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r1 <br />L~ <br />are virtually indistinguishable from Late Prehistoric sites, with <br />the exception of historic artifactual materials present in the <br />later sites. Materials which would serve to separate Historic <br />Period sites from earlier occupations include: glass objects, <br />such as trade beads or trinkets; and metal objects, including <br />knife blades, tinklers, and the like (Dtulloy 195.4:151). An <br />Historic Period site must have objects of European manufacture <br />associated with it. <br />No aboriginal sites which could be assigned to this period <br />were located in ttie study area. Little can be said regarding [he <br />aboriginal occupation during this time. <br />The first European contact occurred in 1776, when Escalante <br />passed through tiie west of tl~e study area in the Douglas Creek <br />region (Boulton 1972:166-170). Fur trappers in the L820's, in- <br />cluding such noted names as Jim Br idger, William Sub lette, and <br />Kit Carson, began operating in the general area of northwestern <br />Colorado and Wyoming (Trenliolm and Carley 1964:56-58). No con- <br />crete evidence of their presence, however, was found, either in <br />the form of campsites, structures, or artifactual materials. <br />When fur trapping became less important in the mid-1800's, <br />the discovery of gold in California brought another influx of <br />Euro-Americans to the ldest. The bulk of the traffic passed to <br />the north through North Pass in Wyoming so that the impact in the <br />study area was minimal. <br />The increased interest in the West, developing from the 1849 <br />Gold Rush, eventually resulted in the settlement of the Yampa <br />River basin by the Late l9th century. Interaction between the <br />Euro-Americans and the aboriginal population decreased drastically <br />in 1880 after the ?leeker idasacre (Sprague 1957), when the Utes <br />were removed to the Uni[ah Reservation near Vernal, Utah. From <br />that point to the present, the Yampa River basin has been occupied <br />almost exclusively by Euro-Americans. <br />The Euro-American utilization of the Yampa River basin was <br />initially agriculturally oriented. The Yampa River floodplain <br />was used for farming. Cattle and sheep ranching took place in <br />the drier areas above the river. Currently, mineral exloitation <br />and power production are competing with agriculture as [he major <br />resource in the valley. The mountain areas to the east of the <br />study area have been developed for recreational use. <br />r~ <br />L <br />4 <br />