the Ute bands.

For various reasons the agency could not be constructed on the river. Instead, it was established in the high mountains near Cochetopa Pass south of Gunnison, which was close to the eastern boundary of the new reservation. This poorly constructed facility (eventually known as the first Los Piños Agency) was so high in the mountains that it could not be easily supplied and the surrounding land was unsuitable for growing crops. The facility’s primary purpose was to serve the combined Uncompahgre (earlier known as Sabuagana) and Tabeguache Ute bands. By the late 1860s these two bands had merged, largely because the Uncompahgres had been severely reduced in numbers by disease and warfare. For a number of years this combined band was simply known as the Tabeguaches.

Citation: Baker, Steven G. "Los Piños Indian Agency." Colorado Encyclopedia, http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/los-piños-indian-agency.

Because of pressures in the eastern half of Colorado, the Ute Treaty of 1863 was replaced by the Treaty of 1868 (“Kit Carson Treaty”), giving Ute Indians in Colorado a reservation on the land west of the Continental Divide, with the boundary being the 107th Parallel, not the Divide itself. This agency was too far from areas habituated by other Ute bands, so the new Los Pinos Agency on Los Pinos Creek served mainly the Tabeguache Band. It could be lively and attracted large encampments during the distribution of rations and livestock that resembled a free-for-all. With the advent of the San Juan Mining boom, a stage line to Lake City ran past the agency, and wayfarers like the notorious cannibal Alferd (Alfred) Packer wandered in. 

Citation: CHIPETA: UTE PEACEMAKER THOUGHTS ON READING, RESEARCH AND WRITING https://chipeta.wordpress.com/tag/los-pinos/