CLAG 2007: Colorado Springs

Field Trip: Picketwire Canyon

Leader: Dr. Minette Church, Anthropology, CU-Colorado Springs

If you wish to participate, please contact/pay her at mchurch@uccs.edu

Date: Sunday, June 3, 2007

Description:

A one-day field trip to the Purgatoire¹ (Picketwire in the local vernacular) Canyon in Southeastern Colorado. Our first destination will be an active archaeological site of one of the canyon’s Hispano homesteads. Damacio and Loretta Lopez family came to the canyon from New Mexico c. 1870, built this homestead c. 1880, and raised 12 children here. UCCS students are excavating the homestead as part of an agreement with the National Forest Service. The site includes various adobe dwellings, tack rooms, and stables, and at one point also housed a post office and general store. The Lopez family built a local chapel (Dolores Mission) and a nearby school. After visiting the homestead and talking with the archaeologists, we will then drive 2 miles upstream to see one of the largest sets of fossilized dinosaur tracks in North America, including footprints from Allosaurus and numerous sauropods. Finally, we will take hikes up side canyons to see several Native American rock-art petroglyphs from various periods. The trip will include a sack lunch. You need a good water bottle and hiking shoes. Access to all sites is dependent on weather. Be prepared for lots of mud in the event or rain, and expect temperatures to be over 100˚F (38˚C). Limited to 9 people. Approximate Cost: $75

¹Original name of river: El Río de las Animas Perdidas en Purgatorio