Fort Vasquez

Louis Vasquez and Andrew Sublette operated Fort Vasquez as a fur-trading post from 1835 to 1842. Competition and changing trade patterns caused the fort to be abandoned. Afterward, the fort served as a landmark along the South Platte River Trail. It gradually disappeared back into the plains. Interest in the Rocky Mountain fur trade revived in the early twentieth century, leading to a full-scale reconstruction of the fort in the 1930s. The rebuilt fort now serves as one of History Colorado’s regional museums.

Rocky Mountain Fur Trade

The fur trade in North America started with the early colonists in the seventeenth century and spread west. By the 1800s, companies were competing to control the fur trade along the Missouri River and in Oregon. The trade expanded to the plains and the central Rocky Mountains in the 1820s. In 1822 William Ashley and Andrew Henry organized the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. They bought furs from mountain men such as Jim Bridger and Kit Carson.

When Ashley and Henry started the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in St. Louis, they placed an advertisement calling for 100 young men to travel up the Missouri River as trappers and traders. One of the young men who responded was twenty-three-year-old Pierre “Louis” Vasquez (1798–1868). A St. Louis native, Vasquez was the son of a Spanish father and a French-Canadian mother. He spoke English, French, and Spanish. His older brother had served as an interpreter in Zebulon Montgomery Pike’s 1806–7 expedition up the Arkansas River. He returned to tell Louis stories of the mountains on the far side of the plains. Louis Vasquez saw the Rocky Mountain Fur Company advertisement and jumped at the chance to see the mountains for himself.

Louis Vasquez got involved in the fur trade during its legendary years. For a short time, mountain men, Native Americans, traders, and St. Louis agents gathered for an annual trading rendezvous. They met and bartered furs for goods, restocked supplies, drank whiskey, and told stories. By the early 1830s, Vasquez had gained a reputation among the men of the fur trade as “Old Vaskiss.” He was an experienced mountain man trusted with the Rocky Mountain Fur Company’s most difficult and important tasks.

When Vasquez had first come west with the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, he met the five Sublette brothers. The youngest of the brothers, Andrew, entered the fur trade in 1830, when he was twenty-two. Andrew Sublette was a great marksman and he quickly made a name for himself. In 1834 he entered a business partnership with Vasquez. The two seasoned mountain men planned to pursue the trade in buffalo robes with Cheyenne and Arapaho Native Americans along the South Platte River.

Four Forts on the South Platte

In the 1830s, trading posts put an end to the old fur-trading practice of the annual rendezvous. In 1833 Bent, St. Vrain, & Co. built Bent’s Fort on the Arkansas River. This fort became an important trading post on the Santa Fé Trail between Missouri and New Mexico. The trading posts became wholesalers of buffalo hides, buying cleaned and prepared hides from the Cheyenne and Arapaho and selling the hides in St. Louis.

Vasquez and Sublette began their partnership in 1836 and decided to start their own trading post on the South Platte River. Their fort would be about halfway between Fort William (now known as Fort Laramie) on the North Platte River and Bent’s Fort on the Arkansas. Vasquez and Sublette hoped to carve out trading territory previously claimed by Bent, St. Vrain, & Co.

Fort Vasquez was built in 1835 on the east bank of the South Platte. Vasquez and Sublette hired Mexican workers to construct an adobe structure about 100 feet on each side, with walls 2 feet thick. Vasquez served as the bourgeois (or “booshway”) of the fort, responsible for daily operations and the bottom line. The fort had up to twenty-two traders as well as other workers to cook, herd, hunt, and perform repairs.

Fort Vasquez operated without competition for only a few months. Lancaster Lupton established Fort Lupton in 1836, and Peter Sarpy and Henry Fraeb built Fort Jackson in 1837. In addition, the powerful Bent, St. Vrain, & Co. sent Marcellin St. Vrain to gain a foothold in the South Platte trade with Fort St. Vrain. By 1837 there were four trading posts engaged in cutthroat competition on a short stretch of the South Platte.

