Outline of Colorado prehistory
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outline Outline or outlining may refer to: * Outline (list), a document summary, in hierarchical list format * Code folding, a method of hiding or collapsing code or text to see content in outline form * Outline drawing, a sketch depicting the outer edge ...
is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the prehistoric people of
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
, which covers the period of when Native Americans lived in Colorado prior to contact with the Domínguez–Escalante expedition in 1776. People's lifestyles included nomadic hunter-gathering, semi-permanent village dwelling, and residing in
pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
s.


Periods and peoples


Paleo-Indian

Paleo-Indian period – the first people who entered, and subsequently inhabited, the
Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...
during the final glacial episodes of the late Pleistocene period. Evidence suggests big-game hunters crossed the Bering Strait from Asia into North America over a land and ice bridge ( Beringia), that existed between 45,000
BCE Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...
– 12,000 BCE, following herds of large
herbivores A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...
far into
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
. * Pre-Clovis – Paleo-Indian hunting, before the use of Clovis points.Cassells, E. Steve. (1997). ''The Archeology of Colorado'', Revised Edition. Boulder, Colorado: Johnson Books. . Lamb Spring in Littleton, with mammoth bones dated 14,140 to 12,140 years ago and hunting by use of stone tools other than Clovis points, is an example. Other examples include Dutton and Selby in the far eastern edge of Colorado. *
Clovis culture The Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleoamerican culture, named for distinct stone and bone tools found in close association with Pleistocene fauna, particularly two mammoths, at Blackwater Locality No. 1 near Clovis, New Mexico, in 1936 a ...
– the oldest Paleo-Indian division, marked by the use of Clovis points, the first fluted
projectile points In North American archaeological terminology, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a weapon that was capable of being thrown or projected, such as a javelin, dart, or arrow. They are thus different from weapons presumed to have ...
used in North America.
Dent Dent may refer to: People * Dent (surname) * Dent May (active 2007), American musician * Dent Mowrey (1888–1960), American composer, musician and music teacher * Dent Oliver (1918–1973), international speedway rider Places France * Dent d' ...
, Dutton the Drake Clovis Cache site are examples of Clovis sites in Colorado. The Dent site was the first site to provide evidence that men and mammoth co-existed and that man hunted mammoth. *
Folsom tradition The Folsom Complex is a Paleo-Indian archaeological culture that occupied much of central North America from c. 8500 BCE to c. 4000 BCE. The term was first used in 1927 by Jesse Dade Figgins, director of the Colorado Museum of Natural History. ...
– as megafauna, like the mammoth, became extinct man adapted by hunting smaller animals with the smaller
Folsom Folsom may refer to: People * Folsom (surname) Places in the United States * Folsom, Perry County, Alabama * Folsom, Randolph County, Alabama * Folsom, California * Folsom, Georgia * Folsom, Louisiana * Folsom, Missouri * Folsom, New Jerse ...
projectile point. Examples are the Lindenmeier site, dated 10,600 to 10,720 B.P. and the Jones-Miller Bison Kill Sites. *
Plano cultures The Plano cultures is a name given by archaeologists to a group of disparate hunter-gatherer communities that occupied the Great Plains area of North America during the Paleo-Indian or Archaic period. Distinguishing characteristics The Plan ...
**
Cody complex The Cody complex is a Paleo-Indian culture group first identified at a bison antiquus kill site near Cody, Wyoming in 1951. Points possessing characteristics of Cody Complex flaking have been found all across North America from Canada to as f ...
– a Plano culture that used unfluted projectile points and other tools like the Folsom and Clovis cultures from about 9,000 to 7,000 B.C. Olsen-Chubbuck Bison Kill Site, Jurgens Site and Lamb Spring are Cody complex sites. **
Goshen complex The Goshen point is a medium-sized, lanceolate-shaped, Paleo-Indian projectile point with a straight or concave base. It exhibits characteristic fine flaking. The point was named in 1988 by George C. Frison after the discovery of specimens at the ...
/
Plainview complex In the classification of Archaeological cultures of North America, the term Plainview points refer to Paleoindian projectile points dated between 10,000 and 9,000 Before Present. The point was named in 1947 after the discovery of a large cache of ...
– at the Phillips-Williams Fork Reservoir Site. ** Hell Gap complexPlano culture from 10,060 to 9,600 before present (estimated 8,050 to 7,590 B.C.), distinguished by the long stemmed, convex, and unfluted Hell Gap points. Jones-Miller Bison Kill Site is the only Hell Gap location in Colorado. * Other Paleo-Indian sites –
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument Canyons of the Ancients National Monument is a national monument protecting an archaeologically-significant landscape located in the southwestern region of the U.S. state of Colorado. The monument's are managed by the Bureau of Land Management, ...
, Picture Canyon, Phillips-Williams Fork Reservoir Site and
Roxborough State Park Archaeological District Roxborough State Park Archaeological District is located in Douglas County, Colorado. Roxborough State Park, south of Denver, Colorado, is a Colorado State Park day park. Archaeological artifacts reflect that there were prehistoric hunter-ga ...
.


