2025-08-01_PERMIT FILE - C1981019

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RULE 2 PERMITS South Taylor – Rule 2, Page 7 Revision Date: 7/21/25 Revision No.: MR-267 Hayden, Peale, Beckler, and Gannett, provided valuable information on the geology, flora, and fauna of western Colorado. During the early mining rushes in Colorado the northwest part of the state was difficult to reach and was the undisputed territory of the Ute Indians. In the 1860s pressure from white prospectors and settlers was heaviest in the San Juan Mountains to the south. After repeated conflicts, the Evans Treaty of 1863 and the Hunt Treaty of 1868 defined Indian lands in western Colorado. Agencies were established at the White River Agency near Meeker and Los Pinos west of Saguache. Nevertheless conflicts continued, culminating in the “Meeker Massacre” and the Thornburgh battle along Milk Creek in 1881. The White River Ute bands were removed to Utah and most of the Ute lands were opened to settlement. The settlement of the area had been made easier by the completion of the Union Pacific railroad in southern Wyoming. By 1871 cattlemen were entering the area along the Little Snake, Green, Yampa and White Rivers. Open range grazing was practiced till the early 1900s. In 1890s sheep began to be grazed in the area. The warring between cattlemen and sheepherders came to a head in 1920 with the Battle of Yellowjacket Pass. The Colorado militia was called in to establish peace. Open ranching of cattle came to an end in the early 1900s due to pressure from the sheep industry to share the land, homesteaders who made claims, and large tracts established for timber reserves. The cattle industry has been and still is a mainstay of the economy of the area. Western Colorado experienced several mining booms starting with the gold rush in the 1860s. Mining gilsonite, a rock used to produce asphalt, was an important industry for western Colorado in the early 1900s. Coal was discovered in North Park in 1890 but development had to wait until transportation was possible. Yampa valley coal fields faced the same problem. Oil fields are in the area and have been tapped since late 1890s. Today they still provide a small amount of production and economic stability. Transportation was needed to capitalize on the coal reserves and for ranchers to reach lucrative markets. From the late 1860s through the early 1900s wagon roads and cattle trails ran north to the Union Pacific Railroad in Wyoming. In the late 1880s another railroad, the Denver, Rio Grande and Western, was completed to the south along the Colorado River. David Halliday Moffat was the first to complete a rail line into northwestern Colorado. The Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway, often referred to as the Moffat Road, reached Steamboat Springs in 1908. Despite severe financial difficulties and the death of Moffat in 1911, the rail line was completed to Craig in 1913 (Fraser and Strand 1997). The original line was constructed over Rollins Pass. The Rollins Pass route was clearly a difficult route and had to be eliminated. The Moffat Tunnel, which by-passed Rollins Pass, was finally approved and built in the 1920s. The railroad brought the promise of an economic boom, but was never able to successfully meet expenses. The coal, cattle, and freight had a means of transportation, but it was not enough to keep the railroad in business. Transportation was also a key factor in tourism, which has been important in the region since the entry of the railroads. Tourism became a greater element of the economy with the emergence of motor vehicles and development of state and national highway systems. Detailed Cultural and Historic Resources Information Files Search – A file search was conducted through the Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP) for the legal sections containing the South Taylor permit revision area. The files search indicated that 24 previous investigations have included parts of these legal sections and 24 cultural resource sites and 45 isolated finds have been documented in the permit revision area. Table 2.04.4-1 lists the previous cultural resource investigations within the permit area. Two of the investigations were for transmission lines, two were for well locations, two were seismic prospects, one each were fiber optic and pipeline corridors, and the remaining surveys have been for coal mining permit areas, coal exploration, or related activities. All but one are listed as intensive (Class III) investigations, but some of the earlier investigations (prior to 1980) may not have recorded all of the resources to current standards.