Laserfiche WebLink
8 <br />• le) while others claim it was merely carved and placed by a member of an early <br />survey team (Tom Nurst, personal convnunication). <br />The project areas and surroundings were not the site of major activity <br />until coal mining began in the early twentieth century. One remnant of this <br />early mineral exploitation is the Auden t4ine, located within Western Slope Car <br />boa property boundaries in T13S, R90W, Section 11. The Auden Mine, originally <br />opened in 1910, is considered to be the parent of the large Hawk's Nest Mine oper- <br />ated by Western Slope Carbon. The early mining operation employed two or three men, <br />and the coal was sold to local residents (Kermit Claytor, personal communication). <br />Western Slope Carbon bought these and adjacent mining rights in 1971. <br />The coal resources of the Sommerset area, approximately two miles east of <br />the Hawk's Nest Mine, were discovered by Ira Q. Sanborn in 18x3. The area was <br />eventually sold to the Utah Fuel Company in 1902 (Colorado Division of Highways <br />1977: $)• In 1903, the original tent city was replacei by the frame hones of a <br />company town, which operated until homes were sold in the 1920's coal industry <br />• depression. <br />Though the project areas are a mere twenty miles from Hotchkiss, Colorado <br />the entire sequence of cultural development of the North Fork Valley from original <br />homesteading and stock raising th rough orchard development is not largely or <br />consisten'ly represented in the upper portions of the cariYYOn. Urrloubtedly the <br />narrow valley, higher elevation and rugged terrain impeded early exploitation, and <br />development awaited the discovery of and cspitalization upon the area's only major <br />resource - coal. <br />~+idence of historic utilization of the waste disposal area is also lacking. <br />This may 6e due to the lack of water for farming ardor vegetation suitable Sor <br />profitable grazing. <br />Inventory Results <br />All cultural resources located in Western Slope Carbon project areas and <br />surrourdinl;s fall into one of three categories: prehistoric, historic and recent. <br />Prehistoric remains consists of all aboriginal debris, structures and disturbances <br />with origins believed to predate European contact in the area. Historical remains <br />are those with dates of origin predating 1930 but contained within the span of re- <br />corded history. Recent remains include all evidence of human activity postdating <br />143x• <br />