Prehistory of Colorado

Fountain Formation

Fountain Formation was formed during the Pennsylvanian period of the Paleozoic era, 290-296 million years ago. Over the next 150 million years, during uplift the mountains would continue to erode and cover themselves in their own sediment. Wind, gravity, rainwater, snow, and ice-melt supplied rivers that ultimately carved through the granite mountains and eventually led to their end.^[2]: 6 Fountain Formation is Pennsylvanian bedrock unit consisting primarily of conglomerate, sandstone, or arkose, in Colorado and Wyoming, along the east side of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, and along the west edge of the Denver Basin. The characteristic predominant red color and the composition of the Fountain reflect that of the granites and gneisses from which it was eroded. Related sites are: Flatirons, Garden of the Gods, Red Rocks Park, Roxborough State Park

Lyons Formation

Lyons Sandstone was formed during the Permian period of the Paleozoic era, 250-280 million years ago. At the beginning of the period, sea levels were low and present-day Colorado was part of the super-continent Pangaea. Sand deserts covered most of the area spreading as dunes seen in the rock record, known today as the Lyons Sandstone. These dunes appear to be cross-bedded and show various fossil footprints and leaf imprints in many of the strata making up the section.^[2]: 8 Related sites include: Garden of the Gods, Roxborough State Park, and the Lyons and neighboring Hall Ranch Open Space areas.

Lykins Formation

Lykins Formation was formed during the Jurassic and Triassic periods 150-250 million years ago. The sediment deposition of wavy layers of muddy limestone and signs of stromatolites that thrived in a smelly tidal flat at present-day Colorado. The Ancestral Rockies were burying themselves while the shoreline was present during the break-up of Pangaea. This formation began right after Earth's largest extinction 251 million years ago at the Permian-Triassic Boundary. Ninety percent of the planet's marine life was destroyed and a great deal on land as well.^[2]: 10 Related sites: Garden of the Gods, Red Rocks Park, Roxborough State Park

Morrison Formation

The Morrison Formation was formed during the Cretaceous and Jurassic Period 100-150 million years ago. The Morrison Formation contains some of the best fossils of the Late Jurassic. It is especially known for its sauropod tracks and sauropod bones among other dinosaur fossils. As identified by the fossil record, the environment was filled with various types of vegetation such as ferns and zamites.^[2]: 12 Related site: Dinosaur Ridge, the roadcut at the Interstate 70 Morrison exit

Dakota Sandstone

Dakota Sandstone, formed during the Cretaceous period 70 to 100 million years ago, was deposited 100 million years ago towards Colorado's eastern coast. It shows evidence of ferns, and dinosaur tracks. Sheets of ripple marks can be seen on some of the strata, confirming the shallow-sea environment.^[2]: 14 Related sites are: Dinosaur Ridge, Garden of the Gods, Roxborough State Park, Deer Creek Canyon Park, the roadcut at the Interstate 70 Morrison exit.

Pierre Shale

Pierre Shale was formed during the Paleogene and Cretaceous periods about 70 million years ago. The region was taken over by a deep sea, the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, and deposited mass amounts of shale over the area known as the Pierre Shale. Both the thick section of shale and the marine life fossils found (ammonites and skeletons of fish and such marine reptiles as mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, and extinct species of sea turtles, along with rare dinosaur and bird remains). Colorado eventually drained from being at the bottom of an ocean to land again, giving yield to another fossiliferous rock layer, the Denver Formation. At about 68 million years ago, the Front Range began to rise again due to the Laramide Orogeny in the west.^[2]: 16 Related sites are: Garden of the Gods, Fountain Creek Nature Center, Rooney Road near Dinosaur Ridge, Valmont Dike

Fox Hills Formation

Fox Hills Formation was formed during the Paleogene / Cretaceous periods. It is a marginal marine yellow sandstone with shale interbeds^[3] created with the receding Western Interior Seaway in Late Cretaceous time.

