The
Colorado Gold Rush, Early Settlement, and the Creation of Fort Collins, 1844-1866
Antoine Janis is believed to have been the first Euro-American
settler in Larimer County. Janis was born in Missouri to French
parents and his father freighted supplies from St. Louis to
Wyoming during the heyday of the fur trade. In the waning days of
that era, Janis again passed through the Cache la Poudre Valley.
Charmed by its beauty, he staked out a squatter's claim west of
the present site of Laporte in 1844. Janis reported that when he
claimed the area, "the streams were all very high and the
valley black with buffalo...and I thought the Poudre valley was
the loveliest spot on earth...." Janis marked his property
in the event that settlement came to the area, but did not erect
a residence at that time.
Captain Evans Headquarters, officers in front of
building, at the old fort, c. 1864
One of the nation's major emigrant pathways, the Oregon Trail
ran north of Larimer County, through Wyoming. During the 1840s,
thousands of settlers headed west in search of new homes in
Oregon, California, and Utah. The Central Overland Trail, a mail
route to the coast, also went through Wyoming. Although
northeastern Colorado, earlier identified as part of the
"Great American Desert," was not the final object of
their journey, some of the overland emigrants traveled through it
before connecting with the major trails. Watrous reported that,
in 1846-47, a Mormon battalion on its way to Salt Lake City
entered the mountains west of Laporte.
The discovery of gold in California in 1848 led to a mass
migration of prospectors to that area. In 1849, a group of Native
American and Anglo-American prospectors, known variously as the
Cherokee Company, the Washington County Company, or the Evans
Company, set out for the California gold fields. In Colorado,
they traveled from Pueblo to Fort St. Vrain on the South Platte,
crossed the South Platte at the mouth of the Cache la Poudre, and
subsequently entered the mountains and headed toward the Laramie
Plains. The path the company took through the area, which ran
west of the present site of Fort Collins, was thereafter referred
to as the Cherokee Trail, although it had long been a trail for
trappers and traders. Upon their return to the East, the Indian
group organized another expedition to search further for gold.
The second group passed through Colorado in 1850, following the
Cherokee Trail as in the previous year. During the second trip, a
small quantity of gold was found in Ralston Creek, near present
day Arvada. This discovery influenced a prospecting group led by
William Green Russell which set out for the vicinity of Ralston
Creek in 1858.
Prospectors fanned out across the West in an intensive search
for the metal, entering the areas they felt most likely to
contain similar riches. In 1858, Russell's party found a small
amount of gold at Dry Creek south of the present-day site of
Denver. The news of this discovery brought forth an influx of
gold-panning prospectors, many of whom had also followed the
California gold rush. In 1859, when three large lode claims were
made in what would later become Gilpin, Clear Creek, and Boulder
Counties, people from across the United States were lured to the
region by the promise of gold. Many of these gold-seekers settled
in the area permanently. With the discovery of gold, a steady
stream of people began to travel into Colorado, most heading
toward Denver and the mining camps. Although Larimer County was
not a major goal of the gold seekers, many traveled through the
area on a route from Denver toward the Central Overland Trail.
Some placer mining was attempted on the banks of the Cache la
Poudre and several sluices were built.
It has been estimated that as many as 100,000 gold seekers set
out for Colorado in 1859. Although probably less than half of
that number actually reached the Pike's Peak area, the influx of
prospectors, merchants, and promoters quickly transformed the
fledgling settlement of Denver into an important regional center.
The city also became a major destination point for emigrant and
stage routes. At least nineteen emigrant guidebooks were
published between 1858 and 1859, each of which advised
prospective settlers on the best routes to Denver and the gold
fields. Soon, the area of Larimer County served as both a pathway
to the gold camps and an important agricultural supply center.
Westward-bound travelers could choose one of several major
routes to Denver, all originating on the Missouri River between
St. Joseph and Kansas City. The safest route was the South Platte
Trail, which followed the old Oregon Trail westward along the
Platte River toward Julesburg and thence ran southward to Denver
following the South Platte River. Another route to the gold
fields was to follow the Oregon Trail to Fort Laramie and then
descend southward along the Cherokee Trail east of the mountains
toward Denver. Along this route, the gold seekers traveled
through the Cache la Poudre and Big Thompson river valleys. Many
who tired of mining remembered these valleys as attractive places
for settlement. Jared Brush, who established a ranch in the Big
Thompson Valley and later became a participant in the town
company which founded Fort Collins, was one such argonaut.
