Archaeology and Cultural Resources

Paleo-Indian Period

The Paleoindian era spans from about 12,000 to 8,500 years before present (BP) and was characterized by sweeping climatic changes and vast changes in floral and faunal ranges. These early people across North America are generally characterized as highly mobile, following and primarily subsisting on herds of now-extinct megafauna that were killed with spears, and later, with atlatl darts. Typical artifacts include lanceolate points including Clovis, Goshen, Folsom and Plano projectile points.  This era is represented by infrequent surface finds of Paleoindian points, but no features from this period have been documented on the Ashley National Forest.

The Archaic era spans from about 8500 to 2000 BP and was characterized by modern flora and fauna, a broad spectrum of which were utilized by foraging Archaic peoples who followed seasonal rounds to exploit plant and animal resources.  At least some Archaic groups were seasonally (winter) sedentary in the lowlands. Typical artifacts or features from the archaic period include rock lined storage and thermal features (including slab-lined basins), basketry, nets, snares, groundstone, atlatls and darts, stemmed, comer-notch and side-notch projectile points, scrapers and occasional rock art. Caves and rockshelters were utilized, but ephemeral (brush structure) and more permanent (pithouse) habitations were also constructed.

Some time around 2000 BP the bow and arrow and cultigens (maize) appear in the region and we see a shift from fully mobile hunting and gathering to a pattern of increased sedentism and cultigen use. Fremont sites tend to feature some combination of cultigens, ceramics, basketry, architecture, constructed storage facilities, and distinctive rock art.  These components indicate the development of a horticulture-based society that allowed for the establishment of small farmsteads and hamlets.  Sometime between 850-650 BP, the Fremont pattern of cultigen use and traits including projectile point types, ceramic types, and farming appears to vanish from the region. 

After 650 BP, the archaeological record indicates that indigenous people returned to a mobile hunting and gathering lifestyle.  Researchers suggest two theories; one theory suggests that Fremont groups reverted to seasonal hunter-gatherer subsistence strategies when horticultural pursuits were no longer beneficial. Another theory posits that Numic-speaking peoples replaced Fremont populations or intermixed with them. Archaeologists and linguists argue that the changes that took place near the end of the Formative Period likely coincide with the arrival of Numic-speaking peoples —the so-called “Numic Spread”—throughout the Great Basin and onto the Colorado Plateau.

The Late Prehistoric is marked by many archaeological sites in a diverse range of environments, including riparian areas, near lakes, on dunes, in basins, and montane and alpine settings.  Land-use patterns during the Late Prehistoric Period ultimately reflect climatic change that likely favored flexible subsistence strategies focused on intensive rounds of foraging and hunting. As indicated by settlement patterns, which are revealed in the archaeological record and confirmed by ethnographic research, maintaining small group size and moving from one resource area to the next proved successful for peoples of the Late Prehistoric Period (Morgan 2012; Steward 1938).  Archaeological evidence of the Late Prehistoric include small triangular arrow points (Desert Side-notched and Cottonwood Triangular) and distinctive Brown Ware pottery including Intermountain Brownware and Uncompahgre Brownware

The arrival of European peoples to the Americas changed the way of life for indigenous peoples, both directly and indirectly. European diseases spread across the Americas during the 1500s and killed an unknown number of native peoples.  It is unclear how Late Prehistoric People were affected by these changes.  The Late Prehistoric people are most likely the ancestors of the  Numic-speaking Ute, Paiute, and Shoshone people who were encountered by Euro-American explorers in the 1700s and 1800s.

The Ute people inhabited much of the Colorado Plateau and are most likely descendants of the people living in the area during the Late Prehistoric period. Utes were known to be a hunting and gathering people who exploited pronghorn, bison, elk, deer, small game, and a variety of indigenous flora.   They were highly mobile and lived in temporary shelters made with local materials.

The introduction of the horse, especially after the pueblo revolt in 1680, changed the Ute lifestyle more dramatically than almost any other event and a horse culture became a dominant part of the Ute culture. The introduction of European trade goods, including metal axes and knives, metal arrowheads, and firearms also had a dramatic change on the Ute lifestyle. The Ute people maintained many cultural traditions and practices, but the influence of European animals, plants, diseases, and materials were forces of change that are not completely understood.

The Shoshone historically represent several bands of Shoshonean-speaking peoples who traveled extensively in Western Wyoming, Utah, and Southern Idaho as semi-nomadic, hunter-gatherer groups.  The Shoshone traveled in family groups in annual cycles. Families resided somewhat consistently in the same region throughout the year, returning to specific resource areas during particular months or seasons. The Shoshone subsisted on diverse fauna, berries, and roots. Some specific staples included buffalo, fish, elk, beaver, deer, currants, rose berries, hawthorn, and gooseberry. Various Shoshone groups came to be identified based on where they lived, traveled, and what they ate (sheep-eaters, fish-eaters, rabbit-eaters, etc.), even being classified as distinct tribes or bands by government agents.

