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<br />032144 <br /> <br />most important was John C. Fremont who in ~844 led an army expedition <br /> <br />into the Brown's Park area. His orders were to map the region and <br /> <br />seek routes for new trails west. He said little about this part of <br /> <br />COlorado, but noted that, in his opinion, this country was nearly <br /> <br />worthless. The next year his second expedition into the area con- <br /> <br />cluded much the same thing. <br /> <br />Twenty-four years later, John Wesley Powell was commissioned <br /> <br />to map the Green and the Colorado Rivers. In the course of doing <br /> <br />this a large amount of information was collected about the Grean <br /> <br />Basin. He noted that the Brown's Park area was of little value and <br /> <br />that the only way this part of the state would ever develop would be <br /> <br />with irrigation. <br /> <br />The discovery of gold in 1859 near Denver precipitated a major <br /> <br />rush to Colorado. Two factors, the presence of the Ute Indians, and <br /> <br />a lack of transportation into the area kept this region from develop- <br /> <br />ing on a larger scale. <br /> <br />The lack of transportation was solved in 1869. With the comple- <br /> <br />tion of the Union Pacific Railroad (the Transcontinental) rail transport- <br /> <br />ation was within sixty miles of the northwest corner. Soon cattlemen <br /> <br />moved into Brown's Park, and by 1871 a major industry had developed <br /> <br />along the Little Snake, the Green and the Yampa Rivers. By 1876, <br /> <br />cattle were being grazed in North Park by J. O. Pinkham, and along <br /> <br />the White River near the future Meeker. <br /> <br />