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=.. Environmental Scientists and Engineers. LLC present, cultures were very locally focused and lived in high valleys year- around. At other times, people probably had to winter at lower elevations along the Green and lower Yampa and other major rivers, and were in the higher elevations only during the summer. Regardless, the Archaic Period was one of relatively stability in terms of settlement patterns and the dietary base. Sometime around 2,000 years before present, corn -based horticulture was added to the subsistence strategies of the region, but the actual growing of crops was limited to lower elevations on both sides of the Rockies, and particularly to the Four Corners area. While farming based cultures at places like Mesa Verde flourished, people living further north were less affected by the introduction of crops. In the lower valleys of western Colorado, there was a limited amount of gardening done, but hunting and gathering remained the mainstay. During this period, known simply as the Late Prehistoric, perhaps the greatest change was the introduction of the bow - and -arrow as a hunting tool. A very limited amount of pottery was also made during the Late Prehistoric as well. At the time of historic contact in the latter part of the 18th century, the Ute were the dominant tribe to occupy most of western Colorado, though the Shoshone also used the area at times, and other tribes like the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Sioux visited or raided occasionally. According to an overview prepared by BLM historian J. Frederick Atheam, the historic period in the upper Yampa country begins in the 1820s with the activities of trappers and traders. Though the Yampa River was along the exploration routes of John Charles Fremont, his assessment of the area did not encourage settlement, and there was only an itinerant Euro- American presence until the 1870s when gold and silver discoveries in the nearby mountains encouraged farming and ranching. In addition, the area officially belonged to the Ute until 1881 when, following a period of troubles between the Ute, Indian Agents, and encroaching settlers, the Ute's were removed to Utah. Within a decade after Ute removal, there was widespread homesteading in western Colorado and the farming and ranching base to the area economy was established. Minerals mining, which drove the economy of much of Colorado's high country, was not a major factor in the Hayden area, and coal mining, except for local needs, was not important until relatively recently. In fact, the Yampa valley area was remote from major population centers, and was lightly populated during the historic period. The main historic theme is the establishment and growth of the ranching business. Approximately 82 percent or 1,166 acres of the proposed 1,406.71 acre Collom Gulch coal lease area has been Class III surveyed (large Block Class III linear survey 1995 and Class III Cultural Resource Inventory, 2004). Slopes in excess of 30 percent were excluded from the surveys. Existing Data and Literature Review The following information is from current work in progress the draft TRC Mariah Class III inventory (2006, in preparation) for the Collom lease tract project area. A file search was conducted through the Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation P• PROJECTSColow.( I RR'EA Final' EA Colk.m UR ■II W d.w 39