There was not enough trade to sustain the four competing forts for long. Bent, St. Vrain, & Co. had enough money and power to squash its upstart competitors. In addition, the nature of the trade was changing again as new wagon routes such as the Oregon Trail began to take shape. Bent, St. Vrain, & Co. bought Fort Jackson from its backers in 1838. In 1840 Vasquez and Sublette took only 700 buffalo robes to St. Louis, while Bent, St. Vrain, & Co. hauled 15,000.

Unable to compete, Vasquez and Sublette sold Fort Vasquez to other traders for $800 in 1842. The men who bought it fared poorly in business and lost horse and mule herds to Native Americans. They abandoned the fort without paying for it. Fort Lupton was abandoned in 1844, leaving Fort St. Vrain the only one of the four forts still in operation.

Fort Vasquez had lasted only seven years as a trading post on the South Platte. Vasquez, meanwhile, stayed in the fur trading business. He entered a partnership with Jim Bridger at Fort Bridger, a trading post on the Oregon Trail in southwestern Wyoming, where he stayed until 1855.

The Fort as Way Station

During the Colorado Gold Rush of 1858–59, the four old forts were well-known landmarks on the South Platte River Trail. In 1864 a man named John Paul took over Fort Vasquez and made it into a way station—a place where people could stop for rest and supplies during their journey west. Gradually, settlements began to be built around the fort. The town of Platteville was founded about a mile away in 1871. Over the decades, the site served as a military camp, a school, a post office, and a church. In 1915 William Perdieu and his family purchased the property and made it part of their ranch, called Fort Vasquez Ranch.

Remembrance and Reconstruction

Interest in the four decaying forts on the South Platte revived in the early twentieth century. They shifted from being buildings with a purpose to being historic sites that should be celebrated and preserved. In 1911 the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a monument at the site of Fort St. Vrain. Soon, other monuments followed at Fort Lupton and Fort Vasquez. When LeRoy R. Hafen became state historian in 1924, he published work on the Rocky Mountain fur trade. He helped focus renewed historical and cultural interest on legendary mountain men like Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez, as well as on old trading posts like Fort Vasquez.

The Perdieu family donated the Fort Vasquez site to Weld County in 1934. The Platteville Community Club led an effort to rebuild the fort and make it into a museum. The project got started when the town of Platteville secured more than $2,800 in funding from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a government program established during the Great Depression to give unemployed men jobs. The rebuilt fort was not an exact replica of the original; little archaeological work had been done before the reconstruction began. The workers moved the walls a few yards farther away from US 85 and introduced some architectural elements and structures not found in the original fort. The new Fort Vasquez was dedicated in August 1937, in a ceremony attended by a crowd of 2,000.

Today

A project to widen US Highway 85 in the 1950s endangered Fort Vasquez, but local and historical groups spoke up to save the reconstructed fort. The road was rerouted to run on either side of the fort, isolating it on a large island in the highway median. It shares the space between the two halves of the highway with a weigh station located on the southern tip of the fort’s island.

In 1958 the Colorado Historical Society (now History Colorado) took ownership of Fort Vasquez and turned it into a regional museum. The society conducted archaeological work on the old fort from 1963 to 1970. The excavations revealed the fort’s original location, which was very close to the reconstruction. They also discovered the foundations of numerous rooms, entrances, fireplaces, and other features.

The Fort Vasquez Museum opened in 1964. The museum received a major restoration in 2005. The grounds now include a life-size bison sculpture by local artist Stephen C. LeBlanc as well as a Cheyenne tipi, which would have been a common sight at the fort during its original trading days.

Louis Vasquez and Andrew Sublette operated Fort Vasquez as a fur-trading post from 1835 to 1842. The fort became a landmark on the South Platte River Trail. Competition and changing trade patterns caused the trading post to be abandoned. Interest in the Rocky Mountain fur trade revived in the early 1900s. This led to a full-scale reconstruction of the fort in the 1930s. The rebuilt fort now serves as one of History Colorado’s regional museums.

