Laserfiche WebLink
b <br /> <br />Krotm Culture] 2teec~. ~r es <br />A literature search conducted ,lcve.:ber 15, 1977 through the Office of the <br />State Atrhaeologis:, of Colorado, the Department of Historic Preservation, and <br />the ~lational Register of Historic Places revealed no recorded sites for the <br />project areas investigated. The 3li4;'ontrose District files also contained <br />no recorded sites for impact areas. t•;est of the information regarding archaeolo- <br />gical and historic sites in the !forth "ork Valley" has come from two studies: the <br />cultural resource survey for the Colorado rest;norel~.nd Orchard Valley l4ine {Ba'.~er <br />19'77) and the cultural resource survey for the propssed enlargeaent of Y.ighrray <br />133 (Goodin€ 19771 Colorado Division of Fligharays 1977)• This investigator a:as <br />involved i1 the CD!i survey during Febrla:,7, 1977, and much of t;he information <br />stated herein grill be taken from field observa~ions. Prehistoric and historic <br />backgrounds for the :forth For!: Valley and recorded sites that represent the pre- <br />historic and historic cultural sequences will be discussed separately below. <br />• Prehistoric 9ac'~:prcun3 <br />The tlorth For' Valley u:as originally a part of the Eastern Ute terrtitor,7, <br />although feor re:.~ai.ns have been disceve:•ed to prove an extensive exploitation of <br />the area. YJhen the Do-irLCusz Escalantc nxpadition F3s=_ed through the lower Ilorth <br />Fori< Valley in September 1776, they fog^d no Ute encampments, but commented that <br />the area could support taro settlements {I•;iller 19'76). <br />The prehistoric sites located to gate in or aro•~:nd the ,forth For{c Valley <br />are probably zssociated ~,rith Ute exploitation of the area. The most note•.rorthy <br />site is 5 DT126, located at Stevens G~1ch near the intersection of Hi.gh;:a;/s 133 <br />and 137. The site ccnsiscs of Lh=_ remains of a tree platfozm, hearth, game trail <br />and li.t.hic concentration from which the current lar>vocvner has colleted some <br />large bifaces, and sire has state3 that the bluff north of the site i:~as considered <br />a good collecting area in years erne by (Esther Johnson, personal co.^~munication). <br />The tree platfonr., probably a game watch structure though focal tradition terns <br />it the "Ute Burial Tree", has unfcrtun;:tely been destroyed, but scars fmm cuts <br />grad braces can still be seen. ^".aximum depth of cultural material hzs been esti- <br />• mated at ten centimeters, aril the C711 miti-ation strateEy calls for tF~orouch ex- <br />cavation of t}re site (Gooding 19"77). <br />