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<br />e <br />ESPEY, HUSTON &ASSOCIATES, INC. <br /> <br />this expedition, Fremont's third, lay in the definition of possible routes of invasion <br />to Mexico and the exploration of the headwaters of the Arkansas and Grand Rivers <br />and the territory west as far as Salt Lake (Atheara, 1976; Site files of the Colorado <br />Department of Historic Preservation: May, 1979). Fremont's route followed the <br />White River to its junction with the Green River. In the estimation of this survey <br />party, northwestern Colorado lacked significant resources (Athearn, 1976). <br />The establishment of the Union Pacific transcontinental railroad through <br />Rawlins, Wyoming in the late 1860's provided improved access to northwestern <br />Colorado. A small influx of homesteaders was the result. Transportation routes <br />were well established in the region by the late 1880's (Site files of the Colorado <br />Depaztment of Historic Preservation: May, 1979)• <br />Substantial Euro-American exploitation of the region began in 1870, <br />• when the Piceance Creek area was initially used for cattle range. Cattle ranching <br />was the primary economic activity during the next two decades. Farming was <br />mazginal and normally associated with the production of hay. During the early <br />1890's, sheep were brought into northwestern Colorado and thus precipitated the <br />sheep and cattle wars of northwestern Colorado that were to last far thirty yeazs <br />(Athearn, 1976; Halandras, 1972; Jensen, 1972). <br />Impositions created by the White River Agency, as supervised by Nathan <br />Meeker, resulted is the alienation of the Ute bands present in the area. These later <br />culminated in the Meeker Massacre of 1879. Following the massacre, military <br />troops were stationed in Meeker in order to effect the removal of the Utes to <br />reservations south and west. These troops were withdrawn from the camp in 1883 <br />and the towasite of Meeker was established at the same location in 1885. For more <br />than twenty yeazs, Meeker was the only incorporated town in northwestern <br />Colorado. Later communities included Rio Blanco and Rangely (Simms, 1972). By <br />1900, homesteads were scattered throughout the region. The cattle and sheep <br />industries were the primary economic activities in the region until the 1920's, when <br />. oil sad coal exploitation began to assume economic significance (Atheazn, 1976). <br />E-13 <br />