Archaic period

Archaic period – people hunted small game, such as deer, antelope, and rabbits, and gathered wild plants. They moved seasonally to hunting and gathering sites. Late in the Archaic period, about 200-500 A.D.,
maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...
was introduced into the diet and pottery-making became an occupation for storing and caring food. * Apex complex – a Middle Archaic period was dated from about 3000 to 500 BC and first appeared in the Magic Mountain site near Apex Creek.Gunnerson, James H. (1987)
''Archaeology of the High Plains.''
Denver: United States Forest Service.
* Archaic–Early Basketmaker Era – cultural period from 7000 - 1500 BC of ancestors to the
Ancient Pueblo People The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, an ...
, who used baskets to gather and store wild seeds, grasses, nuts and fruit. They moved seasonally to gather food and hunt, using spears with small projectile points,
atlatl A spear-thrower, spear-throwing lever or ''atlatl'' (pronounced or ; Nahuatl ''ahtlatl'' ) is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart or javelin-throwing, and includes a bearing surface which allows the user to store ene ...
and darts and lived in simple dwellings.''Archaic: 5500 to 500 B.C.- Overview.''
Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. 2011. Retrieved 10-18-2011.
Time-Life Book Editors. (1993)
992 Year 992 ( CMXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Worldwide * Winter – A superflare from the sun causes an Aurora Borealis, with visibility as fa ...
''The First Americans.'' Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books. pp. 29, 30. .
''Archaic-Early Basketmaker Period.''
Chaco Culture National Historical Park, National Park Service. Retrieved 10-15-2011.
''Archaic: 5500 to 500 B.C. - Housing''
Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. Peoples of the Mesa Verde Region. 2011. Retrieved 10-17-2011.
* Mount Albion complex – early Archaic culture (4050 to 3050 BC), distinguished by the Mount Albion corner-notched projectile. Examples are: LoDaisKa site, Magic Mountain site, and
Franktown Cave Franktown Cave is located 25 miles south of Denver, Colorado on the north edge of the Palmer Divide. It is the largest rock shelter documented on the Palmer Divide, which contains artifacts from many prehistoric cultures. Prehistoric hunter-gat ...
. *
Oshara tradition Oshara Tradition, the northern tradition of the Picosa culture, was a Southwestern Archaic tradition centered in the area now called New Mexico and Colorado. Cynthia Irwin-Williams developed the sequence of Archaic culture for Oshara during he ...
– was an Archaic culture dated from 5,440 B.C. to A.D. 460 that is believed to be a predecessor to the
Basketmaker culture The Basketmaker culture of the pre- Ancestral Puebloans began about 1500 BC and continued until about AD 750 with the beginning of the Pueblo I Era. The prehistoric American southwestern culture was named "Basketmaker" for the large number of ...
of the
Ancient Pueblo People The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, an ...
. Six phases spanned a period from early Archaic period to the introduction of cultivation and pottery.Stiger, Mark. (2008). ''Hunter-Gather Archaeology of the Colorado High Country.'' Boulder: The University Press of Colorado. pp. 28-29. .


