List of forts in Colorado

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A map of the United States when the Territory of Colorado was created on February 28, 1861. United States 1861-02-28-1861-03.png
A map of the United States when the Territory of Colorado was created on February 28, 1861.

This is a list of military and trading forts established in what is now the U.S. State of Colorado.

Contents

History

The initial forts, built in the first half of the 19th century, were early communities of commerce between Native Americans, trappers, and traders. William Butler, who wrote about the fur trade in Colorado, stated that there were 24 trading posts built in the pre-territorial area of what is now Colorado. [1] The trading posts were of varying sizes. Gantt's Post had several small wooden buildings located along Fountain Creek. Near Pueblo, Fort Le Duc (Buzzard's Roost) was a small settlement. Bent's Old Fort was a large adobe stockade on the Arkansas River. Multiple trading posts were built along a 13-mile stretch of the South Platte River in the late 1830s: Fort Jackson, Fort Lupton, and Fort Vasquez. In the early 1840s, the fur trade collapsed and most of the trading posts were closed, although some served early communities of miners and farmers. Bent's Old Fort continued to operate as it was located on the Santa Fe Trail, serving people from the United States and the New Spain areas of what is now New Mexico. [1]

Table of Colorado forts

NameOther namesLocationCurrent countyYear foundedYear abandonedTypeStatus
Pike's Stockade Sanford Conejos 18071807U.S. Army stockadeReproduction [2]
Spanish Fort Fort Sangre de Cristo Sangre de Cristo Pass Costilla 18191821Spanish Army fort [2]
Fort Talpa Farisita Huerfano 1820sSpanish post [2] [3]
Fort Uncompahgre Fort Robidoux Delta area Delta 1820s1844Trading postReconstruction [2]
Gantt's Picket Post Fort Gantt Las Animas Bent 18321834Trading postNo remains [4]
Fort Cass Pueblo areaPueblo18341835Trading postNo remains [4]
Fort Convenience Welby area Adams 18341835Trading postNo remains [4]
Bent's Old Fort Fort William [a] La Junta area Otero 18341849Trading post National Historic Site and museum [4]
Fort Le Duc Fort Maurice, Buzzard's Roost, El Cuervo Wetmore area Custer 1830s1854Trading postNo remains [4]
Fort Vasquez Platteville Weld 18351842Trading postRestored and museum [4]
Fort Jackson Ione areaWeld18371838Trading postFoundation remains [4]
Fort Lupton Fort Lawrence Fort Lupton Weld18371844Trading postReconstructed [4]
Fort Saint Vrain Fort George, Fort LookoutPlattevilleWeld18371855Trading postHistorical marker [4]
Fort Gerry Kersey areaWeldlate 1830s1840sTrading post [5]
Milk Fort Fort Leche, Pueblo de Leche, Fort El Puebla, Peebles Fort, Fort IndependenceLas AnimasOterolate 1830sTrading post / settlementNo remains [4] [5] [6]
Fort Davy Crockett Fort Misery Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge Moffat late 1830sTrading post [4]
Fraeb's Post Fort Fraeb Steamboat Springs area Routt 18401841Trading postNo remains [4]
El Pueblo Fort Pueblo, Fort Nepesta, Fort Fisher, Fort Juana, Fort Spaulding, Robert Fisher's Fort Pueblo Pueblo 18421854Trading PostNo remains [6] [7]
Fort Huerfano Avondale Pueblo 1845EncampmentNo remains [8] [9] [5]
Mormon Battalion and The Vanguard Company of 1847, Mormon Trail Fort IndependencePuebloPueblo18461847Mormon homesNo remains [7]
Fort Massachusetts Fort Garland Costilla 18521858U.S. Army fortArchaeological site [7]
Bent's New Fort See Fort Lyon 1 Lamar area Bent 18531860Trading postFoundation remains [7]
Fort Garland Fort GarlandCostilla18581883U.S. Army fortReconstructed [7]
Fort Namaqua Modena's Crossing, Namaqua Station, Mariano's Crossing, Big Thompson, Miraville Loveland Larimer 1858 or 18591868+Trading postHistorical marker at Namaqua Park [7] [10] [11]
Fort Mary B Fort Independence, Fort Independent, Fort Breckenridge, Fort Meribeh Breckenridge Summit 1859StockadeNo remains [12]
Fort Lyon 1 Fort Fauntleroy, Fort WiseLamar areaProwers18601867U.S. Army fortDestroyed by fire [7] [13]
Fort Weld Denver Denver 18611865U.S. Army postHistorical marker at 8th/Vallejo [7]
Camp Collins / Fort Collins Fort Collins Larimer 18621867U.S. Army camp / fortNo remains [14]
Francisco Fort Fort Francisco La Veta Huerfano18621902Civilian fortRefurbished, now a museum [14] [15]
Fort Morgan Camp Tyler, Camp Wardwell Fort Morgan Morgan 18641868U.S. Army postHistorical marker in city park [14]
Fort Wicked Merino Logan 18641868HouseHistorical marker at US-6/CR-26 [14]
Fort Sedgwick Post at Julesburg, Camp Rankin, Fort Ranking Sedgwick Sedgwick 18641871U.S. Army postHistorical marker [14] [5]
Fort Reynolds Avondale Pueblo18671872U.S. Army postHistorical marker [14]
Fort Lyon 2Las AnimasBent18671897U.S. Army post [14]
Fort Lewis 1Cantonment at Pagosa Springs Pagosa Springs Archuleta 18781880U.S. Army postSite is a city park [14]
Fort Flagler Camp at Animas City Durango La Plata 1879Temporary stockades [14]
Fort Meeker Cantonment on White River Meeker Rio Blanco 18791883U.S. Army campQuarters refurbished, museum [14]
Fort Lewis 2 Hesperus La Plata 18801891U.S. Army postConverted to Indian boarding school
Fort Crawford Cantonment at Uncompahgre Montrose Montrose 18801891U.S. Army postHistorical marker [14]
Fort Narraguinnep Dolores area Montezuma 1885Rancher's fortU.S. Forest Service sign [14]
Fort Logan Fort Sheridansouthwest Denver Denver and Arapahoe 18871946U.S. Army postOne building is a museum [14] [5]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Between 1830 and 1834, William Bent operated Fort William near what is now Pueblo. It was also called Bent's Picket Post. [2]

