Ute Indians, a tribe of the Shoshonean language family. When the Spanish first made contact with them in the 17th century, the Utes occupied part of the Great Basin in what is now western Colorado and eastern Utah. They acquired horses soon after and used them to make periodic migrations to the plains to hunt bison. In the mid-19th century, the Utes signed treaties ceding their lands to the United States in exchange for land west of the Continental Divide. Eventually they were forced onto reservations. The name of the state of Utah comes from the Ute Indians. Today, there are about 7,000 Utes living on three major reservations, in western Colorado, eastern Utah, and northern New Mexico.