Red Twilight : The Last Free Days of the Ute Indians

As a child, Val FitzPatrick often saw the displaced Utes ride by in the twilight, returning to their forbidden homelands for the traditional autumn hunt. Val’s family was one of the first to homestead Ute lands, and his account of the Northern Ute removal is told from the unique perspective of one who knew and respected these displaced people. “Red Twilight” also recalls the experiences of Val’s fellow pioneers in northwest Colorado in the late 1800s.

Included is a rare oral history by one of the Ute warriors in the Battle of Milk Creek, as well as excerpts from the long-forgotten diary of Wils Rankin, early cowboy and nephew of Joe Rankin, scout of the ill-fated Major Thornburgh.