Laserfiche WebLink
Introduction <br />Metcalf Archaeological Consultants, Inc. (MAC), conducted a class III cultural resources <br />inventory of a 20-acre block with a short, 253 ft long access road, and approximately 1.0 mile of <br />subsidence reconnaissance for the Northfield Coal Mine in Fremont County, Colorado. The <br />project area is located southeast of Canon City in the SE/NW and SW of Section 13 and the <br />NW/NW of Section 24 in T.19S, R.70W (Figure 1). The Northfield Partners, LLC, propose to <br />build surface facilities for an underground coal mine in the 20-acre block area. The subsidence <br />reconnaissance occurred along a 1.0 mile stretch of canyon wall on the south side of Chandler <br />Creek where the likelihood of surface subsidence as a result of the underground mining is higher, <br />putting at risk of destruction any rock shelter sites or prehistoric or historic rock art sites. An <br />intensive survey of this zone was not undertaken. Instead, the rock walls of the canyon, as well <br />as large, fallen boulders, were checked for evidence of use for either rock art or as occupied <br />shelters. The acreages surveyed include 20.4 acres for the facilities block, 0.02 acres of access <br />road, and 27.2 acres of non-intensive reconnaissance in the subsidence zone. A total of 47.62 <br />acres, all on privately owned lands, was inventoried for this project. <br />As a result of this survey, three new sites and two new isolated finds were found and <br />recorded. The sites are all historic in age and include an inscription on a rock face in the <br />subsidence zone (SFN2220), a historic sheltered camp (SFN2221), and an old, abandoned <br />railroad grade (SFN2217.1). They are all recommended to be not eligible for inclusion on the <br />National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and no further work is recommended. The isolated <br />• finds are both historic (SFN2218) and prehistoric (SFN2219) and are by definition not eligible for <br />inclusion on the NRHP. No further work is recommended. <br />Fieldwork was conducted from Apri13 to April 5, 2007 by staff archaeologist Stephanie <br />Slaughter with the assistance of Noah Oliver. Field conditions at the time of survey were <br />conducive to the discovery of archaeological remains. The APE for this project is defined as the <br />area that will be disturbed by the construction of the surface facilities and the subsidence zone <br />along the southern rim of the canyon. <br />Effective Environment <br />The project area is located in the Colorado Piedmont section of the Great Plains <br />physiographic province (Fenneman 1931). It lies at the northeast base of the Wet Mountains <br />overlooking the Arkansas River valley to the north. More specifically, the project is located in a <br />shallow canyon cut by Chandler Creek, anorth-flowing, intermittent tributary of the Arkansas <br />River. The survey block lies on the north side of the creek between the creek and the talus slope <br />of the sandstone cliffs that cap the ridges on either side of the canyon. The subsidence zone runs <br />along the southern wall of the canyon for approximately 1.0 mile from the northern toe of the <br />southern ridge. <br />The underlying geology is composed of Pleistocene-age gravels and alluviums along the <br />• canyon floor, with the Cretaceous-age Raton Formation forming the canyon walls. The Raton <br />