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History of Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
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Fort Collins, Larimer, CO
Fort Collins was founded as a military outpost of the United States Army in 1864. It succeeded a previous encampment, known as Camp Collins, on the Cache La Poudre River, near what is known today as Laporte. Camp Collins was erected during the Indian wars of the mid-1860s to protect the Overland mail route that had been recently relocated through the region. Travelers crossing the county on the Overland Trail would camp there, but a flood destroyed the camp in June 1864. Afterward, the commander of the fort wrote to the commandant of Fort Laramie in southeast Wyoming, Colonel William O. Collins, suggesting that a site several miles farther down the river would make a good location for the fort. The post was manned originally by two companies of the 11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry and never had walls.
Settlers began arriving in the vicinity of the fort nearly immediately. The fort was decommissioned in 1867. The original fort site is now adjacent to the present historic "Old Town" portion of the city. The first school and church opened in 1866, and the town was platted in 1867. The civilian population of Fort Collins, led by local businessman Joseph Mason, led an effort to relocate the county seat to Fort Collins from LaPorte, and they were successful in 1868.
The city's first population boom came in 1872, with the establishment of an agricultural colony.
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Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
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Y.M.C.A. Building
Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
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Scene on the Campus showing Western Section, Colorado State College of Agriculture, Fort Collins, Colorado
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1895 - Fort Collins
Fort Col'lins, a post-village, capital of Larimer co., Col., on Cache la Poudre Creek, in a fertile valley, and 'm the Colorado Central Railroad, about 4 miles from the Rocky Mountains, and 82 miles by rail N. of Denver. It has 5 churches, a graded school, 2 banks, 2 newspaper offices, 4 hotels, and 2 flouring-mills. The Agricultural College of Colorado is located here. Pop. in 1890, 2011.
Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World Containing Notices of Over One Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Places ... Joseph Thomas January 1, 1895 J.B. Lippincott
1895 - FIVE WERE DROWNED. SAD ACCIDENT NEAR FORT COLLINS.
A Party of Young People Lose Their Lives While Fishing by the Capsizing of a Boat - Father and One Child Escaped.
Denver, May 6. - A special to Fort Collins to the Republican gives details of a very sad tragedy at Lewis Lake, near that town, yesterday afternoon.
The lake is six miles southeast of town, and the family of H. C. CARSRUDE reside on a farm near the lake. MR. CARSRUDE, his three daughters and his son, ROBERT CRAIG of Fort Collins and RAY BADGER of No. 3024 Humboldt street, Denver, decided to go fishing. There is a boat on the lake, a leaky old craft, but the seven persons decided it would be safe to get into the boat and paddle about near the shore.
As soon as they pushed off from the shore the boat began to fill with water from the leaks in the bottom, and the people in the boat became thoroughly frightened and confused. In his excitement RAY BADGER made an attempt to secure an oar and in doing so overturned the boat. Immediately the entire party was struggling in ... Read MORE...
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1911 - Two Women Killed In Accident to an Auto
Fort Collins, Col., July 8. - Mrs. R.M. Booraem, wife of superintendent of the great Western Sugar Company and her sister Mrs. W.B. Manning of Baltimore, Md., were killed last night when their automobile skidded and overturned into an irrigation ditch. Both women were pinioned on the water and drowned.
M.H. Fehnel, superintendent of the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company at Sugar City, Idaho, who was riding in the rear seat, was thrown clear of the machine as it overturned and struck on a rock across the ditch and one of his shoulders was disabled.
The party was returning to Fort Collins from a trip through the beet growing district, with Mrs. Booraem driving. Going at thirty miles an hour, the automobile struck mud and skidded, Mrs. Booraem endeavoring to regain control, without slackening speed it struck the bank and overturned into the water.
The Evening News
San Jose, California
July 8, 1911
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1916
Fort Collins, a banking city, capital of Larimer co., Colo., on Cache la Poudre Creek, in a fertile valley, and on the Colorado and Southern R., about 4 miles from the Rocky Mountains and 74 miles N. of Denver. It is the seat of the Agricultural College of Colorado and of a government experiment station. Pop. in 1890, 2011 ; in 1900, 3054.
Lippincotts New Gazetteer: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World, Containing the Most Recent and Authentic Information Respecting the Countries, Cities, Towns, Resorts, Islands, Rivers, Mountains, Seas, Lakes, Etc., in Every Portion of the Globe, Part 1 Angelo Heilprin Louis Heilprin - January 1, 1916 J.B. Lippincott - Publisher
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1979 - July 30 - A forty-minute hailstorm bombed Fort Collins, CO, with baseball to softball size hail.
Two thousand homes and 2500 automobiles were damaged, and about 25 persons were injured, mainly when hit on the head by the huge stones. A three month old baby died later of injuries.
The Weather Channel
July 30, 1979
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Ancestors Who Were Born or Died in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
We currently have information about ancestors who were born or died in Fort Collins.View Them Now (sorted by year of birth)
Hugh STRACHAN (30 August 1843, Birse, Aberdeenshire, Scotland - 18 January 1922, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA)
Anna SMITH (21 December 1850, Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland - 28 September 1927, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA)
Wallace Everett BROWN (29 June 1853, Adams, Massachusetts, USA - 4 April 1930, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA)
Bessie Louise WHEELER (18 January 1888, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA - 5 January 1957, Bay City, Tillamook, Oregon, USA)
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