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35 <br /> 2. 4 Historic Context <br /> The historic context for Dowe Flats covers the period of Euro- <br /> american interest and occupation from approximately 1700 to the <br /> present. The history of the lands that comprise the Dowe Flats <br /> Study Area is dominated by the evolution of a high plains, rural <br /> agricultural lifestyle. Other factors, particularly mining and <br /> quarrying, influenced the area's history, but in one way or <br /> another the majority of those factors were associated with the <br /> area's general rural development. Mining is often viewed as <br /> historic Colorado's basic industry but agriculture constantly has <br /> been the state's most profitable and steady source of income. <br /> Within Boulder County agriculture has been a predominant <br /> enterprise despite the variations of altitude and terrain. "No <br /> county . . . has so wide a range in altitude within so small an <br /> area." (Year Qok 1918:18) The eastern part of the county is <br /> within the Platte River Valley, is basically level and is <br /> excellent agricultural land. The western sections of the county <br /> have a rapid rise in elevation to mountain peaks and provide good <br /> pasture land. Recent studies identified a total of four historic <br /> themes for lands near the Study Area (Burney 1989; Meier 1987a; <br /> Meier 1987b; Riggs 1987; Weiss 1980, 1981) . The use of such a <br /> narrowly defined historic framework may lead to oversim- <br /> plification if extended to too large an area. Equally, the <br /> approach taken in those reports tends to diminish any uniqueness <br /> the Study Area's history may possess when evaluated within a <br /> regional (Front Range or Colorado Plains) context. Review of <br /> presently available sources indicates that an enlarged <br /> thematic framework is needed to accommodate both the regional <br /> context and the uniqueness of the Study Area. For the Dowe Flats <br /> area the pertinent historic themes include: 1 ) Exploration and <br /> the Fur Trade, 1100-1845; 2) The Colorado Gold Rush and Early <br /> Settlement, 1858-1870; 31 Early Agricultural and" Ranching <br /> Development, 1870-1895; 4) Quarrying and Urban Growth and <br /> Development, 1870-1900; 5) Ranching and Farming After 1900; and <br /> 6) The Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945. All of <br /> these themes except Exploration and the Fur Trade are directly <br />