Trek into the past

Local historian and archaeologist, Chilly Rollison, was emotional after being able to visit the place that first sparked his passion for Native American history and lifeways nearly 40 years ago.

Rollison, along with Big Creek Ranch Manager Mark Dunning, gave 40 Saratoga Museum Trek participants an in-depth tour of tipi rings, war lodges, and the Cherokee Trail located on Big Creek Ranch last Saturday.

The day's events started with Rollison erecting his tipi to give participants a better understanding of how tipi rings were formed at the Six Mile site, just north of Wyoming-Colorado border.

Over 70 tipi rings have been documented at the site which was probably occupied after A.D. 1700, although there is direct evidence that the area has been used for at least 7,500 years. The lack of fire-cracked rock inside the tipi rings shows they were used during warm months when fires were not needed inside.

Rollison explained tipis were smaller before American Indians obtained horses, and their only means of transport were manpower and dogs. Prior to the horse, tipis were generally around 12 feet in diameter and after the horse they were up to 30 feet in diameter. The poles of the tipis were made from lodgepole pine, which is where the name of the tree originated.

Lodgepoles were a sought-after commodity that were traded for other goods. Another evolution was the incursion of white traders in the Rocky Mountain area which brought canvas that could be used for tipi covering instead of buffalo hides. Canvas covers were easier to make and lighter than hide allowing for even bigger tipis, some of which needed two fires to heat.

Rollison demonstrated the strength of the tipi by hanging from a rope in the middle of his 14-foot conical lodge. "Don't believe everything you see in Hollywood. When John Wayne and the Calvary come up and they lasso the top of a tipi and pull it over ... it don't fall over like it shows in the movies, the horse goes down," Rollison said.

According to Rollison, the area of the trek was a borderland for Ute, Arapaho, and Shoshoni tribes. War lodges were a necessity in places where enemies were more than likely to be present. There are numerous stories of Indian battles and the area along the North Platte River was fought over several tribes.

"This is what got me interested in studying Plains Indian culture, these war lodges right here," Rollison said. When he was a child, one of his teachers, Roy Martin, took Rollison to the war lodges about 40 years ago.

Clusters of war lodges were often set just far enough apart from each other that they could not be attacked at the same time and could support the others if they were attacked.

The day finished with discussions overlooking the Cherokee Trail and the Coffin Buffalo Kill site, located on State line Ranch. In a historical coincidence, the trek was held during the 100th anniversary of trip sponsored by the Colorado Mountain Club, in which Ute elders were invited to Rocky Mountain National Park to tell Oliver Toll the Indian names for places and natural features in the Rocky Mountains. During that trip, Toll was told the area of the Coffin Kill site was called "The Door," because it was a natural pinch point where buffalo were corralled and killed.

When asked about being able to give the tour at the behest of the Saratoga Museum, "it was really friggin' cool, you can quote me on that," Rollison said. He was inspired to study Plains Indian culture his entire life and eventually become an archaeologist because of these lodges and teachers like Roy Martin and Rod Laird.

"We have a tendency, because we're a white predominated culture in this valley of negating our Indian history in this area. Whites have been here 150 years, and Indians have been here 15,000 years. Let's take a look at that," Rollison said. Rollison also believes it is important to get the younger generations to these sites to spark interest in knowing the full history of the area.

"I think it's vital that people know this stuff exists. You've got to be careful with it though," Dunning said about the archaeological sites on Big Creek Ranch. The war lodges on Big Creek Ranch have been fenced for their protection, and the owners of the ranch have been making a noticeable effort working with ecologists, fisheries experts and local historians to both preserve the natural and historical assets of the ranch and allow public education.