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. Historical Sketch of Basin Development With the Colorado, as is generally the case for other rivers, water . W quantity and availability have more to do with the rate and type of develop- 00 ~ ment than does water quality. But eventually, as the river system is increasingly W . developed, water quality becomes an important consideration. In tracing the development of the Colorado River Basin, archeological evidence indicates that man's presence in the Upper Colorado River Basin covers a time span . of over 11 thousand years. However, recorded history indicates that the first documented exploration was made by the Spanish conquistidor, Hernando de Alarcan, in l540 with subsequent expeditions continuing into the start of . the 19th century. In the early 1800's, traders and trappers entered the basin and it was not long before the total basin was explored and mapped. . A fort built by Antoine Robidon in l832 near the confluence of the Uintah and Duchesne Rivers was one of the first settlements in the Upper Colorado River Basin. The discovery of gold and silver near Breckenridge, . Colorado, in about l860 attracted many miners and prospectors to the region, and development followed the influl< of people. Because of the mineral wealth and relative abundance of water, the Upper Colorado Basin, particularly in . the states of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, developed earlier than did the Lower Colo,"ado River Basin. . In l869, Major John W. Powell explored the Colorado River from Greim River, Wyoming, to the mouth of the Virgin River, a distance of 500 miles. Powell (l96I, p.24) noted the extent to which present and earlier Indian tribes . 24 .