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• Bill" calling for expulsion of the Utes from Colorado Territory was signed by <br />the President), claimed that thousands were waiting to enter the Ute lands <br />(Borland 1952: 57). Hundreds had already made brief incursions into the <br />territory to select favorable locations in spite of the presence of U.S. <br />troops who had been stationed near the Uncompahgre Agency not only to effect <br />the removal of the Utes but also to prevent intruders from entering the <br />reservation until the Utes had gone (Raft 1932: 10). <br />In September 1881, only days after the last of the Utes had been <br />expelled, settlers began rushing onto the former reservation lands of <br />western Colorado. Settlement activity spread quickly--during the autumn <br />months of 1881, land claims were staked, townsites chosen, and railroad <br />routes were surveyed (Haskell 1886; Borland 1952; Rait 1932). However, <br />because the former reservation lands were not officially declared public <br />lands until August 1882, the first year of settlement activity was marked <br />by a certain degree of uncertainty regarding the legality of land claims. <br />• When finally announced, the 1882 declaration did not allow homestead entries <br />on the newly opened lands, but only pre-emptions, or cash entries, at the <br />rate of $1.25 per acre for agricultural lands, $5.00 per acre for mineral <br />land (Borland 1952: 75). <br />Settlers arriving in the Grand Junction area came from many of the <br />nearby mining towns--Ouray, Gunnison, Silverton, etc.--and, in lesser num- <br />bers, from the west. Finding the soil fertile and the climate mild, settlers <br />of the Grand Valley had only to devise irrigation systems in order to establish <br />successful ranching and agricultural operations. <br />Settlement of the small side canyons came somewhat later than in the <br />main Colorado (Grand) River valley, probably partly because of the greater <br />difficulty in building and maintaining adequate water control systems. One <br />of the side-canyon spots chosen for early homesteading was at the mouth of <br />14unger Creek, within the East Salt Creek drainage. Recorded as historic <br />site 5FG743 during the present survey, this site was homesteaded in 1915 <br /> <br />196 <br />