The introduction of the horse fundamentally altered all aspects of Shoshone lifeways including mobility, social networks, material culture, and subsistence. With the adoption of the horse, the Shoshone took on a more Plains-type cultural lifestyle allowing hunting forays to range to the open plains where bison were abundant. 

The year 1492 commenced a period of massive changes across the American continents, as European peoples began to recognize the abundance of available resources and then claim lands inhabited by indigenous peoples. From 1536 to 1821, most of the western United States, including the area now managed by Ashley National Forest, was claimed by the kingdom of Spain, unbeknownst to the people who lived here. The Ute Indians were on the periphery of Spanish influence but were heavily affected by the introduction of the horse in the early 1600s. Tribal culture was also affected by the introduction of European manufactured goods, trade with Europeans, and the spread of European diseases.

Spanish involvement with the Ute tribes consisted of exploration, such as the Escalante and Dominquez expedition in 1776, or trade for slaves, pelts, and goods along the Spanish Trail located to the south of the Uinta Basin. Spanish influence was fleeting as no permanent settlements were established in the area, however, the Spanish government tried to strictly control trade between foreign entities and the indigenous populations.

In 1821, Mexico gained independence from Spain and - unbeknownst to the people who lived there - claimed control over what is now Utah, eastern Wyoming, and eastern Colorado.  In contrast to the prior Spanish government, Mexican control of trade was very lax and the Mexican government had little concern for this northern periphery of their claimed lands. The Rocky Mountains experienced an influx of French, British, and Euro-American fur trappers hoping to take advantage of the abundance of fur bearing animals in the area, now void of Spanish control. Trade with the indigenous Ute and Shoshone tribes was enhanced by the establishment of trading posts along the Green River and its tributaries.  Fort Robidoux in the valley of the Uinta River, Fort Davy Crocket in Browns Hole, and other trading posts were established to trade for furs and other valuable commodities.  William H. Ashley was one of the many trappers to come to the area and he claimed his name for a small tributary of the Green River.  Ashley Creek, Ashley Valley, and Ashley National Forest all derive their names from him.

By the mid-1840s the region’s fur bearing animals had been over-exploited and the demand for lucrative beaver pelts had declined because of fashion changes in Europe. Trade relationships with the Utes and other tribes soured when Euro-American trappers were no longer willing to pay for pelts brought by the native people. Disillusioned Utes burned Euro-American trading posts and forts, such as Fort Robidoux near Whiterocks. The trade networks were essentially dissolved.

The arrival of thousands of Euro-American Mormon settlers along the Wasatch Front began in 1847 and set off conflicts between the new arrivals and the indigenous people already living there.  In 1848, unbeknownst to the Ute and Shoshone people, their homelands were claimed by the United States as part of the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican War. 

The influx of Euro-American outsiders into Ute and Shoshone territory created conflict between the indigenous inhabitants and the newcomers. Pressure from the Euro-American settlers led the U.S. Government to intervene and to remove the indigenous people from the prime agricultural lands and resettle them on reservations.

The Uinta Basin, which had been previously surveyed and deemed undesirable for Euro-American settlement, was set aside for the Ute people as the Uintah Valley Reservation. By 1865, all Utes within the Utah Territory were forced to move to the Uintah Valley Reservation in the Uinta Basin.

On March 3, 1891, congress passed the Forest Reserve Act, which authorized the President of the United States to set apart forested public lands as public reservations, later called forest reserves.  Under this act, President Grover Cleveland created the Uintah Forest Reserve on February 22, 1897, making it one of thirteen “President’s Day” reserves. It covered 842,000 acres, mostly on the North Slope of the Uinta Mountains. The name “Uinta” or “Uintah” comes from the name of the band of Ute Indians living in the area.

Congress specified that all forest reserves were to be established and administered “to improve and protect the forest within the boundaries, or for the purpose of securing favorable conditions of water flows, and to furnish a continuous supply of timber for the use and necessities of citizens of the United States.” (16 USC 475)

In 1905, the Uintah Forest Reserve gained 1,010,000 acres in the Uintah Basin, nearly all of which came from the Uintah Valley Indian Reservation when the reservation lands were opened for public sale. Another addition in early 1906 expanded the forest reserve to nearly 2.3 million acres and formally changed its spelling from Uintah to Uinta.

On July 1, 1908, the Uinta Forest Reserve was split in two and the western portion—42% of the original reserve—became the Ashley National Forest, headquartered in Vernal. The rest was designated as the Uinta National Forest with its supervisor’s office in Provo. The name “Ashley” comes from the Ashley Creek that drains the south slope of the Uinta Mountains within the Forest.  Ashley Creek was named for the early explorer and Rocky Mountain Fur Company organizer William H. Ashley who passed through the area in 1825.

The boundary between the Ashley NF and the Uinta NF changed various times between 1908 and 1954 to accommodate management needs.  On October 1, 1968, federal legislation established the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area which added approximately 120,000 acres to the Ashley National Forest. 

The Ashley National Forest currently manages 1.4 million acres of public federal lands in Utah and Wyoming.