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<br />, <br />~ <br />, <br />I <br />, <br />I <br />I <br />r <br />I <br />! <br /> <br />RACKGROUND INFORMATION <br /> <br />SETTLEMENT <br /> <br />Though the valleys of the Colorado and Gunnison Rivers were wel I <br />known travel routes to early scouts, trappers, and guides, It was not <br />until the nomadic Ute Indians were permanently relocated to Utah in <br />1881 that the Grand Val ley was opened to settlement. <br /> <br />f <br />I <br />I <br />~ <br />, <br /> <br />In September 1881, anticipating oonstructlon of the Denver and <br />Rio Grande Western Railroad main line along the val ley of the Colorado <br />River and a branch line along the val ley of the Gunnison River, George <br />Crawford, a former governor of Kansas, located the towns I te of Grand <br />Junction on the north side of the Colorado River at the junction wIth <br />the Gunnison River. Late in 1881, the townsite was surveyed and l.ots <br />were sold. Irrigated agriculture and the production of livestock were <br />begun In the spring of 1882. By the time the narrow-gage railroad from <br />Gunnison was completed in November 1882, The community had grown to <br />540 people. The main I ine of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad <br />was oompleted through Grand Junction In 1891. Though there was no river <br />commerce, the river valleys were important passageways through the <br />rugged intermountain area. As a result Grand Junction became a major <br />rail and highway center. The rivers also provided Important sources of <br />water for irrigation. <br /> <br />TI1E STREA\1S AND THEIR VALLEYS <br /> <br />The area of study for this report comprises the flood plains along <br />the Colorado River from 22 Road below Grand Junction upstream to the <br />CI if ton Bridge on 32 Road, a distance of about 12 miles, and along the <br />Gunnison River from Its mouth upstream to Red lands Dam, a distance of <br />about 2 mil es. <br /> <br />( <br />