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6 <br />• <br />Captain Zebulon Pike was sent by the American Government to explore the headwaters of the <br />Arkansas River in 1806. He was arrested and released by the Spanish authorities in 1807. It is <br />during this time frame that the "contact-traditional cultures" were building economic <br />relationships with the Spanish and other European traders (Baker 2007). Baker refers to this time <br />period as Phase II -Early Contact Phase (1540-1820). <br />Continuing Baker's Protohistoric Phase scheme, the period between 1820-1860 is termed <br />Phase III -Middle Contact, and is characterized by more intensive migrations westward of <br />American settlers as a result of the Louisiana Purchase. This led to heightened competition of <br />resources and thus more cross-cultural conflicts. The Fur Trade was dwindling, and gold was <br />discovered in the Colorado High Country in 1859, starting the Colorado Gold Rush. <br />Once the Gold Rush started, Congress established the Colorado Territory in 1861. Oil <br />and coal extraction began in 1872. The mining industry was booming, which in turn led to the <br />expansion of commerce, transportation, and support industries in the west. Phase III -Late <br />Contact Phase (1860-1881) is characterized by the initiation of U.S. Government and Indian <br />relations, including displacement of Indian Nations onto reservations to stabilize new western <br />territories for settlement. The Homestead Act was passed in 1862, opening new lands in the <br />Colorado Territory and the west.. In 1876, Colorado was established as a state. By 1881, the <br />Utes were relocated from the mountains of Colorado to Eastern Utah. <br />With the Indians out of the way, American settlements grew rapidly. Railroad networks • <br />connected the high country mines to the agricultural/commerce hubs on the plains. Roadways <br />were expanding further west bringing increasing volumes of homesteaders, ranchers, and small <br />settlements into the highland valleys alongside the mining/industrial settlements. The western <br />frontier was bustling with activity. Colorado was one of the nation's leading coal producers by <br />the mid 1890s (Clark and Corbett 2007), fueling the growing smelting and steel industries in <br />Pueblo. The Silver Crash of 1892 only slowed the Colorado economy for a bit. Other hard <br />mineral mining ventures grew in its place. The Enlarged Homestead Act of 1908 and the Stock <br />Raising Act of 1916 supplemented Colorado's economy through World War I (Carrillo 2007). <br />During this time period the mining and logging industries were at the forefront of the Colorado <br />economy. <br />Like the rest of the nation, Colorado experienced difficulties during the depression years <br />of 1930-1940, and during WWII (1941-1945). Though mining, agriculture, and processing <br />industries were affected, recreation and tourism have steadily grown since the Depression <br />(Guilfoyle et al. 2007). <br />Fremont County's Royal Gorge Canyon has drawn people to the area for hundreds of <br />years. The county itself was named for Captain John Fremont, an explorer and trapper who came <br />to the area in 1843. The first territorial prison was built in Canon City in 1871. With the <br />development of metals mining and coal extraction, railroads expanded into the county, opening <br />the area for further development. • <br />