2009-08-24_REVISION - C1982056 (4)

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Game Hunters, Mixed Base Foragers, Central Place Foragers, Food-processor Foragers, and Mobile Foragers. These basic adaptations change over time and do not form a linear progression. Rather, prehistoric peoples shifted between adaptive patterns as conditions changed in the region. Research on paleoenvironments and upon sites targeting different time periods is ongoing on a large number of sites in northwestern Colorado at this time, and any work conducted within the Sage Creek Permit Area has the potential to contribute to this research. Historic Overview Comprehensive historic contexts have been written for the general area of the project. The most recent can be found in Colorado Mountains Historic Context (Mehls 1984) and Colorado History: A Context for Historical Archaeology (Church et al. 2007). The following information is a synthesis of these resources. The United States obtained the Louisiana Purchase, which included the territory that is now Colorado, in 1803 and sent expeditions west to document this new territory. It is during this time frame that the "contact-traditional cultures" were building economic relationships with the Spanish and other European traders. The period between 1820-1860 was characterized by more intensive migrations westward of American settlers as a result of the Louisiana Purchase. This led to heightened competition for resources and thus more cross-cultural conflicts. The Fur Trade was dwindling, and gold was discovered in the Colorado High Country in 1859, starting the Colorado Gold Rush. Although this did not greatly affect the northwest portion of Colorado directly, it did move settlers closer to the area and prompted Congress to establish the Colorado Territory in 1861. The Late Contact Phase (1860-1881) of the Protohistoric era is characterized by the initiation of U.S. Government and Indian relations, including displacement of Indian Nations onto reservations to stabilize new western territories for settlement. The Homestead Act was passed in 1862, opening new lands in the Colorado Territory and the west. In 1876, Colorado was established as a state, and by 1881, the Utes were relocated from western Colorado to eastern Utah. With the relocation of Native Americans further west, American settlements grew rapidly in western Colorado. This growth was further fueled by oil and coal extraction, which began in 1872 in much of the state, although it did not take off in northwestern Colorado until the 1880s. The mining industry boom led to the expansion of commerce, transportation, and support industries in the west. Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad across southern Wyoming in 1869 contributed greatly to increased settlement in northwestern Colorado, and the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company had developed lines from Denver to Salt Lake City, Utah, by 1883. These railways provided market access that had been previously unavailable to the farmers and cattle and sheep ranchers of the area, as well as the coal mines. Roadways were also expanding further west, bringing increasing volumes of homesteaders, ranchers, and small settlements. During this time period, the mining and logging industries were at the forefront of the Colorado economy. Farming and ranching became established very quickly following the removal of the Ute people in 1881. Homestead claims were made along the main rivers and streams through the 1880s 8