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Introduction <br />Mr. A. Reid Jones, Vice-President-Finance, Valco, Inc., Rocky Ford through an initial <br />email contact to Cuartelejo HP Associates Inc., dated June 29, and two follow-up subsequent <br />.telephone conversations, requested an archaeological survey of a section of land in Las Animas " <br />County. Valco Inc., is in the process of permitting the Valco-T Pit to produce sand & gravel, <br />located approximately 6 miles east of Trinidad, Colorado on U.S. 350. The property is situated in <br />T.32S, R.63W, in the SWl/4 of Section 35 and contains approximately 35 acres. Mr. Jones <br />indicated that in the course of the county permitting process, in response "to advertising for . <br />public input, an anonymous letter was received indicating that the site is an `Indian Burial <br />Ground'. No supporting data or reference is cited, so we aze attempting to verify whether this is <br />true'.' (Jones 2004). Two extant gravel pits -- Tortorice (Gooding 1985) and the Heart, operated <br />by Leone Sand and Gravel -- are presently situated on the SW quarter of Section 35 to the <br />northeast and north, respectively. Additionally, The Cusimano Pit (M-91-135), situated in.the <br />adjacent Section 34 was surveyed in 1992 (Carrillo and Anderson 1992). <br />Subsequent conversations were held with Mr: Jim Green, Compliance Coordinator and <br />Dr. Susan M. Collins, State Archaeologist, both with the Office of Archaeology and Historic <br />Preservation, Colorado Historical Society {OAHP/CHS) regazding aspects of the proposed <br />project. <br />Although no evidence of an "Indiaz. burial ground" was found, two prehistoric sites and <br />the remains of one historic road system were located. The sites were assigned temporary site. <br />numbers and minimally recorded. The,following sections briefly describe the steps carried out <br />prior to the archaeological survey, the results of the survey, including a section addressing the <br />issue of an "Indian burial ground", and summary and recommendations. <br />Itile Search and Results <br />Prior to initiating field work, a file seazch was undertaken using OAHP's Compass - <br />Colorado's On-line Cultural Resources Database to obtain information on previously recorded <br />sites within T.32S, R.63 W, Section 35. A total of three sites have been recorded in Section 35, <br />and an additional seven in the adjacent surrounding sections (25, 26 27, 34 and 36) in T.32S, <br />R63 W, and sections (1, 2 and 3) in T.33S, R.63 W. All sites are considered ineligible for NRHP <br />status. These are summarized iri Table 1. Additionally, a Compass search for"burials" revealed <br />no evidence in all ofT.32S, R.63W or T.33S, R63W. <br />One historic complex has been recorded in T.33S, R.63W, Section 35 in the N NE NE <br />quarter. A total of 15 historic sites have also been recorded in the surrounding adjacent sections <br />outlined above for the prehistoric sites: These are associated with.raihoad; water related features <br />(i.e. ditches and Model banal); and 19"' and 20`" century historic trash dumps, none of which were <br />found on the Valeo T Pit property. <br />The Cultural Resource Survey <br />On Friday, July 16 a Class III Cultural Resources Survey eras undertaken at the site of the <br />35 acre Valco T Pit. The survey consisted of a pedestrian survey consisting of six 15 M (45 ft) <br />transects traversing the N/S axis of the staked property boundary. Additionally the rim of the <br />canyon was also surveyed. The survey was initiated at the S W comer of the property and <br />completed at the SE corner of the property. <br />