Post-Archaic period

* Post-Archaic, hunter and gathers **
Apishapa culture The Apishapa culture, or Apishapa Phase, a prehistoric culture from 1000 to 1400, was named based upon an archaeological site in the Lower Apishapa canyon in Colorado.Gibbon, Guy E.; Ames, Kenneth M. (1998''Archaeology of Prehistoric Native Americ ...
prehistoric
culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
from A.D. 1000-1400, named for an
archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology a ...
in the Lower Apishapa canyon in
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
.Gibbon, Guy E.; Ames, Kenneth M. (1998
''Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia''.
.
At least 68 Apishapa sites have been identified on the Chaquaqua Plateau in southeastern Colorado. Some sites where Apishapa archaeological evidence has been found include
Franktown Cave Franktown Cave is located 25 miles south of Denver, Colorado on the north edge of the Palmer Divide. It is the largest rock shelter documented on the Palmer Divide, which contains artifacts from many prehistoric cultures. Prehistoric hunter-gat ...
, Picture Canyon and Trinchera Cave Archeological District. **
Dismal River culture The Dismal River culture refers to a set of cultural attributes first seen in the Dismal River area of Nebraska in the 1930s by archaeologists William Duncan Strong, Waldo Rudolph Wedel and A. T. Hill. Also known as Dismal River aspect and Dism ...
– first seen in the Dismal River area of Nebraska. Dated between 1650-1750 A.D., it is different than other precontact Central Plains and
Woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...
traditions of the western Plains.''The Dismal River Culture.''
. Nebraska Studies. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
Some Colorado sites include
Cedar Point Village Cedar Point Village is an archaeological site located in Elbert County, Colorado near Limon. It is a prehistoric residential site with artifacts of the Dismal River culture and likely inhabited by early Apachean people. Cedar Point Village, d ...
and
Franktown Cave Franktown Cave is located 25 miles south of Denver, Colorado on the north edge of the Palmer Divide. It is the largest rock shelter documented on the Palmer Divide, which contains artifacts from many prehistoric cultures. Prehistoric hunter-gat ...
**
Panhandle culture Panhandle culture is a prehistoric culture of the southern High Plains during the Middle Ceramic Period from AD 1200 to 1400. Panhandle sites are primarily in the panhandle and west central Oklahoma and the northern half of the Texas Panhandle. ...
– of the southern High Plains dated about AD 1200-1400 and primarily located in the panhandle and west central Oklahoma and the northern half of the
Texas Panhandle The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a square-shaped area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. It is adjacent to ...
. Distinguishing characteristics of the Panhandle culture are: great similarity to the Central Plains complexes; some evidence of trading or influence of
Southwestern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
Ancestral Pueblo peoples The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, an ...
; and single or multi-roomed stone structures. For Colorado sites, see Trinchera Cave Archeological District as well as the
Apishapa culture The Apishapa culture, or Apishapa Phase, a prehistoric culture from 1000 to 1400, was named based upon an archaeological site in the Lower Apishapa canyon in Colorado.Gibbon, Guy E.; Ames, Kenneth M. (1998''Archaeology of Prehistoric Native Americ ...
and Sopris phase articles. ** Plains Woodland or Ceramic Period – The Woodland period, or Early Ceramic period, began in the Plains about AD 0 with the defining distinction of the creation of cordwrapped pottery, development of settlement areas, and use of smaller projectile points for hunting smaller game and/or bow and arrow technology. Sites include
Colorado Millennial Site Colorado Millennial Site is a prehistoric Paleo-Indian archaeological site located near Ruxton in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Colorado, sitting along the border between Baca and Las Animas counties. It is also known by its si ...
,
Franktown Cave Franktown Cave is located 25 miles south of Denver, Colorado on the north edge of the Palmer Divide. It is the largest rock shelter documented on the Palmer Divide, which contains artifacts from many prehistoric cultures. Prehistoric hunter-gat ...
, LoDaisKa site, Magic Mountain site, Picture Canyon, and
Roxborough State Park Archaeological District Roxborough State Park Archaeological District is located in Douglas County, Colorado. Roxborough State Park, south of Denver, Colorado, is a Colorado State Park day park. Archaeological artifacts reflect that there were prehistoric hunter-ga ...
** Sopris phase – dated about AD 1000-1250 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 Taos Pueblo (or Pueblo de Taos) is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos-speaking (Tiwa) Native American tribe of Puebloan people. It lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico. The pueblos are considered to be one of the oldest ...
and trade in the Upper Rio Grande, the Sopris culture was generally a hunter-gatherer tradition. See Trinchera Cave Archeological District ** Another Post-Archaic site is the
