People/politician

Chief Ouray

Chief Ouray (1833–1880), politician, from United States. Linked to gold, silver.

The downfall

His negotiations led to the loss of Ute territory. The US pressed for the San Juan Mountains after prospectors arrived in the early 1870s, and Ouray first refused to sell. The 1873 Brunot Agreement followed.1

Legacy

Leader of the Tabeguache Ute band whom the US named chief of all Utes in Colorado. Ouray County and the town of Ouray carry his name.1

Story cards

Sources

  1. Ouray Colorado Encyclopedia

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Pictures: Gold prospectors constructing a long box with a filter for panning gold. Process print after H.M. Paget, 1899., Henry Marriott Paget (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Pangkalpinang. Mijn 3b. Een reeks koelies bezig met het transporteeren van grond, Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Kimberley, South Africa: miners and washing gear at the Bultfontein diamond mine. Woodburytype, 1888, after a photograph by Robert Harris., Harris, Robert, active 1881-1888. (Public Domain Mark 1.0); South Africa: a crowd of people gathered outside The Goldfields offices in Johannesburg. 1896., Unknown (Wellcome Collection) (Public Domain Mark 1.0).