COLORADO ADVENTURE FEBRUARY 2004 (Part 3)

Isn't life grand when you can take a photograph of one of those touristy type signs and it can tell you all you need to know?

If you travel two miles south of Platteville on Highway 85, you'll come across Fort Vasquez. The highway actually splits and runs either side of it. There's also a truck weigh-in point at the same place - built a great many years after the original fort :)












One of the most surprising things I saw when we got there, was that it was so small. The walls, at the highest, are only 12ft tall. Of course, over here in little old England we are fed a diet of John Wayne western classics, where the fort is a big wooden structure with turrets etc. But, I suppose, when you're out in the middle of Colorado in 1837, without your mechanical chainsaw, with Indians a-whoopin' & a-hollerin' all around you, the quickest thing to build is a wattle & daub structure.









It is a very interesting and photogenic place. Even a close-up view of a wattle & daub wall looks a little intriguing. It's hard to believe that something of this size was such an important trading place.

In 1835 fur-traders Louis Vasquez and Andrew Sublett built the fort along the South Platte River for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company with a license to trade with the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians. The fort was stategically located between Fort Larimie, to the north and Bent's Fort to the south, along the Trapper's Trail. When the price and demand for beaver pelts declined the business desolved in 1842 and was sold to the firm Locke and Randolph, who abandoned it in 1842. It was partially rebuilt in 1935 -36, and excavated properly by CSU students over 1968-70.

Naturally, when in Rome - arse about with a digital camera, right? :)

So here I am tied to a post in the centre of the fort. You see, it really isn't such a big place, is it?

 

And Sue got 'caught' in a turret thingy :)

During the week we were out the weather was glorious. Remember this was the second week in February. Back in the UK we were freezing our arses off. Out there in sunny Colorado it didn't rain, or snow all week, (except for a little bit towards the end).The temps were in the upper 60's as far as I can remember, and it seemed even warmer when we went up to...."other places" - Part 4!

So, although the sun shone down quite brightly virtually all week, and I was never without my sunglasses - except in bed....and in the shower! There was always ice & snow not more than a few feet away:













And that was just part of Monday 16th February 2004. We also went to see some of Sue's friends that day as well - but more of that later. Well, I'm glad you're sticking with us on this little adventure. Follow the instructions below to decide what to do next :)