Chimney Rock National Monument Chimney Rock National Monument is a U.S. National Monument in San Juan National Forest in southwestern Colorado which includes an archaeological site. This area is located in Archuleta County, Colorado, between Durango and Pagosa Springs, and ...
. * Post-Archaic, Puebloan people **
Ancestral Pueblo peoples The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, an ...
– ancient to protohistoric Native American culture centered on the present-day Four Corners area of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, comprising southern
Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
, northern
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, northwest
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
, and southern
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
. ***
Basketmaker culture The Basketmaker culture of the pre- Ancestral Puebloans began about 1500 BC and continued until about AD 750 with the beginning of the Pueblo I Era. The prehistoric American southwestern culture was named "Basketmaker" for the large number of ...
American southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado ...
ern culture of the
Ancient Pueblo People The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, an ...
, dated about 1500 BC to AD 500, named for the large number of baskets found at archaeological sites. This group was preceded by the Archaic–Early Basketmaker Era, Durango Rock Shelters Archeology Site and followed by the Pueblo I Era. Basketmaker sites include
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument Canyons of the Ancients National Monument is a national monument protecting an archaeologically-significant landscape located in the southwestern region of the U.S. state of Colorado. The monument's are managed by the Bureau of Land Management, ...
,
Hovenweep National Monument Hovenweep National Monument is located on land in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah, between Cortez, Colorado and Blanding, Utah on the Cajon Mesa of the Great Sage Plain. Shallow tributaries run through the wide and deep canyons into t ...
and
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe ( Ute dialect: Wʉgama Núuchi) is one of three federally recognized tribes of the Ute Nation, and are mostly descendants of the historic Weeminuche Band who moved to the Southern Ute reservation in 1897. Their reserv ...
site 5MT10525. *** Pueblo culture – began AD 500 with the Pueblo I Era when people lived in pueblo structures and realized an evolution in architecture, artistic expression, and water conservation. Pueblo eras continued through to the contemporary Pueblo V Era. There are many Pueblo sites in southwestern Colorado, most notably:
Canyon of the Ancients Canyons of the Ancients National Monument is a national monument protecting an archaeologically-significant landscape located in the southwestern region of the U.S. state of Colorado. The monument's are managed by the Bureau of Land Managemen ...
,
Hovenweep National Monument Hovenweep National Monument is located on land in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah, between Cortez, Colorado and Blanding, Utah on the Cajon Mesa of the Great Sage Plain. Shallow tributaries run through the wide and deep canyons into t ...
,
Mesa Verde National Park Mesa Verde National Park is an American national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado. The park protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites in the United States. Established ...
,
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe ( Ute dialect: Wʉgama Núuchi) is one of three federally recognized tribes of the Ute Nation, and are mostly descendants of the historic Weeminuche Band who moved to the Southern Ute reservation in 1897. Their reserv ...
portion of the
Mesa Verde Region The Mesa Verde Region is a portion of the Colorado Plateau in the United States that extends through parts of New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. It is bounded by the San Juan River to the south, the Piedra River to the east, the San Juan Mountain ...
. **
Tipi ring Tipi rings are circular patterns of stones left from an encampment of Post-Archaic, protohistoric and historic Native Americans.Cassells, Steve. (1997). ''The Archaeology of Colorado.'' Boulder: Johnson Books. pp. 224-227. . They are found primar ...
period – a late Post-Archaic period when tipi rings were found, signifying habitation of nomadic hunters. This period continued into the
protohistoric Protohistory is a period between prehistory and history during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted the existence of those pre-literate groups in their own writings. For example, in ...
and
historic History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
periods. Evidence of the Apishapa culture disappeared after AD 1400, followed by sites with tipi rings. See Picture Canyon, which has evidence of both Apishapa and Tipi ring periods.