The gold rush was the factor which induced Antoine Janis to
permanently move to the Cache la Poudre Valley from Fort Laramie
in 1859. During the early days of the gold rush, Janis, like many
mountain men who knew the trails and passes of the West, became a
guide for prospectors heading for Pike's Peak country. The
migration of large numbers of argonauts to the area motivated
Janis to further legitimize his claim by building a cabin on the
north side of the Cache la Poudre in 1859. Janis later remembered
that, when he entered the area, about 150 lodges of Arapahos had
also established themselves there. The Indians were reported by
Janis to have agreed to donate to him, Elbridge Gerry, and his
brother, Nicholas Janis, all the land from the foot of the
mountains to the mouth of Box Elder Creek.
In the same year that Janis erected his cabin, a company of
French Canadian families searching for a townsite came from Fort
Laramie to the area which Janis had selected. They, too,
recognized the significance of the movement of people into the
region in terms of its future development. The company included
Francis and Nicholas Janis, Antoine Le Beau, E. W. Raymond, Todd
Randall, Raymond B. Goodwin, John B. Provost, Oliver Morisette,
A. LeBon, and others, who created a settlement named Colona.
Colona (the predecessor of Laporte) was situated on the banks of
the Cache la Poudre, with the Great Plains to the east, the
mountains to the west, and the emigrant trails to the north. In a
burst of optimism regarding the future of the new town, the
company had the site surveyed and mapped. According to Janis,
fifty houses were then built for the families. These homes were,
like that of Janis, constructed of logs and they formed the first
community created in Larimer County. John Provost began what was
one of the area's earliest commercial ventures in his log house,
where he maintained a grocery and saloon. In addition, Provost
initiated a second business when he built and operated a ferry
for emigrants across the river.
Another early settler who established himself in the area was
Rock Bush, a French-Canadian who claimed land about three miles
southeast of Laporte along the north bank of the river. Bush
crossed the plains with an ox team in 1857 and operated a ferry
on the Green River for two years. He heard descriptions of the
Cache la Poudre Valley from emigrants. In 1859, Bush built a
cabin and began farming and trapping on the site where he lived
for over fifty years.
Jesse M. and Frederick W. Sherwood were natives of New York
who had engaged in the lumber business in Wisconsin. In 1860, the
brothers took an ox team across the Plains and mined at Russell
Gulch before settling in the Cache la Poudre Valley. They hauled
logs from the mountains to erect a home along the river and began
raising and selling horses and cattle, hay, grain, and
vegetables. The Sherwood ranch was for a brief time an Overland
Stage station and was well known to travelers in the region.
Frederick Sherwood became a member of the first board of county
commissioners and Watrous noted that to write a biography of
Sherwood was to write a history of Larimer County.
Walter J. Prendergast was an Irish immigrant, who arrived in
the United States in 1854 and joined the army a year later.
Prendergast was sent west during a period of problems between the
Mormons in Utah and the United States government. He followed the
Oregon Trail to South Pass and toward Salt Lake City in 1858.
Returning eastward, Prendergast and his wife crossed the Laramie
Plains, descended the Cherokee Trail and decided to settle in the
Big Thompson Valley, where they built a log cabin. In 1861, the
Prendergasts moved to the Cache la Poudre Valley and established
a ranch, cutting hay and raising vegetables for sale in the
mining camps and at Fort Laramie.
The rush of thousands of people toward the region led to the
creation of further trails and permanent settlements, as well as
the killing and driving off of the area's great buffalo herds.
Succeeding years were a time of crisis for the American Indian
groups, as their interests came sharply into conflict with those
of the new settlers.
By the mid-1800s, several successive groups of Native
Americans had utilized northeastern Colorado for hunting and
camping. By the 1500s, the Pawnees controlled much of the South
Platte Valley north of the river, while the Jicarilla Apaches
controlled the land between the South Platte and the Arkansas.
During the early 1700s, incoming Comanches and their allies, the
Utes, drove the Apaches south. The Utes were a mobile society of
hunters who eventually occupied most of the western slope and
controlled the mountain passes. During the 1800s, the Kiowa
allied with the Comanches and shared their hunting grounds south
of the Arkansas River after being pressed southward by incoming
Arapaho and Cheyenne. One of the first reports of Arapahos and
Cheyennes on the eastern plains was offered by the Long
expedition in 1820. From the early 1800s, most of eastern
Colorado north of the Arkansas River was occupied by the Arapahos
and the Cheyennes. The Sioux also used northeastern Colorado as
hunting grounds during the mid-1800s.
