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110-525: The valley was inhabited by the Ute people prior to the coming of the first U.S. settlers over Independence Pass in 1879. The first settlers were prospectors looking for silver in the wake of the Colorado Silver Boom in nearby Leadville . Aspen flourished as a mining community in the late 1880s and early 1890s until the silver crash of 1893. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, coal mining in

220-790: A hunter-gatherer lifestyle. The Ute occupied much of the present state of Colorado by the 1600s. The Comanches from the north joined them in eastern Colorado in the early 1700s. In the 19th century, the Arapaho and Cheyenne invaded southward into eastern Colorado. The Utes came to inhabit a large area including most of Utah, western and central Colorado, and south into the San Juan River watershed of New Mexico. Some Ute bands stayed near their home domains, while others ranged further away seasonally. Hunting grounds extended further into Utah and Colorado, as well as into Wyoming, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. Winter camps were established along rivers near

330-507: A roundabout and passes the Holden/Marolt Mining and Ranching Museum to the south it is fully in the city of Aspen. Another stream crossing, Castle Creek , brings the highway into the developed portion of the city. From Basalt, Highway 82 has climbed 1,300 feet (400 m). It levels out at Aspen, entering the city's residential West End along West Hallam Street. A block east of Castle Creek, it turns south on North Seventh Street;

440-414: A viaduct past the train station into downtown Glenwood Springs. It continues south through blocks of small-scale dense urban development to 14th Street. Glenwood Springs High School is on the west just past the intersection heralds the end of downtown. For two blocks the land around the road becomes a commercial strip with large parking lots. At Hyland Park on the east just afterwards, the land across

550-515: A continuous view of the lakes on the south. Shortly past this turn, the Colorado Trail crosses the road and then runs closely parallel to it along the south side. Forest Service roads go down that direction to access points along the lake. After another mile, Highway 82 turns southeast for its next mile. Below the lakes' outlet, it crosses Lake Creek for the last time and then ends at US 24 18 miles (29 km) from Independence Pass and just below

660-420: A longer route there from Leadville, via Cottonwood and Taylor passes to the south. A viable route over Independence Pass would shorten that journey by 40 miles (64 km). Settlement continued to follow the river down the valley. At the confluence with Castle Creek, the valley widened and offered a flood plain conducive to the development of a town. The slopes of the surrounding mountains proved to have

770-399: A practical matter this includes tractor trailers , buses and recreational vehicles . Some truck drivers have used the pass despite the prohibition. They are generally either unaware of the restriction and following routes plotted by their GPS devices , or aware of it and willing to risk the fine for the sake of the time and distance saved. The resulting accidents have forced the closure of

880-465: A race to make the first rail connection, which displaced the toll road as the primary route to Aspen within a decade. Later, the railroad's right-of-way would serve as the basis for the highway. On July 4, 1879, the settlement of Independence was established just west of the pass, taking its name from the Independence Day holiday, and soon lending it to the pass among other natural features in

990-429: A signal. Between Glenwood Springs and Basalt, Highway 82 climbs 600 feet (180 m) in elevation. As it alternately tracks southeast and south over the next 16 miles (26 km) towards Aspen , it begins to climb more noticeably and the valley narrows. Development becomes less dense, with many small ranches located aside the road and along the river. Three miles (4.8 km) south of Basalt, after another crossing of

1100-642: A total of $ 31 million in a land claims settlement. The Ute Mountain Tribe used their money, including what they earned from mineral leases, to invest in tourist related and other enterprises in the 1950s. In 1954, a group of mixed blood Utes were legally separated from the Northern Utes and called the Affiliated Ute Citizens. Since the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 ,

1210-586: Is a significant problem at Ute Mountain, affecting nearly 80% of the population. The age expectancy there was 40 years of age as of 2000. The culture of the Utes was influenced by the invasion of neighboring Native American tribes. The eastern Utes had many traits of Plain Indians, and they lived in tepees after the 17th century. The western Utes were similar to Shoshones and Paiutes , and they lived year-round in domed willow houses. Weeminuches lived in willow houses during

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1320-461: Is closed for the race from its western terminus to the end of the stage. Both halves of the road trace their origins to the early days of Aspen's settlement in the 1880s during the Colorado Silver Boom . Prospectors who had missed out on the earlier mining boom that built Leadville began to head west, drawn by reports of vast untapped silver deposits in the Roaring Fork Valley just beyond

1430-651: Is found almost entirely in the Western United States and Mexico , stretching from southeastern California, along the Colorado River to Colorado and extending south the Nahuan languages in central Mexico. The Numic language group likely originated near the present-day border of Nevada and California, then spread north and east. By about 1000 CE, hunters and gatherers in the Great Basin spoke Uto-Aztecan. They are

1540-639: Is in contrast to the nearby Eagle Valley , which lies entirely within Eagle County. The main economic engine of the valley is the Aspen/Snowmass recreational skiing complex which directly or indirectly drives the related tourism, hospitality, retail, construction, real estate, professional service and property maintenance industries. Although skiing forms the foundation of the economy, other activities increasingly contribute to visitor numbers. Non-winter recreational and cultural activities such as fly fishing on

