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<br /> <br />Figure.1. Steamboat Springs <br /> <br />Yampatica Indians, a branch of the Northern Ute group, spent their <br />summers in the Steamboat Springs area for many centuries before <br />pioneers settled the region. The Indians came to hunt and escape <br />.t~e heat in tribal areas along the lower Yampa River. III and <br />infirm people came due to the curative powers the Indians- attributed <br />to the varied.mineral springs. Mountain men hunted and trapped in <br />the Yampa Vall.ey as early as 1825. Their rendezvous in the valley, <br />at the junction of the Yampa and Green Rivers, was an annuai event <br />until about 1840 when the fur trade ceased. Migrants who had <br />wandered off the Oregon Trail, over 100 miles to the north, were in <br />the StearoboatSprings area in 1839 and 1849, and many prospectors <br />roamed the region in the 1860s. <br /> <br />Following the original settlement of the town in 1875 by the James <br />Crawford family, Steamboat Springs was a livestock center. A few <br />large ranches ran approximately 100,000 head of cattle on open <br />"range. Livestock production is still very important in the economy <br />of the community. Other long standing agricultural activities <br /> <br />10 <br />