PERMFILE46736

• Permit No: C1981010
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 12/11/2001
• Doc Name: Surveys for Sites 5MF1960, 5MF2253, 5MF950 & 5MF2427
• Section_Exhibit Name: Appendix K Part X to XII
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

INTRUDOCTION
In September of 1985, Trapper f4ining, Inc., of Craig, Colorado,
contracted r:ith Nickens and Associates of 1lontrose, Colorado, to record
and evaluate a cultural resource site on its property. The existence of
the site had been knotm to Trapper I•!ir~e personnel for some time, but it
lead never been formally recorded or evaluated. The site is immediately
adjacent to an area of planned coal mining activities, and so may be
-- - adversely affe:r_ted.
On October 2, 1985, P1r. Alan D. Reed of Nickens and Associates met
with f•1r. 4lilliam Agnew, Environmental Engineer of Trapper I-lining, Inc.
P1r. Agnew accompanied the archaeologist to the cultural resource site.
The site was photographed and recorded on a state Office of Archaeology
and Historic Preservation site form and evaluated. The location of the
site eras established, tftereby permitting a records search to be conducted
by the Office of Archaeology and 1{istoric Preservation. This examination
of previously recorded cultural resource data, requested on October 7 and
completed on October 15, 1985, indicated that a prehistoric site had•been
identified nearby, but that no record of the site in question was,on file
at the state office.
SITE CESCRIPTION
• The site, designated 511F2253 in the state's cultural resources num-
bering system, is located atop a small knoll arithin the boundaries of the
Trapper Hine. Craig, Colorado, the county seat of 1~loffat County, is
apprcximately sir, miles (10 km) to the northeast (Figure 1). Tf~e site
is situated on the northern slopes of the 4lilliams Fork I•iountains, at an
elevation of 6845 feet (2086 in). The site is located in ari over-Irany be-
neath the caprock of a small knoll. The caprock is part of the Cretaceous
lJillianis Fork For•r~ation, which is comprised of sandstone, shale, and
major coal seams (7weto 1979). It is located on the south side of the
knoll, giving the site a southern exposure. Vegetation in, the vicinity
of the site is dominated by Gambel's oak and orasses (Figure 2). A small
unnamed intermittent drainage is approximately 25 m (82 feet) south of
the site; it flows northr:ester•ly into Johnson Gulch, an intermittent
tributary to tite Yampa River. The Yampa River, a major river system in
northr:estern Colorado, is approximately 3.5 miles (5.6 km) northwest of
the site.
Site 51'F~253 consists of a natural rock overhang in which a dry-laid
stone wall has been built. The t~~all tras apparently built to provide
protection from grinds. The rocksheltar• provides considerable natural
protection from the elements, as the area beneath the overhang is dry,
and large boulders surround most of the perimeter of the roclahelter.
The a~all spans the gap between trio large boulders on the south and west-
ern sides of the ruckshelter, and extends from the floor of the rock-
. sfrelter, where the gap bctrreen the boulders is only 1 m (3 feet) wide,
upwards to the tops of the boulder., where it is a maximum of 2.5 m long.
The rrall extends nearly to the ceiling of tl+e rockshelter, a distance of
1.7 m (5.6 feet) (Figure 3). Acce_.s t.o the roclcshelter is possible only
1