Item Detail
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11548
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3
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0
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English
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A History of Fort Duchesne, Including Fort Thornburgh : The Military Presence in Frontier Uinta Basin, Utah
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2 vols., Brigham Young University
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Ph.D. diss.
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"The first permanent white settlers came to the remote Uinta Basin in the 1870's. The Uintah Indian Reservation had been established in 1861, and, after the 1879 Meeker Massacre, the Colorado White River and Uncompahgre Utes were also relocated to the reservation. Fort Thornburgh was established in 1882 to protect both white and Indian rights. It was abandoned two years later, principly because of land disputes with local residents. In 1886, Indian unrest prompted the government to establish the "permanent cantonment" of Fort Duchesne. Although several attempts were made by the War Department to abandon the post as the Indians became more adjusted to reservation life, Fort Duchesne survived for twenty-two years. Political pressure, both local and national, prompted the Interior Department to remain intransigent regarding abandonment to the last. During its existence, Fort Duchesne became an intregal part of Uinta Basin social and economic life and fulfilled its function as a guardian and protector of both whites and Indians." [Author's abstract]