1650-478: Is virtually nonexistent at present. The valley has been one of the most rapidly growing areas of Colorado in recent years, not only in the vicinity of Aspen, but notably in the lower end of the valley below Basalt. The communities of Basalt and Carbondale have served as bedroom communities for day workers in Aspen, where high property values have increasingly strained the ability of low and middle-income workers to afford

1760-548: Is well below that of their non-Native neighbors. Unemployment is high on the reservation, in large part due to discrimination, and half of the tribal members work for the government of the United States or the tribe. The Ute language is still spoken on the reservation. Housing is generally adequate and modern. There are annual performance of the Bear and Sun dances. All tribes have scholarship programs for college educations. Alcoholism

1870-537: The Continental Divide . They began crossing what was then known as Hunter Pass, in defiance of an order from Governor Frederick Walker Pitkin not to do so until the federal government had negotiated a peace treaty with the Ute people . The future eastern half of Highway 82 came first, as a rough path over Independence Pass that soon reached Aspen. A private company improved it into a toll road for stagecoaches, open year-round. The city's rapid growth fostered

1980-679: The Domínguez–Escalante expedition (1776). Utes left images of firearms and horses in the 1800s. The Crook's Brand Site depicts a horse with a brand from George Crook's regiment during the Indian Wars of the 1870s. Public land surrounding the Bears Ears buttes in southeastern Utah became the Bears Ears National Monument in 2016 in recognition for its ancestral and cultural significance to several Native American tribes, including

2090-618: The Four Corners region by 1500 CE. The Utes' first contact with Europeans was with the Spanish in the 18th century. The Utes had already acquired horses from neighboring tribes by the late 17th century. They had limited direct contact with the Spanish but participated in regional trade. Sustained contact with Euro-Americans began in 1847 with the arrival of the Mormons to the American West and

2200-709: The Hotel Jerome , also listed on the National Register. Two blocks further is another listed landmark, the Pitkin County Courthouse , between Galena and Hunter streets. After the Spring Street intersection another two blocks past the courthouse, Main Street curves to the south, narrowing in the process. It is now a two-lane road. Two blocks to the south, SH 82 turns east again to follow East Cooper Avenue, crossing

2310-565: The Lake County line. A paved path leads to a scenic overlook with views to Mount Elbert (14,440 feet (4,400 m)) and La Plata Peak (14,336 feet (4,370 m)), respectively the highest and fifth-highest peaks in Colorado and the Rocky Mountains . An old road leads south along the ridge to summits to the south. Beyond the pass, the road descends through three more long switchbacks to

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2420-655: The Mesa Verde National Park , Navajo Reservation , and the Southern Ute Reservation. The Ute Mountain Tribal Park abuts Mesa Verde National Park and includes many Ancestral Puebloan ruins. Their land includes the sacred Ute Mountain . The White Mesa Community of Utah (near Blanding) is part of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe but is largely autonomous. The Ute Mountain Utes are descendants of

2530-605: The Plains Indian cultures of the Great Plains . They also became involved in the horse and slave trades and respected warriors. Horse ownership and warrior skills developed while riding became the primary status symbol within the tribe and horse racing became common. With greater mobility, there was increased need for political leadership. The Utes had direct trade with the Spanish at least by 1765 and possibly earlier. The Utes had already acquired horses from neighboring tribes by

2640-565: The Taos , Santa Clara , Pecos and other pueblos. The Ute also traded with Navajo , Havasupai , and Hopi peoples for woven blankets. The Utes were closely allied with the Jicarilla Apache who shared much of the same territory and intermarried. They also intermarried with Paiute, Bannock and Western Shoshone peoples. There was so much intermarriage with the Paiute, that territorial borders of

2750-833: The U.S. state of Colorado . Its western half provides the principal transportation artery of the Roaring Fork Valley on the Colorado Western Slope , beginning at Interstate 70 (I-70) and U.S. Highway 6 (US 6) in Glenwood Springs southeast past Carbondale , Basalt and Aspen . From there it continues up the valley to cross the Continental Divide at Independence Pass . On the Eastern Slope, it follows Lake Creek past some of Colorado's highest mountains to Twin Lakes Reservoir , where it ends at US 24 south of Leadville . At 12,095 feet (3,687 m) above sea level,

2860-863: The Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation . The bands included the San Pitch , Pahvant , Seuvartis, Timpanogos and Cumumba Utes. The Southern Ute Tribes include the Muache , Capote , and the Weeminuche , the latter of which are at Ute Mountain . This is also a half-Shoshone, half-Ute band of Cumumbas who lived above Great Salt Lake , near what is now Ogden, Utah . There are also other half-Ute bands, some of whom migrated seasonally far from their home domain. The Utes traded with Rio Grande River Pueblo peoples at annual trade fairs or rescates held in at

2970-589: The cost of living , though the affluence that marks the Upper Roaring Fork Valley is gradually leaking into the rest of the Valley. Many employees in Glenwood Springs live further down the Colorado river due to the same acute lack of affordable housing. State Highway 82 serves as the principal transportation artery of the valley, having many freeway characteristics. The once rural character of much of

3080-654: The gold rushes of the 1850s. Utes fought to protect their homelands from invaders, and Brigham Young convinced U.S. President Abraham Lincoln to forcibly remove Utes in Utah to an Indian Reservation in 1864. Colorado Utes were forced onto a reservation in 1881. Today, there are three federally recognized tribes of Ute people: These three tribes maintain reservations: Uintah-Ouray in northeastern Utah (3,500 members); Southern Ute in Colorado (1,500 members); and Ute Mountain which primarily lies in Colorado, but extends to Utah and New Mexico (2,000 members). The origin of

