Contents

Fort Garland

United States historic place

Fort Garland
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Colorado State Register of Historic Properties
Fort Garland in 1874.
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Location	Fort Garland, Colorado
Coordinates	37°25′26″N 105°25′56″W / 37.42397°N 105.43224°W / 37.42397; -105.43224
Built	1858
NRHP reference No.	70000156[1]
CSRHP No.	5CT.46[2]
Added to NRHP	February 26, 1970

Fort Garland (1858–1883), Colorado, United States, was designed to house two companies of soldiers to protect settlers in the San Luis Valley, then in the Territory of New Mexico. It was named for General John Garland, commander of the Military District of New Mexico.^[3]

History[edit]

Colonel Kit Carson and New Mexico Volunteers were stationed here in 1866 and he successfully negotiated a treaty with the Utes in 1867.^[3]

The Ninth Cavalry (Buffalo Soldiers) was stationed here between 1876 and 1879. In 1876, these troops were called to the La Plata region to prevent conflict between the Utes and white prospectors. The following year, they helped remove white settlers from Ute reservation lands.^[3]

In 1879, United States military units from Fort Garland were called upon by Nathan Meeker, the Indian Agent at the White River Agency. Meeker and others were killed, and family members taken captive by unhappy Utes. The captives were released and the Utes were moved once again, which reduced the need for a fort.

Fort Garland Museum[edit]

The Colorado Historical Society restored the fort and opened the Fort Garland Museum in 1950.^{[citation needed]} Restored and reconstructed buildings include the adobe Commandant's Quarters, where Kit Carson and his wife once lived,^[4] the cavalry barracks with exhibits of Hispanic traditional arts and 19th century transportation artifacts, and officer's quarters. Permanent exhibits focus on Kit Carson and Buffalo Soldiers.^[5] The museum is administered by History Colorado.

Pike's Stockade, the reconstructed stockade site where Zebulon Pike raised the American flag in 1807, is located about 45 miles southwest of the fort.^[6]

See also[edit]

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Costilla County, Colorado

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort Garland (Colorado).

• Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center History Colorado
• Fort Garland Museum Archived 2009-03-03 at the Wayback Machine San Luis Valley Museum Association
• Friends of Fort Garland Museum Archived 2013-05-03 at the Wayback Machine
• Fort Garland, Colorado Sangres.com