SBCT Final EIS - Govsupport.us

Chapter 3 ⎯ Affected EnvironmentA winter camp described by Pike believed to have been located east of Colorado Highway 115 betweenTurkey Creek and Little Turkey Creek within the FTC area has not been archaeologically verified.Long’s expedition in 1820 explored the western mountains in search of the source of the PlatteRiver, returning by way of the Arkansas and Red Rivers. Long’s expedition skirted the easternboundary of FTC. No archaeological remains of this expedition have been verified.In the early 1800s, the American fur trade also expanded into the Rocky Mountains. Spain discouragedthe American traders that ventured into their northern territories and often detained them andconfiscated their goods. This ended in 1821, when Mexico achieved independence after more than adecade of fighting. Portions of traditional trails between the Pueblos of New Mexico and the Plainsbecame known as the Santa Fe Trail, connecting the trade of northern Mexico with American tradecenters along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. The northern or Mountain Branch of the trailcrossed through southeastern Colorado along the south side of PCMS. Bent’s Fort was established in1830 along the Mountain Branch at the Arkansas River, which marked the international border. In theMexican Period, from Mexican Independence to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1821 to 1848),Hispanic settlement in southeastern Colorado expanded. American exploration of the area continued.In 1846, war erupted between Mexico and the U.S., culminating in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgoin 1848, and Colorado and New Mexico became part of the U.S. However, several large Mexicanland grants, including the Tierra Amarilla, Conejos, Sangre de Cristo, and Luis Baca Grant No. 4,were recognized and confirmed by the U.S., and immigration from Mexico continued. Anglo-American and Hispanic settlement in the area and a decline in the fur trade caused tension betweenNative Americans and emigrants. In the area of the PCMS, Kiowa, Comanche, and Arapaho continuedraiding along the Santa Fe Trail. There was a fair amount of activity around the Mountain Branchof the Santa Fe Trail associated with the declining fur trade and growing settlement, but there is noclear evidence that this reached west to the smaller waterways of FTC.The attraction of the Oregon Territory and the California Gold Rush brought many emigrants acrossthe continent in beginning of the 1840s. In the early years, the majority crossed the continent by wayof more northerly routes through Wyoming, but smaller feeder trails, such as the Trappers Trail andthe Cherokee Trail, came up the Arkansas River and along Fountain and Jimmy Camp Creeks, acrossthe FTC area to the headwaters of the South Platte drainage.Settlement throughout eastern Colorado expanded because of the gold rush of 1859, bringing with itpopulation and economic fluctuations, and declined again after readily accessible minerals were depleted.The Colorado Gold Rush and the Homestead Act of 1862 lured merchants, miners, and settlersinto the area. In an attempt to prevent further Indian hostilities and secure the region for settlement,several military posts were established. Despite the military presence, hostilities continued until a majormilitary campaign in the winter of 1868–1869 that resulted in the relocation of most of the SouthernCheyenne and Arapaho to an Oklahoma reservation. After the expulsion of the Southern Cheyenneand Arapaho, a resurgence in population and community development resulted from the miningindustry in Leadville in the 1870s and discovery of large gold deposits in Cripple Creek in the 1890s.The emergence of lode mining in the 1870s stimulated the expansion of railroads in Colorado, whichin turn gave ranchers increased access to markets and contributed to renewed growth in the generalarea. The expansion of railroads also stimulated the development of recreation, tourism, and utopiansettlements such as the Fountain Colony. Southern Colorado’s coal mining industry began in 1875,primarily to the west along the Front Range. Coal mining emerged in support of mining and the steelindustry, which first supplied the railroads and then expanded its markets.February 2008 3–151 2/25th SBCT Final EIS