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The community of Grand Junction, Colorado, began in 1881 following the deportation of most of the state's western Ute Indian tribes to the Uintah Indian Reservation in the Utah Territory. After "Lo" (the poor Indian) was forcibly removed, white men could not populate the vicinity fast enough. What was once the exclusive domain of the Ute was rapidly usurped by toilers of the tiller's trade. The vast expanses of Gunnison County were divided into Mesa, Delta and Montrose counties. Conditions in the newly founded town of Grand Junction were Spartan, to say the least, but within 30 years the community was as cosmopolitan as any in America. Irrigation canals were constructed and the desert bloomed in profusion until Mesa County became nearly the finest agricultural-producing locality in the country.