WSP11553 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

f!' "'to. ,. . ': ~l-I . . J ...:1' be obtained through a concentrated and systematic reconnaissance of the study area. In historic times, the area is remarkable far the mining, logging, and grazing activities of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Reportedly still visible is a twenty-six-mile long ditch dug in the late nineteenth century for mining purposes (Routt National "orest, 1975). Diamond Park, on the North Fork, has a group of log cabin ruins that merit further study; the State Historical ~ociety has no record of this site at present. The historic sheep roadway south out of Wyoming runs through the study area, the scene of many bloody feuds between the sheepherders and the cattlemen. There are numerous aspen tree carvings near the South Fork, the artistic work of sheepherders; these historical resources are particu- larly fragile and are vulnerable to removal by collectors of such folk art. In conclusion, the present evidence does not indicate the presence of outstandingly remarkable historical or prehistorical resources in the Elk River study area. It should be emphasized, however, that the available evidence is slight and that the study area has not yet been intensely sur- veyed for such resources. Nevertheless, the available evidence may be interpreted as suggestive of further and greater prehistorical resources. I favor such an interpretation and believe the Elk River, from Clark to its source, to be eligible for inclusion in the Wild and Scenic Rivers System. REFSRENCES Benedict, 1974 James B. Early Front occupation of the Caribou Lake Site( Colorado Range. Plains Anthropologist 19(6)):1-4. Husted, Wilfred 1962 A proposed archaeological chronology for Rocky Mountain Park. M.A. thesis, University of Colorado, Boulder.