Colorado strongholds

Fort Lupton Heritage Fair

Forts, stockades and eastern outposts

Story and photos by Shelly Steig

Historians are still pondering what actually happened at Pike's Stockade, Colorado's first fortress, built in 1807 by Zebulon Pike. Whether Pike knew the log enclosure was actually on Spanish (rather than United States) soil is still a matter of debate. Some claim Pike got turned around. Others say he purposely settled in the fiercely protected Spanish territory as a spy—a belief fueled by the fact that Pike noted key Spanish positions along the way when enemy officers took over the encampment and escorted Pike and his men south to Santa Fe.

Abandoned, Pike's Stockade succumbed to the elements long ago. However, a reconstruction has been built from notes in Pike's journal. It is located approximately 45 miles southwest of Fort Garland on County Road 24 and is open to visitors during the summer.

More than 70 fortresses were built in Colorado over a period of nearly a century, beginning with Pike's in 1807 and ending with Fort Logan in 1889. The U.S. government commissioned some for protection and others were independently created for commerce.

While the forts served as multi-purpose, multicultural gathering places, they were also punctuated by violence and peopled with famous or notorious figures such as Kit Carson, Jim Bridger and Colonel John Chivington. Like Pike's Stockade, many of these fortresses no longer stand. However, recognizing the importance of these sentinels of change in the American West, Colorado towns and historical societies are preserving remnants, excavating sites or reconstructing what has been lost.

Camelot of the plains

Bent's Old Fort is actually the newest of the old forts. Brothers William and Charles Bent, along with partner Ceran St. Vrain, built their first stockade on the north bank of the Arkansas River sometime before 1830. They anticipated a vigorous trade with Ute and Plains Indians that never panned out. So in 1833 when wagon trains started lumbering down the Santa Fe Trail Mountain Branch, the partners abandoned the original fort and moved downriver along the trail.

There they built the equivalent of a modern-day mall—a large, self-sustaining adobe compound that included blacksmith, tailor and carpenter shops, a barber and a library. In what became a meeting ground for Mexican and American settlers, as well as Arapaho, Kiowa and Cheyenne Indians, the Bents experienced a bustling business.

The fort became Colorado's Camelot of the plains and, much like that tale, did not have a happy ending. After a series of tragedies, William Bent tried to sell the fort to the U.S. Army, which declined the offer. Legend claims William then blew the place to pieces and once again moved downriver to start anew.

Finished in 1853, Bent's New Fort never achieved the acclaim of the previous stockade. It was eventually abandoned and only a marker remains. However, the rebuilt Bent's Old Fort is now a National Historic Site. Located approximately six miles east of La Junta on Colorado 194, the reconstruction offers living history and interpretive exhibits.

A conduit for commerce

Other men like Bent who had a sense of adventure and an entrepreneurial spirit recognized that Colorado was a wonderful conduit, not just to the west, but also to New Mexico. Forts sprung up along trade routes such as the Overland and Trappers Trail, some within a few miles of each other. The fur trapping and trading industry reached its zenith when demand for beaver hats peaked, but income plummeted as fashion dictates changed.

Fort Vasquez, built in 1835, and Fort Lupton, built a year later, proved unprofitable and were abandoned. Today visitors to the Fort Vasquez Museum, located 35 miles north of Denver on U.S. Highway 85 in Platteville, can wander a reconstructed adobe compound that has been rebuilt using original—and very difficult to maintain—methods. They can also view artifacts unearthed from the garrison.

The South Platte Valley Historical Society has completed a partial reconstruction of the Fort Lupton compound in the city which shares its name. Each summer the society stages a heritage fair on the nearly 100-acre grounds.

Fort El Pueblo, built in 1842, was a rendezvous point and trading post for famous mountain men such as Carson and Bridger. However, the fort witnessed terrible violence on Christmas Day 12 years later when Ute and Apache warriors attacked the fort, killing or capturing all but one inhabitant. The El Pueblo History Museum in Pueblo features a rebuilt adobe trading post and plaza, and the archaeological excavation of the original fort.

Other pioneers, such as Colonel John M. Francisco, found other ways to prosper than by trading pelts. The Colonel built a stockade in 1862 as a ranching venture, then became a successful merchant. At the Francisco Fort Museum in La Veta, visitors can wander the original Spanish-style plaza and tour other historic buildings including a saloon, school and log cabin.

From the pioneer to Victorian era

A legend in his own time, Kit Carson figured prominently in Colorado's history. His journeys took him to many of the outposts as he scouted the territory, enthusiastic about its potential. From 1866 to 1867, Carson commanded the garrison at Fort Garland.

Fort Garland was the military equivalent of Bent's Old Fort. Ideally situated in the San Luis Valley, the 1858 garrison offered outstanding facilities for soldiers who participated in various campaigns. Commissioned to ward off Ute and Apache attacks on the routes running south to Taos, Garland was also home to the Colorado Volunteers, who participated in the Battle of Glorieta Pass.

During his command, Carson made peace with Ute chiefs, which led to a relatively quiet period. He died a year later at the infamous Fort Lyon. Fort Garland was abandoned in 1883. Today, a museum is divided among seven restored buildings.

Fort Lyon marched into infamy as the staging ground for Chivington's troops and the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864. Built by Major John Sedgwick in 1862 only a mile upstream from Bent's New Fort, it was named to honor Civil War general Nathaniel Lyon. Conditions at the original location were terrible, so the stockade was moved 20 miles upstream. Fort Lyon changed hands several times before becoming a correctional facility. The home in which Carson lived while he sought medical help is now the Kit Carson Chapel, and is the only building currently open to visitors.

Built in 1864 across the South Platte River from Ovid, Fort Sedgwick served as a hideout for Julesburg residents who were fleeing from clashes between Native Americans and white settlers. Fort Morgan, constructed a year later, was the only military presence between Julesburg and Colorado's mountain communities. Neither stockade still stands, but the Fort Morgan and Fort Sedgwick museums offer interpretative displays.

The commissioning of Fort Logan in 1889 marked a seismic shift from the pioneer to the Victorian era. Despite the fact that frontier posts had become near obsolete, the citizens of Denver petitioned the army to establish a fort near the growing city. Named for General John A. Logan, the Civil War hero who initiated Memorial Day, the post rendered a sharp contrast to its earlier predecessors.

Officers lived in red-brick Victorian-style homes that encircled a parade ground. These quarters featured wine rooms, lush landscaping and live-in servants. Officers and their wives enjoyed tea times and nightly parties.

General Douglas MacArthur's father commanded the post for two years beginning in 1901, and General Logan is buried in the 214-acre adjoining national cemetery. While the post is now the Colorado Mental Health Institute, the Friends of Historic Fort Logan are restoring the field officers' quarters to their original appearance. A museum is open to the public periodically on Saturdays.

Colorado's historic forts

Shelly Steig is a freelance writer based in Parker.