Few People Know That Colorado Is Home To One Of The Last Remaining Short Grass Prairies In The World
Since the Kiowa and Arapahoe first came to Colorado, the shortgrass prairie has been an important part of Colorado’s landscape, home to such magnificent animals as the American bison and important crops like maize and soybeans. Sadly, these landscapes are now endangered, which makes us Coloradans all the more lucky to live in such close proximity to one of the last remaining prairies in the world:
Located in southeast Colorado is the jaw-dropping Comanche National Grassland; a 443,081-acre shortgrass prairie that has played a vital role in our state's history.
Picketwire Canyon has more than 100 dinosaur track-ways and 1,500 individual footprints, making it the largest dinosaur track site in America! Picketwire is located in La Junta and is open to the public.
After the dinosaurs went extinct, Comanche National Grassland continued to be an important part of Colorado life, as it was later home to ancient American Indians (as evidenced by petroglyphs on rocks and cliffs that are estimated to be 8,000+ years old), the Apishipa people (c. 1000 A.D.), and even the iconic Apache and Comanche tribes.
By the mid-1800s, the Comanche National Grassland was once again reborn, this time along the Santa Fe Trail; an important transportation route that connected Independence, Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico.
