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BACKGROUND INFORMATION SETTLE~~ENT The Cache la Poudre River received its name when a party of French trappers trave ling through the area in 1836 decIded to hi dp., or cache, their excess suppl ies, Including a quantity of gunpowder, at a certain location to be reclaimed later, White men probably first traversed the Cache la Poudre River area as early as 1720, when a Spanish military force in search of gold passed through the region, The river valley was a favorite hunting around for the Arapahoe Indians; 150 of their lodges were counted in 1844 at what is now Laporte, Colorado, An easy natural river crossing at Laporte resulted in it becoming a station on the emigrant traIl and staae line. United states cavalry sent there in the early 1860's called their post Camp Collins after their commanding officer Colonel W, O. Collins, stationed at Fort Laramie. In 1864, June floods badly damaged the Laporte camp site and the soldiers moved to the prllsent site of Fort Coil ins.' In 1870 Nathan Meeker traveled to Colorado from New York City, in search of a location for his planned community. r~eeker was the a'lrl- cultural llditor of Horace Greeley's New York Tribune, A location was selected near the confluence of the Cache la Poudre and South Platte Rivers, Development occurred near the Cache la Poudre River because crop irrigation was necessary to supplement rainfall which was not sufficient to Insure successful cultivated crops, The Fort Collins-Greeley area has a history of continued growth due to a strong economic base. Not only has its rich, irriqated farm land placed it within the top ten areas in the nation for agricultural productior ,but conditions have also proved very favorable for cattle ranching and live. stock feeding operations. Local industry includes meat packing, sugarbeet processing, farm machinery, photographic suppl ies, clothing, plastic From "History of Larimer County, Colorado" by Ansel Watrous, the Courier Printing and Publishing Co" Fort Collins, 191 I. products, dental appliances, chemicals, cement, lumber, and mobile homes. The area has retail markets and professional services 'In I d' i . , cUIng commerc al and financial, The University of Northern Colorado and a two-y~ar community college are located at Greeley and Colorado State University Is located at Fort Collins. THE STREAM AND ITS VALLEY The Cache la Poudre River begins In the Rocky Mountains west of Fort Collins, Colorado and flows In a north and easterly direction to where It Joins with a major tributary, the North Fork Cache la Poudre River, From this point the river enters the high plains area and flows southeast through Fort Collins and Greeley, Colorado to the South Platte River. Elevations In the basin range from about 4 600 fe t' I I ' ,e I mea." sea eve I near the mouth to over 12,000 feet, mean sea level, at the Continental DIvide, A basin map is shown on plate I and climatoloqical data is shown in table I, ' \ Table I Climatological Data Locat Ion Average Annua I Average July Precipitation Temperatures (OF) (inches) Fort Collins 15 69 Greeley II 89 Average Januarx Temperatures ( F) 26 9 The reach of the Cache la Poudre River studied In this report is about 24 miles in length measured along the channel centerline. It begins near the mouth of Spring Creek In Section 20, T7N, R68W and ends about 4 1/2 miles west of 8th Avenue In Greeley in Section 33, T6N, R66W. This reach of the Cache la Poudre River has a wel I defined channel bordered by a relatively flat flood plain containing intermittent tree growth and open, fertile fields. Table 2 shows the average slope of the Cache la Poudre River stream bed by reaches. 2