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. Transitional Period {(4450-2950 B.P.) and the Terminal Period {2950-]950 B.P.). No matter which interpretive scheme is used, the overall trend from the beginning to the end of the Archaic was a shift from the exploitation of lazger game in the Paleo-Indian Stage to smaller game in the Archaic. The evidence of this can be seen in the change from lazge lanceolate points to smaller stemmed, corner-notched and side-notched projectile points. In most cases, the projectile points lacked the fine, precise flaking characteristic of the Paleo-Indian Stage. In addition, the people of the Archaic Stage were less nomadic establishing "seasonal settlement systems" (Reed and Metcalf 1999:79). Within the Colorado mountains, the Paleo-Indian/Archaic transition may have occurred as early as 8,500 years ago (Black ] 986). Continuous use of a location was demonstrated at the Vail Pass Camp site (Gooding 1981). The Archaic Period then, is seen as a time when native peoples moved info small temtorial areas and became more familiar with local resowces in order to exploit them more efficiently. Protohistoric/Historic Stage The Protohistoric/Historic Stage inc)udes aboriginal occupation from the Late Archaic through the removal of the Ute lndians to reservations in A.D. ] 881. Subsistence and settlement patterns begun during the Archaic were continued into this stage. The people of this time period "constructed wickiups for shelter, manufactwed brown ware ceramics, and hunted with bows and arrows" (Reed and Metcalf 1999: ] 46). The Ute Indians were the only known tribe to make a permanent home in the mountains of Colorado. They came in contact with the Spaniazds in the early 1600s. They subsequently adopted the horse, use of metal projectile points and other Ewopean trade goods. HISTORIC PERIOD OVERVIEW As mentioned above, prior to European occupation of the Project Area humans were present for approximately 10,000 yeazs. Immediately prior to Ewopean occupation, in the Historic Period, the area was populated by the Ute and possibly the Shoshone. Spain was the original claimant of Colorado based upon Coronado's expeditions of 1540-41. Spanish explorers, military parties and traders ventwed north out of Mexico, settled New Mexico and continued north into what became Colorado. Spanish explorers traveled east and west of the Rocky Mountains. Trappers and traders entered the mountains in the 1830s and continued to exploit them into the 1880s. More extensive exploration of the Western Slope came after the Colorado Gold Rush of 1859 when miners and other spread throughout the state searching for mineral wealth. The Federal government began sending explorers into the.region during the 1870s. In 1873 the .well-known Hayden surveys of Colorado began. The expedition's leader, Ferdinand V. Hayden, was a professor of medicine at Yale University before he began his work as an explorer and natwalist. By 1873 his reputation was well-established because of his efforts in the Yellowstone Park surveys of 1869. Hayden worked for the then infant United States Geological Survey. The 9