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History of Rocky Mountain National Park
History of Rocky Mountain National Park began when Paleo-Indians traveled along what is now Trail Ridge Road to hunt and forage for food. Ute and Arapaho people subsequently hunted and camped in the area. In 1820, the Long Expedition, led by Stephen H. Long for whom Longs Peak was named, approached the Rockies via the Platte River. Settlers began arriving in the mid-1800s, displacing the Native Americans who mostly left the area voluntarily by 1860, while others were removed to reservations by 1878.
Lulu City, Dutchtown, and Gaskill in the Never Summer Mountains were established in the 1870s when prospectors came in search of gold and silver. The boom ended by 1883 with miners deserting their claims. The railroad reached Lyons, Colorado in 1881 and the Big Thompson Canyon Road—a section of U.S. Route 34 from Loveland to Estes Park—was completed in 1904. The 1920s saw a boom in building lodges and roads in the park, culminating with the construction of Trail Ridge Road to Fall River Pass between 1929 and 1932, then to Grand Lake by 1938.
Prominent individuals in the effort to create a national park included Enos Mills from the Estes Park area, James Grafton Rogers from Denver, and J. Horace McFarland of Pennsylvania. The national park was established on January 26, 1915.
People have been visiting the area near Rocky Mountain National Park for at least 11,000 years, including the Lindenmeier and Dent sites where projectile points were found that were used to hunt Mammoth and Bison antiquus. Both Clovis and Folsom projectile points have been found in the park, some near Trail Ridge. This indicates that there were early hunters, or Paleo-Indians, of large and now extinct mammals, like mastodons and bison antiquus, that traveled through the park. Their shelters were animal hide tents, brush huts, or rock shelters. They traveled into the Rocky Mountain National Park area using a trail that is now Trail Ridge Road.
The Paleo-Indians began hunting smaller, modern bison and looked for many sources of food in nature when they adopted the lifestyle of the Archaic period about eight thousand years ago. Projectile points have been found at Fall River Pass, on Flattop Mountain, at Forest Canyon Pass, on a slope above Chapin Pass, near Oldman Mountain, and other places in the park. Archeologist Wilfred M. Husted said, "Evidence indicates intermittent occupation of the Park rather than continuous occupation. Travel back and forth across the Continental Divide was the primary reason why Indians entered the mountains. Small camps indicate seasonal hunting in the valleys and on the mountains."
Within the park there are archeological remains from about 3,850 to 3,400 B.C. of 42 low-walled stone structures or cairns, up to hundreds of feet in length, built for game drive systems. Remains of such structures were found on Mount Ida, Tombstone Ridge, and on Trail Ridge Road. These slight walls served as devices that permitted hunters to direct or herd game animals—like bison, sheep, deer, or elk— toward men waiting with weapons. Up to twenty-five people may have been needed to execute the game drive. Hunters may have killed the animals using darts, atlatl, spear throwers, or spears tipped with stone projectile points. A game drive sites was used in this timeframe in an alpine area south of the park (like Mount Albion complex). Since they were temporary camping sites, it was assumed that people still came to the area to hunt and did not live in the mountainous region during the winter.
Bows and arrows were used to hunt animals by 400 to 650 A.D., and pottery pieces have been found in the park that are dated to this period of time. The Paleo-Indians also continued to use game drives to hunt for meat until about 1000 AD. As hunter-gatherers, they also foraged for roots and berries for sustenance.
Between 1000 and 1300 AD, Ute people moved into the Rocky Mountain and western slope areas of Colorado, perhaps from the Great Basin of Utah. The Ute, who were hunter-gatherers, traveled along Ute trail. Their belongings were carried by the Utes or were pulled by dogs with travois, until they had horses. The Utes camped in bands or small family groupings and stayed in the park area during the summer months and in Estes Park for the winter. Their diet included bison, elk, bighorn sheep, jackrabbit, antelope, deer, berries and roots. When food was scarce, they ate tree bark. In the early 1800s, the Arapaho pushed the Utes out of Estes Park.
