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• <br />the 1880's. Elevation in the study area averages 5920 feet. [t is presently being used as <br />orchards and hay fields, which was a linutation to the survey because ground visibility ranged <br />from a maximum of 25 percent to less than 10 percent. <br />The surrounding higher elevations support four main plant communities: Upper <br />Sonoran and Transitional Zone (oakbrush, serviceberry, pinyon /juniper) on the mountain <br />sides, and riparian woodland and sagebrush/grassland in the narrow valley bottoms. The <br />region supports numerous wildlife species. Elk, deer, coyote, black bear, rabbits and raptors <br />are common. <br />Climatically, the yearly average temperature is 5 ] degrees F., and there is a maximum <br />of 120 frost-free days in a year, Annual precipitation is about 12-15 inches (USDA SCS <br />1976, Cover type 239}. Paleoenvirortmental data for the azea are scant, but it is agreed that <br />gross climatic conditions have remained fairly constant over the last 12,000 yeazs. Still, <br />changes in effective moisture and cooling/warming trends probably affected the prehistoric <br />occupation of the area. <br />Prehistoric ]and use patterns that primarily involved hunting and gathering practices <br />had little or no adverse affect on the local environment. Prehistoric camps most likely <br />• occurred on the south-facing benches above the river, which were terraced to accommodate <br />farming and mining facilities. <br />Literature Review <br />A files search was made through the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation <br />of the Colorado Historical Society. Three surveys had been performed in the area. One was <br />a Class II (sampling) block survey for the Orchazd Valley Mine involving 1200 acres that <br />included areas in adjacent sections (faker 1984). Thirteen sites and five isolated finds were <br />recorded, a ratio of 1 site per 92.3 acres. The second was a survey conducted for the Slate <br />Highway 133 Expansion from Hotchkiss to the Paonia Dam (Gooding 1978). A total <br />acreage was not determined but only two sites were recorded. Both those surveys <br />documented the town of Bowie as site SDT122 but not [he King Mine although the two are <br />inseparable in their history. The third inventory was conducted for the Bowie Mine #2 <br />Project, which recorded the King Mine (Conner et al. 1995). <br />Regional archaeological studies suggest nearly continuous human occupation ofwest- <br />central Colorado for the past 12,000 years. Evidence of the Paleoindian Tradition, the <br />Archaic Tradition, Formative Cultures, and Protohistoric/Historic Utes has been found. An <br />overview of the prehistory is provided in a new document published by the Colorado Council <br />of Professional Archaeologists' entitled Colorado Prehistory: A Content for the Northern <br />Colorado Plateau (Reed and Metcalf 1999). <br />2 <br />