Laramie Formation

Laramie Formation, formed during the Cretaceous periods, is a geologic formation of the Denver Basin that ranges from 400 to 500 feet on the western side of the basin and 200–300 feet thick on the eastern side. The formation can be divided into a lower unnamed member containing bedded sandstone, clay, and coal and an upper unnamed member composed predominately of 90 to 190 m of drab-colored mudstone, some sandstone, and thin coal beds.^[4][5][6]

Denver Formation

Denver Formation, formed during the Paleogene / Cretaceous periods 55 million years, contains fossils and bones from dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops. While the forests of vegetation, dinosaurs, and other organisms thrived, their reign would come to an end at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary (K–T boundary). In an instant, millions of species are obliterated from a meteor impact in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. While this extinction lead to the dinosaurs' and other organisms' demise, some life did prevail to repopulate the earth as it recovered from this tremendous disaster. The uplifted Front Range continued to constantly erode and, by 40 million years ago, the range was once again buried in its own rubble.^[2]: 18 Related sites are: Austin Bluffs Park, Green Mountain, Palmer Park, Pulpit Rock Park, South Table Mountain

Paleosol – Dawson Arkose

Dawson Arkose, formed during the Paleogene period 37-55 million years ago, is up to 20 foot thick, multi-colored layers of clay form in this prehistoric tropical forest. This layer, Paleosol, is a soil of fossils such as petrified wood. An uplift occurred on the Front Range that caused the Pikes Peak granite to become exposed and then erode on the surface, resulting in a white sandstone called Dawson Arkose.^[2]: 24 Related sites are: Castlewood Canyon State Park, Daniel's Park, Paint Mines Interpretive Park, Rock Park

Castle Rock rhyolite

Castle Rock rhyolite was formed during the Paleogene period 34-37 million years ago. 37 million years ago, a great volcanic eruption took place in the Collegiate Range and covered the landscape in molten hot ash that instantly torched and consumed everything across the landscape. An entire lush environment was capped in a matter of minutes with 20 feet of extremely resistant rock, rhyolite.^[2]: 26 Related sites are: Castlewood Canyon State Park, Molly Brown House Museum, Rocks Park and mesa tops between Castle Rock and Monument Hill

White River Formation

The White River Formation is found in the Northeastern corner of the Colorado, and was deposited between ~37.2 and ~30.8 Ma, encompassing parts of the late Eocene and early Oligocene. The formation is composed primarily of claystones, mudstones, and siltstones, within which a variety of fossil organisms, collectively referred to as the White River fauna, can be found. The fossil assemblage of the formation includes tortoises, alligators, predatory birds, Perissodactyls such as primitive horses and rhinoceroses, Entelodonts, Nimravids, rodents, Artiodactyls, and other mammals. The paleoenvironment of the formation has been interpreted as being composed of expansive savannah-woodlands and plains, occasionally interrupted by meandering rivers.^[7]

Castle Rock conglomerate

Castle Rock conglomerate was formed 16,000 – 34 million years ago. However, as seen before, life rebounds, and after a few million years mass floods cut through the rhyolite and eroded much of it as plants and animals began to recolonize the landscape. The mass flooding and erosion of the volcanic rock gave way to the Castle Rock Conglomerate that can be found in the Front Range. About 10 million years ago, the Front Range began to rise up again and the resistant granite in the heart of the mountains thrust upwards and stood tall, while the weaker sediments deposited above it eroded away.^[2]: 28 Related sites: Castlewood Canyon State Park, Rocks Park

Quaternary sediments

Quaternary Sediments were formed during the Pleistocene period, or Ice Age Summer, 11,000-16,000 years ago. As the Front Range rose, streams and recent (16,000 years ago) glaciations during the Quaternary age literally unburied the range by cutting through the weaker sediment, creating mesa tops and alluvial plains, and giving rise to the present Rocky Mountains. The receding glaciers and warming into an Ice Age summer created a climate suitable to camelops, mastodon, mammoth, bison antiquus and other megafauna.^[2]: 30 Related sites: Carson Nature Center, Highlands Ranch Open Space, Sand Creek Drainage, South Platte Park

Apishapa phase

Apishapa phase was first identified in the Lower Apishapa canyon and is distinguished by stone or slab constructed structures, cord-wrapped pottery and small projectile points. They were a tradition of hunter gatherers who sometimes farmed and lived in northern New Mexico or southern Colorado in rockshelters, single or multi-room stone or slab structures or in campsites.^[19]: 4 There are at least 68 Apishapa sites on the Chaquaqua Plateau in southeastern Colorado.^[14]: 89 Some sites where Apishapa archaeological evidence has been found include Franktown Cave, Picture Canyon and Trinchera Cave Archeological District.

