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Historic Sites in Colorado
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Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
William and Charles Bent and Ceran St. Vrain built the original
fort on this site in 1833 to trade with plains Indians and
trappers. The adobe fort quickly became the center of the Bent,
St.Vrain Company's expanding trade empire that included Fort
St.Vrain to the north and Fort Adobe to the south, along with
company stores in Mexico at Taos and Santa Fe. The primary trade
was with the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians for buffalo
robes. For much of its 16-year history, the fort was the only
major permanent white settlement on the Santa Fe Trail between
Missouri and the Mexican settlements. The fort provided
explorers, adventurers, and the U.S. Army a place to get needed
supplies, wagon repairs, livestock, good food, water and
company, rest and protection in this vast "Great American
Desert." During the war with Mexico in 1846, the fort became a
staging area for Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny's "Army of the
west". Disasters and disease caused the fort's abandonment in
1849. Archeological excavations and original sketches, paintings
and diaries were used in the fort's reconstruction in 1976. For
information call: (719)383-5010
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument
The Black Canyon of the Gunnison's unique and spectacular
landscape was formed slowly by the action of water and rock
scouring down through hard Proterozoic crystalline rock. No
other canyon in North America combines the narrow opening, sheer
walls, and startling depths offered by the Black Canyon of the
Gunnison. For information call: (970)641-2337
Colorado National Monument
Established May 24, 1911, and on 20,453.93 acres, Colorado
National Monument consists of geologic features including:
towering red sandstone monoliths, deep, sheer-walled canyons,
and a variety of wildlife (bighorn sheep, golden eagles, mule
deer and mountain lions). For information call: (970)858-36l7
Dinosaur National Monument
This is Echo Park, named by John Wesley Powell in 1869 during
his first scientific expedition into the Colorado Plateau. It is
here that the Yampa River, the last free flowing river in the
Colorado River System, joins the Green River. This is home and
critical habitat for the endangered peregrine falcon, bald
eagle, Colorado pike minnow, and razorback sucker. Indian rock
art in Echo Park testifies to the allure these canyons and
rivers had for prehistoric people. In 1825, William H. Ashley
and his fur trappers were the first Europeans to enter Echo
Park. In 1883, Patrick Lynch, a hermit, was the first to
homestead in this canyon. Dinosaur Quarry Visitor Center
contains exhibits on the Jurassic dinosaurs that lived here,
their ecosystem and the science of paleontology. Ranger talks
are given during summer months and there is a fine book store.
For information call: (970)374-3000
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