Rocky Mountain Fur Trade

The fur trade in North America began in the seventeenth century and spread west. By the1800s, companies were competing to control the fur trade along the Missouri River and in Oregon. The trade expanded to the plains in the 1820s.

In 1822 William Ashley and Andrew Henry started the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in St. Louis. They hired 100 young men to travel up the Missouri River as trappers and traders. One of the young men they hired was 23-year-old Louis Vasquez. A St. Louis native, Vasquez was the son of a Spanish father and a French-Canadian mother. He spoke English, French, and Spanish. His older brother had served as an interpreter for Zebulon Montgomery Pike. He told Louis stories of the mountains on the far side of the plains. Louis Vasquez saw the Rocky Mountain Fur Company ad and jumped at the chance to see the mountains for himself.

Vasquez got involved in the fur trade during its legendary years. For a short time, mountain men, Native Americans, traders, and St. Louis agents gathered for an annual trading “rendezvous.” A rendezvous is a planned get-together at a specific time and place. They met and bartered furs for goods, restocked supplies, drank whiskey, and told stories. By the early 1830s, Vasquez had gained a reputation among the men of the fur trade as “Old Vaskiss.” He was an experienced mountain man who was trusted with the Rocky Mountain Fur Company’s most important tasks.

Forts on the South Platte

The rendezvous stopped being held in the 1830s. Instead, furs were brought to trading posts. In 1833 Bent, St. Vrain, & Co. built Bent’s Fort on the Arkansas River. This fort became an important trading post on the Santa Fé Trail between Missouri and New Mexico. The trading posts became wholesalers of buffalo hides, buying cleaned and prepared hides from bands of Cheyenne and Arapaho. They sold the hides in St. Louis.

When Vasquez came west, he met the five Sublette brothers. The youngest, Andrew Sublette, had made a name for himself as a great marksman and. Vasquez and Andrew Sublette decided to start their own trading post on the South Platte River in 1835. They named it Fort Vasquez and planned to trade buffalo robes with Cheyenne and Arapaho Native Americans. Their post was located about halfway between Fort Laramie on the North Platte River and Bent’s Fort on the Arkansas. Vasquez and Sublette hoped to carve out trading territory previously claimed by Bent, St. Vrain, & Co.

Fort Vasquez was built in 1835 on the banks of the South Platte. Vasquez and Sublette hired Mexican workers to construct an adobe structure about 100 feet on each side, with walls that were 2 feet thick. Vasquez served as the bourgeois (or “booshway”) of the fort, responsible for daily operations and the bottom line. The fort housed up to twenty-two traders as well as other workers to cook, herd, hunt, and perform repairs.

Fort Vasquez operated without competition for only a few months. Lancaster Lupton established Fort Lupton farther south along the South Platte in 1836. Peter Sarpy and Henry Fraeb built Fort Jackson in 1837. Finally, the powerful Bent, St. Vrain, & Co. sent Marcellin St. Vrain to the South Platte to build Fort St. Vrain. By 1837 there were four trading posts engaged in cutthroat competition on a short stretch of the South Platte.

There was not enough trade to sustain the four competing forts. Bent, St. Vrain, & Co. had enough money and power to squash its competitors. Bent, St. Vrain, & Co. bought Fort Jackson in 1838. In 1840 Vasquez and Sublette took only 700 buffalo robes to St. Louis, while Bent, St. Vrain, & Co. brought 15,000.

Unable to compete, Vasquez and Sublette sold Fort Vasquez for $800 in 1842. The two men who bought it were poor businessmen and lost horse and mule herds to Native Americans. They deserted the fort without paying for it. Fort Lupton was abandoned in 1844, leaving Fort St. Vrain as the only one of the South Platte forts still in operation. Fort Vasquez had lasted only seven years as a trading post on the South Platte.

Vasquez, meanwhile, stayed in the fur trading business. He entered a partnership with Jim Bridger at Fort Bridger, a trading post on the Oregon Trail in southwestern Wyoming. He stayed there until 1855.