Fort Collins is situated where the high plains intersect the
base of the mountains. This area was utilized as a hunting ground
by several groups of Indians, but none had a strong hold on it.
Since none of the tribes dominated in this strip of land, none
offered as much resistance to Anglo settlements in this locality
as in other parts of the state. Occasionally, parties of Utes
would venture from their mountain lands into the region, but the
land was generally viewed as a buffer zone between that Great
Basin tribe and the Plains groups of Cheyenne and Arapaho. Anglos
had been traveling through the area in limited numbers for years,
and their presence had little influence on the lifestyle of the
natives.
Watrous reported that the Cache la Poudre Valley was a
favorite hunting area for the Arapaho, with beaver, buffalo,
bear, deer, and antelope in plentiful supply. Their preferred
camping ground during these hunting trips was along both sides of
the river near present-day Laporte. These Native Americans
allowed trappers and early settlers to enter the region without
opposition and Watrous stated that he could find no record of
"serious depredations or cruel atrocities" committed by
that group upon the later entrants into the valley. As a boy,
Friday, the chief of the group which utilized the valley, had
been rescued while lost by mountain man Thomas Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick thereafter took care of Friday and sent him to school
in St. Louis. Although he later returned to his family, Friday
was known as a great friend of settlers in the area and was
called "the Arapaho American" by Rufus Sage.
As gold seekers and immigrants moved westward in increasing
numbers, the Indian tribes of northern Colorado found their
traditional way of life disintegrating. New trails and settlers
disrupted the Indians' territorial grounds, buffalo and other
wildlife were killed or driven away, and new towns were
established on land that, even by treaty, belonged to Native
Americans. Beginning in the 1840s, tension increased as thousands
of travelers passed through native lands along emigrant trails.
After the end of the Mexican War, the United States sought to
protect the routes to Oregon, California, and Santa Fe, at the
same time restricting Indians to particular areas. In 1851, the
Treaty of Fort Laramie followed this intent by attempting to
guarantee undisturbed travel along the Oregon trail for
emigrants. At the same time, the treaty confirmed the ownership
of the Arapaho and Cheyenne to the plains between the Arkansas
River and the North Platte River. In addition, annual provisions
were to be provided the northern tribes at Fort Laramie.
By 1857, further problems arose along the trails, as emigrants
were threatened by both natives and outlaws. In that year, an
Army expedition was sent into the South Platte Valley to stop
hostile actions against the travelers. A clash on the Solomon
River in Kansas led to the defeat of the Cheyenne and cessation
of these attacks for a time.
The 1860s were a time of great conflict between Colorado's
Anglo and Native American populations, particularly on the
plains. While the trappers and hunters had co-existed with the
Native Americans, the prevailing sentiment of the new settlers
was one of manifest destiny, that the Indians were doomed to
vanish before the march of civilization. The Treaty of Fort Wise
(1861), which offered the Arapaho and Cheyenne a reservation in
eastern Colorado, was followed by numerous clashes between
American Indians and the military.
By 1864, attacks had increased along the trails to the extent
that Denver and the mining camps were threatened with being cut
off from the rest of the country. Settlers in Larimer County were
tense from reports of Indian attacks in other areas. In addition
the French Canadians living in the vicinity of Laporte reportedly
rode through the valley spreading false alarms about Indian
threats to relieve their boredom. To calm the settlers' fears and
deal with the hostility, Governor John Evans supplemented
Colorado's militia with volunteers for short periods of service.
At the same time, Evans requested that all Indians who considered
themselves "friendly" go to established military posts.
Chief Friday and his followers went to Fort Collins at this time,
as did a group of Cheyenne led by Spotted Tail.
The Colorado volunteers, under the command of John Chivington,
attacked a group of Cheyenne and Arapaho at Sand Creek on 29
November 1864. This battle, in which Chivington's soldiers
committed numerous atrocities, angered the Cheyenne and Arapaho,
who then allied themselves with the Sioux. Parties of these
tribes attacked military posts and settlements in the region. In
the Fort Collins vicinity, settlers and Indians had always
maintained amicable relations, and some Arapahos found work on
local ranches. As conflict elsewhere continued during the spring
of 1865, trails closed and Colorado was in a state of emergency.
