Peter Decker

The Utes Lose Their Homeland

Tuesday, November 10, 2015 - 6:30pm to 8:00pm
  • Library Hall

An evening with historian and author Peter Decker presented by the Bud Werner Memorial Library and Tread of Pioneers Museum.

In September, Peter Decker, author of The Utes Must Go, a detailed, and sometime gruesome account of how and why the Ute tribe was decimated by warfare and treaty manipulations, spoke at the the Milk Creek Battlefield Park dedication in Rio Blanco County. The Rio Blanco County Historical Society explains that the new park's purpose is "to commemorate the site of one of the last battles of the American Indian Wars. The United States Calvary crossed the boundary of the Ute Reservation with what could only be interpreted as hostile intent. The Utes, as a last resort, resisted the invasion of the military and held the troops in this location for 5 days with minimal loss of life. As a result of these actions the Utes lost 16.5 million acres of their beloved Colorado lands and were banished to eastern Utah and a small reservation in South Western Colorado. For the Utes this was a tragic loss of their way of life. It was also the fulfillment of the U.S. Government’s policy of Manifest Destiny."

About the speaker
Peter Decker is a college professor, author, policy analyst and rancher. After serving as Colorado's Commissioner of Agriculture under Gov. Roy Romer, Decker wrote a biography of Ouray County, Old Fences, New Neighbors, which remains a popular in college text in history and environmental courses throughout the West. In a subsequent book, The Utes Must Go, Decker reminded Colorado residents how the state and the nation treated Colorado’s first residents, the Ute Indian Tribe. The Utes Must Go offers a detailed, and sometime gruesome account of how and why the Ute tribe was decimated by warfare and treaty manipulations.

Currently Decker is president of Decker & Associates, an agricultural consulting firm specializing in management, land acquisition, leases, international trade and relationships with state and federal agencies. He is also owner and operator of Double D Ranch in Ridgway, Colorado, and serves as a director of the National Western Stock Show in Denver, and as a trustee of Fort Lewis College in Durango.

Books will be available for sale and author signing after the talk.