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i <br /> 33 <br /> Wichita are known to have used the area during the period of <br /> accelerated mobility and conflict following acquisition of <br /> firearms and horses. It is difficult to estimate the potential <br /> frequency of sites because early protohistoric sites are probably <br /> often indistinguishable from prehistoric occupations while very <br /> late protohistoric sites may be mistaken for early Euro-american <br /> camps. <br /> Table 1 presents a very general outline of major prehistoric <br /> cultural episodes and concurrent paleoclimatic events for eastern <br /> Colorado. Data used in this table are derived from Cassels <br /> (1983) , Eighmy (1984) , Morris (1982) , Benedict (1975, 1979) and <br /> Benedict and Olson (1978) . <br /> Protohistoric occupations (post - A. D. 1500) are rare in the <br /> Colorado Piedmont . This situation appears to result primarily <br /> from a lack of research emphasis. Ethnographic data indicate <br /> that the foothills region was the western boundary for Plains <br /> Indian occupations. Until approximately A. D. 1700, the Apache <br /> dominated the entire eastern portion of the state. Following the <br /> Apache movement south, the Comanche and Ute claimed this area <br /> until about A. D. 1750. Between A. D. 1750 and A. D. 1820, the <br /> Comanche and Ute split the state in half, with the Comanche <br /> remaining east of the Rocky Mountains. By A. D. 1830 the <br /> Arapahoe and Cheyenne were dominant in the northeastern quarter <br /> of Colorado. The last major transition occurred with the <br /> Cheyenne and Arapahoe dominating the entire eastern half of the <br /> state by the mid-1800s (Cassells 1983) . <br /> Information regarding the historic Indian tribes is available in <br /> Burney and Lovejoy (1994) . <br />