The normally friendly relationship between the two groups in
Larimer county was tested.
In 1867, two treaties were signed at Medicine Lodge Creek to
attempt to establish peace. Under these agreements, the Cheyenne
were given a reservation in Oklahoma, but retained the right to
hunt in unsettled lands. The Arapaho were sent to the Wind River
Reservation in Wyoming. These treaties were not solutions, as
many of the Indians refused to stay on reservations. The battle
of Summit Springs, in 1869, was the last conflict with the Plains
Indians in Colorado. The Great Ute treaty of 1868 had already
deprived the Utes of the central Rockies. Chief Friday and his
group moved to the Wind River Reservation in 1869.
Settlement During the Early 1860s
By the 1860s, approximately one hundred settlers had already
established themselves in the Cache la Poudre Valley. Many of the
settlers had passed through the area in a rush to the gold fields
and returned to it as a site of rich agricultural promise. Anglo
settlers, eager to own lands in the valley, were quick to claim
the lands supposedly relinquished by American Indians in 1861.
Watrous reported that, by the end of that year, nearly all of the
bottom lands along the river from Laporte to Greeley had been
claimed. The first settlers took up choice lands along the river
and cut hay to sell in the mining camps. Included among the early
claimants were some who obtained land for the purpose of making a
profit by selling to other settlers and moving on.
Among the new residents was George Robert Strauss, a native of
South Carolina. Strauss had driven an ox team from Kansas to Utah
in 1858, noting the beauty of the Cache la Poudre Valley. In
1860, Strauss returned to establish a homestead in the valley,
where he initially supported himself by hunting to provide meat
for the Denver market and by raising vegetables to sell to
emigrants. Sometime after the flood in 1864, Strauss built a log
cabin which is still standing (See Figure 2). When Strauss moved
to the valley, there were only four cabins in the area, aside
from the small settlement at Laporte.
In 1862, the John G. Coy family arrived in Larimer County.
John Coy was born in New York of English parents and had traveled
to California in 1852 to mine and ranch. Returning for his
family, Coy left Missouri with an ox team heading for California.
Along the way, the Coys met the Ames family, who persuaded them
to spend the winter in the Cache la Poudre Valley. The Coys first
stayed in the cabin of another family and shortly thereafter
moved into their own small log cabin. When they obtained a
homestead, they moved the cabin onto their land.
Another early settler was James B. Arthur, an Irish immigrant
who crossed the plains by ox team in 1860 to placer at Gregory
Gulch. Arthur quickly surmised that selling hay to the mining
camps was a surer path to profit than prospecting. Arthur
established a claim on the Cache la Poudre and began farming and
stock raising. He obtained his first herd of cattle in Missouri
and trailed them across the plains. Arthur developed a large
cattle ranch from which he made a substantial fortune. He built
what Watrous described as a "strong log house." Arthur
sold his entire cattle holdings in 1883, foreseeing that the open
range days were doomed and thereby avoiding the major losses
sustained by cattlemen later in the decade. Arthur was destined
to become one of Fort Collins most prominent residents, and he
became involved in irrigation projects, real estate investments,
and banking. He served as Fort Collins city council member,
mayor, and state senator.
The new settlers brought with them a desire for organized
government and, in the fall of 1860, a claim club was established
with rules and regulations for residents in the Cache la Poudre
and Big Thompson valleys. In 1861, Congress responded to the
desire for organization by establishing the Colorado Territory.
The first Territorial Legislature of Colorado created Larimer
County (named in honor of the founder of Denver, William Larimer)
by an Act approved 1 November 1861. The Act designated Laporte as
the county seat of Larimer County, as it was then the oldest and
most developed community in the county. In 1860, the Laporte
Townsite Company had filed a squatter's claim to 1,280 acres of
land laid out in blocks and lots. During 1862, the first post
office in the county was established at Laporte.
As settlement moved westward, the mail service followed it.
