Native American History of North Park

North Park’s Native American History

When driving through Colorado, people are usually more focused on the incredible scenery along the way. Hopefully they are also paying attention to the road too, after all these beautiful mountain vistas, forests, and plains can be distracting. What a lot of people don’t often think about is the history of rich cultures and the perseverance of the people who hunted and lived in these lands. Unfortunately some elements of this past occupy a place that is less than attractive when you consider the conflict and heartbreak of a time not all that long ago.

Colorado was a major hub of Native American culture and activity for thousands of years. Its unique geographical location as the headwater of several river systems, the intersection of mountains and plains, and even climate meant that Colorado was a haven for indigenous peoples up until the height of westward expansion, around 130 years ago. There are still indications of Colorado’s rich cultural past, and North Park is no exception. Even today there are remnants of a history often clouded in controversy and forgotten about more and more with the coming of each new generation.

These reminders of a different era have withstood the erosion of time, but they can only really continue to educate and enlighten if they are known. Let’s take a look at the Native American aspect of North Park’s history.

Prehistoric Glimpses into North Park

The mountains and canyons we all love so much in North Park were formed during the Ice Age during a series of glacial periods that locked much of North America under a sheet of ice often miles deep. In these inter-glacial periods, such as the Altithermal period, the landscape would have enjoyed years at a time of lush growth. Not only tundra in the exposed crags of the newly formed Rocky Mountains, but also forests and rich grasslands. 

Animals such as mammoths, horses, bison, dire wolves, and other pleistocene animals from the Ice Age would have hunted and grazed here. Along with them would have been people, the ancestors of the Native Americans who thrived in Colorado and the rest of the Americas.

Not much is known about paleo-Indian cultures that might have passed through North Park. Indications of early humans have been found in the area in the form of artifacts, left over from hunter gatherers as early as the Folsom tradition–ten thousand years ago or more–mostly in the form of arrowheads and other stone tools. 

Evidence of animals such as mammoths has been found in North Park. A mammoth tooth is on display at the North Park Pioneer Museum, dating back tens of thousands of years.

North Park’s Historical Era

Due to the harsh conditions of the post-Ice Age and interglacial periods, not much remains of an early Native American in North Park. What we do know of the presence of people in North Park prior to European settlement exists in historical accounts and stories told by the indigenous people who came to the area during the summer and fall to hunt.

It wasn’t until the 1870s that North Park had known any full-time settlement. Trappers, miners, and other newcomers to the area lived a rough existence through long winters, isolated for months at a time. Many settlers did not make it.

As far as we know, there were no skirmishes in North Park between the US Cavalry and the American Indian inhabitants, though in places throughout Jackson County, the Cavalry did build fortifications in anticipation of attacks. Battles between warriors of opposing tribes took place from time to time, but violence of that scale was probably more common in the neighboring mining and railroad towns.

The Bull Pen

What is known about North Park is due to its unique geographical location, it was home to a lot of buffalo. The North American bison thrived in the area, so much so that early settlers called North Park “the Bull Pen.” To this day, you can still find the remains of large buffalo wallows where herds of these animals would take dust baths or even wallow in mud during the mud season to fight off insects. 

Some records indicate that North Park was storied to be the Birthplace of the Buffalo, where in some American Indian traditions, the first buffalo herd in the world emerged from a cave which led up from the Underworld. After them, the People followed and populated the land.

Going back much further in the past, Colorado was at one time part of a shallow inland sea, which we can see in the fossil record. The segments of ammonite fossils were often used by various Native American cultures as fetishes to represent the buffalo. As people who relied on the bison for food, shelter, and tools, the buffalo were crucial to survival and culture. These fossils can be found all over North Park.

The eradication of the buffalo was part of a strategy used by the US Government at the time to deplete the resources of indigenous people. In the late 1800s, the buffalo were hunted nearly to the point of extinction and little remains of them in North Park now except for the occasional horn sheath you might find walking the rolling hills of BLM lands at an old wallow. 

