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-15- <br />Colorado is essentially an arbitrary date marl::ng the first written account <br />of the aboriginal inhabitants by Escalante. The aboriginal inhabitant:: • <br />were identified by Escalante as "Yutas" or Utes, who continued to follow the <br />way of life described for tYce Western Archaic un~il conflicts with white <br />settlers forced them out of the area. A modification of the Western Archaic <br />pattern, however, did occur among the Utes somA time soon after 1680 A.D. <br />It is Omer Stewart's (In press) contention that southern Utes enslaved <br />by the Spanish inhabitants took large numbers of horses north when freed <br />by the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and introduced the use of the horse into the <br />Northern Great Plains. The most likely route they would have taken would <br />hav.: been through western Colorado. An essential ingredient of Stewart's <br />hypothesis is that Indian cultures unfamiliar wirl: horse handling were more <br />likely to eat them than ride them. Thos~z Utes who worked for the Spanish. <br />by force or choice, however, learned to bx~ea?: and ride horses and rapidly <br />incorporated them as a useful element of their cultural pattr~n. <br />4.1.4 The Fremont Culture: A.D. 900 - 1200 <br />No evidence of Fremont sites was encountered in the study area during <br />the present investigation but a description of tic E. culture is included <br />here to provide a better understanding of the prehistory of the area. • <br />Also, some of the sites encountered may turn out upon further investigat.;c.n <br />to represent temporary camps of Fremont peoples coming into the area from <br />the west on hunting and forag,in~ trips. <br />The Fremont culture is based on a mixed horticultural and hunting <br />and gathering subisitencr. base and its distribution is limited mainly to <br />the high valleys and plateaus of Utah. The Fremont area is divided into <br />five subunits, of which ~l~e Uinta branch is of spec:;.al interest here <br />because it is found in northeastern Utah and tl~r extreme northwestern area <br />of Colorado (J. Jennings 1974:317-318). Fremont dates range from A.D. 450 <br />to about A.D. 1300. Wi.tLin t:Lc• Uinta subarea, howe^c:r, Fremont occupation <br />is generally seen as beginning about 6;0 A.D. and ending at around 900 A..D. <br />In Dinosaur National Monuu~~c~`; Breternitz sees Fremont occupation begini;:~g <br />at about A.D. 1000+ 50 and ending no later than A.D. 1200.(1970:162-163). <br />The Fremont of Dinosaur National Monument is the easternmost extension <br />of the Uinta subarea and is about 6C airmiles west of the stud} area. <br />The basic Fremon` cultural pattern includes the cultivation of maize, <br />permanent villages composed of one room pithous.~r., the making and use of • <br />