Regular mail service between New York and San Francisco had been
established in 1848. In 1850, the service was extended to Salt
Lake City. In 1861, Ben Holladay purchased from Russell, Majors
and Waddell a stage service which ran from Kansas to Cherry
Creek. During 1862, as continuing American Indian hostility was
directed at the stage route and Denver increased in regional
importance, Ben Holladay shifted his Overland Mail and Express
Company route from the route along the North Platte in Wyoming to
a less threatened South Platte route in Colorado. Although the
exact path changed frequently, the route north from Denver
followed a portion of the old Cherokee Trail and ran west of the
future site of Fort Collins until the fort there was established.
Laporte was named the headquarters of the Mountain Division of
the trail and over a dozen stations were located in Larimer
County. In redirecting the stage route through Larimer County,
further attention was focused on the area and succeeding years
saw increased settlement in the Cache la Poudre Valley.
During the early 1860s the Army, in an effort to protect the
emigrant and stage trails, established a line of forts along the
South Platte. As Laporte was the headquarters of the Mountain
Division of the Overland stage company and a significant trading
center occupying a position at the junction of the mail line from
Denver and the Overland mail route, it became the center of early
military activities. In July 1862, Company B of the 9th Kansas
Volunteer Cavalry established a camp at Laporte to guard the
Mountain Division of the Overland Stage Trail against the actions
of unhappy Native Americans and also Anglo robbers who had been
plaguing the line. Pioneer settlers reported that the Overland
Stage Company's employees were also a source of annoyance, as
"they were a drunken, carousing set...absolutely careless of
the rights and feelings of the settlers." The troops were
also sent to protect emigrant trains and local settlers. A
military camp was established southwest of Laporte on a lowland
along the Cache la Poudre on the Antoine Janis claim. The Kansas
regiment was replaced by soldiers from Company B of the 1st
Colorado Volunteer Cavalry in October 1862. The men built log
cabins, set up tents, and erected stables.
In the spring of 1864, Lieutenant Colonel W.O. Collins,
commander at Fort Laramie, sent two companies from the 11th Ohio
Volunteer Cavalry under the command of Captain William H. Evans
to staff the post. At this time, the location was designated Camp
Collins in honor of the popular Colonel Collins. Collins was a
lawyer from Ohio who had raised a regiment of volunteer cavalry
at the beginning of the Civil War. Rather than being sent into
the war, the regiment was ordered to protect settlers on the
western frontier and it reached Fort Laramie in June 1862. After
arriving in Colorado, the new detachment patrolled the stage
route and escorted coaches and emigrant parties from Laporte to
Virginia Dale. The soldiers occupied the cabins and tents
previously erected.
Shortly after the Ohio troops arrived, a spring flood in June
1864 carried away the equipment and inundated the living quarters
of the soldiers. Watrous reported that the flood submerged the
camp grounds and only the roofs of the log cabins were visible
above the water. Colonel Collins quickly instructed Captain Evans
to search for a new location for the camp which would not be
threatened by future floods. Evans directed Lieutenant James W.
Hanna and a party of soldiers to locate a better site for the
camp.
During his search, Lieutenant Hanna encountered local resident
Joseph Mason, who suggested land near his own claim in Township 7
North, Range 69 West for the post site. Mason was a
French-Canadian settler, who had come to the area after trying
his hand at mining. He had purchased his claim, located opposite
that of Rock Bush, from the Indian wife of a man who had been
killed. Mason noted the property's location near the river, on
high ground with good drainage and an excellent view of the
surrounding countryside. Colonel Collins concluded that the
location had "superior advantages in the way of wood, water,
and grass without the danger of overflow" and that a
military reservation could be established without interfering
with the claims of private citizens. Collins further noted that
the Arapahos in the area appeared to be friendly, but that local
settlers had been frightened by other Indians and wanted to move
to the fort.
On 20 August 1864, Collins issued an order appropriating the
property for the military and directing the reestablishment of
Camp Collins on that site, the future location of the city of
Fort Collins. Collins delineated an area containing 6,169 acres,
adjacent to Joseph Mason's claim (See Figure 3). Collins
instructed the detachment to build quarters for two companies and
officers, a temporary hospital, corrals, stables, and other
necessary buildings, with a large parade ground. On 14 November
1864, President Lincoln approved the setting aside of the
military reservation. The new post was occupied in October 1864
and was known as Fort Collins. Buildings on the post included
company quarters, a kitchen, a guardhouse, company stables, a
hospital, an orderly room, officers' quarters, laundresses'
quarters, and a sutler's store.
