Forts on Highway 85

From Denver to Greeley, there are two Forts built in the 1800's.  I have driven past Ft. Vasquez many times but never stopped. On the 4th of July I decided to stop and check it out since I had mentioned the fort in my blog of July 2, 2014, about Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Entering the door I was pleasantly surprised to see an attendant, a museum, a gift store and because it was July 4th the admittance was free along with complementary cake and ice cream for all visitors. I went through the museum and learned that the fort was named after Louis Vasquez, a trapper and Indian trader of the 1830's. I found out that he also had a "mountain range, a peak, a pass, a creek, and a wilderness area" named after him. The fort was built of adobe under the supervision of Vasquez and another fur trader by the name of Andrew Sublette.

The walls were ten feet tall for protection of raiding Indians but when the WPA around the late 1930's rebuilt the fort, the walls were shortened to six feet tall. The thickness of the walls is two feet. The museum has artifacts from the past with information on what was happening during those early years. A variety of traps and knives, rifles, guns, plus equipment necessary for mountain men to hunt are displayed in the museum. Beaver and bison fur were purchased and traded and the mountain men would load up their mules and travel to Indian camps to do business.

The attendant mentioned that Ft. Lupton also had a Fort and that surprised me because as many times as I have driven on Highway 85, I have never seen or heard of a fort in Ft. Lupton. After partaking of the free cake and getting directions to the Ft. Lupton fort, I went in search of the well kept secret! This fort is a replica of the original because once the fort fell out of use, the adobe walls crumbled to the ground and nothing was left. The fort had to be built from the ground up.

 It seems that there were four forts within forty miles of each other: Ft. Morgan toward the east, Ft. Vasquez, Ft. Lupton and Ft. St. Vrain are fairly close near the South Platte River. Something I found out was that not all forts were built to protect from danger, but were built as trading posts where Indians, settlers and mountain men could trade, sell and buy items needed. Ft. Lupton has a log cabin, a one room school house and an Indian tipi for tourists to enjoy.

I purchased a book put out by the History Colorado named Fort Vasquez Museum - A Capsule History and Guide that gives a thorough scenario of how things were in the 1800's and the men who helped shape the history of the forts. In the booklet, I especially liked this paragraph: "The preservation of Fort Vasquez and the creation of its museum occurred because of the interest, dedication, and commitment of local residents who wished to see this little-known but essential chapter of Colorado history saved for the future. Their connection to this fort and the three other forts nearby serves as an important reminder that Colorado's history did not begin with the discovery of gold."

Sometimes, something interesting is right in front of my eyes, but I fail to see it. I now know a bit more of Colorado history and I am glad I stopped to visit two of the forts on my way home from Greeley!