Platteville
Colorado
Add an Article
Add an Event
Edit
Town Of Platteville
History of Platteville
Platteville traces its origins to Fort Vasquez, an 1830's fur trading post now restored as a Colorado Historical Society museum on the south side of town. After the Denver Pacific Railroad reached this site on the Platte River, Platteville was founded in 1871.
Located on the South Platte River, Fort Vasquez was an important fur trading center.
Over time the adobe structure fell into ruins and by 1937 only portions of the original walls remained. Works Progress Administration workers reconstructed the fort in the late 1930's and excavations in the 1960s completed the task. Museum exhibits recreate the era of the fur trade, with Native American artifacts and information on topics such as mountain man etiquette. A museum store and visitor information center are also part of the complex.
The present Fort Vasquez is a modern reconstruction of an adobe fur trading post built about 1835 by mountain men Louis Vasquez and Andrew Sublette to take advantage of the Indian trade along the South Platte River. Approximately 100 feet square by 12 feet tall, the fort was reconstructed from small portions of walls from the original.
Inside were living quarters, a barn, storage rooms, and trade rooms. In exchange for Indian buffalo robes, the post carried such items as black silk handkerchiefs, ivory combs, Hudson's Bay blankets, brass kettles, and the inevitable "Taos Lightning." With increasing competition from neighboring forts, Vasquez and Sublette sold their post in 1841, and it was abandoned a year later.
By the 1930s, when the fort was reconstructed as a WPA project, only small portions of the walls remained. Archaeological excavations of the 1960s unearthed artifacts as well as new information about the actual size and plan of the fort--information that was unavailable during the 1930s reconstruction.
First owned by Weld County, Fort Vasquez was deeded to the Colorado Historical Society in 1958. In 1964 the Society completed the Fort Vasquez visitors center, which also contains exhibits on the fur trade period
Platteville traces its origins to Fort Vasquez, an 1830's fur trading post now restored as a Colorado Historical Society museum on the south side of town. After the Denver Pacific Railroad reached this site on the Platte River, Platteville was founded in 1871.
Located on the South Platte River, Fort Vasquez was an important fur trading center.
Over time the adobe structure fell into ruins and by 1937 only portions of the original walls remained. Works Progress Administration workers reconstructed the fort in the late 1930's and excavations in the 1960s completed the task. Museum exhibits recreate the era of the fur trade, with Native American artifacts and information on topics such as mountain man etiquette. A museum store and visitor information center are also part of the complex.
The present Fort Vasquez is a modern reconstruction of an adobe fur trading post built about 1835 by mountain men Louis Vasquez and Andrew Sublette to take advantage of the Indian trade along the South Platte River. Approximately 100 feet square by 12 feet tall, the fort was reconstructed from small portions of walls from the original.
Inside were living quarters, a barn, storage rooms, and trade rooms. In exchange for Indian buffalo robes, the post carried such items as black silk handkerchiefs, ivory combs, Hudson's Bay blankets, brass kettles, and the inevitable "Taos Lightning." With increasing competition from neighboring forts, Vasquez and Sublette sold their post in 1841, and it was abandoned a year later.
By the 1930s, when the fort was reconstructed as a WPA project, only small portions of the walls remained. Archaeological excavations of the 1960s unearthed artifacts as well as new information about the actual size and plan of the fort--information that was unavailable during the 1930s reconstruction.
First owned by Weld County, Fort Vasquez was deeded to the Colorado Historical Society in 1958. In 1964 the Society completed the Fort Vasquez visitors center, which also contains exhibits on the fur trade period