Laserfiche WebLink
<br />e <br />ESPEY, HUSTON 3ASSOCIATES, INC. <br />• <br />Escalante expedition transected the region, the Ute were in frequent contact with <br />the Spanish in Hew Mexico. From the Spanish they acquired horses, fireazms and <br />other trade goods (Jennings, 1974). It is likely that the horse nomadic, hunter- <br />gatherer mode of subsistence upon which the Utes were dependent persisted until <br />their expulsion from northwestern Colorado following the Meeker massacre in 1879. <br />1.3.2 Euro-American Backlground <br />The Dominguez-Escalante Expedition was the first recorded instance of <br />European penetration into northwestern Colorado. Fray Silvestre Velez de <br />Escalante and Fray Francisco Dominguez, sent from Santa Fe to define a route to <br />California which would avoid the interference of the Hopi, traversed the Douglas <br />Creek valley, proceeded down the White River and crossed the Green River in the <br />vicinity of Split Mountain in 1776. The name "Canon Pintado," applied to that <br />• portion of the Douglas Creek drainage exhibiting Fremont rock azt, originated with <br />this expedition (Bolton, 1950). <br />Actual Euro-American exploitation and occupation of the region com- <br />menced in the eazly 1800's, when fur trappers expanded their activities to <br />northwestern Colorado (Atheazn, 1976). Antoine Robideaux sad his pazty of <br />trappers were probably the first Europeans to investigate the fur potential of the <br />expanse between Trappers Lake and the White River. Trapping activities occurred <br />from the Flattops to the IItah border as eazly as 1825. Alternate resources <br />available were largely neglected during this period, but the organization of informal <br />trading posts within the region provided the inroads for the encroachment of Euro- <br />American culture. By 1845, the fur resources of northwestern Colorado were <br />depleted and the majority of trappers transferred their interests elsewhere <br />(Atheazn, 1976). <br />' In anticipation of the possibility of waz with Mexico, Lieutenant <br />John C. Fremont engaged in the exploration of Colorado in 1845. The purpose of <br />n <br />U <br />E-12 <br />