John Charles Fremont came to North Park in 1844. He described North Park or "New Park" as such: "The valley narrowed as we ascended and presently we degenerated into a gorge which the river passed as through a gate. We entered it and found ourselves in New Park, a beautiful circular valley, walled in all around with snowy mountains. it is from this elevated cove and from the gorges of the surrounding mountains that the great Platte River collects its first waters." Many explorers visited North Park, Bridger, Kit Carson, but it's first inhabitants were the Sioux, Crow, Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute, mainly the latter two and only during the summer. The long harsh winters kept them out during the snowy season. But lush waist high grass created by the many streams and good hunting and mining lured in the first settlers, starting in 1876 with a Mr. Pinkham who settled just a few miles from the Buffalo Creek Ranch. His trade? Trading Buffalo Hides with the Indians. The long harsh winters still keep out a fair amount of settlers, which is good, keeping North Park much like it was a hundred years ago, untamed, sparsely populated and burgeoning with wildlife.