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History of Rocky Mountain National Park
History of Rocky Mountain National Park began when Paleo-Indians traveled along what is now Trail Ridge Road to hunt and forage for food. Ute and Arapaho people subsequently hunted and camped in the area. In 1820, the Long Expedition, led by Stephen H. Long for whom Longs Peak was named, approached the Rockies via the Platte River. Settlers began arriving in the mid-1800s, displacing the Native Americans who mostly left the area voluntarily by 1860, while others were removed to reservations by 1878.
Lulu City, Dutchtown, and Gaskill in the Never Summer Mountains were established in the 1870s when prospectors came in search of gold and silver. The boom ended by 1883 with miners deserting their claims. The railroad reached Lyons, Colorado in 1881 and the Big Thompson Canyon Road—a section of U.S. Route 34 from Loveland to Estes Park—was completed in 1904. The 1920s saw a boom in building lodges and roads in the park, culminating with the construction of Trail Ridge Road to Fall River Pass between 1929 and 1932, then to Grand Lake by 1938.
Prominent individuals in the effort to create a national park included Enos Mills from the Estes Park area, James Grafton Rogers from Denver, and J. Horace McFarland of Pennsylvania. The national park was established on January 26, 1915.
People have been visiting the area near Rocky Mountain National Park for at least 11,000 years, including the Lindenmeier and Dent sites where projectile points were found that were used to hunt Mammoth and Bison antiquus. Both Clovis and Folsom projectile points have been found in the park, some near Trail Ridge. This indicates that there were early hunters, or Paleo-Indians, of large and now extinct mammals, like mastodons and bison antiquus, that traveled through the park. Their shelters were animal hide tents, brush huts, or rock shelters. They traveled into the Rocky Mountain National Park area using a trail that is now Trail Ridge Road.
The Paleo-Indians began hunting smaller, modern bison and looked for many sources of food in nature when they adopted the lifestyle of the Archaic period about eight thousand years ago. Projectile points have been found at Fall River Pass, on Flattop Mountain, at Forest Canyon Pass, on a slope above Chapin Pass, near Oldman Mountain, and other places in the park. Archeologist Wilfred M. Husted said, "Evidence indicates intermittent occupation of the Park rather than continuous occupation. Travel back and forth across the Continental Divide was the primary reason why Indians entered the mountains. Small camps indicate seasonal hunting in the valleys and on the mountains."
Within the park there are archeological remains from about 3,850 to 3,400 B.C. of 42 low-walled stone structures or cairns, up to hundreds of feet in length, built for game drive systems. Remains of such structures were found on Mount Ida, Tombstone Ridge, and on Trail Ridge Road. These slight walls served as devices that permitted hunters to direct or herd game animals—like bison, sheep, deer, or elk— toward men waiting with weapons. Up to twenty-five people may have been needed to execute the game drive. Hunters may have killed the animals using darts, atlatl, spear throwers, or spears tipped with stone projectile points. A game drive sites was used in this timeframe in an alpine area south of the park (like Mount Albion complex). Since they were temporary camping sites, it was assumed that people still came to the area to hunt and did not live in the mountainous region during the winter.
Bows and arrows were used to hunt animals by 400 to 650 A.D., and pottery pieces have been found in the park that are dated to this period of time. The Paleo-Indians also continued to use game drives to hunt for meat until about 1000 AD. As hunter-gatherers, they also foraged for roots and berries for sustenance.
Between 1000 and 1300 AD, Ute people moved into the Rocky Mountain and western slope areas of Colorado, perhaps from the Great Basin of Utah. The Ute, who were hunter-gatherers, traveled along Ute trail. Their belongings were carried by the Utes or were pulled by dogs with travois, until they had horses. The Utes camped in bands or small family groupings and stayed in the park area during the summer months and in Estes Park for the winter. Their diet included bison, elk, bighorn sheep, jackrabbit, antelope, deer, berries and roots. When food was scarce, they ate tree bark. In the early 1800s, the Arapaho pushed the Utes out of Estes Park.