Laserfiche WebLink
Fremont Culture <br />• A.D. 800-1200 <br />The Fremont Culture -- and variants thereof -- were present in eastern Utah and <br />northwestern Colorado from ca. A.D. 700-1200 (Creasman et al. 1977:55; Gordon et <br />al. 1979:71). Fremont occupation is characterized by horticulture (including maize <br />cultivation), dry-laid masonry, sedentary villages, and distinctive projectile points, <br />ceramics, and rock art. There is no evidence of Fremont habitation east of Castle <br />Park (Breternitz 1970:160); however, Turner Gray-Cisco variety ceramics have been <br />reported from south of Baggs, Wyoming (Jennings and Daniels 1970:41). There is <br />some controversy concerning the derivotion of the Fremont and its ties with the <br />Archaic. Jennings (1957), Leach (1970), and others have argued that the Fremont <br />C ulTure derived from the Desert Culture, while Berry and Berry (1975:26-27) indicate <br />that Fremont origins may lie in a widespread and geographically diverse Basketmaker <br />II level of technology. <br />2.8.2.2. History <br />• The history of South Routt County cannot be studied in isolation. It is <br />inextricably linked to the history of north western Colorado and to that of the entire <br />state. <br />Human activity has been present in the area since prehistoric times, but this <br />occupation has been largely transitory and seasonal: The geography of the region <br />renders it inhospitable at certain seasons of the year, with summers hot and dry in <br />the northwest, snows deep and winters long and cold in the mountains. Nonetheless, <br />use of the area by prehistoric peoples is evident; game is still plentiful and good <br />fishing abounds. Plants and onim als ~.vere harvested by native populations for their <br />own use and also, in the case of yampa (Perideridia gairdneri), in trade for materials <br />not found locally. There is some disagreement regarding which Indian groups <br />frequented Routt County, but the dominant group where the Utes (Nunt'z). Shoshoni, <br />Gros Ventres, Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Commanche were also known to have <br />visited certain portions of the region at one time or another (Farnham 1841; Fremont <br />1887) (Exhibit 2.8-2). <br />Recorded early European presence in the area is limited to the Escalante <br />expedition and the probable influx of French fur trappers. Nonaboriginal activity has <br />• been characterized by periods of "boom and bust." Trapping, hunting in the grand <br />2.8-6 <br />