MOUNTAINEER SITE
Gunnison County, Colorado
State Historical Fund Project #s - 2001-02-106, 2002-02-093,
2003-02-061, 2004-02-030, and 2005-02-066.
High atop Tenderfoot Mountain on the cold wind-swept
plains of the Gunnison Basin, lies the remnants of Colorado’s
oldest house—the Mountaineer site. Over 10,000 years ago,
Native Americans built a seasonal hunting camp in a location that
gave them a commanding view of the surrounding plains and river.
Western State College archaeologist, Dr. Mark Stiger first discovered
the site in 2000 when he was inspecting an area of the mountaintop
scheduled for the construction of a radio transmission tower. He
quickly recognized the importance of the discovery and had it designated
as historically significant by Gunnison County. He then applied
for State Historical Fund grants to conduct excavations at the site.
The 2001 and 2002 excavations exposed more than 30 more points and
various other stone tools, making it one of the densest concentrations
of Folsom materials in North America.
The site has subsequently received two more SHF grants
that are supporting ongoing studies at the site, and in the summer
of 2003 Dr. Stiger uncovered the ancient house—a find that
Discovery Magazine labeled one of the “Top 100 Science
Stories of 2003”. Dr. Stiger believes that the house “is
a winter occupation” and states “I wouldn’t be
surprised if they were here for a few months, a family perhaps.
According the Dr. Stiger, one of the interesting revelations coming
from the Mountaineer site is that “these people were living
in relatively substantial structures and populating one area for
extended periods of time”. This observation is contrary to
the previously held image of Folsom people as being always on the
go and living almost exclusively in the Great Plains.
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