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behind their dead animals and wagons and held out until
October 8, when help arrived. The Utes then attacked the agency, killing Nathan Meeker and 10 of his employees. They took as captives and hostages Josephine and her mother, along with Mrs. Shaduck Price and two of her children. The Utes held the captives at a remote mountain camp.
262:
The Ute warrior
Persune had taken Josephine as his captive and had to fight with Douglas, another warrior who wanted her. Persune refused to give up Meeker, keeping her with him throughout her captivity. His other wives helped her begin to adapt. Persune and the Utes regarded Josephine as his wife,
258:
On
September 29, the Utes learned of the approaching army and ambushed Major Thornburg and his men at Milk Creek, killing 13 men, including Thornburg and all the officers above the rank of captain; another 25 were wounded. A man got out to go for reinforcements; the survivors barricaded themselves
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On
November 4 at Greeley, General Adams conducted an official investigation into the massacre and the women's captivity. After having been sworn in, Meeker described in intimate detail her relationship with Persune in captivity. In 1880, the US Congress held an inquiry into the massacre, at which
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After graduation, Meeker returned to
Colorado and the White River Indian Agency, where her father had been appointed US Indian agent. Meeker wanted to improve the conditions of the Utes. In July 1878, she was described as having been intelligent, tall, and slender with shoulder-length dark blonde
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according to their conventions of captives. According to her later testimony, she was raped by
Persune in his tent in the presence of his wives. To pass the time, Meeker made a dress from a blanket given her by the Utes. (The dress is on exhibit in the downtown Greeley History Museum, Colorado.)
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was instrumental in obtaining the release of the captives. Adams together with three of his men and some
Uncompahgres went to the Utes' camp. When he met Josephine, he shook her hand and told her that he had come to take her back if she would go. The former captives were escorted to
148:, of the Colorado Militia that arranged the captives' release, conducted an official investigation of the incident. Josephine Meeker's testimony provides keen insight into the experiences a white woman underwent as an Indian captive. She was the last celebrated white captive of
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Before Adams took Meeker away from the camp, Persune promised that she would not have to perform any domestic tasks if she would stay with him as his wife. He offered her all his possessions and wept when she rejected him. He was said to continue to love her.
172:, Josephine Meeker was the youngest of the five children of Nathan Cook Meeker and Arvilla Delight Smith. She had two brothers, Ralph and George, and two sisters, Rozene and Mary. In 1870, at the age of 13, she moved with her family to the
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had been encroaching on Ute lands for decades, and the Utes' resentment grew as the game declined. When Meeker plowed up one of the Utes' horse race tracks, he quarreled with a Ute. Meeker sent a request to
270:, along with her husband, adamantly advocated for the release of the captives and their safety. Josephine Meeker said of her captivity, "We all owe our lives to the sister of Chief Ouray..."
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hair. Assisting her father, she was listed on the agency rolls as a teacher and physician, earning $ 750 (~$ 23,679 in 2023) a year. Meeker established a school for the Ute children.
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Etching which depicts the aftermath of the Meeker
Massacre, when women and children were taken captive by Ute Indians. Her father's grave is shown in the lower left corner.
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recommended for women, she was said to challenge boys to horse races in the road. After high school, Meeker returned to Ohio to complete her education at
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Meeker left
Colorado shortly after her rescue and went to work in Washington, D.C. There she worked for a time as a copyist for the
137:. Josephine, her mother Arvilla Meeker, and Mrs. Shadruck Price and her two children were taken captive and held hostage by the
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133:. On September 29, 1879, he and 10 of his male employees were killed in a Ute attack, in what became known as the
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agricultural settlement which her father had founded. Shortly after their arrival, her brother George died of
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On
October 21, the pioneer women and children were rescued by Charles Adams, a general of the Colorado
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286:. Alleged either to have been based upon an incident involving a Cayuse Chief Two Crows and an 1847
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Following the rescue of the hostages, Meeker recounted her experiences at a public hearing. General
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Troubled trails : the Meeker affair and the expulsion of the Utes from Colorado
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survivor Lorinda Bewly or possibly upon the experience of Josephine Meeker
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Massacres of the Mountains: A History of the Indian Wars of the Far West
398:, Greeley Museum, Greeley, Colorado Website, retrieved on 6 January 2010
247:, asking for soldiers to guard the agency. On September 21, 1879, Major
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The following inscription on her tombstone was written by her mother:
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Chief Ouray, Chipeta, and General Adams testified at the hearing.
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152:. Working for some time in Washington, D.C., and then for Senator
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113:(January 28, 1857 – December 20, 1882), was a teacher and
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350:). She was buried in Linn Grove cemetery in Greeley, Colorado.
330:. Returning to Colorado, she became a secretary for US Senator
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where Meeker was interviewed by Dr. Avery, a female physician.
306:, who were not involved in the Meeker Massacre. Ouray's wife
514:, Boston: Harper & Brothers, 1886, accessed 20 Dec 2010
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Meeker died on December 20, 1882, at the age of 25 of a
408:"Chipeta: Ute Peacemaker", retrieved on 6 January 2010
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A stealthier foe has filched thy sweet young breath
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365:while lonely here I watch life's failing sands."
361:while captive in thy noble father slayers' hands
359:Brave daughter who with me escaped foul death
188:. In her youth she was considered "a bit of a
156:in Colorado, Meeker died young at age 25 of a
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357:"Born Jany 28, 1857 Died December 20, 1882
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192:". Riding astride rather than using the
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594:Deaths from pneumonia in Colorado
542:Josephine Meeker at Find a Grave
216:Ute uprising and Meeker Massacre
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574:People from Lorain County, Ohio
298:. He was a longtime friend of
282:"The Captive" 1891 picture by
32:Photograph of Josephine Meeker
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579:People from Greeley, Colorado
77:Teacher, physician, secretary
589:Captives of Native Americans
462:. University of Utah Press.
458:Silbernagel, Robert (2011).
226:Nathan Meeker was trying to
129:was the United States (US)
55:December 20, 1882 (aged 25)
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328:Office of Indian Affairs
164:Early life and education
396:"Nathan Meeker History"
230:the Ute to farming and
584:Oberlin College alumni
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104:Arvilla Delight Smith
158:pulmonary infection
125:, where her father
509:Jacob Piatt Dunn,
332:Henry Moore Teller
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154:Henry Moore Teller
123:Colorado Territory
569:American folklore
178:Greeley, Colorado
121:Indian Agency in
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249:Thomas Thornburg
245:Rawlins, Wyoming
150:Native Americans
111:Josephine Meeker
41:January 28, 1857
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198:Oberlin College
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564:1882 deaths
559:1857 births
532:Brown, p.24
427:Brown, p.13
386:Brown, p.11
346:infection (
300:Chief Ouray
253:Fort Steele
194:side-saddle
119:White River
66:Nationality
553:Categories
370:References
478:708358007
348:pneumonia
344:pulmonary
268:Shawsheen
139:Ute tribe
115:physician
97:Parent(s)
87:Ute tribe
302:and the
236:nomadism
168:Born in
69:American
59:Colorado
308:Chipeta
296:Militia
228:convert
182:utopian
117:at the
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313:Denver
274:Rescue
190:tomboy
338:Death
251:left
131:agent
474:OCLC
464:ISBN
180:, a
170:Ohio
52:Died
45:Ohio
38:Born
176:in
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