COLORADO MAGAZINE Published Bi-Monthly by the State H Lstorical Society of Colorado

THE COLORADO MAGAZINE Published bi-monthly by The State H lstorical Society of Colorado Vol. XIV Denver, Colo., May, 1937 No. 3 The Spanish Fort in Colorado, 1819 CIIAU:N"CEY TIIOMAS* There is abundant eYidence concerning the fort the Spaniards from Santa Fe built to the northeast of Sangre de Cristo Pass in Colorado in 1819, and of the successful raid the Grand Pawnee Indians of l.Joup Fork (eastern :N"ebraska now) made against the Spaniards at the base of the Rocky :Mountains that same year, but the long wanted link connecting these two events is so far missing. It may yet come to light in the Spanish records in Santa Fe or in Spain, showing that the fight the Pawnees bad, and the fight that no doubt caused the abandoning of the Spanish fort, were the same battle. As things now stand all that is claimed here is a version of the Scotch verdict-" Probable but not proven." Spain, jealous of her colonial empire, was ever alert to ward off foreign invasion. Z. l\L Pike and other Americans had come unbidden to ::\Tew Mexico in the first years of the nineteenth cen tury and the ever-watchful Spaniards had become alarmed. An unidentified foreigner visited :Ne'' Mexico and wrote a report of the resources of the region and of the routes of possible invasion. These notes fell into the hands of Viceroy Venadito, who immediately ordered fortification of the vulnerable points of entry. One of these points was Sangre de Cristo Pass, in present southern Colorado. Don Facundo ~felgares, Governor of :New Mexico, in com pliance with orders received, ''established a fort on the eastern side of this pass some time between 1\fay, 1819, . and October, 1819. " 1 Dr. A. B. Thomas, of the University of Oklahoma, dis covered Spanish documents relating to this fort and published some of them in 1929. Colorado historians then took up the task of locating the site of this fort. Since the Spanish documents 1Yere indefinite as to the exact location of the site of the fort, Dr. J.J. R. Hafen, Historian of the State Historical Society of Colorado, set about to obtain data from other sources. He was familiar with Jacob Fowler's J onrnal which tells of this trader's journey to ::\Te"· Mexico by way of Sangre de *Mr. Thomas, well known Colorado writer, contributed an article, "The Frontier is Gone," to the November, 1936, issue of this magazine.-Ed. 1A. B. Thomas, An Anonymous Description of New Mexico, 1818 (reprint from the Southwestern Historical Q1<a1·terly, XXXIII, 50-70), 20. THE SPANISH FORT IN COLORADO, 1819 83 82 COLORADO MAGAZINE tion of New Mexico, 1818," a statement that may contain informa- Crist~ Pass. Fowl.er tells in his diary on February 3, 1822, of tion of value: . reachmg and campmg by a recently deserted Spanish fort. 2 Five "But when they [Indians] are at war they send parties at miles further travel, he writes, brought him to the summit of the distances of five hundred or six hundred miles to burn a village or pass. A study of maps indicated that the old trail over the pass left the Huerfano River at the site of Badito. In the Walsenburg steal some horses. All these nations fight on horseback with the region Dr. Hafen interviewed pioneers and learned that they had exception of the Pawnees, who always fight on foot and are con sidered as the bravest, and most ferocl.ous, and the most redoubt ~ome knowledge of a structure said to have been built by the Span iards, but when, no one knew. Information was hazy and rumors able of the savages. They live principally on the Missouri. They had linked stories of buried treasure to the site. At various times are so enterprising that often they send from the banks of the Mis during the past twenty-five years persons carrying maps said to souri warriors to the number of two hundred or three hundred have been obtained from Spain or Mexico had dug at the site. to go to pillage the Spaniards as far as the neighborhood of S~ Antonio, the capital of Texas, and return almost always laden In company with Mr. and Mrs. Tim Hudson of Gardner and with booty.' ' 4 Emmet King of Walsenburg, Dr. Hafen visited the site in 1934. Its location on the old trail and its distance from the summit of the pass coincided well with Fowler's account. All that remained of the structure were rows of stones that appeared to mark the outline wall of an enclosure, nearly triangular in form. Scrub oaks had grown up along much of the wall line and a number of holes had been dug by treasure seekers. · The party found no relics. Some little