Arches National Park was founded on November 12, 1971. First it was established as National Monument and then the president made it a national park in 1971.
The first humans to inhabit Arches National Park were hunter-gatherers that came to the area to make tools like knives, darts, scrapers and spearpoints from the microcrystalline quartz commonly found in the region. Eventually these paleolithic forebears would come to practice agriculture, cultivating crops like beans, squash and corn in the arid soil. Located on the northern fringes of the Ancestral Puebloan lands, Arches National Park does not have an ancient dwellings, but it does retain other important records of human activity, such as inscriptions in rock. Later peoples such as the Ute and Paiute, which moved into the area as the Puebloan and Fremont were
in decline, also left petroglyphs, which can be seen along the Wolfe Ranch Trail. Later petroglyphs can be identified by the presence of figures on horseback, a commodity that the native peoples of the region only gained access to through trade with the Spanish.
in decline, also left petroglyphs, which can be seen along the Wolfe Ranch Trail. Later petroglyphs can be identified by the presence of figures on horseback, a commodity that the native peoples of the region only gained access to through trade with the Spanish.