However, a University of Colorado Boulder study published this month<\/a> provides evidence from newspaper articles, databases, museum collections, photos, journals and Native traditions directly refuting that claim.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we found is that we can prove without a shadow of a doubt that moose have been established in Colorado since there is a historic record,\u201d said William Taylor, an anthropology professor and curator of archaeology for the CU Museum of Natural History. \u201cAnd when you look at the oral tradition record of tribes with deep ties, not just to Colorado but places like northern New Mexico, they have an established presence of moose in stories, in language, in tradition, even in the objects that they make.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking at newspaper and photograph records from public archives across Colorado, Taylor and his team mapped out all evidence they could find of encounters with moose since the record began in the 1850s. What he found was not the occasional moose wandering in from Wyoming, but evidence of a breeding population. The record showed not just young, male moose encounters, but encounters with female moose at nearly the same frequency and regular evidence of juvenile moose.<\/p>\n In total, the review identified more than 30 published occurrences of moose in newspapers between 1860 and 1970, with these mentions often referencing multiple animals or groups. Other documents strongly but indirectly implying the presence of moose were excluded from this tally, such as an 1878 writer inviting his English countrymen to \u201cstalk moose and deer\u201d as they built \u201cfresh homes on the western slopes of the Colorado mountains,\u201d according to a primary source quoted in the study.<\/p>\n Those records give strong reason to suspect that many, if not most, moose encounters during that time went undocumented, according to the study. If moose sightings often failed to reach newspapers and other archives even as late as the mid-1900s, the official record must capture only a fraction of the true abundance of Colorado moose. This evidence shows, according to the study, that moose were present in Colorado long before their 1970s reintroduction, contradicting the idea that such sightings were due to isolated dispersal events.<\/p>\n Taylor also looked at records from archeological sites around Colorado, which uncovered reports of moose at Jurgens, near Greeley, dating back 9,000 years ago. Moose bones have also been identified near Mesa Verde National Park, dating back 1,000 years. This shows the potential presence of moose in Colorado across many millennia, challenging the assumption that they were absent before the 1970s and underscoring the need for further investigation.<\/p>\n The study also looked at published literature from Native nations with traditional ties to Colorado and the Southern Rockies, along with a summary of Northern Arapaho traditional knowledge and connections to moose gathered by coauthor and Northern Arapaho Tribal Historic Preservation Office Director Crystal C\u2019Bearing. C\u2019Bearing is Cheyenne River Sioux and a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe.<\/p>\n Ethnohistories, oral traditions and other Indigenous knowledge sources indicate that moose have a prehistoric and established presence in most of the Native cultures with ancestral connections to the Southern Rockies, according to the study. The traditional knowledge record, including Northern Arapaho language, art, material culture and songs, demonstrates a deep Arapaho connection to moose. In the Arapaho language, the name for moose is hinenihii, which translates to \u201cbig man.\u201d The language also has an older word for moose, see\u2019iini3eet, which refers to the moose\u2019s large, flat nose.<\/p>\n The moose is considered a valued commodity among the Northern Arapaho Tribe, C\u2019Bearing said. Societies within the Northern Arapaho utilize many animals, including moose, in their clothing, society items and regalia, a tradition that continues today.<\/p>\n The study\u2019s authors also believe Tribal leaders should be involved in managing moose populations, encouraging Rocky Mountain National Park specifically to lean on Tribal expertise.<\/p>\n \u201cTribal people were part of the natural ecosystem in terms of hunting and wildlife management,\u201d C\u2019Bearing said in a release. \u201cIt would be beneficial not only to the Tribes to utilize the moose again for cultural practices, but to assist in the co-management of moose in Colorado and the Southern Rockies.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/TDP-L-MOOSE_040.jpg\")
A moose nibbles on Aspen leaves in Nederland. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n