To follow up on my last post, I want to talk about Nathan Meeker’s daughter, Josephine Meeker.
What makes Meeker interesting is that she was the youngest daughter from Nathan. The Meeker family was very involved in writing and literature. One of Josephine’s brothers Ralph sent her a writing machine at a young age so she could learn how to type.
Josephine was attending business school in Denver at the time. She was even a teacher for the Ute children while her father was the Agent at White River. Her father scolded her multiple times reminding her that she should not learn from them, but instead teach them.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the Meeker’s were colonizers. They were trying to spread Christianity, and tolerant views to various racial groups that weren’t their own. Mostly Nathan, but it is interesting to learn that Josephine wanted to connect with these folks on a deeper level.
Interestingly enough, when the Utes took a hold of the Meekers, they made Josephine do very little labor because she was so nice to the locals.
It’s interesting to know that she was treated very well, while others in her family were not.
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