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<br />JJJ171 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />CHAPTER II <br /> <br />DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA <br /> <br />and grass flats on the plateaus, and desert shrub and thin grass on the <br />lower benches. Trees are generally confined to the mountains except for <br />wet areas in canyons or around seeps where such varieties as cottonwood, <br />ash, tamarisk, western redbud, and serviceberry may be found. Large areas <br />are sparsely covered with sagebrush, cacti, yucca, and other semidesert <br />plants and grasses. The re are also extensive reaches of bare rock and sand. <br /> <br />Mule deer, rodents, birds, and reptiles are typical of the animal <br />life. Bighorn sheep are seen occasionally in or near the canyons of the <br />Green and Colorado Rivers. <br /> <br />Historical Sketch <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Human occupancy of the San Juan Area dates back at least to <br />the time of Christ and probably to several centuries B.C. The first <br />knmm inhabitants were Indians of the Basketmaker or Desert Archaic type. <br />Their original primitive culture appears to have beet! influenced by evo- <br />lution from within and from contacts from the south. It thus gradually <br />changed into a culture of the Pueblo II type which reached its height in <br />the period between 900 and 1200 A.D. The people of this period, popu- <br />larly referred to as Cliff Dwellers, lived by farming and hunting. Evi- <br />dence of their irrigation practices is found in abandoned ditches and <br />check dams. The Cliff Dwellers withdrew from the area around 1200 A.D., <br />probably migrating to the Kayenta Anasazi Area of northeastern Arizona. <br />Their withdrawal may have been due to encroachment of the Paiute Indians <br />who occupied the r"gion in historic times or possibly to a period of pro- <br />longed drouth. The present Indian population is predominantly Navajo. <br /> <br />White men first entered the region when Spanish explorers came in <br />search of gold and Catholic missionaries came to bring Christianity to <br />the Indians. They "ere followed by other explorers, trappers, railroad <br />surveyors, and men seeking a water route to California. Travelers along <br />the Old Spanish Trail traversed the area. Cattle grazing along the trail <br />continued until about 1850. At times the trail herd numbered in the <br />thousands. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The first settlers were Mormon colonists sent out from northern Utah. <br />An 1855 attempt to settle at Moab failed because of conflict with Indians. <br />A second effort in 1877 established Moab as a permanent community. Bluff <br />;Jas established in 1880 by an expedition of 250 MOI1nons recruited in south- <br />central Utah. The expedition's difficult 6-month trek in a route across <br />Glen Canyon of the Colorado River at the Hole-in-the-Rock is famous as a <br />remarkable pioneering achievement. The Bluff settlers did not prosper at <br />general farming and turned to cattle raising which became the principal <br />economic activity of the area. Some of the settlers moved northward, <br />founding Monticello in 1888. Blanding ;Jas settled in 1905 when irrigation <br />"ater "as brought from the Abajo (Blue) Mountains. <br /> <br />Prospectors rushed into the area in the 1880's, searching for gold <br />and silver. No significant discoveries were mad~. There have been a <br /> <br />16 <br />