Civilian Enterprises
To supply goods and services to the troops, a few civilians
were allowed to live on the military grounds. Joseph Mason, who
had been instrumental in the location of the site, was rewarded
with the position of post sutler, along with Henry Chamberlin.
The sutler was given a virtual monopoly on providing for the
soldiers' needs, including supplying horses and selling liquor.
The sutlers built a log structure at the site of present day
Linden and Jefferson Streets in 1864. Mason and Chamberlin's
establishment was the first mercantile building in Fort Collins
and was used by both the soldiers and local settlers to obtain
supplies, thereby increasing their accessibility to trade goods.
In 1865, Chamberlin sold his interest in the mercantile to
Asaph Allen and the firm of Mason & Allen built a new store,
known to local residents as "Old Grout." The building
received its name from its building material, which was a mixture
of lime or cement, sand, gravel, and small stones. Old Grout
(demolished) was a one-and-a-half story front gable roofed
building designed by Harris Stratton. Stratton, a Massachusetts
native and former member of the Kansas Territorial Legislature,
had come to Fort Collins in 1865 and later represented Larimer
County in the territorial legislature. The building's design was
appropriate for the fort, employing the same gabled roof,
symmetrical facade, and balcony as other buildings there. The
upper floor of Old Grout, which was reached via outside stairs,
was used as a public meeting hall, where church services, plays,
lectures, and dances were held. The first floor was used for the
mercantile business, having a large shop, a storeroom, a
warehouse, and living rooms toward the rear.
Another civilian enterprise on the fort was the mess house
built for the accommodation of officers and run by Lewis and
Elizabeth Stone. The Stones had owned and operated a hotel in
Minnesota and traveled with an ox team to Denver, where they met
Dr. Timothy Smith, the fort's doctor. Smith asked the Stones to
move to the fort to operate the officers' boarding house.
Elizabeth Stone prepared much appreciated meals for the soldiers
and they fondly called her "Auntie" (See Figure 4), a
nickname by which she is widely referred to today.
Auntie Stone was born in 1801 in Hartford, Connecticut, and
had been married to Ezekiel Robbins, a physician. The Robbins
family established a store, R. H. Robbins and Sons, in St. Louis
during the fur trade era. Moving to Illinois in 1840, Ezekiel
Robbins became a state representative. He died in 1852, leaving
Elizabeth a substantial fortune and several small children. She
raised her family, and at the age of fifty-five met and married
Lewis Stone. When Lewis Stone died in 1866, Elizabeth decided to
stay on and continue operating the boarding house at Fort
Collins. In 1866, her niece, Elizabeth Keays brought her son to
the post and started a school in one of the rooms of Auntie
Stone's cabin, thus establishing the first school in Fort
Collins. Auntie Stone was instrumental in the development of the
town of Fort Collins, becoming associated with several
significant business enterprises.
The growing settlement and development of the area around the
fort was recognized by the federal government, which completed
land surveys in certain portions of the county by 1864. In that
year, Deputy Surveyor William Ashley reported that Township 7
North, Range 69 West had a quantity of good farming land,
especially along the Cache la Poudre River. In addition, Ashley
noted that the town of Laporte was well established to the north
and suggested that land surrounding it should be subdivided. In
the same year, Hiram Witter surveyed portions of the township and
declared that the land along the Cache la Poudre was first rate
farming land and was already occupied by settlers. Witter also
stated that the bluffs held first rate pasture land and he had
seen some good meadow land in the vicinity.
Property Types
Context
The Colorado Gold Rush, Early Settlement and the Creation of
Fort Collins, 1844-1864. This context begins with the 1844 land
claim of Antoine Janis and ends with the establishment of the
military post, Fort Collins, in 1864.
Property Types
Property types associated with early settlement could include
cabins and houses; farms and associated structures such as barns,
sheds, silos, other outbuildings, fences, corrals, roads, and
ditches; and stage routes and stations, along with associated
structures. Property types associated with the military post
could include such features as the site of the fort and the one
extant building from the post, the officers' mess house known
today the Auntie Stone cabin. Property types associated with
Native American groups could include features such as camp sites,
hunting and burial grounds, and trails.
