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• the Ute acquired the horse :and underwent rapid culture modification, including assimilation of various Plains Indian traits. The first European people to enter western Colorado were Spanish explorers. Juan de Riviera led an expedition through the San Juan Mountains in 1765 in search of mineral wealth (Mehls 1984). In 1776, the Escalante-Dominguez Expedition passed through western Colorado in search of a route between Santa Fe and missions,itt California. Exploitation of the Southern Rocky Mountain's natural resources by Euroamericans began in the 1820s with the arrival of fur trappers. This industry lasted until the late 1830s, when over- trapping and falling fur prices made such activities unprofitable (O'Rourke 1992). Euroamerican use of western Colorado was slight in the following two decades, being primarily explorations by the U.S. Government. Use intensified, however, with the discovery of gold in Colorado in 1859. A veritable gold rush followed the discovery, bringing thousands of Euroamericans to western Colorado. The Territory of Colorado was organized only two years later, in 1861. The influx of Euroamericans into the area inhabited by Ute Indians brought conflict. The Treaty of 1868 between the Utes and the federal government was an attempt to alleviate these con- flicts by forming a large reservation on the western slope of Colorado, away from the primary mining areas (Ubbelohde and Smith 1972). As mining continued to boom, however, many miners entered the reservation. In 1873, the Ilrunot Treaty opened some 4,000,000 acres of the reservation, includ- ing the San Juan Mountains, to Euroamerican exploitation. Mining camps at Gunnison, Crested Butte, Telluride, Silverton, Ouray, and elsewhere sprang up as a result. The Brunot Treaty served to increase hostilities between the Ute and Euroamericans, finally resulting in the confinement of the Ute to small reservations in southernmost Colorado and eastern Utah in 1881. As a result of the Brunot Treaty, a mining rush occurred in the San Juan Mountains, focus- ing on the Silverton area in 1874. Spreading out from Silverton, Augustus Begole and John Eckles discovered gold and silver deposits along the upper Uncompahgre River. Later in 1874, A.J. Staley and Logan Whitlock staked th.e Trout Lode and Fisherman Lode on the west side of present-day Ouray. Subsequent discoveries at the "Mineral Farm," just south of Ouray, resulted in a rush to the area in 1875. The town of Ouray was laid out the following year. Widespread prospecting and the location of many excellent ore deposits took place between 1877 and 1879. By 1881, good quantities of ore were being produced from the Imogene Basin area near Mt. Sneffels, upper Canyon Creek, Poughkeepsie Gulch, and from mines on Bear Creek. Although numerous mines had been located earlier in the Red Mountain district, it was not until 1882 that the Yankee Girl mine, the richest in that area, began producing ore. Roads and trails were built to all of the nearby mining districts from Ouray in order to compete with Lake City and Silverton as a source of supplies and for ore ship- ments. The completion of the ])enver & Rio Grande to Silverton in 1882 served to stimulate mining in the area by providing an outlet for ore that had previously been too costly to transport. Otto Mears constructed a toll road between Ouray and Silverton that was completed in 1884, further less- ening the cost of transporting ore. In 1887, Ouray was connected by railroad to the main Denver & Rio Grande Railroad line through Montrose. That same year, Otto Mears built the Silverton Rail- road north out of Silverton over Red Mountain Pass in order to tap the mineral riches of the Red Mountain mining district. The Panic of 1893 and demonetization of silver resulted in hard times for the region's mining industry. Gold mining continued to be profitable, especially because of new ore reduction technology, but this was restricted to a relatively few mines, particularly the Camp Bird Mine. A brief resurgence in mineral prices resulted in increased mining during World War I. Min- ing continued sporadically for 1;he next several yeazs only to came to a virtual standstill during the Depression (O'Rourke 1992;64-fi5, 68-70, 94, 99-103; Henderson 1926:54-55, 182-186). The ore deposits that came to be worked by the Camp Bird Mine were discovered by Thomas Walsh in 1896 at the abandoned workings of the Allied Mines Company on the Gertrude claim. Mining in the Ouray area had virtually ceased as a result of the Panic of 1893 and the decreased