Culture in prehistoric Colorado

*
Paleolithic lifestyle The Paleolithic diet, Paleo diet, caveman diet, or stone-age diet is a modern fad diet consisting of foods thought by its proponents to mirror those eaten by humans during the Paleolithic era. The diet avoids processed food and typically in ...
– a hunter-gatherer distinguished by their nomadic lifestyle and use of stone tools. * Pueblo culture – village life typified by the development of communities centered upon agriculture, pottery and trade. ::''See also the cultures under the Paleo-Indian, Archaic and Post-Archaic period sections above.''


Art

* Rock art – human-made carvings or paintings markings made on natural stone, including petroglyphs and
pictograph A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and g ...
s. See Cañon Pintado,
Colorado Millennial Site Colorado Millennial Site is a prehistoric Paleo-Indian archaeological site located near Ruxton in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Colorado, sitting along the border between Baca and Las Animas counties. It is also known by its si ...
, Dinosaur National Monument, Hawkins Preserve,
Hovenweep National Monument Hovenweep National Monument is located on land in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah, between Cortez, Colorado and Blanding, Utah on the Cajon Mesa of the Great Sage Plain. Shallow tributaries run through the wide and deep canyons into t ...
, Mantle's Cave,
Mesa Verde National Park Mesa Verde National Park is an American national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado. The park protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites in the United States. Established ...
, Picture Canyon, Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site,
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe ( Ute dialect: Wʉgama Núuchi) is one of three federally recognized tribes of the Ute Nation, and are mostly descendants of the historic Weeminuche Band who moved to the Southern Ute reservation in 1897. Their reserv ...
* Solar calendar – a calendar whose dates indicate the position of the earth on its revolution around the sun, including passage of the seasons by the summer and winter equinox. See
Hovenweep National Monument Hovenweep National Monument is located on land in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah, between Cortez, Colorado and Blanding, Utah on the Cajon Mesa of the Great Sage Plain. Shallow tributaries run through the wide and deep canyons into t ...
and Picture Canyon.


Clothing and personal adornment

*
Blanket A blanket is a swath of soft cloth large enough either to cover or to enfold most of the user's body and thick enough to keep the body warm by trapping radiant body heat that otherwise would be lost through convection. Etymology The term ...
s – turkey feathers, yucca fibers and rabbit fur were woven into blankets. Hides were likely also used as blankets for warmth.Wenger, Gilbert R. (1991) 980 The Story of Mesa Verde National Park. Mesa Verde Museum Association, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. pp. 33-37. . *
Clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...
– little evidence of clothing, aside from a few loin-cloths found at archaeological sites. * Cradleboards – made from yucca, twigs and rabbit fur.Ancestral Puebloan Chronology (teaching aid).
Mesa Verde National Park, National Park Service. Retrieved 10-16-2011.
*
Hairstyle A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human scalp. Sometimes, this could also mean an editing of facial or body hair. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal groomi ...
s – based upon burial remains, men of the
Basketmaker culture The Basketmaker culture of the pre- Ancestral Puebloans began about 1500 BC and continued until about AD 750 with the beginning of the Pueblo I Era. The prehistoric American southwestern culture was named "Basketmaker" for the large number of ...
sometimes wore fancy hairstyles and it's hypothesized that women generally wore their hair cut short.''Man of the San Juan Valley: The Basketmakers.''
Aztec Ruins National Monument, National Park Service. Retrieved 10-16-2011.
*
Jewelry Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry ( U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a w ...
– both men and women of the Basketmaker culture wore necklaces, bracelets and pendants made of shell, stone, bone and dried berries. Shells, such as abalone, conus and
olivella Olivella is a municipality in Catalonia, in the province of Barcelona, Spain. It is situated in the comarca of Garraf. History The first known village in the area was founded in 992 around a castle known as ''Castell vell''. The inhabitants l ...
from the coast of the
Pacific ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
, would have been obtained through trade. *
Robe A robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. Unlike garments described as capes or cloaks, robes usually have sleeves. The English word ''robe'' derives from Middle English ''robe'' ("garment"), borrowed from Old French ''robe'' ("booty, spoil ...
s – turkey feathers were woven into robes. *
Sandal Sandals are an open type of footwear, consisting of a sole held to the wearer's foot by straps going over the instep and around the ankle. Sandals can also have a heel. While the distinction between sandals and other types of footwear can ...
s – made of woven
yucca ''Yucca'' is a genus of perennial plant, perennial shrubs and trees in the family (biology), family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their Rosette (botany), rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped Leaf, ...
fibers or strips of leaves.


Diet

* Cultivation
maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...
,
squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...
,
beans A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes thr ...
were cultivated by
Ancient Pueblo People The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, an ...
and some hunter-gatherers. Cultivation required at least some seasonal residency at the cultivation site for planting and harvesting. *
Paleolithic diet The Paleolithic diet, Paleo diet, caveman diet, or stone-age diet is a modern fad diet consisting of foods thought by its proponents to mirror those eaten by humans during the Paleolithic era. The diet avoids processed food and typically incl ...
– diet of hunter-gatherers, reliant upon seasonal attainment of wild plants and animals.


Dwellings

* Adobe dwellings – building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material (sticks, straw, and/or manure). * Crude lean-tos – shelters made of poles covered with brush and/or hides and having a roof with a single slope. *
Rock shelters A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of r ...
– cave-like opening in a bluff or cliff, which may have construction of walls for protection from the elements. * Pit-houses – dwellings built partially below ground, covered with poles, brush, earth and/or hides. *
Tipi A tipi , often called a lodge in English, is a conical tent, historically made of animal hides or pelts, and in more recent generations of canvas, stretched on a framework of wooden poles. The word is Siouan, and in use in Dakhótiyapi, Lakȟó ...
s – cone-shaped shelters made of wooden poles covered with animal skins. * Wikiup – downed branches upturned with small ends forming a tight knit top and large branch ends forming the circular base. Often covered with more, smaller branches and/grasses, allowing for one opening. Similar in shape to a tipi but not portable, nor more than seasonal in use.


