John Taylor and the Formation of Race on Ute Borderlands 1870-1935

John Taylor, an African American claimed that he was “the first white man to settle the Pine River Valley” in southwest Colorado. He came out West as a Buffalo Soldier to fight in the “Indian Wars.” After his honorable discharge from the Army he lived with the Apaches and Navajos in Arizona and New Mexico before settling among the Southern Utes in Colorado. While Taylor’s claim may seem astonishing, it was not a rejection of his black identity rather; it emerged out of a unique racial niche available to only a handful of Africans who appeared at the vanguard of the Western “frontier”. This talk will include stories of John Taylor’s unique American odyssey, which includes slavery, the Civil War, emancipation and his role as an intermediary between white settlers, Hispanics and American Indians. Presented by Greg McAllister.