SBCT Final EIS - Govsupport.us

Chapter 3 ⎯ Affected Environment3.3.4.3 Fort CarsonPrehistoric ContextA few Clovis finds have been reported in southeastern Colorado, but not at FTC. No Folsom materialshave been reported from FTC. Evidence of Plano occupation in southeastern Colorado is moreplentiful. On FTC, two Cody complex projectile points and two unidentified Plano projectile pointsfragments have been recorded as surface finds.On FTC, a component of the Gooseberry Shelter site has been radiocarbon-dated to the Early Archaic.On FTC, components of the Recon John Shelter site, the Gooseberry Shelter, and the Two DeerShelter have been radiocarbon-dated to the Middle Archaic. On FTC, Late Archaic components havebeen discovered at many locations, including some with Middle Archaic components such as the ReconJohn Shelter, the Gooseberry Shelter, and the Two Deer Shelter.Many Diversification Period sites are found on the Army controlled lands in Colorado.Historic ContextFTC does not include locations of known outstanding events in the early history of the region or thenation, but areas within and adjacent to the military reservation are directly associated with importanthistorical themes and eras. However, FTC itself was important in the U.S.’ role in World War II andin the Korean and Vietnam wars.Settlement in the FTC area expanded because of the gold rush of 1859, bringing with it populationand economic fluctuations, and declined again after readily accessible minerals were depleted. Thecattle industry developed gradually in the FTC area beginning in 1860. The Civil War, depletion ofreadily accessible minerals, the difficulty in transportation of people and goods, and growing conflictsbetween settlers and native tribes tempered growth until the late 1860s. With the cessation of Indianhostilities in 1868 and the development of better transportation alternatives and communicationmechanisms, settlement gradually increased within the region. Resurgence in population and communitydevelopment resulted from the mining industry in Leadville in the 1870s and discovery of largegold deposits in Cripple Creek in the 1890s.A few communities developed to serve as supply points and agricultural centers near the presentboundaries of FTC: Fountain City (Pueblo), Cañon City, El Dorado, and Colorado City. Cañon Cityand Colorado City were located along the foot of the mountains on trails that lead to the gold mines inSouth Park and along the Blue River. Scattered and usually isolated ranches were establishedthroughout the Fort Carson area in the early 1870s, but most of the southern and eastern portions ofthe area were hinterland ranges for ranches headquartered along Fountain, Beaver, Red and lowerTurkey Creeks.The expansion of railroads in Colorado beginning in the 1870s contributed to renewed growth in thearea around FTC. Colorado Springs, originally Fountain Colony, established by General WilliamJackson Palmer in 1871 near the nearly abandoned town of Colorado City, was located on the newDenver and Rio Grande Western route from Denver to Pueblo. By 1879, the population of ColoradoSprings had grown to about 5,000 people and included members of Fountain Colony, a Quaker agriculturalcolony within the environs of the township. Recreation, tourism, and utopian settlements suchas the Fountain Colony also greatly influenced the early development of Colorado Springs.The mining and quarrying industries in the Colorado Springs area are represented at FTC by only onerecorded site, Stone City (5PE793), located at the extreme southern end of the reservation in the vi-February 2008 3–152 2/25th SBCT Final EIS