Early History
The Fountain Creek acted as a borderland between the Ute Indians of the Rocky Mountains and tribes of the Great Plains in the centuries before farmers and ranchers came to the region. Though the creek often slows to a trickle, it was an important transportation corridor for humans and animals year round. The Utes often came to the creek to hunt Bison and other wild game, and it was on these hunting excursions that they encountered tribes such as the Apache, the Cheyenne, and the Comanche. Though these plains tribes had not traditionally come so close to the mountains and the surrounding Ute lands, encroachment from American settlers in the east in the early 19thcentury forced Indians west in search of new hunting grounds. It is difficult for researchers to understand Native American life and society in Colorado before European colonization because colonization upset the settlement patterns of these tribes long before Anglo-Americans, or even Spanish missionaries, first arrived in the area.
The Pike Expedition
Lt. Zebulon Pike followed Fountain Creek in 1906 in his failed attempt to reach summit of the mountain that would later bear his name.
Little Buttes Railroad Station
The Buttes railroad station was a stop along William Jackson Palmer’s D&RG Railroad. It was constructed on Andrew Lincoln's property in 1872, and was in operation until 1918. It was used as a telegraph office, post office, and a stagecoach station. On May 29, 1902 massive flooding on Fountain Creek destroyed the station's section house, and on On August 6, 1903 Cloudbursts in Fountain Valley caused a train wreck near the station with no loss of life. A Colorado Springs Gazette article dated August 11, 1904 describes this event:
The Buttes railroad station was a stop along William Jackson Palmer’s D&RG Railroad. It was constructed on Andrew Lincoln's property in 1872, and was in operation until 1918. It was used as a telegraph office, post office, and a stagecoach station. On May 29, 1902 massive flooding on Fountain Creek destroyed the station's section house, and on On August 6, 1903 Cloudbursts in Fountain Valley caused a train wreck near the station with no loss of life. A Colorado Springs Gazette article dated August 11, 1904 describes this event:
