Where was the Fort Located at Fort Collins, Colorado?

Where was the fort located at Fort Collins, Colorado?

Ann Smith — Nashville, Tennessee.

Camp Collins was located near Laporte, on the banks of the Cache la Poudre, a few miles northwest of downtown Fort Collins. The U.S. Army established it on June 22, 1862, to protect the Butterfield Overland Mail route and emigrant wagon trains from American Indian attacks.

Two years later, after a flood washed out the camp, Fort Collins was built four miles farther along the Cache la Poudre River. The Army abandoned the post three years later, and the area opened for settlement. Nothing remains of the fort today.

Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official historian and vice president of the Wild West History Association. His latest book is Arizona Outlaws and Lawmen; The History Press, 2015. If you have a question, write: Ask the Marshall, P.O. Box 8008, Cave Creek, AZ 85327 or email him at marshall.trimble@scottsdalecc.edu.