which each mistook for the world.
He tried to align the contraptions;
tried till the day before
he died (eleven months
after the massacre) --
his body fl ooded with pain
from Bright's disease, his mind clear.
in either the battle or the massacre?
-- A. No. Some people in that trouble claimed
to be Uncompahgre Utes, but they were really
White River Utes. -- Q. State as well as you can
from the reports you have received, what people
from the White River did take part in the massacre.
-- A. I know nothing in regard to who was there.
They hide it from me, saying I am a friend
of the whites....
-- Q. What excuse is given by the White River Utes
for committing the massacre? -- A. I think that Meeker
wanted to make some row in order to get them
out of the land. That is how it seems to me....
-- Q. Do you know anything about the fi res
it is said the Utes have started? -- A. I could not fi nd
that they had burned up any forests. Last year
was a very dry year. Where there had been a camp
and a little fi re was left, in the morning a wind
might scatter it, and the whole country burn
in that way. Everything was dry and dead.
I do not think anyone was to blame --
miners, campers, or anyone else. It was easy
for everything to catch fi re.