[Illustration: Bugle with decorative letter “I”]
In 1883 Fort Garland was abandoned and the equipment belonging to the
fort was sent to the new Fort Lewis, while the fort lands reverted to
the Trinchera Estate. For many years stock wandered across the parade to
nibble of the grass once trod by drilling soldiers—rats and other small
animals inhabited the barracks and officer’s quarters. Decay and erosion
set to work in earnest in an effort to destroy the old fort. It appeared
that the once proud adobe walls would become a part of the soil again
and that Fort Garland would be only a memory in the minds of a few old
soldiers who had made the garrison their home.
In 1915 W. H. Meyer, a State senator, bought the property and used the
commandant’s house for his home. One of the barracks became a barn. The
Meyer home was altered soon afterwards, a gable roof and additional
windows being added. Fortunately, Meyer was interested in history and in
the fort. He tried to keep the remaining buildings in some kind of
repair and never deliberately changed the appearance of any building to
any extent other than the commandant’s quarters.
Senator Meyer died in 1925 and a group of interested citizens of the San
Luis Valley formed the Fort Garland Historical Fair Association and
purchased the fort, with the idea of preserving what remained and
someday establishing a museum. Over 600 persons in the surrounding area
supported this project. A small museum was begun in the commandant’s
house and once again the fort heard the sound of many voices, and felt
the tread of many feet.
After several years of vain effort to maintain the fort buildings, the
Fort Garland Historical Fair Association decided the job was one that
should be done by a larger institution. In 1945 the fort and its land
were deeded to the State Historical Society of Colorado, for restoration
and development as a State historical monument. For two years Curator
Edgar C. McMechen and his staff at the Denver museum worked and planned
for the restoration of the five remaining buildings at the fort. In 1947
the actual restoration was begun.
[Illustration: Fort Garland, After Restoration by the State.]
[Illustration: Fort Garland, After Restoration]
Mr. McMechen, a meticulous scholar, sought to reconstruct the fort as
nearly as possible to its original appearance. He wished to use every
original stone, every brick, every timber that was sound in the
reconstructed buildings. The first step in the restoration was the
removal of the old roofs which had, for the most part, collapsed or
become unsound. The five buildings under construction were the west
barracks, sometimes referred to as the Infantry barracks, the east, or
Cavalry barracks, and three of the original five officer’s quarters
along the north of the parade. The east barracks had suffered the most
from lack of repair and deterioration. One wall had crumbled and fallen
away and nothing remained of the roof but the cross beams. The buildings
to the south had long since disappeared and while the Society planned to
rebuild these two long structures, it found it impossible to undertake
the task at that time. The two officers’ quarters located immediately to
the right and left of the commandant’s building had also vanished and
were not to be rebuilt.
The reconstruction work on the fort buildings required careful
supervision. The adobe bricks were made as they were made in 1858—the
mud being molded in forms and placed in the sun to bake. After the
adobes were set in place, the walls were plastered inside and out with a
coat of the same adobe material. Mexican women were employed to work the
mud into the crevices and give the walls a smooth surface. This they did
with their hands, alone, just as it has been done in the Southwest
United States for centuries.
Plans for the fort museum called for the following: the commanding
officers’ quarters, where Colonel Kit Carson commanded in 1866-67, to be
restored as nearly as possible as it was when the famous scout resided
there, with deer and antelope heads on the walls and the skins of
animals covering the floor; one of the officer’s quarters to be used for
a resident curator and not to be open to the public; the Cavalry
barracks to be utilized as a period museum, to represent the history of
the San Luis Valley from the days of the Spanish Conquest to pioneer
settlement; the Infantry barracks to contain a typical squad room and
the old soldier’s theatre. The painted backdrop on the wall of the
theatre was still visible prior to restoration and the simple mural was
to be restored. At some later date the two buildings to the south of the
parade, on either side of the port sally, were to be rebuilt and would
include the commandant’s and adjutant’s offices, the guard room,
prisoners’ cells, post blacksmith shop, the post bakery and the post
chapel. These rooms would all be furnished and equipped in the manner of
the fort’s original service buildings.
[Illustration: Ute Indian Village. Diorama in Fort Museum.]
[Illustration: Interior of One of the Reconstructed Fort Buildings.]
The Fort Garland Museum is an attempt to preserve in all its many
aspects, military life at a frontier post in the 1860’s-70’s. The museum
is also a store-house for the history of the southern portion of the
State of Colorado. Many methods have been utilized to depict and present
the colorful and exciting history of this area. In the west barrack,
several dioramas illustrate in miniature scenes of: the Spanish
Conquest, a Ute Indian camp, fur trading, a Mexican village, an Army
escort wagon, a mule pack train and ambulance, and a stage coach
robbery. Glass cases house a large collection of both military and
pioneer materials. Period rooms, using life size manikins dressed in
authentic costumes, will be placed in appropriate room settings, i.e.,
Kit Carson in conference with his aides and Chief Ouray.
In September of 1950 the reconstructed Fort Garland was dedicated with
an impressive ceremony. Dr. James Grafton Rogers, president of the
Society, gave the dedicatory address. Hundreds of persons from the
surrounding area were on hand to see a long time dream of the region
come to fruition.
The State of Colorado is indebted to a great number of people in the San
Luis Valley, in particular, for their aid in bringing Fort Garland into
being as a State monument, but the list would be too long to enter here.
The State Historical Society is especially appreciative of the aid given
and interest show by members of the Fort Garland Historical Fair
Association, the Territorial Daughters and the Regional Committee on
Fort Garland.
Mrs. Rosamund Slack assumed curatorship of Fort Garland in 1950, after
the death of her husband, James Slack, who had been the curator.