Dismal River culture

The Dismal River culture was first seen in the Dismal River area of Nebraska. Dated between AD 1650 and 1750, it is different than other prehistoric Central Plains and Woodland traditions of the western Plains. The people were hunter-gatherers who also cultivated food and make their own distinctive Dismal River pottery. Dismal River villages often had 15-20 round dwellings roughly 25 feet (7.6 m) in diameter. Plains Apache were linked to the culture.^{[11]: 234, 236 [19]: 212, 213, 768 [22]} Some Colorado sites include Cedar Point Village and Franktown Cave

Panhandle culture

Panhandle culture (AD 1200 to 1400) is a culture of the southern High Plains, primarily located in the panhandle and west central Oklahoma and the northern half of the Texas Panhandle. Most of the sites are centered around the Canadian River or its tributaries, primarily Antelope Creek and also Cottonwood Creek, Dixon Creek, Tarbox Creek and also on the Archie King Ranch. Distinguishing characteristics of the Panhandle culture are: great similarity to the Central Plains complexes; some evidence of trading or influence of Southwestern pueblo cultures; and single or multi-roomed stone structures.^[14]: 87 For Colorado sites, see Trinchera Cave Archeological District as well as the Apishapa culture and Sopris phase articles.

Sopris phase

Sopris phase (AD 1000 to 1250) was first found in southeastern Colorado, near the present town of Trinidad. Although the culture appeared to have been greatly influenced by pueblo people, such as the Taos Pueblo and trade in the Upper Rio Grande, the Sopris culture was generally a hunter-gatherer tradition.^{[14]: 94–95} See Trinchera Cave Archeological District

Plains Woodland

The Plains Woodland period, or Ceramic period, began in the Plains about AD 1 with the defining distinction of the creation of cordwrapped pottery, development of settlement areas, and use of smaller projectile points for hunting smaller game or bow and arrow technology.^[14]: 41 Sites include Colorado Millennial Site, Franktown Cave, LoDaisKa site, Magic Mountain site, Picture Canyon, and Roxborough State Park Archaeological District

Early Basketmaker II Era

The Early Basketmaker II Era (1500 BC to AD 50) was the first Post-Archaic cultural period of Ancient Pueblo People. The era began with the cultivation of maize in the northern American southwest, although there was not a dependence upon agriculture until about 500 BC.^[23]

They were named "Basketmakers" for their skill in making baskets for storing food, covering with pitch to heat water, and using to toast seeds and nuts. They wove bags, sandals, and belts out of yucca plants and leaves, and strung beads. They occasionally lived in dry caves where they dug pits and lined with stones to store food.^{[24]: 27–30 [25]}

Late Basketmaker II Era

During the Late Basketmaker II Era (AD 50 to 500), people living in the Four Corners region were introduced to maize and basketry through Mesoamerican trading. Able to have greater control of their diet through cultivation, the hunter-gatherers lifestyle became more sedentary as small disperse groups began cultivating maize and squash. They also continued to hunt and gather wild plants.^{[24]: 27–30}

Basketmaker III Era

The next era, Basketmaker III Era (AD 500 to 750) resulted in the introduction of pottery which reduced the number of baskets that they made and eliminated the creation of woven bags. The simple, gray pottery allowed them a better tool for cooking and storage. Beans were added to the cultivated diet. Bows and arrows made hunting easier and thus the acquisition of hides for clothing. Turkey feathers were woven into blankets and robes. On the rim of Mesa Verde, small groups built pit houses which were built several feet below the surface with elements suggestive of the introduction of celebration rituals.^{[24]: 33–37}

Pueblo I Era

Pueblo buildings were built during the Pueblo I Era (AD 750 to 900) with stone, wooden posts, and adobe. The buildings were located more closely together and reflected deepening religious celebration. Towers were built near kivas and likely used for look-outs. Pottery became more versatile, not just for cooking, but now included pitchers, ladles, bowls, jars and dishware for food and drink. White pottery with black designs emerged, the pigments coming from plants. Water management and conservation techniques, including the use of reservoirs and silt-retaining dams also emerged during this period.^{[24]: 39–45}

Pueblo II Era

During the Pueblo II period (AD 900 to 1150) there was an increase in population that resulted in creation of more than 10,000 sites in 150 years. Since much of the land was arid, the people supplemented their diet by hunting, foraging and trading pottery for food.^[26] By the end of the period, there were two-story dwellings made primarily of stone masonry, the presence of towers, and family and community kivas.^{[24]: 39–45 [27][28]}

Pueblo III Era

Rohn and Ferguson, authors of Puebloan ruins of the Southwest, state that during the Pueblo III period (AD 1150 to 1300) there was a significant community change. Moving in from dispersed farmsteads into community centers at pueblos canyon heads or cliff dwellings on canyon shelves. Population peaked between 1200 and 1250 to more than 20,000 in the Mesa Verde region.^[29] By 1300 Ancient Pueblo People abandoned their settlements, as the result of climate changes and food shortage, and migrated south to villages in Arizona and New Mexico,^[29] where people lived through the Pueblo IV Era and the Pueblo V Era, with the life of modern Puebloan people.

Apache

The Apache presence in Colorado includes the Jicarilla Apache and Dismal River cultures. The Jicarilla Apaches are one of the Athabaskan linguistic groups that migrated out of Canada, by 1525 CE,^[32] and lived in what they considered their land bounded by four sacred Rivers in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado: the Rio Grande, Pecos River, Arkansas River, and the Canadian River containing sacred mountain peaks and ranges. They also ranged out into the plains of northwestern Texas and the western portions of Oklahoma and Kansas. The Jicarilla Apache were hunter-gatherers, hunting primarily buffalo through the 17th century and thereafter added smaller game to their diet. Women gathered berries, agave, honey, onions, potatoes, nuts and seeds. Some bands practiced seasonal agriculture along the upper Arkansas River, cultivating squash, beans, pumpkins, melons, peas, wheat, and corn.^{[33][34][35][36]}

Arapaho

It is unclear how and when the Arapaho entered the Great Plains, they most likely lived in Minnesota and North Dakota before entering the Plains. Before European expansion into the area, the Arapahos were living on the plains in South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, and Kansas. They were close allies of the Cheyenne. In winter, the tribe split up into camps sheltered in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in present-day Colorado. In late spring they moved out onto the Plains into large camps to hunt buffalo gathering for the birthing season. In mid-summer Arapahos traveled into the Parks region of Colorado to hunt mountain herds, returning onto the Plains in late summer to autumn for ceremonies and for collective hunts of herds gathering for the rutting season.

Cheyenne

The Cheyenne arrived in the Colorado area shortly after the Arapaho, spoke both of the Algonquian languages, lived on the plains east of the Rocky Mountains with the Arapaho. The Cheyenne and Arapaho banded together against the Comanche, Kiowa, Shoshone and Ute.^[31][37]

Comanche

The Comanche arrived in the Colorado area from the Great Basin and northern plains. They spoke a Shoshone language and by the time of contact with settlers were located in southeastern Colorado, south of the Arkansas River. To the north of the river were the Arapaho and Cheyenne. Allied with the Ute, they fought against the Apache. Their limited archaeological artifacts include a flat-bottomed pottery known as Intermountain tradition or Shooshonean pottery, like the ceramics found at Graever Cave and Roberts Buffalo Jump.^{[11]: 244–248 [31]}

Navajo

The ancestors to the Navajo were one of the tribes of the southern division of the Athabaskan language family that migrated south from Alaska and northwestern Canada, most likely traveling through the Great Basin.^[38] The Navajo ancestors were in the area after AD 1300, but at least by the early 1500s.^[30]

Pawnee

The Pawnee ranged through the Great Plains and were first documented by Francisco Vázquez de Coronado when he met a Pawnee chief from Nebraska in 1541. Regarding Colorado, they hunted bison on plains of eastern Colorado.^[31]

Ute

Ute tribal ancestors migrated east from California in the 12th century. Before the 17th century, more of these indigenous people migrated from across both the Great Basin and Utah to occupy most of Colorado; more places occupied by the Ute tribe were northern New Mexico, Wyoming and Arizona .^{[30][31][39][40][41]} The Ute also stand as the oldest inhabitants of Colorado at the time of European contact, who chose a variety of locations for camps and routes; such as the Ute trail in the forest of the Grand Mesa.^[41] The language spoken by this tribe is a certain dialect of the Ute-Aztecan language, Shoshonean. it is generally believed that the migration of the Ute was in part an effort to separate themselves from other Shoshonean speaking tribes, such as Shoshone Bannock, Paiute, Comanche, Goshute, and Chemehuevi.^[41]

The Ute are the only Native American group with reservations in Colorado.

• Southern Ute Indian Reservation
• Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and Reservation