[NATIVE AMERICANS]. Albumen photograph of Chief Unca of the White River Utes. Denver: W.C. Chamberlain, ca. 1879. On original studio mount with printed caption, overall 165 x 108 mm, marginal toning, spotting to image, light wear at corners. Chief Unca is seen holding a Colt pistol and a bandolier belt across his chest. Colt Single Action Army pistols became the standard-issue pistol of the U.S. Army in 1873. The White River Utes were a hunter-gatherer tribe that lived along the Grand Valley in Colorado and Utah. On 29 September 1879, members of the Ute tribe attacked the Indian agency on their reservation in Colorado, killing the Indian agent Nathan Meeker and his 10 male employees who had been attempting to convert the Utes to Christianity. On the same day, the Utes attacked the U.S. forces near Mill Creek led by Major Thomas T. Thornburgh that were enroute due to threats against Meeker. They killed the major and 13 troops. This hostility led to the Ute Removal Act in 1880 which forced the tribe to a reservation in Utah.