Throughout the park is scattered evidence of man's presence through the centuries. The Fremont people lived along the river as early as A.D. 700, staying until about A.D. 1300. Primarily hunters and gatherers, the Fremont also grew corn, beans, and squash to supplement their diet, and when they abandoned the area, they left little behind. They lived in pit houses, so called because they were dug into the ground -- the remains of one can be seen from the Hickman Bridge Trail. Many of the Fremont people's petroglyphs (images carved into rock) and some pictographs (images painted on rock) are still visible on the canyon walls. If you could read them, they might even say why these early Americans left the area -- a puzzle that continues to baffle historians and archaeologists.
Fast-forwarding to the 19th century, prospectors and other travelers passed through the Capitol Gorge section of the park in the late 1800s, leaving their names on a wall of rock that came to be known as the Pioneer Register. You can reach it via a 2-mile loop.
Mormon pioneers established the appropriately named community of Fruita when it was discovered that this was a good locale for growing fruit. The tiny 1896 Fruita Schoolhouse served as a church, social hall, and community-meeting hall, in addition to functioning as a one-room schoolhouse. The school closed in 1941, but it was carefully restored by the National Park Service in 1984 and is authentically furnished with old wood-and-wrought-iron desks, a woodstove, a chalkboard, and textbooks. The hand bell used to call students to class still rests on the corner of the teacher's desk. Nearby, the orchards planted by the Mormon settlers continue to flourish, tended by park workers who invite you to sample the "fruits" of their labors.
The historic Gifford Farmhouse, built in 1908, is a typical early-20th-century Utah farmhouse. Located about a mile south of the visitor center, the authentically renovated and furnished farmhouse is open daily from mid-April through September. In addition to displays of period objects, there are often demonstrations of early homemaking skills and crafts, such as quilting and rug making. Park across the road at the picnic area; a short path leads to the farmhouse.
