MEEKER I After White River Indian Agent Nathan Meeker plowed up the Ute’s racetrack and tensions escalated, Meeker called for military assistance from the nearest fort, and Major Thomas T. Thornburgh and his 150 troops were dispatched from Fort Fred Steele in Wyoming. They rode south and crossed Milk Creek some 18 miles northeast of the White River Agency, where they were engaged in a fierce battle with the Utes that lasted 12 days.
During…