Bison Studies

Evidence of bison and aboriginal bison procurement in western and northwestern Colorado is extremely rare as is scientific documentation, examination, and radiometric dating of culturally modified bison bone elements, thereby making it nearly impossible to provide valid interpretations of the interrelationship of bison and prehistoric peoples in western and northwestern Colorado. To date no known research projects specifically dedicated to evaluating, dating, and assimilating the resultant data of known culturally modified bison faunal elements have been done in this region of the state.

Some present day historians and researchers are of the opinion that harvestable bison populations on the western slope of Colorado were unsustainable and that the majority of bison bone previously noted or recovered was likely obtained from the Great Plains of eastern and southeastern Colorado or are remnants of modern private herds. However; research by Butler; and Meaney and Van Vuren confirm the occurrence of bison west of the Great Plains. Meaney and Van Vuren compiled record searches of bison distribution exclusive to western Colorado. Their conclusion was that bison were likely abundant in northwestern Colorado.

Recent investigations conducted by Dominquez Archaeological Research Group and Grand River Institute in western Colorado have identified a plethora of bison remains. Their work in the Bocco Mountain area of Eagle County between in 2008 and 2011 provided new information on three separate loci of newly discovered bison remains. One loci was suggestive of a ceremonial site dating to approximately AD1828 to AD1840 (5EA2742). Construction monitoring of the Enterprise Products Incorporated (EPCO) pipeline through the Piceance Basin resulted in the unanticipated discoveries of bison faunal elements which in turn led to a more intensive investigation resulting in the identification of 15 faunal localities with culturally modified bison bones. Subsequent report preparation research for the EPCO and Bocco Mountain projects revealed a paucity of information, specific to the immediate region, on the subject of prehistoric, protohistoric, and historic bison occurrence and procurement. The search for previous documentation of prehistoric bison hunting in the region also proved sparse, with evidence of bison procurement confined to the identification and/or recovery of an occasional skull, or several faunal elements or bone fragments such as a single utilized bison scapula recorded by Conner in 1998 (5ME5997) from Glade Park, in Mesa County, Colorado and the Vermillion Bluffs Bison Trap (5MF4313) a collection of 47 bison bones and fragments in northwest Colorado.

Extensive research has been done regarding the bison of the Great Plains. Migration patterns, hunting techniques, tool manufacture, rock art and various associated cultural and ceremonial singularities have and are presently being studied, evaluated, and thoroughly interpreted. Historical and anecdotal accounts indicate that the Ute people, who inhabited the mountains, mesas, and valleys of western Colorado, ventured into the prairies to hunt bison and were successful in their endeavors. Their own legends and tales tell of bison, of bison hunts, and of the bison's relationship with other animals and mythological beings.

Although there is a respectable amount of information related to Ute hunting practices in western Colorado, very little is documented regarding Ute bison hunting in the region. Before his passing Clifford Duncan, Elder of the Northern Ute Tribe, asked an individual member of Dominquez Archaeological Research Group (DARG) to “learn all possible about the buffalo” and then “come and teach it to the kids; tell them how it was so they'll know. Too much is forgotten and there aren’t too many of us (elders) left.”

Occurrence of Culturally Modified Bison Bone Elements in West-Central and Southwestern Colorado: An Archaeological Assessment for the Western Colorado Bison Project Phase II for History Colorado State Historical Fund Grant No. 2019-MC-009. Prepared by Holly Shelton, Project Archaeologist; Michael Berry, Ph.D., Database Architect; and Carl E. Conner, Principal Investigator.

Abstract: This is a History Colorado State Historical Fund grant (2019-M2-009) related project undertaken by Dominquez Archaeological Research Group for the purpose of conducting data collection and radiometric testing of culturally associated and culturally modified bison faunal elements specific to west-central and southwestern Colorado. The fundamental purpose of this report is to develop a more accurate understanding of the interrelationship of bison and the native occupants of the region and to share this knowledge with the scientific and academic community, the interested public, and with present day Ute peoples and other tribes whose ancestral home and hunting territory included west-central and southwestern Colorado.

Resultant data was assimilated into comprehensive and subject specific databases. In addition to the 250 bison faunal elements identified in Phase I of the Western Colorado Bison Project (Shelton, Berry and Conner 2017) an additional 470 bison specimens were located during investigations conducted for this project (Phase II). Of these, 89 specimens are addressed in the body of the report with 402 specimens representing the Ziegler Reservoir Fossil Site (5PT1264) bison bone assemblage. All available specimens were analyzed and evaluated for cultural modification and other indicators and subsequent data was incorporated into both standard spreadsheets, tables and graphs, and electronic interactive databases and query maps. Radiocarbon dates obtained from culturally modified specimens have been added to Dominquez Archaeological Research Group’s Colorado Radiocarbon Database Project and to the Western Colorado Bison Study website database both of which include query tools, critical information, images, and interactive maps.

The project report, edited for general release, is available here:

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