In View of the Mountains: A History of Fort Morgan, Colorado

by Jennifer Patten

Fort Morgan is a town named for a short-lived military fort (1864-1868), but Fort Morgan's history isn't just military; it is linked with the movement west, with the telegraph and railroads - and with gold. The history of Fort Morgan may never rival that of Denver or glisten with the same gold dust of the mountain mining towns, but this town on the plains was central to the story of the Romantic west; connected to the major events of the age. Everyone has a history and every place is central to a story. What follows is the story from the land - of the land - on which Fort Morgan would rise.

370 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2011

Reviews

[Don Best · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written book about my hometown of Fort Morgan, CO. So yes, I'm biased but not that biased to give it a failing grade if it wasn't well done. Three hundred seventy-nine pages is a lot to write about a small town on the northeast prairies of Colorado. In View of the Mountains is a very appropriate title. I remember as a child growing up the clear mornings and evenings when Longs Peak and even on rare occasions Pikes Peak could be seen on the horizon. So the author's linking of speeders on I-76 hurrying to put the prairies behind them and the gold seekers of the 1850's doing the same but at a much slower pace is very appropriate starting point for the phrase location, location, location. She does an excellent review of the Spanish and French explorations in the 1700's of the South Platte watershed but also devotes some time to reviewing the various tribes of Native Americans who claimed that area as theirs, and not always peacefully. The narrative describes the area on the South Platte being a crossroads whether it be a North-South Indian trail, a place called The Junction on the South Platte trail on the way to the gold fields or a short-lived fort in the 1860's to provide an army presence along the supply route to an isolated Denver after the Sand Creek Massacre of November 29, 1864 provoked already simmering confrontations earlier in the year between the immigrants and Indians into all out war. Known as Camp Wardell in the beginning, and manned by "Galvanized Yankees" ( you'll have to read the book ), the author does a thorough job of illustrating what the camp, later to be called Fort Morgan ( and there is a story behind that as well ) was like. The best I've seen. But there is a reason Fort Morgan is more than just a gas station and a wide spot in the road. Water, more valuable than gold of the eastern plains of Colorado. She outlines the control of water sources by the cattle barons and later harnessing water through systems of irrigation ditches by town founders to create cropland, an economy and a town. The book ends with the turn of the last century with the small prairie town establishing itself as a station stop on two railroads ( very rare anywhere on the western prairies ) with a good foundation to survive the Darwinian elimination of promising small towns on the prairies. Fort Morgan is fortunate to have someone as dedicated as the author in sharing this history in a nicely done, documented narrative. Next time I am back home, and it will always be home for me, I will take this book and explore more closely the Bijou, the Kiowa, the Beaver creeks, Fremont's Orchard area with more understanding. Also, the book was printed by a Fort Morgan printer. Nicely done.