The latter was the name given by Auguste Pierre Chouteau and Jules de Munn, who led a French trading party that came to Colorado Springs and then what is now Bear Creek Lake Park.

Francis Cragin, reports that "In 1816, Arapaho, Cherokee, Comanche, Kiowa and Apaches were assembled together in a "grand camp" on Bear Creek, near present-day Morrison, (estab.

Colorado Encyclopedia notes for the Morrison area that "along the Front Range near what is now Denver was a favored campsite for Native American groups stretching back thousands of years.

Lodges covering the grassy slopes on what is now Lookout Mountain are mentioned, and that "more than 1,000 horses and goats traveled with the band across the land, moving to greener pastures every few weeks.

The tribes, including Arapahoes, Cherokees, Comanches and Kiowas gathered there peacefully, partaking of the mineral springs and lush pasture near Morrison on the banks of what is now called Bear Creek.

"Friendly relations, however, deteriorated when many Arapaho refused to sign the Fort Wise Treaty of 1861, which expelled them from their homeland in the Cherry Creek and South Platte valleys.

"In 1851, the Congress of the United States authorized holding a great treaty council with Plains Indians to assure peaceful relations along the Overland Trails.

More than 10,000 Plains Indians (men, women and children) gathered to sign the treaty causing the location to move to Horse Creek since Fort Laramie could not accommodate the crowd.

Notably the centuries long owners and residents along the banks of what is now Bear Creek, the Apache, Comanche, Kiowa, other Lakota nations, and Utes did not participate or sign.

According to founding treasurer Thomas L. Golden in a letter to the Missouri Republican it was named after the Arapaho tribe after chiefs warned residents to "quit their country".

"A tall Native American named Colorow (originally Comanche but married Ute) and his extended family lived in the Evergreen Valley...on Lookout Mountain, (and)...they would travel down the Apex Trail single-file with their herds of goats and horses, and congregate at what is now the Rooney Ranch along the Hogback.

The late Alex Rooney, fourth generation in the family, once said, "The Americans broke some 232 treaties with the Indian tribes, but my grandfather was respected by them for his honesty; even the hostile Arapahoes became his friends."

At some point, Rooney's and other white settlers' use of the land began to preclude Indians who had resided here for centuries and perhaps millennia, though relationships through 7,000 years back through the early 1800s have not been well-described.

The Rooney family started to mine clay and coal and also raised cattle imported from Scotland and Morgan horses sold to military cavalry units.

"[16] Rooney Gulch and the lands of multiple nations and tribes, called Grand Encampment are part of Bear Creek Lake Park today.

A four-story house where miners had lived was torn down when the Works Progress Administration (WPA) build West Alameda to Red Rocks Amphitheater and Park.

Twenty years later, when the Colorado Transcript wrote that Morrison was "the second town of importance in Jefferson County...tourism...the spectacular Red Rocks nearby — was ascending in value to the local economy.

This "and" is important; "this property list is used to notify Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Staff when proposed land uses will impact historic properties," architecturally intact white settler buildings and structures, largely precluding other places eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) "based on its associations with the cultural practices, traditions, beliefs, lifestyles, arts, crafts, or social institutions of a living community."

These places, and hence the people, were getting short shrift in federal agency planning and environmental impact assessment because they weren't routinely recognized as eligible for the Register, and therefore were not being considered under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).

[8] Still, "the natural landscape is inherently connected to Jefferson County's identity and its role as the gateway to the mountains" for Native Americans, settlers, and people of today.

King, one of the eminent people in the field who coined the term "traditional cultural properties" described the evolution of assessment and listing on the National Register of Historic Places "based on well-developed professional standards.

As the quote that begins this piece suggests, the interests of ordinary citizens in their history and culture were very much on the minds of those who thought up the National Historic Preservation Act in the middle of the last century.

Old buildings and archaeological sites do not vote, and the percentage of the electorate represented by historians, architects, and archaeologists is hardly sufficient to justify legislation as sweeping as NHPA.

Cultural significance is not easily measured, or even observed; it exists in people's heads, and learning about it usually requires talking with them, sometimes in ways with which outsiders are not entirely conversant or comfortable.

In 1874 Morrison also completed a high-class sandstone hotel that Evans hired him to build, with 42 rooms and dancing pavilion, on high ground south of Bear Creek, with great views of Mt.

Tourists could take the train from Denver to Morrison and rent a burro or buggy to get to Red Rocks, where they could enjoy an afternoon concert or pay seventy-five cents to ride the incline railway up Mt.

"During the Great Depression, George Cranmer, Manager of Improvement and Parks in Denver, utilized the Civilian Conservation Corp in the construction of a large outdoor amphitheater that is in harmony with the surrounding natural landscape.

This may include small closure areas, or requirements to remain on designated trails only,"[23] though Bear Creek Lake Regional Park makes such places accessible to people.

In a semi-arid environment such as Colorado's riparian ecosystems along the banks of rivers, streams and other bodies of water are rich and rare resources on the Eastern Plains and Front Range, especially when shaded.

These areas will receive special consideration during any project or trail planning, and ongoing efforts will be made to protect and restore and improve the existing wetlands within the parks.