In the early 1860s, before the valleys of Northern Colorado were settled, Native Americans made their presence known to the few homesteaders — mainly ranchers — in the area.
Particularly in Big Thompson Canyon, the braves hectored the residents, stealing their stock, plundering vacant cabins and generally “’making themselves nuisances’” according to early Fort Collins pioneer Abner Loomis. The braves developed a trail to the canyon via the Laramie River and Hewlett Gulch in Poudre Canyon whereby they could come and go in relative obscurity.
In 1860 a Frenchman named De Vost (no other name is given) captured a Ute youth about 12 years old and named him Zeb. De Vost took the boy into his home and raised him to the age of 17, when Zeb (Ute name unknown) encountered a tribe of wandering Utes.
Large, handsome, vibrant and restless, Zeb decided to go back to his people even though he had seemed content with his new life and had guarded his captor’s home and possessions zealously. De Vost mourned his departure, for he had grown fond of the youth, but he and his friends felt that Zeb had been ungrateful for the good life that had been provided to him.
A short time later, with the raids on Big Thompson Canyon livestock continuing unabated, a group of Native Americans came to Poudre Canyon and set up camp in Hewlett Gulch. Nearby ranchers, including De Vost, discovered that they were losing horses in spite of keeping constant watch on the stables; somehow, the horse thieves were luring the animals away. A confrontation was sure to come, and soon.
And come it did. After 18 horses went missing in one night, their owners decided enough was enough. The miscreants, they knew, would head to North Park via the trail from the gulch.
In hot pursuit, six armed men came upon their foes about to make their getaway. The inevitable battle was joined. The warriors took their stand, raised their bows and unsheathed their arrows, and prepared to fight. One of the pursuing men shot a young brave who had gotten up on a rock and started aiming arrows at them. Even with one man down the posse was badly outnumbered, 47 to six.
But just as the bowmen stretched their arms and pulled their bows, and the defendants cocked their rifles and six-shooters, a warrior-clad young man came into the midst of his fellow tribesmen. He spoke first to one compatriot and then another. Reluctantly, the bows came down, the arrows were sheathed, and the Utes withdrew — “sullenly,” as claimed in Ansel Watrous’s book.
The ranchers’ savior was Zeb. He had recognized De Vost and halted the onslaught. The stolen horses were returned. Moreover, Zeb promised De Vost that his tribe would trouble them no more, and indeed they did not. Zeb died just a few years later and was buried in Hewlett Gulch.
Contact history writer Barbara Fleming at fcwriter@frii.com.