List of forts in Colorado

See also: List of trading posts in Colorado and List of ghost towns in Colorado

The location of the State of Colorado in the United States of America.

Bent's Old Fort's internal courtyard and fur press

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

History

External image
Map of private and military forts in Colorado from 1807 to 1900

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

Name	Other names	Location	Current county	Year founded	Year abandoned	Type	Status
Pike's Stockade		Sanford	Conejos	1807	1807	U.S. Army stockade	Reproduction[2]
Spanish Fort	Fort Sangre de Cristo	Sangre de Cristo Pass	Costilla	1819	1821	Spanish Army fort	[2]
Fort Talpa		Farisita	Huerfano	1820s		Spanish post	[2][3]
Fort Uncompahgre	Fort Robidoux	Delta area	Delta	1820s	1844	Trading post	Reconstruction[2]
Gantt's Picket Post	Fort Gantt	Las Animas	Bent	1832	1834	Trading post	No remains[4]
Fort Cass		Pueblo area	Pueblo	1834	1835	Trading post	No remains[4]
Fort Convenience		Welby area	Adams	1834	1835	Trading post	No remains[4]
Bent's Old Fort	Fort William[a]	La Junta area	Otero	1834	1849	Trading post	National Historic Site and museum[4]
Fort Le Duc	Fort Maurice, Buzzard's Roost, El Cuervo	Wetmore area	Custer	1830s	1854	Trading post	No remains[4]
Fort Vasquez		Platteville	Weld	1835	1842	Trading post	Restored and museum[4]
Fort Jackson		Ione area	Weld	1837	1838	Trading post	Foundation remains[4]
Fort Lupton	Fort Lawrence	Fort Lupton	Weld	1837	1844	Trading post	Reconstructed[4]
Fort Saint Vrain	Fort George, Fort Lookout	Platteville	Weld	1837	1855	Trading post	Historical marker[4]
Fort Gerry		Kersey area	Weld	late 1830s	1840s	Trading post	[5]
Milk Fort	Fort Leche, Pueblo de Leche, Fort El Puebla, Peebles Fort, Fort Independence	Las Animas	Otero	late 1830s		Trading post / settlement	No remains[4][5][6]
Fort Davy Crockett	Fort Misery	Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge	Moffat	late 1830s		Trading post	[4]
Fraeb's Post	Fort Fraeb	Steamboat Springs area	Routt	1840	1841	Trading post	No remains[4]
El Pueblo	Fort Pueblo, Fort Nepesta, Fort Fisher, Fort Juana, Fort Spaulding, Robert Fisher's Fort	Pueblo	Pueblo	1842	1854	Trading Post	No remains[6][7]
Fort Huerfano		Avondale	Pueblo	1845		Encampment	No remains[8][9][5]
Mormon Battalion and The Vanguard Company of 1847, Mormon Trail	Fort Independence	Pueblo	Pueblo	1846	1847	Mormon homes	No remains[7]
Fort Massachusetts		Fort Garland	Costilla	1852	1858	U.S. Army fort	Archaeological site[7]
Bent's New Fort	See Fort Lyon 1	Lamar area	Bent	1853	1860	Trading post	Foundation remains[7]
Fort Garland		Fort Garland	Costilla	1858	1883	U.S. Army fort	Reconstructed[7]
Fort Namaqua	Modena's Crossing, Namaqua Station, Mariano's Crossing, Big Thompson, Miraville	Loveland	Larimer	1858 or 1859	1868+	Trading post	Historical marker at Namaqua Park[7][10][11]
Fort Mary B	Fort Independence, Fort Independent, Fort Breckenridge, Fort Meribeh	Breckenridge	Summit	1859		Stockade	No remains[12]
Fort Lyon 1	Fort Fauntleroy, Fort Wise	Lamar area	Prowers	1860	1867	U.S. Army fort	Destroyed by fire[7][13]
Fort Weld		Denver	Denver	1861	1865	U.S. Army post	Historical marker at 8th/Vallejo[7]
Camp Collins / Fort Collins		Fort Collins	Larimer	1862	1867	U.S. Army camp / fort	No remains[14]
Francisco Fort	Fort Francisco	La Veta	Huerfano	1862	1902	Civilian fort	Refurbished, now a museum[14][15]
Fort Morgan	Camp Tyler, Camp Wardwell	Fort Morgan	Morgan	1864	1868	U.S. Army post	Historical marker in city park[14]
Fort Wicked		Merino	Logan	1864	1868	House	Historical marker at US-6/CR-26[14]
Fort Sedgwick	Post at Julesburg, Camp Rankin, Fort Ranking	Sedgwick	Sedgwick	1864	1871	U.S. Army post	Historical marker[14][5]
Fort Reynolds		Avondale	Pueblo	1867	1872	U.S. Army post	Historical marker[14]
Fort Lyon 2		Las Animas	Bent	1867	1897	U.S. Army post	[14]
Fort Lewis 1	Cantonment at Pagosa Springs	Pagosa Springs	Archuleta	1878	1880	U.S. Army post	Site is a city park[14]
Fort Flagler	Camp at Animas City	Durango	La Plata	1879		Temporary stockades	[14]
Fort Meeker	Cantonment on White River	Meeker	Rio Blanco	1879	1883	U.S. Army camp	Quarters refurbished, museum[14]
Fort Lewis 2		Hesperus	La Plata	1880	1891	U.S. Army post	Converted to Indian boarding school
Fort Crawford	Cantonment at Uncompahgre	Montrose	Montrose	1880	1891	U.S. Army post	Historical marker[14]
Fort Narraguinnep		Dolores area	Montezuma	1885		Rancher's fort	U.S. Forest Service sign[14]
Fort Logan	Fort Sheridan	southwest Denver	Denver and Arapahoe	1887	1946	U.S. Army post	One building is a museum[14][5]

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]

See also

• List of forts in the United States
• Bibliography of Colorado
• Geography of Colorado
• History of Colorado
• Index of Colorado-related articles
• List of Colorado-related lists
• Outline of Colorado

References

1. Newton, Cody (April 6, 2015). "Nineteenth-Century Trading Posts". Colorado Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
2. 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. 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. Phil Payette; Pete Payette. "Colorado forts - Fort Huerfano". American Forts Network. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
6. 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. 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. 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 links

• Colorado state government website
• Colorado tourism website
• History Colorado website

38.9972°N 105.5478°W / 38.9972; -105.5478 (State of Colorado)