Medicine

*
Prehistoric medicine Prehistoric medicine is any use of medicine from before the invention of writing and the documented history of medicine. Because the timing of the invention of writing per culture and region, the term "prehistoric medicine" encompasses a wide r ...
– practice of use of natural resources, such as plants and earth, to treat disease and injury.


Tools

Precontanct peoples made a number of tools from stone, such as knives and other tools to pound, scrape, and cut. ;Food gathering, storing, cultivation, preparation and cooking *
Basket A basket is a container that is traditionally constructed from stiff fibers and can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials such as horsehai ...
s – container which is traditionally constructed from stiff fibers, which was used to gather, store and, when pitch-lined, cook food. * Digging sticks – used to plant seeds. * Manos – a stone used as the upper millstone for grinding foods (as Indian corn) by hand in a metate. *
Metate A metate (or mealing stone) is a type or variety of quern, a ground stone tool used for processing grain and seeds. In traditional Mesoamerican cultures, metates are typically used by women who would grind nixtamalized maize and other organic ...
– stone tool used for processing grain and seeds. *
Pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...
– ceramic ware made from clay and fired for durability. * Storage pits – underground pits, generally stone-lined for protection of surplus food against the elements and rodents. ;Hunting *
Atlatl A spear-thrower, spear-throwing lever or ''atlatl'' (pronounced or ; Nahuatl ''ahtlatl'' ) is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart or javelin-throwing, and includes a bearing surface which allows the user to store ene ...
– spear-thrower used to hunt game. * Bow and arrow – projectile weapon used to hunt game, a significant improvement over the atlatl. * Nets and snares – to trap small game. *
Projectile points In North American archaeological terminology, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a weapon that was capable of being thrown or projected, such as a javelin, dart, or arrow. They are thus different from weapons presumed to have ...
– a stone object crafted to a projectile, such as a spear, dart, arrow, or knife. *
Spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...
s – pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. ;Other * Bone awls – simple tool used for sewing or to puncture holes, such as to create clothing from animal skins. *
Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames a ...
– Native American use of fire *
Rope A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similar ...
– woven from yucca. * Scraper – unifacial tools that were used either for hideworking or woodworking. *
Yucca ''Yucca'' is a genus of perennial plant, perennial shrubs and trees in the family (biology), family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their Rosette (botany), rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped Leaf, ...
– a source of food, material for clothing and sandals, soap and more.


