25 December 1854; Pueblo, Colorado: In the fall of 1854, Ute Indian agent Kit Carson had distributed some coats to the tribe to smooth over a feud between the Utes and some Mexicans. The clothing may have carried smallpox, for two tribal leaders who wore the coats caught the disease and died. Their deaths incited a retaliation against settlers in the San Luis Valley.
On Christmas Day, a Ute and Jicarilla Apache war party of 100 attacked the small settlement of Pueblo, on the Arkansas River. They killed 15 men and wounded 2, carried off a woman and 2 children, and stole 200 horses.
 |
The story above is from this source. Click to purchase. |
|
