MEMORIALS AND RESOLUTIONS. MEMORIAL To the President of the United States, in relation to removal of Ute Indians. To his Excellency, U. S. GRANT, President of the United States: Your memorialists, the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Colorado, would respectfully represent that the reservation set aside by the treaty of 1868 for the Ute tribe of Indians, comprises nearly thirty thousand square miles of land, all lying within the present boundaries of the Territory of Colorado. That said area of land is greatly in excess of the wants and requirements of the Ute nation, and in fact the greater portion thereof, is only occasionally visited by them; for during the greater part of the year the majority of these Indians are away from their reservation and moving about among the settlements of the whites. A great portion of this reservation would be valuable for agricultural, pastoral, and mining purposes, but at present is useless to the Government and people of the United States, because our citizens are prohibited from making a legal settlement thereon; and equally useless to the Indians, because they neglect to occupy it, or use any portion of it for industrial pursuits. Recently most valuable discoveries of gold and silver mines have been made in the southern portion of the reservation, and during last fall large numbers of miners profitably worked these mines, without meeting with any opposition from the Indians, though frequently visited by some of their chiefs; and large numbers of the citizens of Colorado and New Mexico are making preparations to still further prosecute work on the lodes and mines of that region during the coming season, unless restrained from so doing by the Government. Believing that the Indians would be willing to treat favorably in relation to this matter, your memorialists would respectfully ask that you will exercise the power vested in you by the Constitution of the United States, and enter into a treaty with the Ute nation for the purpose of either reducing the limits of their reservation, or securing to white citizens the right to peacefully enter upon and occupy such portions of this reserved territory as may be valuable for mining purposes, at least. Your memorialists believe that the country referred to will eventually prove one of the most valuable portions of the domain of the United States; and that the interests of civilization will be subserved, and the prosperity and wealth of the Territory greatly increased by complying with the prayer of this memorial. Approved January 26th, 1872. MEMORIAL To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States of America: Your memorialists, the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Colorado, represent that the people of this Territory are desirous of organizing a State government and being admitted into the Union. In pursuance of this object, we would respectfully ask of your Honorable Body the passage of an Enabling Act. In support of our request, we present the following facts: Referring to our natural advantages and wealth-which form the only basis for the development of a rich and populous State, we offer these remarks: The arable lands are more extensive than in any other portion of the Rocky Mountain country; timber is abundant on the high divides and mountains; the |