The Fort as Way Station

During the Colorado Gold Rush of 1858–59, the four old forts became landmarks on the South Platte River Trail. In 1864 a man named John Paul took over Fort Vasquez. He started a way station—a place where people could stop for rest and supplies on their journey west. The town of Platteville was started about a mile away in 1871. Over the decades, the old fort was used for other purposes. It was a military camp, a school, a post office, and a church.

In 1915 William Perdieu and his family bought the property. It was part of their ranch that they named the Fort Vasquez Ranch.

Remembrance and Reconstruction

Interest in the four decaying forts on the South Platte revived in the early 1900s. They were seen as historic sites that should be celebrated and preserved. In 1911 a monument was erected at the site of Fort St. Vrain. Soon, other monuments followed at Fort Lupton and Fort Vasquez. LeRoy Hafen became the Colorado state historian in 1924. He published work on the Rocky Mountain fur trade. His work helped focus renewed historical and cultural interest on legendary trappers such as Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez, as well as on old trading posts like Fort Vasquez.

The Perdieu family donated the Fort Vasquez site to Weld County in 1934. The Platteville Community Club led an effort to rebuild the fort. They wanted to make it into a museum. For the museum, the town of Platteville received more than $2,800 from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a government program established during the Great Depression to provide jobs to unemployed men.

The reconstructed fort was not an exact replica of the original. Extensive archaeological work was not done before the reconstruction. The workers built the walls a few yards away from the original walls. They introduced some elements and structures not found in the original fort. The new Fort Vasquez was dedicated in August 1937. A crowd of 2,000 attended the ceremony.

Today

A project to widen US Highway 85 endangered Fort Vasquez in the 1950s, but local and historical groups spoke up to save the reconstructed fort. The road was rerouted to run on either side of the fort, isolating the fort on a large island in the highway median. It shares the space between the two halves of the highway with a weigh station located on the southern tip of the fort’s island.

In 1958 the Colorado Historical Society (now History Colorado) took ownership of Fort Vasquez. It was turned into a regional museum. Archaeologists worked on the old fort from 1963 to 1970. They revealed the fort’s original location, which was very close to the reconstruction. They also discovered the foundations of rooms, entrances, fireplaces, and other features.

The Fort Vasquez Museum opened in 1964. The museum received a major restoration in 2005. The grounds now include a life-size bison sculpture by local artist Stephen C. LeBlanc as well as a Cheyenne tipi, which would have been a common sight at the fort during its original trading days.

Louis Vasquez and Andrew Sublette built Fort Vasquez as a fur-trading post in 1835. The fort was located on the South Platte River Trail. The trading post was open for seven years. By then there was too much competition and the fort was abandoned. It slowly fell down and disappeared into the plains. In the 1930s, people became interested in the history of trading posts, forts, and the fur trade. The fort was rebuilt. It now is one of History Colorado’s museums.

Rocky Mountain Fur Trade

In the1800s, the fur trade was an important business. Mountain men and Native Americans hunted buffalo and trapped other animals. They sold the valuable fur to traders. These traders sold the hides for big profits in the east.

In 1822 the Rocky Mountain Fur Company was started in St. Louis. The company needed young men to work as trappers and traders in the Rocky Mountains. Louis Vasquez was one of the young men who was hired. He was the son of a Spanish father and a French-Canadian mother. He spoke English, French, and Spanish. He wanted to leave St. Louis and travel west. His older brother had gone on an expedition with Zebulon Pike. He had told Louis stories about the Rocky Mountains.

When Vasquez started in the fur trade, mountain men, Native Americans, and traders gathered every year for a “rendezvous.” A rendezvous is a planned get-together at a specific time and place. They met and traded furs for supplies, drank whiskey, and told stories. By the early 1830s, Vasquez was a famous trader. He was trusted with the Rocky Mountain Fur Company’s most important jobs.

