There is some evidence to suggest that Paleo Indian and Archaic peoples once inhabited or at least hunted and gathered in the Florissant valley. More is known about the Ute people that once considered the Florissant Fossil Beds area part of their traditional use lands. Many Ute people still live in the area and many come back to visit the Pike’s Peak region as there is still an ongoing connection between the Ute people and the land in the Pike’s Peak region.

The Ute were a nomadic, hunting and gathering society. Although they originally lived in shelters made wood and brush, they eventually adapted the tepees as their primary form of shelter. The tepees were relatively simple in design, placing 12 to 18 poles into a cone shape tied at the top. Then animal skin was draped around the poles with a flap for a door, indicating the front. Their use of the teepee also corresponded with their adoption of the plains horse culture.

The Ute Nation is composed of seven bands or tribes: the Capote, the Mouache, the Parianucs, the Uintahs, the Uncompahgre/Tabeguache, the Weeminuche, and the Yampahs. The Uncompahgre, also known as the Tabeguache, were the most dominant tribe in the Florissant Valley during the time of the early settlement in the area.

One of the most respected Ute leaders of this time and possibly all time was Chief Ouray (pronounced Yoo-ray), leader of the Uncompahgre tribe. He was not only respected by his fellow people, but by other Native peoples and settlers, miners, and other pioneers in the area. He was born in 1833 in Taos, NM. Standing at only 5’7”, he was known throughout the United States for his wisdom, patience, and undying loyalty to the whites. As Ouray could speak several languages such as; Ute, Apache, Indian sign language, Spanish, and English, he conducted several treaty negotiations between the Ute people and the early settlers of the area. He had visited Washington, D.C. several times on hopes to accomplish a treaty between the U.S. Government and the Utes that would stand firm and create a peace between the two nations. On these journeys he met very influential people such as John Charles Frémont, President Grant, President Hayes, and President Johnson to name a few. He was quite successful in these trips always leaving with the promise of peace and protection from any further persecution or loss of land. As tensions grew between the Utes and the settlers and miners, the Utes lost more and more land, until the Treaty of 1880 giving the Ute Nation the lands they have today which forced the Utes to leave the Florissant area. Ouray died on August 24, 1880 of Bright’s disease.