Ouray, Utah


Ouray is an unincorporated community in west‑central Uintah County, Utah, United States.

Description

The community is located primarily on the north bank of the confluence of the Duchesne and Green rivers at an elevation of. Ouray is situated within the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation at the southern terminus of State Route 88, about south-southwest of Vernal.
The community is the second oldest modern settlement within the Uinta Basin and was named in honor of Chief Ouray, a Native American chief of the Uncompahgre band of the Ute tribe. In the Ute language, "Ouray" means arrow.

History

The area was first settled by Europeans in the early 1830s when a trading post was established by French fur trader, Antoine Robidoux. The trading post was also known as Antoine Robidoux' Fort. Although he moved the trading post further north within a few years, the settlement remained in use and became known as Fort Kit Carson.
Decades later, in 1881, an Indian agency for the Uncompahgre band of the Utes was established and included a post office for the area. At that time the settlement received its current name of Ouray. In response to the Meeker Massacre in Colorado in 1879, Fort Thornburgh was built in the area in 1886, but was moved to near the present day Vernal less that a year later.
Even with the abandonment of the forts in the area, the community still prospered. However, by the late 1920s the population began to slowly decline. By December 1964, the post office finally closed.