The Early Days
In the days before the first non-native settlers, the land now known as “Park County” (also called "South Park") was inhabited by the Native American tribe called the Utes. In the summers this area was plentiful with herds of bison and these ideal hunting opportunities attracted other Native American tribes, like the Arapaho, Kiowa, Commanche, and Cheyenne into the basin along with the Utes.[1]
The carefully tuned balance of these lives driven by seasons was first interrupted by outside influences in the early 1600s.[2] It was around this time that Spanish explorers made their way to the area and made contact with the Ute tribe. The interaction between these two peoples was fairly amicable and a notable exchange between them included the Spanish gifting of horses which would become a point of pride for the Ute tribe.[3] The explorers, however, did not stay long and it was then nearly a century before the next visitors arrived on the Park County scene.
The beginning of the 1800s saw the staggered arrival of French and American fur trappers.[4] These trappers were not permanent residents of the land, disliking the harsh winters. Instead, trappers in this region lived lives that were somewhat nomadic, moving into and out of the area with the seasons.
The 1820s through the 1840s saw the greatest increase of non-native trappers in the area and consequently, clashes between native peoples and trappers also increased.[5] These disputes, however, tended to be on a smaller scale simply due to the individualistic and non-permanent nature of the trappers’ lifestyles. Anglo explorers also noted during this period that the presence of healthy herds in the area indicated the land’s richness – a fact of which the native tribes were already well-aware.[6] These Anglo explorers considered this observation to be indicative of the area’s potential for the ranching and farming of animals.