References

  1. 1 2 Newton, Cody (April 6, 2015). "Nineteenth-Century Trading Posts". Colorado Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Jolie Anderson Gallagher (April 2, 2013). Colorado Forts: Historic Outposts on the Wild Frontier. Arcadia Publishing Incorporated. p. PT8. ISBN   978-1-61423-903-1.
  3. ↑ Best Books on (1941). Colorado, a Guide to the Highest State. Best Books on. p. 350. ISBN   978-1-62376-006-9.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Jolie Anderson Gallagher (April 2, 2013). Colorado Forts: Historic Outposts on the Wild Frontier. Arcadia Publishing Incorporated. p. PT9. ISBN   978-1-61423-903-1.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Phil Payette; Pete Payette. "Colorado forts - Fort Huerfano". American Forts Network. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  6. 1 2 Glenn R. Scott (2004) [1975], "Historic Trail Maps of the Pueblo 1° x 2° Quadrangle, Colorado" (PDF), U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, pp. 4, 50
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Jolie Anderson Gallagher (April 2, 2013). Colorado Forts: Historic Outposts on the Wild Frontier. Arcadia Publishing Incorporated. p. PT10. ISBN   978-1-61423-903-1.
  8. ↑ Frank Hall (1891). History of the State of Colorado, Embracing Accounts of the Pre-historic Races and Their Remains. Blakely print. Company. p. 446.
  9. ↑ Colorado Magazine. State Historical Society of Colorado, State Museum. 1966. p. 281.
  10. ↑ From the Grave: A Roadside Guide to Colorado's Pioneer Cemeteries. Caxton Press. p. 217. ISBN   978-0-87004-565-3.
  11. ↑ Jessen, Kenneth (July 26, 2014). "Spanish-Speaking Mariano Medina built a fort". Reporter-Herald. Loveland, Colorado. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  12. ↑ Hague, Rick (November 30, 2015). "How the early runs on Peak 7 at Breckenridge got their names". Summit Daily. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  13. ↑ Thomas J. Noel (May 29, 2015). Colorado: A Historical Atlas. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 78. ISBN   978-0-8061-5353-7.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Jolie Anderson Gallagher (April 2, 2013). Colorado Forts: Historic Outposts on the Wild Frontier. Arcadia Publishing Incorporated. p. PT11. ISBN   978-1-61423-903-1.
  15. ↑ Dawson, John Frank. Place names in Colorado: why 700 communities were so named, 150 of Spanish or Indian origin. Denver, CO: The J. Frank Dawson Publishing Co. p. 31.
External image
Searchtool.svg Map of private and military forts in Colorado from 1807 to 1900

38°59′50″N105°32′52″W / 38.9972°N 105.5478°W / 38.9972; -105.5478 (State of Colorado)

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