Origins of contemporary tribes

The Ute arrived in Colorado by the 17th century and occupied much of the present state of Colorado. They were followed by the Comanches from the south in the 18th century, and then the Arapaho and Cheyenne from the plains who then dominated the plains of Colorado. The Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Comanche were the largest groups of indigenous people in Colorado at the time of contact with settlers.''Indians of Colorado.''
The William E. Hewitt Institute for History and Social Science Education. University of Northern Colorado. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
The following are the language groups and ancestors to contemporary Native American tribes: * Algonquians – were located prehistorically in Canada and the United States from the Rocky Mountains to the eastern seaboard. The Plains Algonquians, a geographic subdivision of the Algonquians, included the
Arapaho The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho ba ...
,
Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...
and Blackfoot people. **
Arapaho The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho ba ...
– lived on the eastern
plains In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands. In ...
of
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
,
Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
and across the Great Plains. They were close allies of the Cheyenne people with whom they shared territory in eastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming. They wintered in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, hunted buffalo on the plains during the spring and fall and in mid-summer hunted game in the parks of Colorado. **
Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...
– lived on the plains east of the Rocky Mountains with the Arapaho. * Southern Athabaskans – consists of the
Apachean The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
and
Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...
s, migrated from the present-day state of
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
and northwestern
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
to the Great Plains of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, including Colorado, before settling in Southwestern United States. ** Apache ***
Dismal River culture The Dismal River culture refers to a set of cultural attributes first seen in the Dismal River area of Nebraska in the 1930s by archaeologists William Duncan Strong, Waldo Rudolph Wedel and A. T. Hill. Also known as Dismal River aspect and Dism ...
– the Apache presence in Colorado began with Dismal River cultures. *** Carlana (also Carlanes) – lived in southeastern Colorado on Raton Mesa and in 1726, they had joined with the Cuartelejo and Paloma, and by the 1730s, they were living with the Jicarilla. *** Jicarilla Apache – by A.D. 1525, the Jicarilla Apache who lived in northern
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
and southern
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
and ranged throughout the plains of
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, Oklahoma and
Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...
."Spanish Relations with the Apache Nations east of the Rio Grande"
Jeffrey D. Carlisle, B.S., M.A., University of North Texas, May 2001, pages 4-5.
Velarde Tiller, Veronica E. (2011) ''Culture and Customs of the Apache Indians''. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood of ABC-CLIO. p. 28. . See
Cedar Point Village Cedar Point Village is an archaeological site located in Elbert County, Colorado near Limon. It is a prehistoric residential site with artifacts of the Dismal River culture and likely inhabited by early Apachean people. Cedar Point Village, d ...
, Picture Canyon, Trinchera Cave Archeological District *
Caddoan The Caddoan languages are a family of languages native to the Great Plains spoken by tribal groups of the central United States, from present-day North Dakota south to Oklahoma. All Caddoan languages are critically endangered, as the number of ...
– of the Great Plains of the central United States, from North Dakota south to Oklahoma. **
Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska ...
– ranged through the Great Plains and were first documented by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado when he met a Pawnee chief from Nebraska in 1541. Regarding Colorado, they hunted bison on plains of eastern Colorado. *
Tanoan languages Tanoan , also Kiowa–Tanoan or Tanoan–Kiowa, is a family of languages spoken by indigenous peoples in present-day New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Most of the languages – Tiwa (Taos, Picuris, Southern Tiwa), Tewa, and Towa – ...
– a major family of Pueblo languages ( Jemez,
Tewa The Tewa are a linguistic group of Pueblo Native Americans who speak the Tewa language and share the Pueblo culture. Their homelands are on or near the Rio Grande in New Mexico north of Santa Fe. They comprise the following communities: * ...
,
Tiwa Tiwa and Tigua may refer to: * Tiwa Puebloans, an ethnic group of New Mexico, US * Tiwa (Lalung), an ethnic group of north-eastern India * Tiwa language (India), a Sino-Tibetan language of India * Tiwa languages, a group of Tanoan languages of the ...
) and the Kiowa, ancestral to the pueblo people **
Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and e ...
– lived or ranged in the southwestern plains adjacent to the Arkansas River in southeastern Colorado. * Uto-Aztecan languages ** Central Numic – the homeland of the Numic branch has been placed near
Death Valley, California Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of lowest elevation in North A ...
. *** Comanche – were located in southeastern Colorado, south of the Arkansas River. *** Shoshone – Eastern Shoshone tribes lived in northern Colorado and Wyoming. **
Colorado River Numic language Colorado River Numic (also called Ute , Southern Paiute , Ute–Southern Paiute, or Ute-Chemehuevi ), of the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family, is a dialect chain that stretches from southeastern California to Colorado. Individual ...
– like the Central Numic, the homeland of the Colorado River Numic branch has been placed near
Death Valley, California Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of lowest elevation in North A ...
. *** Ute – migrated from
Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
and the Great Basin before the 17th century, occupied most of Colorado and were prehistoric hunters of western Colorado. They are the only native people with reservations in Colorado, the
Southern Ute Indian Reservation The Southern Ute Indian Reservation (Ute dialect: Kapuuta-wa Moghwachi Núuchi-u) is a Native American reservation in southwestern Colorado near the northern New Mexico state line. Its territory consists of land from three counties; in descendin ...
and the
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe ( Ute dialect: Wʉgama Núuchi) is one of three federally recognized tribes of the Ute Nation, and are mostly descendants of the historic Weeminuche Band who moved to the Southern Ute reservation in 1897. Their reserv ...
Reservation.