Abundance of Game and an Intersection of Culture

Even with harsh winters, North Park—even as it is today—was a haven for wildlife. Pronghorn antelope, deer, elk, moose, and bison migrated to the area along with predators such as mountain lions, wolves, raptors, and coyotes. In the high country, bighorn sheep and mountain goats clambered on the crags and snowfields, and smaller animals such as snowshoe hares, beaver, and fur bearing animals were in abundance. For countless generations, this brought people as well and many accounts show that different indigenous tribes often shared these hunting grounds.

The Arapaho, Ute, Cheyenne, and other tribes were the most common, setting up camp in places such as Independence Mountain, where hunting parties had nearly unlimited view of the plentiful game in the area. You can still find evidence of these camps at Independence Mountain just west of Cowdrey, CO. 

The Bureau of Land Management has a section of land fenced off where the remnants of tipi rings with fire pits used by hunting parties in the area can still be seen. The dates for how old these sites are remain unclear, as they may have been reused for many generations by different peoples.

The Meeker Massacre

One of the most dramatic events in the history of North Park occurred shortly after the Meeker Massacre in 1879, where a few men of the Ute tribe came to North Park to escape the US Cavalry. Unfortunately for the men, the oncoming winter proved to be too harsh, and they were forced to surrender not long afterwards. Evidence of their tipis can still be found on Independence Mountain, though much of it has already been reclaimed by the forest.

Evidence of a Rich Past

You can still see evidence of a rich cultural past throughout North Park. Extremely fine and masterly crafted stone tools such as arrowheads, scrapers, axes, and grinding stones can still be found where they have lain for over a hundred years or more. Please remember that these artifacts are protected by Federal and State antiquities laws and taking them for private collections is prohibited. If you find artifacts, leave them where they lie.

The site for the tipi rings offers visitors a unique opportunity to walk where so many indigenous people lived and hunted, overlooking the vastness of North Park. You can almost imagine a time when enormous herds of buffalo grazed on the river valley below, and teams of hunters went out to harvest these massive animals with stone weapons. Between feuding tribes, it might have been a fight on sight running into rivals on a hunt.

Indian Burial Grounds

One place you can see evidence of a rich and thriving culture is not far from HWY 125, at the boat ramp for the North Platte River. Among some dead, ancient trees, if you know what you are looking for, you will see what once served as the final resting place of a person who died long ago. A dead tree overlooking the North Platte river was used as a burial tree, where the body of someone who had died was placed up on the branches of this tree and suspended there with cut poles. 

Over the years, the bones and anything left with the body have long since vanished, but the poles remain, as do the stories handed down over the years as to the purpose it served. Stories about the origin and identity of the person buried here are varied. You could ask ten old timers in North Park about the tree and get ten different answers.

Whoever was laid to rest here got one of the most incredible views of North Park.

Very Little Remains

Like the burial tree, much of what told the story of these people has been lost. The stories fade away with every generation and details change or are lost in the retelling. Early settlers, many from European origins came to North Park, and struggled well into the 20th Century to survive here. The coming of the railroad, mining, ranching, and forestry took priority over understanding or holding on to what was known. 

Even sites such as Teller City, near Rand, CO show just how quickly North Park reclaimed what humans tried to build. Once a thriving silver mining town, Teller City was quickly abandoned after currency went to the gold standard and silver became less valuable. The town dried up and what remained of miner cabins, hotels, and other structures were quickly broken down again by weather and regrowth of the forests.

Most of what remains are stories passed down through the generations from those who settled here, as well as what was documented by historians in Colorado’s early historical documents. It’s important to know the history of a place in order to protect it. For a very thorough and in-depth history of North Park, please check out North Park Anglers website. You can also visit the North Park Pioneer Museum to see artifacts and read more about the history of the area.

Protecting and preserving our past starts with you. Visitors are encouraged to take in the sights and enjoy what North Park has to offer, but please be respectful of artifacts you might find and leave them where you found them.

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