WESTERN SKIES - June 11, 2005

*** BACKCOUNTRY ARCHAEOLOGY ***

ERIC WHITNEY: While some monuments to Colorado history are lovingly cared for and cherished, there are literally thousands of other historical remnants out there which remain virtually unknown. Western Skies contributor Shanna Lewis recently tagged along with an archaeologist making his rounds outside of Westcliffe. She has this report.

SHANNA LEWIS: Driving south from Westcliffe on Highway 69, it's difficult to pull your gaze from the spectacular snow-covered peaks of the Sangre de Cristos, which stretch for over seventy miles along the western horizon. But to the east, lie some four hundred archeological sites, hidden in the rolling piñon and ponderosa forests of the Wet Mountains. Prehistoric peoples, early pioneers, miners, ranchers, and various Native American tribes, left behind evidence of their time in this quiet valley.

As the zone archeologist for the San Isabel National Forest, it's Steve Segin's job to keep track of these sites, so he's often out in the field evaluating and monitoring them.

STEVE SEGIN: And a lot of people are unaware that their own country has thousands and thousands of years of history. It's the history of native American peoples who were here before we were here, occupying the land for generations and generations, utilizing it in certain ways.

LEWIS: The Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation estimates there are some hundred and fifty thousand cultural resources spread throughout the state. Cultural resources are defined as buildings, tools and other artifacts that are least fifty years old, as well as some scenic landscapes and sacred sites; so Segin's work covers a broad time period, from twelve thousand years ago, to the early twentieth century. He emphasizes that it's all relevant.

SEGIN: Not only do we look at Native American stuff, but we have to look at the early history of the settlement of the west. Early mines, homesteads, the legacy of the early pioneers; that, as I look at it, has helped define America as a county and America as a people is scattered across the landscape here and we are supposed to preserve and protect that as well as any Native American site.

LEWIS: Puffy white clouds blow through a bright blue sky as we walk through the rocky forest of the Black Mountain area. Protecting archaeological sites is vital. But first, Segin has to pinpoint them. And in just this one thousand acre area there are some forty sites, spread throughout a constantly changing landscape.

SEGIN: You have some small Native American group occupy this area, probably for resource gathering for a short period of time. It might have been for a few weeks it may have been for a few days. They might have come back to the same areas or the exact same area, its hard to say, every year and that information would have been passed down from family to family and they would continue to come back here because this was the area that had the good stuff.

LEWIS: Walking through an apparently unremarkable stand of ponderosa trees with Segin, he points out flakes of quartzite rocks which have been worked into cutting tools, stones used as metates for grinding grains, and evidence of ancient fire rings. Segin says distinguishing an artifact from the average rock isn't hard, but you have to know what to look for, otherwise you may be walking right through a site without ever noticing it. Since the context and surroundings an artifact is found in is crucial to understanding its history, it's vital to keep sites from being damaged or dispersed.

SEGIN: Most of the sites have been on the landscape for hundreds if not thousands of years. One of the biggest threats we have is actually recreation. ATVs, motorcycles, horseback riding, all that kind of stuff. All those things impact sites. Granted, there are natural forces: erosion, natural fire, that kind of stuff, but those sites and these sites have been impacted by that kind of stuff for a long time. So our biggest problem is sometimes human actions and to try to mitigate that is very difficult. One, you have to try to identify the sites; and two, after you identify them you have to figure out how to protect them.

LEWIS: Education is one of Segin's best tools for protecting sites.

SEGIN: We try to let the public know that archeology is all of our shared cultural heritage. And if we don't protect it, essentially as both the agency and as both the public, then these things are going to disappear.

LEWIS: There are laws that mandate protection for archeological and historical sites. Segin and his colleagues are charged with working with other government agencies and with the public to implement these laws.

SEGIN: It's easy to protect a site from, say a fire project. Because we just draw a line around it on a map and then we'll come out on the ground and put some tape on the ground and say "Avoid this area, don't park a fire truck here. Don't burn over here." It's a little harder when nobody's sitting by the site, or you only see the site once a year and people are camping on it, it's a camping area or people are riding their off road vehicles on it.

LEWIS: Like most people who work for government agencies, Segin runs up against financial constraints in trying to accomplish his job.

SEGIN: The amount of sites we have to protect goes up, but yet our budget goes down. That creates another challenge, is that you're charged with essentially going out and essentially insuring compliance but at the same time you're finding more material. It's kind of like Catch-22. Well what do you do? Well. you don't stop finding sites and you certainly don't stop protecting them.

LEWIS: Ironically, much of Segin's work begins when an area is slated for a project such as construction or a controlled burn, that might damage or destroy cultural resources. Mary Sullivan of the Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation says that only six percent of the state has been surveyed for cultural resources.

Still, Segin will be busy this summer, re-flagging sites in the Black Mountain area, as well as working at prehistoric and historic sites around the forest.

For Western Skies, I'm Shanna Lewis in Westcliffe, Colorado.