Log Cabins/Houses. Pioneer settlers began life in the
vicinity of Fort Collins with simple structures which could be
quickly erected with a minimum amount of labor and materials. The
earliest cabins and houses were built of logs hauled from the
nearby mountains to the construction site. Foundations were of
stone or dirt. The earliest buildings were of simple design and
small size. In the most primitive structures, logs were left
round and untrimmed. Generally, logs were flattened on two sides
for ease of construction. A variety of log joints or notches were
utilized, according to the builder's preferences, including full
or half-dovetail notches, V notch, square notch, and saddle
notch. Sod or hand-hewn wood shakes were commonly utilized for
roofing material and chimneys were generally built of logs and
mud or local stone. Manufactured materials, such as window glass,
nails, and milled lumber had to be brought from Denver and were
not readily available to earliest settlers. Windows could be
added after the building was constructed and were generally of
small panes of glass which was more easily transportable. Log
cabins were expanded through additions as needed and few one-room
cabins are extant.
The cabin which Antoine Janis built in 1859 is still standing
and may represent the earliest existing dwelling in the county.
The building was moved from the Janis homestead site to the Fort
Collins Carnegie Library Museum grounds in Lincoln Park in 1938.
The cabin is representative of the pioneer residential
construction in the vicinity of Fort Collins, and is typical of
the earliest homes in its simple design, use of native materials,
and small size. At the same time, it is likely that the cabin
reflects a number of improvements from the time of Janis's
original construction in 1859. The cabin, constructed of
hand-hewn native logs, has a simple gabled roof with exposed
beams and wood shingle roofing, a center door of vertical
half-logs, and six-light windows.
Farms, Homesteads, and Associated Structures. Watrous
reported that by the early 1860s, approximately one hundred
settlers lived in the Cache la Poudre Valley. Many of the farmers
were soldiers who had been stationed at the fort or former miners
who decided that farming would be a more successful venture. Most
of the settlers established homesteads and supported themselves
through farming, having taken up the choice lands along the
river. The earliest agricultural activity was the cutting of
native hay to sell to the mining camps. Soon, the farmers began
raising vegetables, grains, and livestock. Farming and ranching
were often combined. Early farm buildings were constructed with
materials locally available, including logs, wood obtained from
fledgling sawmills, stone, and grout. For example, Watrous
reported that James B. Arthur built a "strong log
house" during the 1860s.
The log house built by Robert Strauss when he established his
homestead in 1864 is still standing. The one-and-a-half story
cabin, about five and a half miles southeast of downtown Fort
Collins on the Cache la Poudre River, has a steeply pitched, side
gabled roof with wood shingles, a center door flanked by evenly
spaced windows, and vertical siding in the gable ends, as well as
a stone foundation. In later years, gabled wooden and stone
additions were added to the structure.
John G. Coy, who established a homestead near the fort in 1862
built a house of grout, the same material used for the sutler's
store at the post. Grout, a mixture of lime or cement, sand,
gravel, and small stones, was used for several early buildings in
Fort Collins. Although the Coy house has been demolished, the
barn associated with the Coy farm still stands. The barn,
constructed of stone from Masonville and vertical board siding,
has a gabled roof with hay hoods. The interior of the barn was
divided into storage areas for horses, potatoes, grains, and hay.
When the Coy barn was built, it was the largest building in the
area. Still standing are several other agricultural buildings
associated with the Coy farm which were built at various stages
of the farm's long history.
Stage route and stations. In 1862, Ben Holladay moved
his Overland Mail and Express Company route south to what he
considered a safer path in Colorado. The exact route changed
frequently in response to patterns of settlement and safety
concerns. Various routes of the stage have been documented, as in
Petrie's map cited above.
Over a dozen stations are known to have existed in Larimer
County. The Sherwood stage station house is still standing. The
house was originally part of a ranch established by brothers
Jesse M. and Frederick W. Sherwood in December 1860. The brothers
erected a log house and raised horses, hay, and grain. For a few
months during 1864, the house was a swing station for the
Overland Stage Line. Swing stations, where horses but not drivers
were changed, were located approximately twelve miles apart on
the lines. The station on the Sherwood Ranch came into being when
the existing route from Little Thompson to Laporte through Spring
Canyon was abandoned in favor of a line northwest to the Sherwood
Ranch and thence west along the south side of the Cache la Poudre
River to Laporte. The dwelling is a one-and-a-half story, gabled
building with large central chimney, which serves two fireplaces
back to back. The Sherwood house has been altered by the addition
of stucco over lap siding, although the original logs of the core
building are visible inside on the upper story. Several additions
have been made to the original structure, which is very
deteriorated and open to the elements at the present time.
