Ute Indian Museum
Encyclopedia
Montrose, Colorado
The City of Montrose is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Montrose County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 15,479 in 2005. The main road that leads in and out of Montrose is U.S...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, USA. It is administered by History Colorado
History Colorado
History Colorado, also known as the Colorado Historical Society , is a group dedicated to preserving and presenting the history of the state of Colorado in the USA.- Overview :...
(the Colorado Historical Society).
The museum presents the history of the Ute tribe
Ute Tribe
The Ute are an American Indian people now living primarily in Utah and Colorado. There are three Ute tribal reservations: Uintah-Ouray in northeastern Utah ; Southern Ute in Colorado ; and Ute Mountain which primarily lies in Colorado, but extends to Utah and New Mexico . The name of the state of...
of native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
. It was built in 1956 and expanded in 1998. The museum building is located on the 8.65 acres (35,005.3 m²) homestead of Chief Ouray
Chief Ouray
Ouray was a Native American chief of the Uncompahgre band of the Ute tribe, then located in western Colorado...
(c.1833–1880) and his wife, Chipeta
Chipeta
Chipeta or White Singing Bird , was a Native American woman, and the second wife of Chief Ouray of the Uncompahgre Ute tribe. Born a Kiowa Apache, she was raised by the Utes in what is now Conejos, Colorado...
(1843/4–1924). The grounds of the museum include the Chief Ouray Memorial Park, Chipeta's Crypt, and a native plants garden.