Chipeta: Ute Peacemaker (Now You Know Bios) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Chipeta was the wife, confidant, and advisor to Chief Ouray of the Tabeguache band of Ute Indians in the mountain regions of Colorado. After Ouray's death in 1880, Chipeta continued as a leader of her people through times of challenge and hardship until her death in 1924. Chipeta was respected as a wise woman by both Utes and non-Indian people.

Cynthia Becker is co-author with David Smith of Chipeta: Queen of the Utes, and she brings the exhaustive research of that work to this Now You Know Bio of an inspirational Native American woman.

Chipeta...never for a moment wavered in her loyalty to what she thought the right and from the first used all her influence for peace...She saw that war meant the murder of hundreds of whites and the extermination of her own people...
Margaret T. Adams, wife of Charles Adams, Los Pinos Indian Agent

About the Author

Cynthia Becker grew up in southern Indiana. A true child of the 1950s, her goal was to be a cowgirl, just like Dale Evans. She loved to read and began writing stories in elementary school. Cynthia moved to Colorado the day after her college graduation and remains a Coloradan. She began researching the life of Chipeta in 1995. She dug into old Indian Agent reports in the National Archives, searched photographs in the National Anthropological Archives, visited libraries and museums in Colorado and Utah, and read lots of old newspapers. The result was her first book, Chipeta: Queen of the Utes (Western Reflections Publishing, 2003). Since then, Cynthia has written five books on current topics for educational publisher Thomson Gale and contributed to an anthology of sports biographies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 98 pages
• Publisher: Filter Press (October 31, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865410917
• ISBN-13: 978-0865410916
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,757,461 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chipeta, Ute Peacemaker, August 19, 2009

By	L. A. Nichols "retired school librarian" (Colorado) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Chipeta, Ute Peacemaker, is an intricately woven story of Chipeta, the wife of the Ute Chief, Ouray. Exceptionally researched, it makes the history of the Ute people and their relationship to the white community and Chipeta's role in the history of these people accessible to middle grade students who need information for Colorado History reports, or reports on important women or on Native American studies. This book reads so well that it could also be a happy choice for the student who prefers nonfiction for their leisure reading. Becker has found the formula for making carefully documented research an interesting read for any age. This is a must have book for elementary and middle school libraries. It targets the middle grade students. See Chipeta, Queen of the Utes, by the same author, for an adult treatment of this topic in greater depth.

5.0 out of 5 stars Well balanced, November 6, 2009

By	Amie Pen - See all my reviews

This was a very quick read and very well balanced. Usually we read about Ouray, her husband, and there is not much information on Chipeta. I read this in conjunction with Evalyn Walsh McLean's book about how her father made millions of dollars by mining in the very country that the Utes were driven from by the miners. Interesting to see the greed of the white man destroying the life of the Native Americans and the ultimate ruin of Evalyn as a result of too much money and no work ethic. Chipeta's ability to cope in the face of the total destruction of her life as she knew it is an amazing story.