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

INTkODOCTION
In September of 1985, Trapper Mining, Inc., of Craig, Colorado,
contracted a;ith Nickens and Associates of h1ontrose, Colorado, to record
and evaluate a cultural resource site on its property. The existence of
the site had been known to Trapper I~firie personnel for some time, but it
had never been formally recorded or evaluated. The site is immediately
adjacent to an area of planned coal mining activities, and so may be
- -- - adversely affected.
On October 2, 1985, P1r. Alan D. Reed of Nickens and Associates met
with ftr. 4Jilliam Agnew, Environmental Engineer of Trapper t%rining, Inc.
Plr. 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 was established, thereby permitting a records search to be conducted
by the Office of Archaeology and Historic 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 DESCRIPTION
• The site, designated 5MF2253 in the state's cultural resources num-
bering system, is located atop a small knoll within the boundaries of the
Trapper Rine. Craig, Colorado, the county seat of Moffat County, is
approximately sir, miles (10 km) to the northeast (Figure 1). Ttie site
is situated on the northern slopes of the 4illiams Fork Mountains, at an
elevation of 6II45 feet (2086 m). The site is located in arr over-Irang be-
neath the caprock of a small knoll. The caprock is part of the Cretaceous
Williams Fork Formation, which is comprised of sandstone, shale, and
major coal seams (Ttveto 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 grasses (Figure 2}. A small
unnamed inter°rnittent drainage is approximately 25 m (82 feet) south of
the site; it flows northwesterly into Johnson Gulch, an intermittent
tributary to the Yampa River. The Yampa River, a major river system in
northwestern Colorado, is approximately 3.5 miles (5.6 km) northr•rest of
the site.
Site 51;F2253 consists of a natural rock overhang in which a dry-laid
stone wall has been built. The wall was apparently built to provide
protection from winds. The rockshelt~ar 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 roclshelter.
The wall spans the yap betr•:een taro large boulders on the south and west-
ern sides of the rockshelter, and extends from the floor of the rock-
. strelter, where the gap between the boulders is only 1 m (3 feet.) aide,
upwards to the tops of the boulder~•, wire re it is a maximum of 2.5 m long.
_ The wall extends nearly to the ceiling of the rockshelter, a distance of
1.7 m (5.6 feet) (.Figure 3). Access to the rockshelter is possible only
1