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• TRACT IIA SURVEY <br />This report discusses the field survey of the area known as Tract IIA. <br />This tract includes a drainage known as Calamity Draw (Figure 1), but it <br />is extensively disturbed by habitation and agricultural activities. <br />Vehicular reconnaissance revealed almost no pristine ground surface <br />within the tract; nearly all of it had been leveled and/or cultivated. <br />A significant portion of the land along the drainage is swampy in nature <br />and supports a dense growth of grasses which obscures the ground <br />surface. A small area of about five acres was inspected at the very <br />northward end of the tract. <br />RESULTS <br />No significant historic or prehistoric resource properties were located <br />in Tract IIA. Extant farms do not have an appearance of historical <br />significance. One collapsed cellar and an associated trash scatter was <br />observed near the west end of the westward extending arm of the tract; <br />however, the structure and trash are apparently less than fifty years of <br />age. Two car bodies of greater age are present nearby. There is no <br />evidence of habitation structure remains. The area appears to have been <br />utilized for storage and trash dumping and was not recorded. <br />The survey results at this tract are consistent with those Tucker found <br />in his 1986 coverage of the adjacent Tract II. If once present at all, <br />any remains of prehistoric materials have been obliterated or obscured <br />• by land use activities. On the other hand, a subjective observation is <br />that the acreage within Tract IIA does not possess a medium or high <br />probability for prehistoric site occurrence. <br />RECOMMENDATIONS <br />Given the results of the survey for Tract IIA, it is impossible to add <br />to any interpretation of historic or prehistoric utilization of this <br />land. As Tucker (1986:18) noted, historic use of the area began in the <br />first decade of this century. While records or oral history data for <br />the study tract could be available to aid in the understanding of <br />historical land use patterns, it does not appear that any significant <br />historical structures or sites are located in the tract. <br />As a result of the field analysis, no further cultural resource site <br />work is recommended for the acreage contained within Tract IIA of the <br />Nucla Mine. <br />REFERENCE CITED <br />Tucker, Gordon C. <br />1986 Results of Archaeological Investigations at the Nucla Mine, <br />Montrose County, Colorado. Report prepared for Peabody Coal <br />Company. Nickens and Associates, Montrose. <br /> <br />58 <br />