The ancestral Pueblo arrived in the Mancos Valley area about 500 A.D. They hunted and farmed the canyons and mesa tops and grew in siz to great numbers. Evidence of their homes can be seen nestled under cliff faces and ledges at Mesa Verde. The Native American were farmers and gatherers, but eventually had to leave their "hillside palces because of drought and famine.
The oldest native residents of Colorado are the Ute Band of Indian. The seven Ute Bands were the Weeminuche, Mouache, Capote, Uncomahgres, Grand River, Yampa River, and Unitah. Historically, the Ute Nation roamed throughout Colorado, Utah and New Mexico as a hunter gatherer society, moving with the seasons searching for the best hunting and harvest.