3190-461: The "quiet years" of the city's history. There was still enough mining to keep the railroads busy, but not for long. In 1897 the Midland went bankrupt . It continued operating, and a new company formed under the same name to take over. In 1919 Smuggler Mine , the city's largest and oldest, shut down most of its operations and several others closed. The second Midland again succumbed to bankruptcy; there

3300-868: The 1810s. The French expedition recorded meeting members of the Moanunts and Pahvant bands. After the Utes acquired horses, they started to raid other Native American tribes. While their close relatives, the Comanches , moved out from the mountains and became Plains Indians as did others including the Cheyenne , Arapaho , Kiowa , and Plains Apache , the Utes remained close to their ancestral homeland. The south and eastern Utes also raided Native Americans in New Mexico, Southern Paiutes and Western Shoshones, capturing women and children and selling them as slaves in exchange for Spanish goods. They fought with Plains Indians , including

3410-547: The 1847 arrival of Mormon settlers . After initial settlement by the Mormons, as they moved south to the Wasatch Front, Utes were pushed off their land. Wars with settlers began about the 1850s when Ute children were captured in New Mexico and Utah by Anglo-American traders and sold in New Mexico and California. The rush of Euro-American settlers and prospectors into Ute country began with an 1858 gold strike . The Ute allied with

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3520-523: The 4 million acres (16,185 km ) reservation area. Founded in 1861, it is located in Carbon , Duchesne , Grand , Uintah , Utah , and Wasatch Counties in Utah. Raising stock and oil and gas leases are important revenue streams for the reservation. The tribe is a member of the Council of Energy Resource Tribes . The Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation (Northern Ute Tribe) consists of

3630-749: The Comanche, who had previously been allies. The name "Comanche" is from the Ute word for them, kɨmantsi , meaning enemy. The Pawnee , Osage and Navajo also became enemies of the Plains Indians by about 1840. Some Ute bands fought against the Spanish and Pueblos with the Jicarilla Apache and the Comanche. The Ute were sometimes friendly but sometimes hostile to the Navajo. The Utes were skilled warriors who specialized in horse mounted combat. War with neighboring tribes

3740-542: The Comanche. The Utes traded their goods for cloth, blankets, guns, horses, maize, flour, and ornaments. Several Ute learned Spanish through trading. The Spanish "seriously guarded" trade with the Utes, limiting it to annual caravans, but by 1750 they were reliant on the trade with the Utes, their deerskin being a highly sought commodity. The Utes also traded in enslaved women and children captives from Apache, Comanche, Paiute and Navajo tribes. French trappers passed through Ute territory and established trading posts beginning in

3850-736: The Four Corners Motorcycle Rally each year. The Ute operate KSUT, the major public radio station serving southwestern Colorado and the Four Corners. The Southern Ute Tribes include the Muache , Capote , and the Weeminuche , the latter of which are at Ute Mountain . The Ute Mountain Reservation is located near Towaoc, Colorado in the Four Corners region. Twelve ranches are held by tribal land trusts rather than family allotments. The tribe holds fee patent on 40,922.24 acres in Utah and Colorado. The 553,008 acre reservation borders

3960-809: The Fryingpan and whitewater rafting on the Roaring Fork, hiking near the Maroon Bells in the Maroon Bells–Snowmass Wilderness , enjoying the caverns and hot springs in Glenwood Springs, the Aspen Institute and Rocky Mountain Institute conferences, the Aspen Music Festival , and other cultural events attract visitors year-round. Although the valley floor is largely privately owned, most of

4070-616: The Great Basin and Colorado Plateau in present-day Utah , western Colorado , and northern New Mexico . Historically, their territory also included parts of Wyoming, eastern Nevada, and Arizona. Their Ute dialect is a Colorado River Numic language , part of the Uto-Aztecan language family Historically, the Utes belonged to almost a dozen nomadic bands, who came together for ceremonies and trade. They also traded with neighboring tribes, including Pueblo peoples . The Ute had settled in

4180-534: The Midland in 1885, refreshing the company coffers with his mining fortune. A year later the railroad had laid 250 miles (400 km) of track from Colorado Springs to Leadville and crossed the Continental Divide via the Hagerman Tunnel , then the world's highest. It got to Glenwood Springs and began working its way up the valley to Aspen. David Moffat became the Rio Grande's president in 1885 and persuaded

4290-823: The Red Cedar Gathering Company, which owns and operates natural gas pipelines in and near the reservation. The tribe also owns the Red Willow Production Company, which began as a natural gas production company on the reservation. It has expanded to explore for and produce oil and natural gas in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and in the deep water in the Gulf of Mexico. Red Willow has offices in Ignacio, Colorado and Houston, Texas . The Sky Ute Casino and its associated entertainment and tourist facilities, together with tribally operated Lake Capote, draw tourists. It hosts

4400-415: The Roaring Fork again after another two blocks. The highway curves southward, leaving Aspen three-quarters of a mile (1.1 km) further east. The valley narrows into a canyon as the road begins to climb again, closely hugging the north wall. Four miles (6.4 km) east of the city, just past Targert Lake Road, it passes the gates where the road is closed in wintertime. Past this point development along