Archaeologists

*
Cynthia Irwin-Williams Cynthia Irwin-Williams (April 14, 1936 – June 15, 1990) was an archaeologist of the prehistoric American Southwest. She received a B.A. in Anthropology from Radcliffe College in 1957; the next year she received a M.A. in the same field. In 196 ...
– notable sites are LoDaisKa site, Magic Mountain site, and her work on
Oshara tradition Oshara Tradition, the northern tradition of the Picosa culture, was a Southwestern Archaic tradition centered in the area now called New Mexico and Colorado. Cynthia Irwin-Williams developed the sequence of Archaic culture for Oshara during he ...
and Picosa culture * Paul Sidney Martin – excavated many ancient pueblo sites, including
Lowry Pueblo The Lowry Pueblo is an Ancestral Puebloan archaeological site located in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument near Pleasant View, Colorado, United States. The pueblo was constructed around 1060 AD atop abandoned pithouses from an earlier ...
*
Waldo Rudolph Wedel Waldo Rudolph Wedel (September 10, 1908 – August 27, 1996) was an American archaeologist and a central figure in the study of the prehistory of the Great Plains. He was born in Newton, Kansas to a family of Mennonites. In 1939 he married ...
– a notable site is Lamb Spring, and also see his work on the
Dismal River culture The Dismal River culture refers to a set of cultural attributes first seen in the Dismal River area of Nebraska in the 1930s by archaeologists William Duncan Strong, Waldo Rudolph Wedel and A. T. Hill. Also known as Dismal River aspect and Dism ...
*
Joe Ben Wheat Joe Ben Wheat (1916–1997) was an American archaeologist, curator, teacher, and author known for his expertise on Weaving#American Southwest, blanket weavings and textiles of the Navajo weaving, Navajo and other Indians in Arizona, New Mexico, and ...
– the hallmark excavation site of his career is Joe Ben Wheat Site Complex, also see Jurgens Site, Olsen-Chubbuck Bison Kill Site


Gallery

;Language groups pre-contact locations File:Algonquian langs.png, Algonquian:
Arapaho, Cheyenne File:Na-Dene langs.png, Athabaskan:
Apache, Navajo File:Caddoan langs.png, Caddoan:
Pawnee File:Kiowa-Tanoan langs.png, Kiowa-Tanoan:
Kiowa File:Uto-Aztecan langs.png, Uto-Aztecan:
Comanche, Shoshone, Ute
;Historic map, representing prehistoric tribal regions File:1845 Santa Fe Trail.jpg, 1845 map. The Arkansas River was a boundary, with the Comanche and Kiowa to the south and the Arapaho and Cheyenne to the north of the river. The Ute were pressured to the western part of present-day Colorado


See also

;
History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
*
Prehistory of Colorado Prehistory of Colorado provides an overview of the activities that occurred prior to Colorado's recorded history. Colorado experienced cataclysmic geological events over billions of years, which shaped the land and resulted in diverse ecosystems. ...
**
Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest The Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest are those in the current states of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada in the western United States, and the states of Sonora and Chihuahua in northern Mexico. An often quoted s ...
**
List of prehistoric sites in Colorado This list of prehistoric sites in Colorado includes historical and archaeological sites of humans from their earliest times in Colorado to just before the Colorado historic period, which ranges from about 12,000 BC to AD 19th century. The Perio ...
**
Prehistoric migration and settlement of the Americas from Asia The settlement of the Americas began when Paleolithic hunter-gatherers entered North America from the North Asian Mammoth steppe via the Beringia land bridge, which had formed between northeastern Siberia and western Alaska due to the lower ...
**
Prehistoric Southwestern cultural divisions Southwestern archaeology is a branch of archaeology concerned with the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico. This region was first occupied by hunter-gatherers, and thousands of years later by advanced civilizations, such as the Ances ...
**
Southwestern archaeology Southwestern archaeology is a branch of archaeology concerned with the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico. This region was first occupied by hunter-gatherers, and thousands of years later by advanced civilizations, such as the Ances ...
** Timeline of Colorado history ;
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
**
Bibliography of Colorado The location of the State of Colorado in the United States of America This is a bibliography of the U.S. State of Colorado. __TOC__ General history * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Sibley, George. ''Water Wranglers - The 75- ...
**
Index of Colorado-related articles This is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. State of Colorado. 0–9 * .co.us – Internet second-level domain for the State of Colorado * 4 Corners ** 4 Corners Monument * 6th Principal Meridian * 10-mile Range * 10th ...
** Outline of Colorado *
Geology of the Rocky Mountains The geology of the Rocky Mountains is that of a discontinuous series of mountain ranges with distinct geological origins. Collectively these make up the Rocky Mountains, a mountain system that stretches from Northern British Columbia through cen ...
*
Paleontology in Colorado The location of the state of Colorado Paleontology in Colorado refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Colorado. The geologic column of Colorado spans about one third of Earth's history ...


References

{{Outline footer
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
Pueblo history Colorado prehistory