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6 <br /> <br />Krorrn Cultural. Re;oi,rccs <br />A literature search conducted ;loverber 15, 1977 through the Office of the <br />State Archaeologist of Colorado, the Department of Historic Presen ation, and <br />the National Register of Historic Places revealed no recorded sites for the <br />project areas investigated. The 3L'~;•Sontrose District files also contained <br />no recorded sites for iapact areas. PSest of the information regarding arct,aeolo- <br />gical and historic sites in the !!or'„h cork Valley has come from two studies: the <br />cultural resource survey for the Colorado tdestmorelrnd Orchard Valley tfine (Baker <br />1977) and the cultural resource survey for the propo=_ed enlargement of Highway <br />133 (Gooding 1977; Colorado Division of }fighrrays 1977). This irnestigator r:as <br />involved in the CDH survey during Feb rray, 1977, and much of the information <br />stated herein will be taken from field observations. Prehistoric and historic <br />backgrounds for the North Fork Valley and recorded sites that represent the pre- <br />historic and historic cultural sequences xill be discussed separately below. <br />Prehistoric BacJ;pround <br />• The North For' Valley rras originally a part of the Eastern Ute territor,~, <br />although few re:aains have been discovered to prove an extensive exploitation of <br />the area. llhen the Dominguez Escalante r,xpedition gassed through the lower SJorth <br />fiorj< Valley in Septerber 1776, they fond no Ute encampments, but commented that <br />the area could support two settlements (I•iiller 1976). <br />The prehistoric sites located to date in or around the north Fork Valley <br />are probably associated Frith Ute exploitation of the area. The most note:rortl-,y <br />site is 5 DT12G, located at Stevens Gulch near the intersection of Hi.ghwc~ys 133 <br />and 1d7. The site ccnsists of the ra-nains of a tree platform, hearth, game trail <br />and lit.hic concentration from irhich the current landowner has collected some <br />large bifaces, and she has stated that the bluff north of the site rras considered <br />a good collecting area in years gone by (Esther Johnson, personal co^~runication). <br />The tree platfomrt:, probably a game watch structure though local tradition terms <br />it the "Ute 9urial Tree", has unfortunately been destroyed, but scars from cuts <br />and braces can still be seen. Maximum depth of cultural material has been esti- <br />mated at ten centimeters, arvd the CDfi miti ation strategy calls for thorouel: ex- <br />t <br />cavation of tt,e site (Goedinr, 19"r7)• <br />