Spirit of the American Southwest - Sanford, CO - Colorado Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

This marker is located at the site of Pike's Stockade, a fort built by Zebulon Pike in 1807 while exploring the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase. The monument has four panels, transcribed below:

Ute

The Ute people are Colorado's longest continuous inhabitants. Loosely divided into bands, the Ute call themselves Nuche, or "The People"; the Spanish called them Yuta. Before the lure of gold brought Spanish soldiers and then American settlers in force, Ute land stretched from the deserts of Utah to the plains of Colorado. Through a series of broken treaties in the 1800s, the Ute saw their land reduced to two small reservations in Colorado and one in Utah.

Spain

The Spanish were the first non-Indians to venture into what is now the American Southwest. Until 1821, when Mexico declared its independence, Spain claimed all land south of the Arkansas River. The Spanish regarded all who ventured into the region (including Zebulon Pike) as trespassers. Hispanos started moving into the San Luis Valley in the 1840s to farm on Mexican land grants. The communities they founded, beginning with San Luis in 1851, are today the oldest continuously inhabited towns in Colorado.

United States

At one time or another Spain, France, Mexico, and the United States—as well as the region's many native inhabitants—have claimed the land that is now Colorado. In 1803, the United States bought Louisiana from Napoleon, but the territory's boundaries remained in dispute. Spain originally considered the Arkansas River its northern international boundary. In 1848, after the U.S.-Mexico War, this land became part of the United States; it later became part of the Kansas Territory, the Jefferson Territory, the Colorado Territory, and, finally, the State of Colorado in 1876.

Spirit of the American Southwest

[portrait of Zebulon Montgomery Pike]

This memorial is dedicated to the multicultural spirit of the American Southwest. Lt. Zebulon M. Pike and his entourage camped here in February 1807, before being captured by Spanish soldiers and escorted to Santa Fe and then Chihuahua. In July of that year, the Spanish released Pike and most of his men in Louisiana.

Colorado Historical Society 2007

Group or Groups Responsible for Placement: Colorado Historical Society County or City: Conejos County Date Dedicated: 2007 Check here for Web link(s) for additional information: Not listed

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