2022-09-29_PERMIT FILE - C1980007 (4)

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CONTAINS PRIVILEGED INFORMATION – DO NOT DISTRIBUTE 5 Settled (4500–2500 cal BC), Transitional (2500–1000 cal BC), and Terminal (1000–400 cal BC) periods. The Formative era (400 cal BC–AD 1300), which follows the Archaic era, refers to the period in western Colorado when corn cultivation began in some portions of the region. Horticultural adaptations were most successful in southwestern and northwestern Colorado, where the Ancestral Pueblo and Fremont traditions are represented. The majority of the area’s Formative -era sites are campsites, probably representing habitation by comparatively mobile, foraging groups. Reed and Metcalf (1999) proposed the term Aspen tradition in reference to these mobile, non -farming, Formative-era foragers. Following approximately cal AD 1300, horticultural lifeways were abandoned, ushering in the beginning of the Protohistoric era, which, as defined by Reed and Metcalf (1999), lasted until the final expulsion of the Ute to reservations in AD 1881. Roughly concurrent with the ending of horticulture was the expansion of Numic -speaking groups into the region. These peoples are thought to have been the ancestors of the Ute and Shoshone. They were relatively mobile hunters and gatherers, manufacturing small quantities of brown ware ceramics, and relying on the bow-and- arrow for hunting. These groups inhabited small conical brush structures called wickiups. Historical Era The Ute lifeway was greatly influenced by contact with the Spanish. Contact between the Ute and Spanish probably commenced in the early AD 1600s (Callaway et al. 1986). Although Spanish authorities often prohibited direct trade with the Ute, the Ute were able to acquire horses and a variety of Euroamerican items, through a combination of unauthorized trade and raiding. These were integrated into Ute culture, with the Ute acquisition of horses occurring earlier than tribes to the north and west. The first European people to enter the area were Spanish explorers. Juan de Rivera led an expedition through the area in 1765 in search of mineral wealth. In 1776, the Spanish Fathers Escalante and Dominguez traversed western Colorado in search of a route to missions in California (Warner 1995). The Escalante/Dominguez expedition passed near present-day Paonia, crossed the Grand Mesa in this area, and crossed the Colorado River east of DeBeque. The fur trade was commenced in the 1820s. Trading posts were constructed near Delta, Colorado, on the Spanish Trail’s northern branch and in Browns Park in northeastern Utah. The Ute were directly involved in the fur trade and were regular participants of the trapper rend ezvous in extreme northwestern Colorado, which began in 1825 and continued until 1840. The Ute obtained considerable quantities of firearms and other Euroamerican items through participation in the fur trade. The Ute lifeway of hunting, gathering, and raiding continued to be successful until the 1850s, when gold was discovered in Colorado and colonial settlement intensified. Conflict increased when precious metals were discovered in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. The Ute were pressed to sign a treaty in 1863, designed to reduce conflicts with the miners and their supporting industries. The agreement terminated Ute mineral rights and forced them to relinquish all mountain areas settled by whites, as well as the San Luis Valley. In ex change, the Utes received a reservation composed of approximately 18 million acres in western Colorado. In 1881, the Ute were removed to three smaller reservations, two in southwestern Colorado and one in northeastern Utah. The period immediately following the forced removal of the Ute saw a massive influx of settlers pursuing mining, ranching, agriculture, and logging. Settlement of the North Fork Valley commenced in 1881, and the town of Paonia was founded soon after. Nearby towns (e.g., Aspen and Glenwood Springs) were founded in the late 1870s and mid -1880s, and coal was found in neighboring