4510-492: The Roaring Fork, the right lanes in both directions are marked with diamonds indicating they are high-occupancy vehicle lanes during peak hours. The median is soon replaced with a guardrail, then a brief retaining wall where the eastbound roadway is slightly elevated. The ascent continues near Woody Creek . As Aspen–Pitkin County Airport appears on the west of the road, three miles (4.8 km) south of Woody Creek,

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4620-510: The United States and Mexico in its war with the Navajo during the same period. Mormons continued to push the Utah Utes off their homelands, which escalated into the Walker War (1853–54). By the mid-1870s, the U.S. federal government forced Utes in Utah onto a reservation, less than 9% of their former land. The Utes found it to be very inhospitable and tried to continue hunting and gathering off

4730-500: The United States made a series of treaties with the Ute and executive orders that ultimately culminated with relocation to reservations: The Uinta and Ouray Indian Reservation is the second-largest Indian Reservation in the US – covering over 4,500,000 acres (18,000 km ) of land. Tribal owned lands only cover approximately 1.2 million acres (4,855 km ) of surface land and 40,000 acres (160 km ) of mineral-owned land within

4840-658: The Ute generally did not - the Southern Utes developed such societies late, and soon lost them in reservation life. Warriors were exclusively men but women often followed behind war parties to help gather loot and sing songs. Women also performed the Lame Dance to symbolize having to pull or carry heavy loads of loot after a raid. The Utes used a variety of weapons including bows, spears and buffalo-skin shields, as well as rifles, shotguns and pistols which were obtained through raiding or trading. The Ute people traded with Europeans by

4950-498: The Ute left petroglyphs in rock along with rock art by the earlier peoples. Some of the images are estimated to be more than 900 years old. The Utes petroglyphs were made after the Utes acquired horses, because they show men hunting while on horseback. The Ute were divided into several nomadic and closely associated bands, which today mostly are organized as the Northern, Southern, and Ute Mountain Ute Tribes. Hunting and gathering groups of extended families were led by older members by

5060-557: The Utes and the Southern Paiutes are difficult to ascertain in southeast Utah. Until the Ute acquired horses, any conflict with other tribes was usually defensive. They had generally poor relations with Northern and Eastern Shoshone. In 1637, the Spanish fought with the Utes, 80 of whom were captured and enslaved. Three people escaped with horses. Their lifestyle changed with the acquisition of horses by 1680. They became more mobile, more able to trade, and better able to hunt large game. Ute culture changed dramatically in ways that paralleled

5170-543: The Utes control the police, courts, credit management, and schools. All Ute reservations are involved in oil and gas leases and are members of the Council of Energy Resource Tribes . The Southern Ute Tribe is financially successful, having a casino for revenue generation. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe generates revenues through gas and oil, mineral sales, casinos, stock raising, and a pottery industry. The tribes make some money on tourism and timber sales. Artistic endeavors include basketry and beadwork. The annual household income

5280-447: The Utes. Members of the Ute Mountain Ute and Uintah and Ouray Reservations sit on a five-tribe coalition to help co-manage the monument with the Bureau of Land Management and United States Forest Service . The Ute appeared to have hunted and camped in an ancient Ancestral Puebloans and Fremont people campsite in near what is now Arches National Park . At a site near natural springs, which may have held spiritual significance,

5390-467: The Weeminuche band, who moved to the western end of the Southern Ute Reservation in 1897. (They were led by Chief Ignacio , for whom the eastern capital is named). Prior to living on reservations, Utes shared land with other tribal members according to a traditional societal property system. Instead of recognizing this lifestyle, the U.S. government provided allotments of land, which was larger for families than for single men. The Utes were intended to farm

5500-409: The abundance of game. Cañon Pintado , or painted canyon, is a prehistoric site with rock art from Fremont people (650 to 1200) and Utes. The Fremont art reflect an interest in agriculture, including corn stalks and use of light at different times of the year to show a planting calendar. Then there are images of figures holding shields, what appear to be battle victims, and spears. These were seen by

5610-417: The airport, at a signalized intersection with Old State Route 82, the road divides. Highway 82 turns eastward again, returning to its southerly heading after another mile when Spring Valley Road turns off to the Glenwood Springs campus of Colorado Mountain College in the mountains to the north. A half-mile (1 km) beyond that junction, at the headquarters of the Garfield County Road and Bridge District,

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5720-431: The area. Independence's gold deposits were quickly opened by miners. By the following year the Twin Lakes and Roaring Fork Toll Company had improved the path through the pass, which followed a route close to Highway 82's present alignment, to the point that horses could make the trip. The company's goal was to continue down the valley and connect to some existing mining camps such as Ashcroft . Miners had preferred to take

5830-412: The canyon's headwall to the south. After a switchback to the north, it climbs above tree-line and into the high-elevation alpine tundra landscape of Independence Pass , 19 miles (31 km) from Aspen. The road levels out to a parking area on the south side. A U.S. Forest Service sign indicates the Continental Divide and gives the elevation as 12,095 feet (3,687 m). The Divide also marks

5940-413: The children sent to boarding school in Albuquerque died in the mid-1880s, due to tuberculosis or other diseases. There was a dramatic reduction in the Ute population, partly attributed to Utes moving off the reservation or resisting being counted. In the early 19th century, there were about 8,000 Utes, and there were only about 1,800 tribe members in 1920. Although there was a significant reduction in

