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35 <br />2.4 Historic Context <br />The historic context for Dowe Flats covers the period of Euro- <br />american interest and occupation from approximately 1700 to the <br />present. The history of the lands that comprise the Dowe Flats <br />Study Area is dominated by the evolution of a high plains, rural <br />agricultural lifestyle. Other factors, particularly mining and <br />quarrying, influenced the area's history, but in one way or <br />another the majority of those factors were associated with the <br />area's general rural development. Mining is often viewed as <br />historic Colorado's basic industry but agriculture constantly has <br />been the state's most profitable and steady source of income. <br />Within Boulder County agriculture has been a predominant <br />enterprise despite the variations of altitude and terrain. "No <br />county has so wide a range in altitude within so small an <br />area." (Yearbook 1918:78) The eastern part of the county is <br />within the Platte River Valley, is basically level and is <br />excellent agricultural land. The western sections of the county <br />have a rapid rise in elevation to mountain peaks and provide good <br />pasture land. Recent studies identified a total of four historic <br />themes for lands near the Study Area (Burney 1989; Meier 19B7a; <br />Meier 1987b; Riggs 1987; Weiss 1960, 1981). The use of such a <br />narrowly defined historic framework may lead to oversim- <br />plification if extended to too large an area. Equally, the <br />approach taken in those reports tends to diminish any uniqueness <br />the Study Area's history may possess when evaluated within a <br />regional (Front Range or Colorado Plains) context. Review of <br />presently available sources indicates that an enlarged <br />thematic framework is needed to accommodate both the regional <br />context and the uniqueness of the Study Area. For the Dowe Flats <br />area the pertinent historic themes include: 1) Exploration and <br />the Fur Trade, 1700-1845; 2) The Colorado Gold Rush and Early <br />Settlement, 1858-1870; 3) Early Agricultural and Ranching <br />Development, 1870-1895; 9) Quarrying and Urban Growth and <br />Development, 1870-1900; 5) Ranching and Farming After 1900; and <br />6) The Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945. All of <br />these themes except Exploration and the Fur Trade are directly <br />