Fort Massachusetts (Colorado) facts for kids
Fort Massachusetts was an old army base built in the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado. It was high up, about 8,000 feet above sea level, near Ute Creek and the big Blanca Peak.
History of Fort Massachusetts
Fort Massachusetts was built in 1852 and used until 1858. It was the very first official army base set up in what would later become Colorado. Back then, this land was actually part of the New Mexico Territory, and not many people lived in the San Luis Valley.
The fort's main jobs were to keep control of the valley and to protect both the new settlers and the Ute Indians from conflicts. It also served as a meeting place for government agents who worked with Native American tribes. Building the fort also showed Mexico that this area was now part of the United States. This was decided by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed five years before the fort was built.
The United States War Department ordered the fort to be built in June 1852. Major George A.H. Blake led the soldiers who built and lived there. The fort was made mostly of wood from the nearby forests. It was shaped like a square and had strong wooden walls all around it. Two groups of soldiers, Company F of the 1st Dragoons and Company H of the 3rd United States Infantry, lived at the fort. In total, 93 men were stationed there.
Besides the soldiers, some of their families also lived at the fort. This included women and children. The wives often worked as laundresses, washing clothes for the soldiers.
Conflicts in the San Luis Valley: 1854-1855
Even with the army base there, some Native American groups continued to raid settlements. Fort Massachusetts itself was never attacked. However, it played a big part in stopping a group of Mohuache Ute and Jicarilla Apache Indians. These groups had attacked Fort Pueblo, near what is now Pueblo, Colorado, on Christmas Day in 1854.
When news of the attack reached Colonel John Garland, the army commander in New Mexico, he asked for help. He requested 500 volunteer soldiers to join the fight. Governor David Meriwether agreed, and the volunteers joined the soldiers at Fort Massachusetts on January 31, 1855. A famous frontiersman and Native American agent named Kit Carson was among them.
On March 18, 1855, army scouts found a group of Native American warriors led by Chief Tierra Blanca. He was believed to be responsible for the attack at Fort Pueblo. Colonel Thomas T. Fauntleroy, who was in charge of the army forces, ordered his men to chase Chief Blanca and his group. The Native American warriors were outnumbered and had to retreat. Colonel Fauntleroy's forces chased them across the San Luis Valley for several days. Most of the warriors were either killed or managed to escape.
After chasing the Native American forces out of the San Luis Valley, Colonel Fauntleroy ordered his men back to Fort Massachusetts. They rested there for three weeks. After their rest, the Colonel divided his forces. Half of them went over the Sangre De Cristo mountains to fight Native American groups on the eastern plains. The other half went north over Poncha Pass. Lieutenant Colonel St. Brain led the forces that went east, with Kit Carson as their guide.
On the night of April 28, 1855, Colonel Fauntleroy's forces found a group of Ute Indians camped near the modern-day town of Salida, Colorado. At daybreak, Colonel Fauntleroy attacked the camp. In a battle that lasted only twenty-five minutes, forty Ute warriors were killed, and many more were wounded. Only two of Fauntleroy's soldiers were wounded.
After these defeats in both the San Luis Valley and the eastern plains, the Utes and Apaches were ready for peace. The Ute leaders met with Governor Meriwether near Abiquiu, New Mexico, on September 10, 1855. They made a treaty where the Utes gave up all their land in the San Luis Valley. They kept a 1,000-square-mile reservation west of the Rio Grande River and north of La Jara Creek. The Utes also asked for $66,000, which was granted.
The Apache leaders met with Governor Meriwether two days later, on September 12, 1855. They made a similar treaty. The Apaches gave up most of their land but kept a 60,000-acre reservation. They also asked for a $36,000 payment. This ended the large military campaign of 1855. This was the only major conflict that Fort Massachusetts played a role in.
Why Fort Massachusetts Was Moved
Even before the fort was involved in the conflicts with the Utes and Apaches, people were talking about moving it. Its location was not very good for military strategy. Colonel Joseph K.F. Mansfield, a high-ranking army inspector, visited the fort in 1853. He wrote a report about its problems:
"It is seated at the foot of the White Mountain which is perpetually snowtopped; and on Utah Creek at the mouth of a ravine out of which the creek flows a cool limpid stream. There is an abundance of wood and in the summer the grazing is good, but the warm season is short, and it is doubtful if corn will ripen here. The nearest settlement is 30 miles to the southward on the Coulubre (Culebra) River where there are about 25 families engaged in the planting of corn and wheat. The design of this post was to keep the Utah Indians in check and it is calculated for Dragoons and Infantry. The buildings are good and suitable as well as abundant. They are, however, placed too near the spur of the mountain for good defense against an enterprising enemy. All supplies for this post come from the settlements at the south as far as Taos Valley, and Fort Union, which may be called 165 miles distant. In winter the snow falls here to the depth of four feet….My impression are that this post would have been better located on the Culebra River, the most norther settlement in New Mexico, where access could be had to the Troops by the population of the Valley, without the hazard of being cut off by the Indians. The home of the Utah Indians is here, and particularly in the west of the Rio Grande del Norte. A post is therefore necessary in this quarter, and this Valley may before long be a good route of communication with the States in the summer season, and it probably is the best route of communicating between New Mexico and the Great Salt Lake and Northern California."
The fort was in a bad spot not just for the army, but also for protecting the settlers. It would often get buried in snow during winter. Also, it was too close to Ute Creek, which meant the area often turned into a swamp when the weather was warmer. The fort was originally placed there because army scouts thought it was a good hunting ground for Native Americans. At first, the site was also along a path settlers often used to enter the valley. However, by the time the fort was built, settlers had found easier trails into the valley.
In 1856, work began on a new fort located six miles south of Fort Massachusetts. The new fort had twenty-two one-story buildings made of adobe, a type of sun-dried mud brick. This new fort was finished in 1858 and was named Fort Garland to honor Colonel John Garland.
Fort Massachusetts no longer stands today. It is located on private land, so it is not open to the public. However, the Fort Garland Museum in Fort Garland, Colorado has a detailed model of Fort Massachusetts on display.