6050-416: The city soon afterwards, but it was still difficult and expensive to transport the silver obtained. The market was growing in the wake of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act , which required the U.S. government to buy the metal on a regular basis. A railroad link to Aspen was therefore likely to be highly profitable, and two railroads, the Colorado Midland and the Denver & Rio Grande Western , hoped to be

6160-413: The city, B. Clark Wheeler, put up the money needed to improve the path over the pass to a stage road. It opened in November 1881, just as winter was beginning. The tolls, 25 cents for saddle horses and twice that for stages ($ 8 and $ 16 in modern dollars respectively ) were primarily spent hiring a large crew of men who kept the pass clear in winter with snowshovels. They were able to keep the road through

6270-447: The company's other executives to go ahead with the Aspen connection. To overcome the Midland's lead, they built a narrow-gauge line on the north side of the Roaring Fork, today the route of the Rio Grande Trail. Both the gauge and the elimination of the Maroon Creek crossing, which was causing complications for the Midland, saved considerable time, and the Rio Grande managed to bring the first train to Aspen in October 1887. Working through

6380-443: The confluence of the creek and the Arkansas River . Leadville is 16 miles (26 km) to the north; in the opposite direction it is 21 miles (34 km) to Buena Vista . Because of the high altitude of Independence Pass , winter weather there begins well before the season itself starts. The snow falls deep through the season, and remains so throughout the spring. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) therefore closes

6490-541: The course of the 20th and early 21st centuries. The increased traffic resulting from Aspen's economic rebirth as a resort town has required high-occupancy vehicle lanes , bypasses and the replacement of at least one old bridge. More improvements are planned for both Aspen and Glenwood Springs. From its western terminus to Aspen, Highway 82 is a four-lane road, frequently divided . As it leaves Aspen, it narrows to two lanes and remains that way to its eastern terminus. Two sets of gates on either side of Independence Pass allow

6600-417: The creek widens and empties into Twin Lakes Reservoir , the road curves quickly to the south and then heads more to the northeast along the lake shore. A mile past that bend Highway 82 reaches the small community of Twin Lakes , also listed on the National Register as a historic district as an early tourist town. The highway continues northeast for another mile beyond Twin Lakes and then turns east, with

6710-422: The domain of the Utes. Pikes Peak was a sacred ceremonial area for the band. The mineral springs at Manitou Springs were also sacred and Ute and other tribes came to the area, spent winters there, and "share[d] in the gifts of the waters without worry of conflict." Artifacts found from the nearby Garden of the Gods, such as grinding stones, "suggest the groups would gather together after their hunt to complete

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6820-472: The early 19th century including at encampments in the San Luis Valley , Wet Mountains , and the Upper Arkansas Valley and at the annual Rocky Mountain Rendezvous . Native Americans also traded at annual trade fairs in New Mexico, which were also ceremonial and social events lasting up to ten days or more. They involved the trading of skins, furs, foods, pottery, horses, clothing, and blankets. In Utah, Utes began to be impacted by European-American contact with

6930-505: The east approach. The foundation of the gatekeeper's house remains, as well as some of the original toll gate. During the Depression , the state sought to ease unemployment through public works projects as an economic stimulus . It applied this to the new Highway 82. First it converted the Maroon Creek Bridge for automotive traffic by widening it with a timber deck, which was then paved and supported with outriggers. In 1937, four miles (6.4 km) between Glenwood Springs and Carbondale

7040-433: The first. In the early 1880s, however, neither seemed able to do so. The Midland was a paper railroad with no money to build anything. The Rio Grande was building, but too quickly, forcing it into receivership . Financially cautious from its recent troubles, it chose not to build to Aspen despite its president's enthusiasm for the project. New leadership at both companies started the race to Aspen. James John Hagerman joined

7150-462: The floor of the Lake Creek valley. From there it heads south at first but quickly curving to the east. As it assumes that heading it passes the other set of gates, just west of the very small settlement of Everett, near where Lake Creek's North Fork joins the main stream. From there the road heads east for the next four miles, passing trailheads for both of the fourteeners on either side and other San Isabel National Forest facilities. Just before

7260-533: The following groups of people: The Southern Ute Indian Reservation is located in southwestern Colorado, with its capital at Ignacio . The area around the Southern Ute Indian reservation are the hills of Bayfield and Ignacio, Colorado. The Southern Utes are the wealthiest of the tribes. The Tribe holds a triple A credit rating with all three primary rating agencies. Oil & gas, and real estate leases, plus various off-reservation financial and business investments, have contributed to their success. The tribe owns

7370-408: The gates at both ends of the 24-mile (39 km) stretch of Highway 82 leading over the pass during those months. Typically it is closed by November 7 or the first significant winter snowfall, if that comes earlier. The pass is usually reopened just before Memorial Day weekend at the end of May after CDOT has cleared the snowpack and repaired the road. Some years when the snowfall has been lighter,

7480-420: The gold-rich San Juan area, which was followed in 1879 by the loss of most of the remaining land after the " Meeker Massacre ". Utes were later put on a reservation in Utah, Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation , as well as two reservations in Colorado, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and Southern Ute Indian Reservation . Following acquisition of Ute territory from Mexico by the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo 1848,

