The Ute's are the oldest, continuous residents of Colorado.  It's not exactly known when they came from the North and West.  They stayed in their mountainous area since they were surrounded by other tribes that would have driven them back if they had tried to move into their territory.  Eventually, the Ute's broke into a loose alliance of seven tribes.  They were:

1.  The Mouache                                               

2.  The Capote

3.  The Weeminuche

4.  The Tabeguache

5.  The Grand River Ute's

6.  The Yamparicas

7.  The Uintah Ute's

Of the tribes mentioned, the Mouache and the Capote make up the present day Southern Ute's.  The Weeminuches are now called the Mountain Ute's, and the last four tribes are called the Northern Ute's.

The Ute way of life changed when the Spaniards colonized and occupied New Mexico at the end of the seventeenth century.  The reason is that although the Europeans didn't have many of the plants of the Americas, they had livestock.  And it is the livestock (especially the horse) that changed their life style.  The Southern Ute's made contact with the Spanish in New Mexico in the 1630's and 1640's.  At first there were peaceful relations between the two peoples and some trade was carried on.  The Ute's had dried meat and hides which they traded for knives and other metal utensils and agricultural products raised by the Pueblo Indians and the Spanish.  Much of this trading was done at the annual fairs held at Pecos and Taos.  The Ute's, however, became much more interested in trading for horses.  Horses were very expensive in those days, and the Ute's would trade even children to the Spanish for horses.  Possession of horses allowed the Ute's to begin buffalo hunting on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains.  Soon, the buffalo became on of their main resources.  With the horse came closer contact with other Ute's.  Because of the horse, they could now live in larger numbers under a more powerful leader.  The family unit continued to be the basic unit of society, but the leader directed camp movements, hunts, raids, and war parties.  In hunting the buffalo, the Ute's came into frequent contact with the Arapaho's, Kiowa's, Cheyenne, Sioux, and Comanche (who had many more horses than the Ute's).  The Ute's needed more horses so they became more aggressive and warlike.  Also, it was much easier to raid for livestock in New Mexico than to hunt deer and other animals, or to buy livestock.  So the Ute's became raiders, moving out of their mountain fortresses to raid other tribes or towns and villages to the south.

The Ute's were a rugged and very resourceful people.   Even though they raided others, they were actually a peaceful people.  They were skilled hunters and warriors, but preferred to avoid conflicts and war.  It was only when their way of life and homelands were in jeopardy that they used their awesome skills to fight.

In 1879, the Meeker Massacre was the subject of world wide news.  Although this event involved only a few Northern Ute's, the incident was used to generate opposition among white settlers to freedom for all Ute people.  The Governor of Colorado (at that time) encouraged such opposition to Ute freedom by speaking of the "Ute menace."

Ute territory today is reduced to three pieces of reservation land in Utah and Colorado, with a small extension into New Mexico.