Volume 10 , Issue 36

Chief Sapiah Led Ute Indians

Chief Sapiah (Buckskin Charlie) ... The reasons we are talking about Chief Sapiah (a.k.a. Buckskin Charlie) who led the Ute Indians is because of Bayfield, Colorado's Heritage Days that is coming next weekend, September 12 thru 14, 2008. Does that Heritage Days celebration mean it is time for the sheep herders to bring the sheep down from the higher elevations to the valley?

Anyway... Buckskin Charlie's real name was Sapiah, Chief of the Ute Indians. He was born about 1840, years before permanent settlement had encroached upon Ute lands. Buckskin Charlie went on to become the chief of the Capote band. Eventually succeeding Chief Ouray as the Utes' official treaty negotiator, he learned the white man's rules out of necessity and mastered the white man's tongue.

Chief Sapiah even allowed himself a white man's name, Buckskin Charlie. He impressed United States officials with his savvy, playing a difficult hand with enormous skill. But Sapiah only embraced white culture to the extent that it helped the Utes preserve their own.

Recognized as Chief of the Mauche and Servero Bands and Prinicipal Chief of the Capote, when Chief Ouray died in 1880, Buckskin Charlie became priniciple chief of the southern Utes in Ignacio.

Buckskin Charlie is remembered for leading the rescue of the women and children abducted during the Meeker masacre and also riding with Geronimo in Theodore Roosevelt's 1905 Inaugural parade. Buckskin Charlie was among the leaders who showed how to live a Ute life in a white world.

Despite constant pressure to change, he remained a traditional chief, sustaining the customs, dress, and language of his people. He served as chief for 56 years until his death in 1936, at the age of 96. His son, Antonio Buck Sr., succeeded him as hereditary chief and became the first elected chairman of the Southern Ute Tribe. His descendants still live on the reservation in Ignacio, where he is buried.
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