7590-536: The highway begins a long stretch with a southerly heading. After two miles, the road bends to the southeast amidst a valley with occasional subdivisions . Two more miles down the highway, at a rest area , Highway 82 turns east as it enters the city of Carbondale across the river. A mile from the rest area, a traffic signal controls the intersection with State Highway 133 , the only other state highway to intersect 82 for its entire length. From Carbondale, Highway 133 leads south to Redstone and McClure Pass along

7700-478: The intersection's southwest corner has been rounded to smooth the traffic flow, leaving a triangular traffic island in the middle of the road. Two blocks further south, at another intersection with a rounded corner, SH 82 turns east to follow West Main Street across Aspen. Five blocks east, at Garmisch Street, it becomes East Main Street. The buildings gradually change from residential to commercial, and at Mill Street Highway 82 passes one of Aspen's major landmarks,

7810-543: The land, which also was a forced vocational change. Some tribes, like the Uintah and Uncompahgre were given arable land, while others were allocated land that was not suited to farming and they resisted being forced to farm. The White River Utes were the most resentful and protested in Washington, D.C. The Weeminuches successfully implemented a shared property system from their allotted land. Utes were forced to perform manual labor, relinquish their horses, and send their children to American Indian boarding schools . Almost half of

7920-594: The late 17th century. During this time, few Europeans entered Ute territory. Exceptions to this include the Spanish Domínguez–Escalante expedition of 1776. The Utes traded with other tribes who were part of the deerskin and fur trade with the Spanish in New Mexico in the 18th century. The Utes, the main trading partners of the Spanish residents of New Mexico, were known for their soft, high-quality tanned deerskins, or chamois, and they also traded meat, buffalo robes, and Indian and Spanish captives taken by

8030-737: The likely ancestrors of the Ute, Shoshone , Paiute , and Chemehuevi peoples. Linguists believe that the Southern Numic speakers (Ute and Southern Paiute ), left the Numic homeland first and that the Central and then the Western subgroups later migrated east and north. The Southern Numic -speaking tribes, the Ute, Shoshone, Southern Paiute , and Chemehuevi , all share many cultural, genetic, and linguistic characteristics. There were ancestral Utes in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah by 1300, living

8140-634: The lower (northwest) end of the valley and serves as an unofficial symbol of the region. Many think the Roaring Fork River, from which the valley was named, is the unofficial symbol of the region. The politics of the Roaring Fork Watershed are somewhat complex, arising principally from the fact that the watershed is split awkwardly among four different counties: Pitkin (Aspen), Eagle County (Basalt), Garfield County (Glenwood Springs, Carbondale), and Gunnison County . The fragmented structure

8250-408: The mid-17th century. Activities, like hunting buffalo and trading, may have been organized by band members. Chiefs led bands when structure was required with the introduction of horses to plan for defense, buffalo hunting, and raiding. Bands came together for tribal activities by the 18th century. Multiple bands of Utes that were classified as Uintahs by the U.S. government when they were relocated to

8360-535: The mouth of the Roaring Fork on the Colorado River , ranging in width between 1 and 5 mi (1.6 and 8.0 km). It is surrounded by mountains on all sides, in particular on its southwest edge by the high Elk Mountains that are location of the Aspen/Snowmass ski resorts . The upper (southeast) end of the valley is sometimes called the Aspen Valley , but locals simply refer to it as "up-valley" - Aspen - and "down-valley" - Glenwood Springs. Mount Sopris dominates

8470-606: The number of Utes after they were relocated to reservations, in the mid-20th century the population began to increase. This is partly because many people have returned to reservations, including those who left to attain college educations and careers. By 1990, there were about 7,800 Utes, with 2,800 living in cities and towns and 5,000 on reservations. Utes have self-governed since the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. Elections are held to select tribal council members. The Northern, Southern, and Ute Mountain Utes received

8580-590: The pass open during its first five winters. In deep enough snow passengers switched to sleighs ; in summer, dogs ran in advance to warn oncoming traffic through the pass itself as the stages took the switchbacks at full speed. It usually took a stage 10–25 hours and five changes of horses to reach Aspen from Twin Lakes. The road over the pass was barely capable of handling the massive amounts of silver ore coming out of Aspen's mines. At first they had to be taken to Leadville by mule train to be smelted . Plants were built in

8690-519: The pass. CDOT has put in larger signs advising drivers of the ban and worked with GPS device manufacturers so their software notes the restriction. Aspen officials have suggested the fines be increased as well. Independence Pass is popular with bicyclists, and since 2011 it has been on the route of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge around Colorado. Racers cross the pass during a 131-mile (211 km) stage from Gunnison to Aspen. The highway

8800-593: The population of Pitkin County had increased by 44 percent, the second-fastest growth rate on the Western Slope . The Aspen Skiing Company built two additional resorts, Buttermilk and Snowmass , to the west, contributing to traffic on the highway. In 1962 the Colorado Department of Highways, began a 12-year project to expand Highway 82 to four lanes between Glenwood Springs and Carbondale. The Maroon Creek Bridge

8910-483: The present-day cities of Provo and Fort Duchesne in Utah and Pueblo , Fort Collins , Colorado Springs of Colorado. Aside from their home domain, there were sacred places in present-day Colorado. The Tabeguache Ute's name for Pikes Peak is Tavakiev , meaning sun mountain. Living a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle, summers were spent in the Pikes Peak area mountains, which was considered by other tribes to be

