High atop the Continental Divide, near Monarch Pass, on the eastern margin of the Upper Gunnison Basin, are the prehistoric remains of an intriguing and innovative hunting method employed by ancient tribes. The Monarch Pass Game Drive was an ingenious system of low boulder walls, hunting blinds and ambush pits designed to lure big game to waiting hunters at altitudes ranging from 11,520 to 12,020 feet. The hunters hid in concealment, waiting for the right moment to launch a coordinated attack using spears and bow and arrows. Game animals such as bison, deer, elk and mountain sheep were driven into ...
