# Fort Vasquez

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United States historic place

Fort Vasquez U.S. National Register of Historic Places Colorado State Register of Historic Properties Show map of Colorado Show map of the United States Location Platteville, Colorado Coordinates 40°11′40″N 104°49′13″W / 40.19444°N 104.82028°W / 40.19444; -104.82028 Area 1 acre (0.40 ha) Built 1835 Architect Works Progress Administration (reconstruction) Architectural style adobe fort NRHP reference No. 70000169[1] CSRHP No. 5WL.568[2] Added to NRHP September 30, 1970

**Fort Vasquez** is a former [fur trading](/source/Fur_trade) post 35 miles (56 km) northeast of [Denver](/source/Denver), [Colorado](/source/Colorado), United States, founded by [Louis Vasquez](/source/Louis_Vasquez) and [Andrew Sublette](/source/Andrew_Sublette) in 1835.[3] Restored by the [Works Progress Administration](/source/Works_Progress_Administration) in the 1930s, it now lies in a rather incongruous position as [U.S. Route 85](/source/U.S._Route_85) splits to run either side of the building. [History Colorado](/source/History_Colorado) (then the Colorado Historical Society) took possession of the property in 1958 and runs it as a museum to display exhibits of the fur-trade era.

## History

After building a temporary trading post called Fort Convenience on the [South Platte River](/source/South_Platte_River) and [Clear Creek](/source/Clear_Creek_(Colorado)) in 1834,[4] Vasquez established Fort Vacquez with Sublette. The present day Fort Vasquez located on Highway 85, next to [Platteville, Colorado](/source/Platteville%2C_Colorado) is a reconstruction of the adobe trading post established by the trappers Louis Vasquez and Andrew Sublette. They built the fort in 1835 after obtaining a trading license in St. Louis, Missouri, from [William Clark](/source/William_Clark_(explorer)), the Superintendent of Indian Affairs.[5]

They traded with other furriers, trappers, mountain men, and Native American tribes (including the [Arapaho](/source/Arapaho) and [Cheyenne](/source/Cheyenne)), amidst competition with other trading posts. Unable to turn a profit, they sold Fort Vasquez to Lock and Randolph in 1840 who subsequently went bankrupt and abandoned the structures in 1842. Due to the bankruptcy, Vasquez and Sublette could not collect the sum owed to them for the sale.[5] The Census of 1880 lists several residents of Vasquez Fork, and it appears to be a mining community. One resident was Othello Reed Ostrander, born 1843 in New York. The census taker lists him as being in Vasquez Fork AND living in Georgetown with his wife and two young sons. He was listed twice. His wife was Isabelle Irene and sons were Arthur and Albert.

The fort was almost demolished during the construction of [US Route 85](/source/U.S._Route_85). It was saved, in part, due to the efforts of local resident Fern Miller, who would later become Superintendent of the Denver Mint.

## See also

- [Geography portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Geography)
- [History portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:History)
- [United States portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:United_States)
- [Colorado portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Colorado)

- [Bibliography of Colorado](/source/Bibliography_of_Colorado)

- [Geography of Colorado](/source/Geography_of_Colorado)

- [History of Colorado](/source/History_of_Colorado)

- [Index of Colorado-related articles](/source/Index_of_Colorado-related_articles)

- [List of Colorado-related lists](/source/List_of_Colorado-related_lists) - [List of forts in Colorado](/source/List_of_forts_in_Colorado)

- [Outline of Colorado](/source/Outline_of_Colorado)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-nris_1-0)** ["National Register Information System"](https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP). *[National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places)*. [National Park Service](/source/National_Park_Service). July 9, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Weld County: Platteville"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130713041513/http://www.historycolorado.org/archaeologists/weld-county#platte). *National and State Register Listed Properties*. History Colorado. Archived from [the original](http://www.historycolorado.org/archaeologists/weld-county#platte) on July 13, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["History of the Fort"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130827031217/http://www.historycolorado.org/museums/history-fort). *Museums: Fort Vasquez Museum*. History Colorado. Archived from [the original](http://www.historycolorado.org/museums/history-fort) on August 27, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Gallagher_PT8_4-0)** Jolie Anderson Gallagher (April 2, 2013). [*Colorado Forts: Historic Outposts on the Wild Frontier*](https://books.google.com/books?id=uqJ2CQAAQBAJ&pg=PT8). Arcadia Publishing Incorporated. p. PT8. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-61423-903-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-61423-903-1).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Malachite_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Malachite_5-1) ["Louis Vasquez"](http://www.mman.us/vasquezlouis.htm). *Mountain Men and Life in the Rocky Mountain West*. Littleton, CO: Malachite's Big Hole, Michael Schaubs. Retrieved July 5, 2013.

## Other sources

- Lecompte, Janet (1978). [*Pueblo, Hardscrabble, Greenhorn: Society on the High Plains, 1832–1856*](https://archive.org/details/pueblohardscrabb00jane). Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8061-1723-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8061-1723-0).

- Noel, Thomas J.; Faulkner, Debra B. (2006). *Colorado: An Illustrated History of the Highest State*. Sun Valley, California: American Historical Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-892724-52-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-892724-52-6).

- Brotemarkle, Diane (2001). *Old Fort St. Vrain*. Boulder, Colorado: Johnson Printing. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-9712372-0-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-9712372-0-4).

## External links

**Colorado**  at Wikipedia's [sister projects](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikimedia_sister_projects)

- [Media](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Colorado) from Commons
- [Quotations](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Colorado) from Wikiquote
- [Travel information](https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Colorado) from Wikivoyage

- [Fort Vasquez Museum](https://www.historycolorado.org/fort-vasquez) History Colorado

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fort Vasquez](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Vasquez) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Vasquez?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.