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The Native Americans as we know them arrived well before
around 1300AD . As to recent history the Apache first passed through around
1525 or before. Coronado arrived in Southern Colorado in 1540 bringing
horses with them. These horses were promptly stolen or were given to the
Apaches and others. Written and physical evidence say this took place in
1600-1680. This has been horse country ever since. It also allowed the
Apache, Cheyenne, Arapahoe and others to become the most fearsome horse
cavalry around. In 1720 the first Spanish gold prospectors arrived at the
South Platte River South and East of Ft Collins. Lewis & Clark went by North
of here in Wyoming in 1804 and the Utes were in Estes Park.
In 1835 there was a fort established on the South Platte.
The Oregon trail was used in 1840's North of Ft Collins. Laporte just west
of present day Ft Collins was established in 1858 as the town of Colona.
That brings us to 1864 when Camp Collins was established. It was also the
infamous year of the Sand Creek massacre. Then in 1873 the town of Ft
Collins was incorporated.
Fort Collins was originally established due to
the neighboring town of Laporte's bad luck. Camp Collins the armies fort
in this area was moved from Laporte in 1864 to a site near the present
downtown because the original fort was wiped out in a flood at the old location near
the river in what is now Laporte.Laporte
was a thriving small town with
a post office stage stop and all the look of a growing successful town.
It was even second to Denver by only one vote to become the state
capital. Then the flood hit and the future was instantly changed as Camp
Collins was moved to Fort Collins and then grew and prospered.
Ft Collins as well as the entire area were agricultural based
communities featuring cattle and the sugar beet industry. All of the
towns around Northern Colorado still have their large sugar beet
factories obvious on the horizon. Ft Collins sugar factory remains
but the towers have come down so if you do not know where it is, it is
hard to find as it looks very modern now and houses city offices and
shops. We have a history from as far back as 12,000 years and the Fort
Collins Library has a huge amount of information and photographs.It is broken down into major time
frames and makes for good reading. The history story includes most
everything up until 1941 the beginning of World War II.
After the war the town centered around it's college
then named Colorado A&M and it had about 4000 students. Although CSU did
not at first grow as fast as the larger University down the road in
Boulder (Colorado University) there was a large influx of students after
the war because of the GI Bill.
The big growth started with the arrival of President Morgan in the early
50's. Morgan as a leader was also responsible in changing the
school from an ag based university to a fully rounded world class
facility. It has never lost it's roots however, as it is still a leading
Vet Medicine school, Forestry School and still the leader in
Agricultural Research and agricultural teaching. The University
graduated it's first class under CSU in 1960-61. It had about 6,000
students then and now has close to 25,000 as the town and the university
have grown.
Ft Collins was developing along at a leisurely pace
in the late 50' and early 60's. In a second floor office on the corner
of College & Mountain on of Ft Collins's first major companies was born
with the invention of the Water Pik Oral Hygiene Appliance. This company
founded by a local dentist, with an engineer friend started a company
which is still here today and employs many hundreds of people. Then due
primarily we feel to the Universities influence and the surrounding
environmental advantages Ft Collins really began to grow. In 1969 Kodak
came to Windsor and that was the start of it in a major way. HP was
already in Loveland with a small facility and the US manufacturing
division of Lego was also in Loveland.
In 1975 HP came to Ft Collins and continually
expanded to the campus you see today. As these major US corporations
arrived the small companies and the spin off companies turned Ft Collins
into a regional power house. The first mall was built in the 60's on
College Avenue where the big box mall and Whole Foods are now located.
In the early 70's Foothills Mall was built and became the regional
shopping center for a four state area.
As the area grows the surrounding towns have grown
too and now we are close enough to be one large metro area. Just don't
tell the local governments they are very territorial. The towns of
Loveland which is just to the south has had tremendous growth since 2000
and the smaller towns of Windsor and Timnath are growing in leaps and
bounds. Larimer county is now over 300,00 (2008) and if you throw in
Greeley just to the east and Weld county we have probably reach 500,00.
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