9020-455: The reopening has occurred several weeks earlier. The narrow roadway, switchbacks , steep 6% grades and steep, sometimes unguarded dropoffs on either approach to the pass have also led CDOT to post 10 mph (16 km/h) advisory speeds at the turns. Some types of vehicles are banned from the pass year-round. Oversized and overweight vehicles are prohibited, as well as any vehicle or vehicle combinations longer than 35 feet (11 m). As

9130-462: The reservation. In the meantime, the Black Hawk War (1865–72) occurred in Utah. In 1868, the U.S. federal government established reservation in Colorado. Indian agents tried to get the Utes to farm, a dramatic lifestyle change which lead to starvation due to crop failures. Their lands were whittled away until only the modern reservations were left. A large cession of land in 1873 transferred

9240-404: The road abates as most of the land alongside the road is part of White River National Forest . On the north side of the road are some of Aspen's more popular climbing cliffs; on the south side are many small parking areas for trailheads , campgrounds, and popular swimming holes along the Roaring Fork like Devil's Punchbowl. There are several short sections where past rockslides have forced

9350-462: The road clear over the winter of 1886. Two years later, after the railroads began service, the company folded and abandoned the road. Independence itself met the same fate a decade later when its remaining population decamped to Aspen during the severe winter of 1899, leaving its buildings standing as a ghost town (one remaining resident lingered until 1920). On the other side of Aspen, the railroads initially enjoyed great success. The Rio Grande line

9460-415: The road is devoted to larger houses on larger lots. Strip development resumes on the west side south of 19th Street, two blocks west of Valley View Hospital. At 23rd Street, Highway 82 turns southeast to follow South Glen Avenue, paralleling the adjacent Rio Grande rail trail . Development along the highway becomes predominantly commercial, and south of 27th Street a continuous strip begins on the east side as

9570-510: The road to be closed in winter. Highway 82 begins at Exit 116 from I-70 in Glenwood Springs , just 300 ft (91 m) east of the Roaring Fork 's confluence with the Colorado River . It follows Laurel Street north for one block , then turns east on Sixth Street for another block, after which it turns south on Grand Avenue. From there it crosses both I-70 and the Colorado River on

9680-430: The road to narrow to one lane. Access is controlled via traffic lights. The remaining log cabins and other structures of the ghost town of Independence , also listed on the National Register, are visible in the valley below at 13.5 miles (21.7 km) east of Aspen. Shortly afterwards, Highway 82 crosses the Roaring Fork for the last time, a few miles below its source at Independence Lake . The road then turns along

9790-425: The road, to undo environmental damage to the alpine tundra created when a disused stagecoach route built across the pass during the Colorado Silver Boom of the 1880s became Highway 82 in the early 20th century. West of Aspen the highway follows the route of an early Colorado Midland Railroad route from the city to Glenwood Springs. Paved during the 1930s, this road has been gradually expanded to four lanes over

9900-471: The roadways merge as development around the highway increases. Beyond the airport, Highway 82 turns due south. It bends to the southeast to cross the new Maroon Creek Bridge , with the original, listed on the National Register of Historic Places , immediately to its south. At this point, with a golf course on the north side, the Aspen city limit begins to follow the road, and by the time it goes through

10010-402: The route west of Aspen, the state turned its attention the other way. In 1927 it rebuilt the old stage road over Independence Pass to Twin Lakes and designated it part of Highway 82, closing it in winters to avoid the maintenance costs. Most of it followed the original route; however in some places it deviated. The largest section of the original remains three miles (4.8 km) below the pass on

10120-430: The silver deposits the prospectors had anticipated, and very soon the mining camp became a small city, named Aspen after the trees that filled the surrounding forests. It grew rapidly, becoming the seat of the newly created Pitkin County , named after the governor its earliest settlers had disobeyed by coming there. With more and more people coming to Aspen, a better road from the east was needed. An early investor in

10230-434: The summer. The Jicarilla Apache and Puebloans influenced the southeastern Utes. All groups also lived in structures 10–15 feet in diameter that were made of conical pole-frames and brush, and sweat lodges were similarly built. Lodging also included hide tepees and ramadas , depending upon the area. Colorado State Highway 82 State Highway 82 ( SH 82 ) is an 85.3-mile-long (137.3 km) state highway in

10340-475: The surrounding highlands are within the White River National Forest and are another source of recreation and tourism. Agriculture , principally livestock raising, plays a very moderate and declining role in the valley's economy. However, the ranches that still cover large parts of the lower valley contribute to tourism. Potato cultivation has historically been important in the lower valley, but

10450-400: The surrounding valley and the road soon turns to the south again as it passes a built-up area and then crosses the Roaring Fork. A mile and a half after that Highway 82 crosses the Roaring Fork, and then enters Pitkin County at the small unincorporated community of Emma. Basalt is one mile due east. The intersection with Basalt Avenue, the main route into that town from Highway 82, has

10560-480: The tanning of hides and processing of meat." The old Ute Pass Trail went eastward from Monument Creek (near Roswell ) to Garden of the Gods and Manitou Springs to the Rocky Mountains . From Ute Pass, Utes journeyed eastward to hunt buffalo. They spent winters in mountain valleys where they were protected from the weather. The North and Middle Parks of present-day Colorado were among favored hunting grounds, due to

