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<br />. <br /> <br />other forms ofagriculturc in the area were dependent on the rapid and extensive <br />development of irrigation systems. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />ethnic group. Itoont.ains distinctiveelcmenlS ofHispartic architecture such as adobe <br />construction. <br /> <br />Irrigation systems have been ideotified asimponant historic resources inhistorlc <br />context reports produced by the Colorado Historical Society titled 'Colorado <br />Mountains Historie Context" by Steven Mehls and 'Colorado Engineering Context' <br />by Joseph King. lnigation has played an integral role in the settlement of Colorado, <br />and the remains of early irrigation syslemsrepresent an important cultural resource. <br /> <br />The second theme is transportation. The Union Pacific Railroad is associated <br />with a transportation system that was instrumental in the settlement of the West. <br /> <br />The archeological sites in the Dry Creek study area date to the historic period. <br />Specific sites along Boxeldcr and Spring Creeks were not identified as a part of this <br />study. In aleue[ dated SJuly 1990, the Colorado State Historic Preservation Officer <br />(SHPO) (refer to Appendix A) identified the following sites: <br />. Site SLR995. This site consists of LIke Canal, which runs parallel 10 Dry <br />Creek. This site is not eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). <br />. Site SLR990. This site consists of the Alia Vista subdivision, which is a small <br />Hispanic settlement north of AndcrsonviJle. The SHPO has determined this site to <br />be eligible for the NRHP. <br />. Larimer and Weld Canal. This irrigation canal is listed on the NRHP. <br /> <br />The third theme is irrigation. These sites include Josh Ames Ditch (now <br />abandoned), Lake Canal, and Larimer and Weld Canal. lmgation was pivotal to <br />settlement of the Front Range. This area would not have become an important <br />population centcr if agriculture had not been supported by irrigation. Gcrman <br />immigrants may have focused on an agricultural subsistence base. Further evaluation <br />ofthesc irrigation systems in the project area would need 10 be conductcd as part of <br />any feasibility studies. Irrigation systems were likely to have been flfSt built by the <br />early Hispanic settlers in Colorado and expanded by the later Anglo-American <br />Sl'ttlers. A number of impor'".a.'ll irrigation innovations were developed or improved <br />in Colorado. The Cache la Poudre RiveT and the Cache la Poudre River basin are <br />beiog considered as National Heritage Areas and as a 'working river" for these <br />reasons. <br /> <br />Two other sites of potential historical importance for which no additional <br />intormation is available on their eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places <br />are the Josh Ames Ditch and the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) line. <br /> <br />A widc complex of irrigation systems has been built in this part of Colorado. <br />These systems have been upgraded and rebuilt over time, and unused portions <br />survive in some areas. For eumple, what appeared to be an abandoned drop <br />structllre was ohserved WCS( of Alta Vista during a brief cultural resource field <br />survcy. Other resources associated with irrigation atll located in the study area, <br />including a diversion structure on Larimer and Weld Cana1 and other devices 10 <br />control the flows of the canals. <br /> <br />All of the above sites are associated with three themes that the. SHPO considers <br />important to Colorado. The first theme isethnicity. Alta Vista wasappatenUy fll'S1 <br />setUed by German immigrants and is now dominated by members of the Hispanic <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />3-7 <br /> <br />3-' <br /> <br />. <br />