Overview of Area Cultural History

For thousands of years, humans have considered the lands now within the Uncompahgre Field Office to be a desirable place to live.  Current studies indicate that occupation of this portion of western Colorado began over 12,000 years ago during the Paleoindian Period, and has continued through the present day.

Archaeological and Rock Art Sites

The long period of occupation has resulted in a remarkable diversity of archaeological sites scattered throughout the region.  Some particularly dense areas may contain one site for every ten acres.

Perhaps most impressive are the rock art sites, which range in age from ancient Archaic (7,000-400 BC) up through the Historic Period (1830-1950 AD).  The symbolic images have been interpreted as depicting trails, maps, ceremonies, shamanic themes, band information, tribal histories, and hunting stories, along with marks, signatures, and artwork made by cowboys and explorers.  Although some images might appear to be mundane graffiti, they were meaningful to the people who created them.

The Earliest Human Occupants

Caves and stone structures built along the slopes of the Uncompahgre Plateau offer evidence that occupants during the Formative Period (400 BC to 1300 AD) developed agriculture.  Were these farmers relatives of the Anasazi of the Four Corners region?

Historic Hanging Flume placer gold mining operation near Uravan, Colorado

Further research may provide an answer.  Other sites contain rock shelters, open camp sites, lithic scatters, game drives, trails and quarries.  The Tabeguache and Uncompahgre bands of Ute Indians left wickiups, teepee rings, scarred trees and Bear Dance rock art as testimony to their presence in the area from about the fifteenth century until their forced relocation in 1881.

Exploration and Westward Expansion

Lonely cabins and homesteads tell the story of more recent settlement in this area.  Europeans (primarily Spanish), Mexicans and Americans first passed this way as explorers and fur traders, while later arrivals settled here as miners, farmers, ranchers and loggers, each leaving their mark on the land.

One of the region’s most intriguing historic sites is the thirteen-mile long Hanging Flume, located near the former uranium and vanadium mining town of Uravan, Colorado.  Constructed in the late 1800s to deliver water to a placer gold mining operation, the flume is an engineering wonder, clinging to sheer red sandstone cliffs high above the Dolores and San Miguel Rivers.

Cultural Resources in the UFO

To date, 4,638 cultural resource sites have been recorded on BLM land within the UFO.  More sites remain to be discovered, as only 17% of the land has been formally surveyed.  These sites contain a wealth of information on the prehistory and history of the area, and several hundred are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

In March 2004, a report titled A Research Design and Context for Prehistoric Cultural Resources in the Uncompahgre Plateau Archaeological Project's Study Area, Western Colorado was completed by Alpine Archaeological Consultants, Inc. of Montrose, Colorado.  The research was partially funded by a State Historical Fund Grant awarded by the Colorado Historical Society.  Alan D. Reed was the principal investigator, with assistance from Rachel Gebauer.  The report may be viewed in .pdf format by following the title link.

If you come across a site during your exploration of the Uncompahgre Field Office, please remember not to disturb either the site or its artifacts.  The artifacts, as well as their placement within a site, provide archaeologists with valuable clues as to how people in this area might have lived many years ago.