Four Forts on the South Platte

The rendezvous ended in the 1830s. Instead, furs were brought to trading posts. In 1833 Bent, St. Vrain, & Co. built Bent’s Fort on the Arkansas River. This fort became an important trading post on the Santa Fé Trail. The trading posts bought buffalo hides and furs and sold them in St. Louis.

When Vasquez came west he met Andrew Sublette. Sublette had four older brothers who were all involved in the fur trade. In 1835 Vasquez and Andrew Sublette went into business together. They started a new trading post on the South Platte River named Fort Vasquez. They planned to trade buffalo robes with Cheyenne and Arapaho Native Americans. The fort was halfway between Fort Laramie on the North Platte River and Bent’s Fort on the Arkansas River.

Mexican workers were hired to build the adobe trading post. Vasquez was the manager of the fort. The fort had around twenty traders who lived and worked there. There were also other workers to cook, herd, hunt, and perform repairs.

Fort Vasquez did not have competition for a few months. Then, Fort Lupton was built in 1836. Fort Jackson opened in 1837. Finally, the powerful Bent, St. Vrain, & Co built Fort St. Vrain. By 1837 there were four trading posts on a short stretch of the South Platte River. The competition was fierce.

There was not enough trade for the four forts. Bent, St. Vrain, & Co. had enough money and power to put the other trading posts out of business. In 1840 Vasquez and Sublette took only 700 buffalo robes to St. Louis. Bent, St. Vrain, & Co. took 15,000.

Bent, St. Vrain, & Co. bought Fort Jackson 1838. Vasquez and Sublette could not stay in business. They had to sell Fort Vasquez in 1842. The men who bought the fort abandoned it without paying for it. Fort Lupton was deserted in 1844. Fort St. Vrain was the only fort still in business.

Fort Vasquez had lasted only seven years as a trading post on the South Platte. Vasquez moved on but stayed in the fur trading business. He became a partner of Jim Bridger at Fort Bridger on the Oregon Trail.

The Fort as Way Station

During the Colorado Gold Rush of 1858–59, the four old forts were landmarks on the South Platte River Trail. In 1864 a man named John Paul took over Fort Vasquez. He used the fort as a “way station.” It was a place where people could stop for rest and supplies. The town of Platteville was started about a mile away in 1871. The old fort was used for other purposes. It was a military camp, a school, a post office, and a church.

In 1915 William Perdieu and his family bought the property. It was part of their ranch, which they named Fort Vasquez Ranch.

Remembrance and Reconstruction

Many years after the fur trade ended, people became interested in the history of the old forts. They were seen as places that should be celebrated and preserved. In 1910s, monuments were placed at Fort St. Vrain, Fort Lupton, and Fort Vasquez. LeRoy Hafen became the Colorado state historian in 1924. He published information about the Rocky Mountain fur trade. Through his work, people learned about legendary people like Louis Vasquez. They also became interested in old trading posts like Fort Vasquez.

The Perdieu family donated the Fort Vasquez site to Weld County in 1934. The community wanted to rebuild the fort and make it into a museum. The town got $2,800 from the “Works Progress Administration” (WPA). This was a government program started during the Great Depression to give jobs to unemployed men. They rebuilt Fort Vasquez. The fort was right next to a busy highway, US Highway 85. The new fort was dedicated in August 1937. A crowd of 2,000 people attended the ceremony.

Today

In the 1950s, US Highway 85 needed to be widened. Fort Vasquez was in the way. People in the community wanted to save the fort. The road was changed to run on both sides of the fort. The fort stayed on a large median in the middle of the highway. It is still located there today.

In 1958 the Colorado Historical Society (now History Colorado) took ownership of Fort Vasquez. The society turned it into a regional museum. Archaeologists worked on the old fort from 1963 to 1970. They found the fort’s exact original location. They also discovered the foundations of rooms, entrances, fireplaces, and other features.

The Fort Vasquez Museum opened in 1964. It is one of the museums run by History Colorado. In addition to the fort, the museum has a life-size bison sculpture and a Cheyenne tipi. The tipi would have been a common sight at the fort during its trading days.