The conflict known as the White River War, or Ute War, begins when Major Thomas T. Thornburgh leads a command of one hundred sand fifty-three soldiers and twenty-five militiamen to the White River Agency in response to a request for assistance by the Indian Agent Nathan C. Meeker.
Meeker had been attempting to convert the White River Utes to agriculture and Christianity, and had angered the Utes by plowing a field they used to graze and race horses.
After an altercation with some Utes, Meeker had sent to the army for assistance.
The main incidents of the war take place on September 29, 1879.
Major Thornburgh advances with his command across Milk Creek onto the White River Ute land, despite assuring several Utes on previous days that the main body of his command would remain off the reservation.
A Ute force, led by Captain Jack, are hidden on high ground prepared to defend their territory.
The competing armed forces signal each other, with both sides meaning to meet with each other peacefully, when an errant shot begins what comes to be known as the Battle of Milk Creek.
The Utes, although outnumbered, hold the strategic high ground, and manage to hold the American army forces at bay, and inflict significant losses, including the death of Major Thornburgh and thirteen others, wounding more than forty.
Meanwhile, a separate group of Utes descends upon the White River Agency and kills ten male employees and Nathan Meeker.
They also take three women and two children captive in what becomes known as the Meeker Massacre.
The United States Cavalry remaining at Milk Creek are in disarray, corralled with most of their animals dead and being used as defensive barricades.
They are under the command of Captain J. Scott Payne, who sends out messengers for reinforcements.
The troops hold out for two days until the arrival of Captain Frances Dodge and his company of Buffalo Soldiers from Fort Lewis in southern Colorado.
These reinforcements help the army hold their position until Colonel Wesley Merritt arrives with close to fouyr hundred and fifty troops; this leads to the Utes' withdrawing from the battle after six days of fighting.
The army suffers thirteen casualties, including ten soldiers and three militiamen killed, and forty-four wounded, five of whom are of the militia.
The Utes have suffered a total of thirty-seven fatalities, in both the battle and the massacre.
After the Milk Creek and White River incidents, there is intense hostility toward the Utes, both within Colorado and the American army, and mounting pressure to drive them entirely from the state, or to exterminate them altogether.
There had already been a desire to move the Utes off their land prior to the outbreak of the war so the fighting has added fuel to the fire.
The treaty negotiations are the result of the intercession of Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz, who stops any movement of forces against the Ute until such time as the hostages are safely released.
Former Indian agent Charles Adams, who had previously served at White River, manages to secure the hostages' release by the White River Utes.