distance above the fort site are what appear to be some graves. These have not been excavated. These ruins are on the edge of a hill which rises about one hundred feet above the little valley through which Oak Creek flows. The site is about twenty-five miles west of Walsenburg. While we have no record as to the abandonment of the Spanish fort we do have data in regard to an attack that took place there. Dr. Thomas writes: "Melgares' letter, dated Oct. 18, [1819] carried the details that five out of a reconnaissance party of six men had been killed near the fort by a band of one hundred men dressed as Indians who next attacked the post itself. The valiant ensign Don Jose Antonio Valenzuela, repulsed the charge with his small force but was unable to make a sally. Commenting on the incident, Melgares SKETCH OF THE RUINS OF SANGRE DE CRISTO FORT stated that though he did not believe the assault to be by the bandits In the spring of 1820 Major Stephen H. Long set out from of General Infante Venjamin O'Fallen [Americans] he had, never the Missouri River on his exploring tour to the Rocky Mountains. theless, sent three hundred paisanos armed to r e-enforce the fort He visited the Pawnee Indians near the Loup Fork ~f the Platte and punish any hostile Indians in the vicinity. " 3 and from them learned of raiding expeditions they had sent the The attacking party has not heretofore been identified. A year before to the Rocky Mountains. recent search of the record of the Major Long expedition to the Rocky Mountains in 1820 seems to offer a plausible connection. Dr. Edwin James, historian of the Long expedition writes thus Before turning to this let us quote from ' 'An Anonymous Descrip- of his visit to the Pawnees: ' " We passed by and saluted the mansions of the chiefs at each . 'Elliot~ Coues (Ed.), The Journal of J acob Fowler, etc., 98. Dr. Coues places th.is campsite at the southern end of the W et Mountains, north of the Huerfano of which an American flag :vas hois~ed , with the exception' only of River. Dr.. A. B. Thomas, op. cit., 18, n ot having heen on the ground, a ccepts Coues' location. But Dr. Hafen points out that this is a n illogical location for one that was passed unnoticed, owmg to its being distinguished a .fort ano, in a,ddition is too far from the summit of the pass to conform to the mileage given m the journal. ' Ibid., 15. 8 Thomas, op cit., 6. 84 COLORADO l\'CAGAZINE DENVER'S PIONEER ACADEMY 85 by a Spanish flag; which, however, was struck as soon as the cause ''Some of the finest horses which we observed, were ornamented of the procedure was understood. with gaudy trappings, and furniture of Spanish manufacture. " 6 ''I passed the night at the lodge of the Metiff chief, and in It was a common occurrence for the Pawnees to raid far afield. the evening was amused by the exhibition of another dancing part;r, On foot, with no baggage, and even no clothing but moccasins and wno concluded by inviting the chief to partake of a feast, to be gee string, armed usually with bow and arrows, the whole weighing given on the following day, for the purpose of dispelling his grief less than ten pounds, hardy young warriors easily made horse for the loss of his brother, in the late contest with the Indians of back time, 40 to 50 miles a day, with the enormous advantage of the Rocky Mountains. almost no trail to betray them. They lived on abundant game, killed '' 'l'his severe battle was fought by ninety-three Pawnee Loup as wanted. The Spaniards and the Pawnees were far from being warriors, against a large body of Ietans, (Utes) Arrapahoes and strangers. Kiawas. In conclusion we may summarize. The Spaniards of Santa Fe ''The party was led by the most distinguished braYe of the erected a fort near Sangre De Cristo Pass in what is today southern village, and half brother of the Metiff chief, but of unmixed blood, Colorado, in 1819 or immediately before. This fort was the scene and a principal supporter of the influence of that chief. The of a battle between the Spaniards and Indians in, or just before, party, who were all on foot, were on their way to capture horses, October, 1819, in which the Spaniards suffered loss, and probably but they were badly armed for a contest, and had but twelve guns a serious defeat. Long, in 1820, foand that the Pawnees had won amongst them. They were proceeding cautiously along in the a notable victory over the Spaniards at the base of the Rocky Moun prairies between the head waters of the Arkansa and the Rio del tains in late 1819.

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