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RULE 2 PERMITS <br />Paleoindian Stage (13,400 to 7,500 years before present (B.P.)). Characterized by kill sites and game <br />processing sites. Tool assemblages consist of chipped stone tools, including dart points and specialized <br />hide -processing tools, used in the hunting and processing of large animals, primarily now -extinct <br />megafauna such as mammoth, extinct species of bison, and camels. In northwest Colorado, the <br />Paleoindian Stage is divided into four traditions: Clovis, Goshen, Folsom, and Foothill -Mountain. <br />Archaic Stage (8,400 to 2,000 B.P.). Time of changing environment that necessitated modifications of <br />the preceding lifestyle to the warmer, drier conditions. These adaptations were manifested in intensive <br />foraging of plant resources and hunting of deer and smaller game. Technologically there was an increased <br />use of grinding stones and a general decrease in the size of dart points. Known site types include both <br />open sites and rockshelters. These sites often contain features such as frepits, storage cists, and <br />architectural structures. <br />Formative Stage (2,400 to 700 B.P.). This stage includes the Anasazi, Fremont, Gateway, and Aspen <br />traditions. The stage is characterized by a change in technology, subsistence, trade, and demographics. <br />The technology is marked by the widespread use of pottery and small corner -notched and side -notched <br />projectile points that were hafted to arrows. There is also evidence of gardening or horticulture, with corn <br />as an important subsistence crop, combined with the use of wild plants. Site types include open sites, <br />rock shelters, and various forms of architecture. Architecture includes masonry structures, pit structures, <br />and kivas. In some areas there are highly patterned residential sites, water control structures, and roads. <br />Protohistoric Stage (700 to 120 B.P.). This stage is defined as the era at the end of the horticultural -based <br />subsistence practices of the Formative era up through the final expulsion of the Ute to reservations (Reed <br />and Metcalf 1999). The Ute Indians were the primary occupants of the area with Shoshone in the extreme <br />northwest portion. The Comanche may also have occupied some areas briefly. These people were <br />mobile hunters and gatherers. Site types include open camps, rockshelters, and wickiup sites. Artifacts <br />include a combination of traditional hunting and gathering items, evidence of equestrian lifestyle, and <br />European trade items. <br />The research areas identified settlement patterns, paleodemography, subsistence, trade and exchange, and <br />chronology which are topics that still need further resolution for all prehistoric stages. Specific research <br />problems are defined within these broader research areas and are discussed in greater detail in Reed and <br />Metcalf (1999). <br />Historic Context — The project area is within the Colorado Plateau Country Historic Context (Husband <br />1984). Among the themes discussed the most relevant to the project area are fur trade and exploration, <br />Ute-Euroamerican contact, mining, early transportation, railroads, ranching and farming, the lumber <br />industry, recreation, and tourism. <br />The Spanish were the first Europeans to enter the southern portions of the area in the late 1700s but left <br />no record of the region. Fur trappers and explorers were the first Euroamericans to have sustained contact <br />and to leave some record of the area. John Charles Fremont made several expeditions into northwest <br />Colorado but records show that the area was written off as worthless. It was the discovery of gold that <br />brought a substantial number of settlers into the region. Middle Park and North Park had miners settling <br />in the area during the 1860s gold rush. It was soon evident that gold was not panning out but settlement <br />had begun. In 1861, William Byers bought Hot Sulphur Springs with plans on turning it into a tourist <br />resort. However, development of the area into a bustling tourist center did not happen until a reliable <br />access route was established. The survey by John Wesley Powell in 1869 added new and accurate <br />information on western Colorado. Powell noted that the land was not well suited to agriculture and that to <br />attempt it would require irrigation. The United States Geological Surveys (USGS) in the 1870s by <br />South Taylor/Lower Wilson— Rule 2, Page 6 Revision Date: 11/18/16 <br />Revision No.: MR -163 <br />