Celinda R. Kaelin - American Indians of the Pikes Peak Region

These cliff dwellings off Highway 24 north of Manitou Springs are authentic of prehistoric people, though not authentic to their location. In the early 1900s, some enterprising residents moved these Anasazi dwellings from the Mesa Verde area and had them reconstructed at their current site. (Courtesy Ute Pass Historical Society.)

Archaeologists examine evidence from a mid-Archaic (about 6000 BCE) to late-Ceramic (about 1700 CE) bison jump at Crows Roost, east of Colorado Springs. Early people drove herds of buffalo over this steep cliff, leaving behind the stone and bone tools used to process the meat. (Courtesy University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.)

Rain, dust, and erosion buried this prehistoric hearth for more than 8,000 years at Garden of the Gods. Stones from the hearth are clustered in the center of the photograph. Rain has eroded the hillside, giving a nice profile of a fire pit that once warmed an ancient hunter and his family. (Courtesy University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.)

Prehistoric people probably related to the numinous landscape at Garden of the Gods much as American Indians do. This rock shelter, which would have provided a convenient place to camp for the night, was used from about 6000 BCE to around 1800 CE. (Courtesy University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.)

Ute Indians likely cooked their game in this fire pit at Garden of the Gods. Archaeologists date it to approximately 500 CE. Utes referred to the rock features at Red Rock Open Space and Garden of the Gods as the bones of Mother Earth. (Courtesy University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.)

These bone tools, dated to about 790 CE, were found in a burial near the heart of Colorado Springs. Scientists associate them with the Plains Woodland culture. These people generally left few clues to their identity, as their structures were highly perishable. (Courtesy University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.)