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granaries. The one common denominator, the bam, originally served three basic functions, <br />storage of hay, an area for intensive livestock husbandry such as milking or drag animal caze, and <br />storage for some machinery. Beyond those fairly common buildings the diversity grew. At <br />approximately the same time the automobile caused ranchers to constmct garages or convert <br />carriage houses. The gazages generally were separate from the house, sometimes connected by a f <br />breezeway. ~ 1 <br />Significance: The significance of the ranches in the Project Area is rooted in the association of <br />these properties with the rapid settlement of Colorado's Western Slope at the close of the 19a' <br />century followed by attempts of the residents to find economically viable uses for their <br />properties. The popularity of the azea as a place to settle and ranch is directly tied to the opening <br />of the Ute Reservation for settlement after 1881 and the beef bonanza of the same period. The <br />end of the period of significance is marked by the changes that took place in the azea as a result <br />of World War II and the adjustments azea resident sand ranchers made to the changed economy <br />of the United States that followed the War. Properties in this type aze associated wither with <br />NRHP criteria a, c or d under the area of significant of agriculture at the local level, or <br />representative of discernable types anal methods of construction associated with the three stages <br />of azchitectural development discussed above (for Criterion c eligibility). To be considered <br />significant under Criterion d the resource must have the ability to offer significant information <br />pertinent to one or more of the reseazch topics discussed below.. <br />These Criterion d reseazch concerns are based on research topics which are found in the Colorado <br />Historical Socieiy's RP3 Colorado Historical azchaeology Context (Buckles and Buckles <br />1984:8). The research concerns identified are: <br />Can technological or stylistic changes be found that can be used to explain changes in <br />ranching techniques and practices that the local residents made in their efforts to adapt to <br />the local aridity, soils and changing mazket conditions? <br />Are there identifiable differences in the consumption habits, building techniques, or the <br />spatial patterning of activities that can be found to reflect the cyclic nature of prosperity <br />experienced by ranchers in the area between ] 890 and 1942? Can changes in those <br />patterns be traced through time that would reflect and explain the variations in the rates of <br />self-sufficiency versus market dependent consumption? <br />Can the consumption pattems of the local ranches be correlated to the spread of the <br />automobile and the general realignment of trade pattems to larger and larger mazketplaces <br />because of the speed that the automobile gave rural residents, or the spread of mass <br />consumptive habits advertised in the mass media (printed and broadcast) that grew <br />pervasive in American society during the period? <br />Can changes in the roles and functions of women and children, currently under- <br />represented in the written record, be clarified from azchaeological remains? If they can, <br />can comparisons over time be made to document and explain the changes in those roles? <br />18 <br />~~ <br />L_J <br />