2002-06-05_PERMIT FILE - M2002004 (2)

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GCC Rio Grande, Inc., Cultural project area. There are loamy soils of the Penrose-Minnequa complex in the northwest portion of the project area around small drainages. The soils across most of the surveyed area were shallow, light tan loamy soils with numerous small angular limestone pieces and occasional limestone bedrock outcrops. The climate of the project area is semiarid. The annual precipitation in Pueblo is 11.3 inches with a mean January temperature of 30° F and a mean temperature in July of 77° F (Weathencom 2001). The vegetation in the project area is grassland community with various grasses such as wheatgrass, grama, and needle-and-thread grass. There is stag-horn cholla in the drainages, and yucca and prickly pear cactus throughout the area. There is a narrow band of riparian vegetation with cottonwoods and willows bordering the St. Charles River (Zier and Kalasz 1999). The larger mammals found in the area include deer and pronghorn. Buffalo were found in the area in prehistoric times. Small mammals include a variety of rodents, rabbits, and skunk. Predators found include the fox and coyote. There are a few species of snakes, including the western rattlesnake, and various songbirds and raptors. CULTURAL HISTORY AND PREVIOUS WORK Previous Work ' A search of the files of the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation was conducted by Greystone in June and November, 2001. The results indicate one previous survey east of the project area for a transmission line conducted by Powers Elevation Company in 1995. One ' historic ditch, the Donnelly floodwater ditch (5PE 1915.1) was recorded during that survey. The survey by URS in June 2001 recorded five historic resources (Mutaw 2002). These are a segment of the historic ditch recorded earlier, the Donnelly Floodwater Ditch 5PE1915.2, the Edson Ditch 5PE4191.1, a segment of the historic Denver and Rio Grande (D&RG) Railroad, 5PE1776.8 (now operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (UP)), a segment of the historic Colorado and Southern (C&S) Railroad, 5PE4162.2 (now operated by the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF)), and a historic homestead, the Montoya homestead, 5PE4192. The only resources that are considered to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (Register) are the two railroads, 5PE1776.8 and 5PE4162.2. Cultural History Cultural resources include historical or archaeological objects, sites, buildings, structures, districts, or traditional cultural properties. Significant historic properties include those sites or objects that are listed in or eligible for listing in the Register. The project area is within the Colorado prehistoric context for the Arkansas River Basin (Zier and Kalasz 1999) and the Colorado Southern Frontier Historic Context.(Mehls and Carter 1984). Prehistoric Context The Arkansas River Basin context encompasses the portion of southeast Colorado that is drained ' by the Arkansas River. Like many other regions, the vast majority of cultural resources recorded in this region are.known only from surface evidence and lack temporally diagnostic artifacts or 1180-Red Rock Class III CR Inventory(Apr.17,02) 2