Deteriorated outbuildings are associated with the house.
Fort Site and Buildings. The original camp site
established in July 1862 has been documented, although the
buildings associated with the post were destroyed by a flood in
the spring of 1864 and the site was abandoned. In August 1864, a
new post was established which contained company quarters, a
hospital, a kitchen, a guardhouse, a sutler's store, corrals,
stables, and associated buildings. The logs for the buildings
were cut in the mountains by the soldiers and hauled to the fort
site, where Private Harold F. Elborn, the post carpenter,
supervised the construction. The doors, windows, and hardware for
the buildings were transported from Denver and the sawn wood for
the floors, roofs, and shingles was obtained from Obenchain's saw
mill located northwest of Laporte. At Fort Collins, the officer's
quarters, which were located south of the parade grounds,
included three, one-and-a-half story log buildings with gabled
roofs, brick chimneys, and balconies. Log barracks were
constructed for the enlisted men, and log and dugout stables were
excavated for the horses. The space enclosed by the buildings
became the parade ground, which was located approximately between
what is today's Jefferson Street and the river.
By 1901, the Denver Times was reporting that "one
by one the old buildings that made up the old army fort, which
was the foundation of the beautiful city, are being torn down...a
few more years will remove them all unless some measure is taken
to preserve them." The only building which was saved of the
original post buildings was the Auntie Stone cabin. The Stone
building was a one-and-a-half story log structure with a gabled
roof which was built in 1864 (See Figure 5). The interior of the
cabin was lined with canvas from worn out tents. The building
stands on the grounds of the Fort Collins Carnegie Library
Museum. The cabin was originally built on the south side of
Jefferson and Linden Streets. Unlike many of the early log
buildings which were quickly replaced by brick or milled wood,
the cabin was moved around the city and served a number of
functions before being saved as a landmark. Like the Janis cabin,
it is likely that the Stone cabin underwent a number of
alterations after its initial construction, including the
addition of a porch, fireplace, and plastered interior walls. The
Stones built a lean-to addition on the rear of lumber with a dirt
roof.
Indian camp, hunting, and burial sites. The
semi-nomadic lifestyle of the Native Americans wrought few
changes on the landscape. Alfred A. Edwards, who arrived in
Laporte in 1869 recalled "the Cache la Poudre valley had
always been a favorite spot of the Indians and in the fall of the
year they would congregate there and pass the winters in the
shelter of the adjacent mountains. Just up the river a short
distance, in Pleasant Valley, the dead bodies of former Indian
chiefs, were still to be found, wrapped in skins of wild animals
of the plains and securely tied up in large cottonwood trees
along the river banks." Although written narratives provide
some information about Indian habitation, identification of
associated resources is the provenance of trained archaeologists.
Registration Requirements
Buildings representing the earliest period of settlement are
significant because few examples are extant and all remaining
examples could provide information about early lifestyles and
construction techniques. Only two resources have been designated
from this period. Individual buildings would be eligible under
criterion A, for their association with the historic development
of Fort Collins and their association with historic activities
such as trapping, military functions, or agriculture. These
buildings could also be significant under criterion C, for their
architecture, as representations of the early period of
construction in Larimer County and the embodiment of early
construction techniques utilizing native materials. A few
buildings might also be significant under criterion B, for their
association with persons significant to the history of the city,
if a direct and continued association between the person and the
building could be established. If a building with historic
integrity has been moved from its original location, it could
still be eligible under criteria consideration B if it is
architecturally significant or the only remaining resource
associated with a significant person or event. Buildings which
have been substantially altered, where little original historic
fabric is discernable would not be eligible to the National
Register, although they might be locally significant as markers
of historic events.
Threats to Resources
The Antoine Janis cabin and the Auntie Stone cabin are well
preserved and have been moved to a secure area on the museum
grounds. Other cabins and early dwellings are subject to several
threats, including natural deterioration, inappropriate
renovation and alteration, abandonment, vandalism, and
development pressures. These buildings are found primarily on the
fringes of the city and their isolation makes them difficult to
protect from vandalism. Buildings such as the Sherwood stage stop
and the Coy barn suffer from deterioration, abandonment, and
development pressures. Of the threats to this group of resources,
the most critical seems to be urban development, which threatens
to absorb the land occupied by the historic structures and
natural deterioration which gradually erodes the historic fabric
of the buildings.
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