Archeological studies indicate that the earliest known inhabitants of
Palo Duro Canyon lived in the canyon from about 10,000 to 5,000 B.C.
These early men apparently hunted the bison and now-extinct
elephant-like mammoths that roamed the Palo Duro area during the Ice Age
of Pleistocene time (_see_ geologic time scale, fig. 6). Their stone
weapons and other artifacts have been found in and around the canyon. It
is assumed that these primitive people—like those who came later—were
attracted by the streams and springs that are found in the canyon and by
game that came there to feed. There is also evidence that the Indians
took advantage of certain of the canyon’s geologic features. They
fashioned tools, weapons, and utensils from the rocks exposed in the
canyon and used certain of the shallow caves and rock shelters as their
homes.