10670-620: The traverse of Independence Pass is the highest paved crossing of the Continental Divide in North America, and the highest paved through road on Colorado's state highway network. The pass is closed during the winter months, isolating Aspen from the east and making Highway 82 the only way to reach the popular ski resort town by road. A private foundation has worked with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), which maintains

10780-509: The valley has been replaced with nearly continuous development linking the region's four main cities. Though parts of the valley are largely rural, the valley is served by a public transportation system called the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority , which provides public transit along the commuting route between Aspen and Glenwood Springs. Ute Tribe Ute ( / ˈ j uː t / ) are an Indigenous people of

10890-566: The valley narrows. After passing Rosebud Cemetery on the west side, Highway 82 turns more to the southeast and draws alongside the Roaring Fork as it reaches the city limits. Following the river's bend, the road returns to its southern heading as most development focuses around Glenwood Springs Municipal Airport on the opposite bank. At its next easterly turn, the landscape around the road becomes more rural, with farms and golf courses appearing. The terrain remains generally level, at about 6,000 feet (1,800 m) above sea level. A mile south of

11000-456: The valley of a tributary of the Roaring Fork, the Crystal River . To the south the 12,953-foot (3,948 m) Mount Sopris dominates the view. A mile east of Highway 133, the valley floor widens, filled with farms and subdivisions as the road gently trends to the south. Five miles (8.0 km) east of Carbondale, Highway 82 crosses into Eagle County . Subdivisions begin to increase in

11110-501: The valley of the Crystal emerged as an important extractive industry , one that has nearly entirely vanished (coal is still extracted south of McClure Pass in the nearby North Fork Valley ). The Roaring Fork Valley is part of the larger Roaring Fork Watershed, which includes the Fryingpan and Crystal River valleys. The valley extends for approximately 50 mi (80 km) southeast to northwest from Aspen northwest to Glenwood Springs at

11220-549: The war, helping to expand and staff the ski resort. Coincidentally, Walter Paepcke , head of the Container Corporation of America , visited Aspen with his wife Elizabeth in the late 1940s, and found it an ideal place to establish a music festival they were planning. He invested heavily in the city's redevelopment, and people began coming to Aspen again to live, work and play. While the Rio Grande's trains still ran, many new visitors and arrivals preferred to drive. By 1960

11330-636: The winter, the Midland finished the Maroon Creek Bridge and got its standard gauge line into Aspen five months later. The opening of the rail connections was a death blow to the stage road. Gold production in Independence had declined sharply after 1884, and many of the town's early settlers had moved down the valley to Aspen. With the corresponding reduction in stage traffic and tolls, the Twin Lakes and Roaring Fork Toll Company could not afford to keep

11440-626: The word Ute is unknown; it is first attested as Yuta in Spanish documents. The Utes' self-designation is Núuchi-u , meaning 'the people'. Ute people speak the Ute dialect of the Colorado River Numic language , which is closely related to the Shoshone language . Their language is from the Southern subdivision of the Numic language branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family . This language family

11550-546: Was being improved, skiing enthusiasts from both the U.S. and Central Europe were cutting trails and building a primitive ski lift on the mountain south of town . The 1940 census recorded an increase in Aspen's population, the first in a half-century. Further development was halted during the war years afterward, although the Tenth Mountain Division , which trained at nearby Camp Hale , came to appreciate Aspen and its skiing. Many of them came back to Aspen after

11660-497: Was mostly fought for gaining prestige, stealing horses, and revenge. Men would organize themselves into war parties made up of warriors, medicine men, and a war chief who led the party. To prepare themselves for battle Ute warriors would often fast, participate in sweat lodge ceremonies, and paint their faces and horses for special symbolic meanings. The Utes were master horsemen and could execute daring maneuvers on horseback while in battle. Most plains Indians had warrior societies , but

11770-440: Was no second resurrection. Its tracks and right-of-way, including the bridges, were abandoned. They soon reverted to state ownership. The Colorado Highway Commission used them to realize plans it had made a decade earlier, when it first designated the future Highway 82 through the Roaring Fork Valley . With the Midland's tracks unused, it now had a graded route that could easily be adapted for highway purposes. Before developing

11880-478: Was paved; the remainder of the road to Aspen was oiled the following year. It had been the hope that the improvements in the valley's road transportation would benefit the remaining mines. While the ranchers were able to get their products to market faster, the new road would catalyze Aspen's economic revival in an industry that had not existed when the Depression began: recreational downhill skiing . As Highway 82

11990-536: Was upgraded to standard gauge in 1890, and for the next several years both it and the Midland were at capacity. But when the Panic of 1893 began, Congress repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, instantly collapsing the silver market. Many Aspen mines closed, and miners left the city for new boomtowns like Cripple Creek . The ensuing decades saw a steady decline in Aspen's population, a period referred to as

12100-434: Was widened in 1963 to handle its increased traffic. On the east, the road over Independence Pass was paved in 1967. The Rio Grande discontinued passenger train service to Aspen in 1969. It was soon replaced the next year, when the completion of Interstate 70 through Glenwood Canyon connected the western terminus of Highway 82 to the larger Interstate Highway System . In the 1980s, it became apparent that four lanes at

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