2018-01-03_PERMIT FILE - C1981010 (6)

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agricultural land, $5.00 per acre for mineral land (Borland 1952:75). By 1895, the major portion of the land in the area had been claimed, mostly under Cash Entry patents. The settlers raised their own food and availed themselves of the plentiful game in the area. Gardens, hay fields, and orchards were planted, and irrigation ditches were dug to divert the creek's water to cultivated fields. Large herds of cattle and sheep were accumulating, grazing the valley floors and the vast open ranges of the surrounding mountains, driven to the uplands via trails leading up the various gulches and canyons. In 1871 the first cattle were driven into Colorado, into Brown's Park. This area quickly became notorious because of constant rustling and its popularity as a hideout for outlaws (Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch perhaps being the most famous). By the 1890s the ranching interests of northwest Colorado had become divided. At the time of the coming of the railroad, cattle production was the major industry there; and at one time, Steamboat Springs was the largest cattle shipping point in the United States (Athearn 1977:83). Hence, the large cattle outfits in the region of the Little Snake River and Brown's Park fought to preserve the Open Range policy in the face of incursions into their territory by homesteaders and, worse yet, sheepmen. Terrible, violent range wars erupted with the first attempts to bring sheep onto the open range. Sheepherders and their animals were killed or driven back to Wyoming. In 1911, the George Valley Sheep Massacre brought public sympathy to the sheepmen when hundreds of sheep were driven over a cliff to their deaths (ibid.). The combination of small ranchers banding together with sheepmen and the creation of the National Forests and the requirements of grazing permits broke the power of the big ranches. The high mountains bordering Egeria Park offer some of the best summer grazing in the county; in 1918, the first ten carloads of sheep were brought into Egeria Park. The establishment of permanent communities occurred in the 1880s and 1890s. Town companies were formed and towns incorporated. The town of Meeker was established close on the heels of the Ute removal in 1882; Craig followed in 1889, and Hayden in 1895. Craig, Hayden, Hamilton, and Pagoda lie in close proximity to the project area. Craig, 5.5 miles to the northwest, was founded in 1889 as the Craig Land and Mercantile Company and in 1908 was incorporated as a city. Two years later Craig was named the county seat when Moffat County was created. Hayden is located 10 miles northeast of the project area. It was first settled in 1875 by James B. Thompson and Porter M. Smart who ran an Indian trading post. The town was established in 1894 and was incorporated in 1906 (Tread of the Pioneers Museum 1979). The town is named for F.V. Hayden who headed the survey party through the area for the USGS in the 1860s. Hamilton is located approximately seven miles southwest of the study area. Hamilton oil dome caused the first energy boom in the area when drilling was initiated by the Texas Company. The Discovery well produced 5,000 barrels of high quality oil a day. Hamilton 12