The area surrounding Steamboat Springs was originally inhabited by the
Yampatikas Utes, who hunted in the valley during the summer. Trappers began to
move through the area during the first decades of the 19th century. James
Harvey Crawford, the founder of Steamboat Springs, first arrived in the spring
of 1874. The Crawford family moved there in 1876, and for the first five years
were the sole permanent residents of the town. The native Utes were forcibly
removed from the area to a reservation in Utah by the U.S. Army starting in
1879. Milestones in the development of the pioneer town included the first
sawmill in