I I CLASS III CULTURAL RESOURCE INVENTORY OF THE PROPOSED CLEAR CREEK CANYON OPEN SPACE PARK JEF....ERSON COUNTY, COLORADO I Prepared By I Stephanie G. Velasquez I I Paragon Archaeological Consultant, Inc. 2785 N. Speer Blvd., Suite 343 D"llver, Colorado 80211 Marcus P. Grant Principal Investigator Prepared For Jefferson County Open Space 700 Jefferson County Parkway #100 Golden, Colorado 80211 State of Colc,rado Archaeological Pennit No. 98-16 September 22, 1998 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE Abstract ................................................................................................................................ i List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... ii List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... iii 1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................. 1-1 2. EFFECTIVE ENVIRONMENT ............................................................................................ 2-1 3. CULTURAL OVERVIEW .................................................................................................... 3-1 A. Prehistoric Period .............................................................................................................. 3-1 B. Historic Period ................................................................................................................... 3-8 4. DESCRIPTION OF THE CLEAR CREEK CANYON OPEN SPACE PARK SURVEY AREA AND LOCAL ENVIRONMENT .............................................................. 4-1 5. RESEARCH DESIGN AND SURVEY METHODS ............................................................ 5-1 A. Research Design ................................................................................................................ 5-1 B. Survey Methods ................................................................................................................. 5-1 6. INVENTORY RESULTS ...................................................................................................... 6-1 7. RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................................................... 7-1 8. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................... 8-1 9. EVALUATION OF RESEARCH .......................................................................................... 9-1 10. REFERENCES .................................................................................................................... 10-1 APPENDIX A (bound separately): Site Forms and Attachments LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1-1. Colorado state map showing the general location of the Project Area…………………1-2 1-2. Portions of the USGS 7.5’ Evergreen and Squaw Pass quadrangles showing the Clear Creek Canyon Open Space Park Survey Area ........................................................ 1-3 ii LIST OF FIGURES (Cont’d) FIGURE PAGE 6-1. Rock Shelter Comprising Site 5JF1778............................................................................... 6-2 6-2. Collapsed Remnant of Colorado Bungalow Style House on Site 5JF1778 .......................... 6-3 LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 3-1 . General Prehistoric Chronology and Climatic Conditions for Northern Colorado ......................................................................................................... 3-1 6-1 . Cultural Resources Recorded in the Clear Creek Canyon Open Space Park ....................... 6-1 7-1. Eligibility Evaluations and Recommendations for Cultural Resources Recorded in the Proposed Clear Creek Canyon Open Space Park ...................................... 7-2 iii ABSTRACT A Class III cultural resource inventory of the proposed Clear Creek Canyon Open Space Park was conducted by Paragon Archaeological Consultants, Inc. May 13th - 20th, June 12th, and July 31st, 1998. This survey was part of a larger undertaking to inventory approximately 3,790 acres comprising three Open Space parks. Paragon recorded three archaeological sites and 12 historic isolated finds within the proposed Open Space Park. Of the three sites, two (5JF1777, 5JF1778) are recommended as requiring further information, in the form of text excavation or archival research, to make a final determination of significance. No further actions are recommended for the other recorded properties. i 1 INTRODUCTION A Class III cultural resource inventory of the proposed Clear Creek Canyon Open Space Park was conducted by Paragon Archaeological Consultants, Inc. May 13th - 20th , June 12th , and July 31st, 1998. The inventory was executed on behalf of Jefferson County Open Space, which recently acquired the property. The project area will be preserved as county open space with possible minor development of trails and parking facilities. All work was performed under Colorado State Archaeological Permit No. 98-16. Marcus P. Grant served as Principal Investigator; the project's crew chiefs were Stephanie G. Velasquez and Thomas H. Garber; Staff Archaeologists were Rebeckah DeAngelo, and Kimberly Cornelisse. Ann P. Harrison was Project Manager. The proposed Clear Creek Canyon Open Space Park survey area is a 2,655-acre block that extends along the north and south sides of SH 6, westward from Golden. The survey corridor follows the course of Clear Creek; the corridor width is variable but generally spans the canyon rim. The project area encompasses portions of Sections 31 and 32, T3S, R70W; Sections 5 and 6, T4S, R70W; Sections 31-36, T3S, R71W; Sections 1-6, T4S, R71W; Section 36, T3S, R72W; and Section 1, T4S, R72W. Based on a file search conducted through the CHS-OAHP, a cultural resource inventory was conducted previously along the SH 6 corridor (CHS Survey ID: JF.CH.NR17; Johnson et al 1987). This inventory was performed by Colorado Department of Highways to determine if any cultural resources would be impacted by improvements made to the existing SH 6 right-of-way. The survey area was a six mile corridor along SH 6, between Tunnel No. 2 and the intersection with SH 58 in Golden. No cultural resources were recorded. The present inventory recorded three archaeological sites and 12 historic isolated finds on the Open Space property. The sites comprise possible prehistoric occupation of a rock shelter, a collapsed historic vacation home, and a flume. The isolated finds include prospect pits, prospect adits, and fence lines. This undertaking was part of a broader effort to inventory three recently acquired Jefferson County Open Space properties totaling 3,790 acres. Reports of findings for the other two project areas are presented separately. Cultural resource GIS coverage of all survey areas will also be submitted separately. Original field notes and maps (both electronic and hard copy) are retained in the records of Paragon Archaeological Consultants, Inc. No artifacts were collected during this inventory. 1-1 109 102 Fort Collins e d i v i D 40 Denver Grand Junction Colorado l Springs a t n e n i t n o Pueblo C Durango Figure 1-1: Colorado State Map Showing the General Location of the Project Area. 1-2 II. EFFECTIVE ENVIRONMENT This chapter presents generalized information on physiography, drainage, geology, soils, climate, land use patterns, and flora and fauna for the project region; local environmental descriptions of the survey area are provided in Chapter 4. The Jefferson County Open Space project region is located within the lower montane forest region and Plains-Foothills Transition Zone of the Southern Rocky Mountain Province. This region contains a north-south belt of sharp ridges, or hogbacks, of upturned sedimentary rocks that range in elevation from 5,500 feet to 6,800 feet, with relief in some areas as high as 500 feet. The topography is generally rugged with much of the area being quite steep. The primary drainage of this physiographic region is the South Platte River. Secondary drainages generally flow in a easterly direction from the continental divide cutting deep canyons between Front Range mountains, foothills, and hogbacks. Secondary drainages in the project region include Deer, Turkey, Dutch, Bear, Clear, and Coal creeks. Many tertiary feeder streams are ephemeral, deriving locally from springs, which are abundant in the project region, or from seasonal cloud bursts. The Colorado Front Range extends approximately 185 miles from the Arkansas River northward to the Wyoming border. These mountains comprise a complexly faulted anticlinal arch composed primarily of Precambrian crystalline rocks including granite, schists, gneiss, and quartzite. West of the Front Range are three intermontane basins: South, Middle, and North parks (Thornbury 1965). The mountain front is flanked by Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks that are exposed in the hogbacks. During erosional cycles, the softer and less resistant rocks along the mountain front have been eroded and leveled to an eastward sloping plane that dips steeply into the Denver Basin. The Front Range foothills and adjacent eastern plains have been folded, faulted, and uplifted. Following each cycle, the bedrock surfaces were covered by alluvial deposits of granular materials that were eroded and carried from the mountains by streams. Each subsequent cycle of erosion cut down through surfaces formed by a previous cycle, resulting in alluvial terraces, bedrock benches, flatirons,