Saddle Sore
To the People of the Shining Mountains, Utes, their horses were partners and accomplices in the enjoyment of life. Other than family, nothing was more important to them. The same could be said for all of the mounted Native Americans. What happened to their horses?
According to available records, just after Nathan Meeker arrived at the White River Indian Agency in 1878, there were 890 Utes of the White River band who owned at least 3,000 horses. More or less. It was difficult to get a solid count as that many horses were strung out over a very large area. That same year, the neighboring Uintah Utes of northeastern Utah had a herd of 876 horses. Any way you cut it, that’s a lot of horses, nearly 4,000.