Fort Chambers / Poor Farm Site Planning

Share Your Fort Chambers / Poor Farm Story:

• Share Chief Niwot’s observation on Facebook Share Chief Niwot’s observation on Twitter Share Chief Niwot’s observation on Linkedin Email Chief Niwot’s observation link

  Chief Niwot’s observation

  by Decolonizationisnotametaphor, about 1 year ago

  Chief Niwot is often attributed for placing a “curse” on the Boulder valley. This is a long-standing misinterpretation of his words, which coupled with some exotic sense of “Indian magic” has become something that white people have often attributed to their return to or inability to leave this area. I heard it often as I grew up in Boulder.

  This is the quotation: “People seeing the beauty of this valley will want to stay, and their staying will be the undoing of the beauty.”

  Reportedly, Chief Niwot was saying this to the first prospectors he encountered. The native population had... Continue reading

  Chief Niwot is often attributed for placing a “curse” on the Boulder valley. This is a long-standing misinterpretation of his words, which coupled with some exotic sense of “Indian magic” has become something that white people have often attributed to their return to or inability to leave this area. I heard it often as I grew up in Boulder.

  This is the quotation: “People seeing the beauty of this valley will want to stay, and their staying will be the undoing of the beauty.”

  Reportedly, Chief Niwot was saying this to the first prospectors he encountered. The native population had not destroyed the beauty by staying, so why would Chief Niwot say this to the white folks seeking gold there? Was he jealous? Trying to scare them off? It seems to me that it would make more sense that he had observed a contradiction in the things that the colonizers desired and the way of life they led. I would like to suggest that, rather than relating a curse, Chief Niwot was giving meaningful ethical guidance.
  
  

  Colonizers loved the beauty of this land, it stands out as special and particular, even among the gorgeous surroundings. However, the way of life that the colonizers bring is destructive. It does not respect the intrinsic value of the beings whose interdependence weaves the beauty that attracts the colonizers. The animals, plants, people, and the land itself exist together. By devaluing any part of the intricate web of relationships, treating it as a mere resource to be plundered, something to possess rather than a being in its own right, the colonizer works to destroy the beauty that they claim to love.
  
  Chief Niwot did not curse this land. There is no curse of the Boulder Valley. There is only the inconsistency of our desires, the curse we put into all of our actions when we act for short-term gain without attenuating ourselves to the relationships that we exist inside and as a part of. You are not separate from anything else, you are intersected in millions of ways by your relationships to the world. To neglect these relationships is a disrespect that has real and dire consequences.
  
  

  Hopefully, we can come to see the guidance that Chief Niwot’s words held for us and turn from our short-sighted plundering to instead take actions that will be beneficial to those living seven generations from now.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
• Share Another name for the residence/farm on Facebook Share Another name for the residence/farm on Twitter Share Another name for the residence/farm on Linkedin Email Another name for the residence/farm link

  Another name for the residence/farm

  by Patricia Hertzler , about 1 year ago
  I am opposed to the continuing use of “Poor Farm” when speaking of this site. It Served that function for only 6 years according to this website. A much more appropriate title would be something like “living history 1900 farmstead” or Early Colorado farm in Queen Anne style” or something similar. Why emphasize only 6 years when the site’s historical significance is much broader. ? Changing the terminology now will be easier now than it would be to wait any longer with regard to printed material. Signage and general usage. The history of the fort and the Sand Creek Massacre... Continue reading

  I am opposed to the continuing use of “Poor Farm” when speaking of this site. It Served that function for only 6 years according to this website. A much more appropriate title would be something like “living history 1900 farmstead” or Early Colorado farm in Queen Anne style” or something similar. Why emphasize only 6 years when the site’s historical significance is much broader. ? Changing the terminology now will be easier now than it would be to wait any longer with regard to printed material. Signage and general usage. The history of the fort and the Sand Creek Massacre is significant and must be emphasized.
• Share Healing Across Generations; Healing Heart, Land, and Soul on Facebook Share Healing Across Generations; Healing Heart, Land, and Soul on Twitter Share Healing Across Generations; Healing Heart, Land, and Soul on Linkedin Email Healing Across Generations; Healing Heart, Land, and Soul link

  Healing Across Generations; Healing Heart, Land, and Soul

  by A J, about 1 year ago
  Farm and historic Queen Anne House first came about and the stories of both the people who served there and were helped there as well. Where are their descendants now? Are they still in the area? Do they have stories to share? What were the conditions like back then? It would also be healing to have one day each year that the community gathers on the site with a healing City held event that is lead by as many of the people who are direct descendants of each of these pivotal time periods.

  Farm and historic Queen Anne House first came about and the stories of both the people who served there and were helped there as well. Where are their descendants now? Are they still in the area? Do they have stories to share? What were the conditions like back then? It would also be healing to have one day each year that the community gathers on the site with a healing City held event that is lead by as many of the people who are direct descendants of each of these pivotal time periods.
• Share Manifest Destiny on Facebook Share Manifest Destiny on Twitter Share Manifest Destiny on Linkedin Email Manifest Destiny link

  Manifest Destiny

  by Sallie, about 1 year ago
  Manifest Destiny encouraged what is called westward expansion basically taking over lands where plains tribes had lived in balance for hundreds of years in the Boulder Valley. People believed incorrectly that they had this divine right to expand. Protestant rhetoric said the land of Turtle Island was divinely destined to be expanded to spread democracy and civilization. Ignoring the current civilization of indigenous peoples living in harmony with the land. Land became a thing rather than a living ecology of plants, animals and people thriving together. The indigenous people in the area: Arapaho, Cheyenne and Ute, lived so in balance... Continue reading

  Manifest Destiny encouraged what is called westward expansion basically taking over lands where plains tribes had lived in balance for hundreds of years in the Boulder Valley. People believed incorrectly that they had this divine right to expand. Protestant rhetoric said the land of Turtle Island was divinely destined to be expanded to spread democracy and civilization. Ignoring the current civilization of indigenous peoples living in harmony with the land. Land became a thing rather than a living ecology of plants, animals and people thriving together. The indigenous people in the area: Arapaho, Cheyenne and Ute, lived so in balance, that it appeared to be a wilderness and uninhabitable until settlers moved in with their christian religious beliefs and cultures and decided this wild beauty was to be killed and tamed in order to physically and spiritually feel safe by following a god separated from the earth. Later this same religious blindness created the doctrine of discovery traced back to the 15th century granting european powers the right to claim newly discovered lands and subjugate the people there. It provided theological justification and colonization which still functions today around the world and is called progress.
• Share Need for Reckoning before Healing on Facebook Share Need for Reckoning before Healing on Twitter Share Need for Reckoning before Healing on Linkedin Email Need for Reckoning before Healing link

  Need for Reckoning before Healing

  by Laurie Rugenstein, about 1 year ago

  A Healing Trial is important, but we need to reckon with the difficult past before we can begin healing

  When entering the Fort Chambers site people should encounter things that lead them to reckon with the difficult past that took place here. This includes to greed for land and power on the part of some settler/colonizers and the false information they spread to create fear in the local settler/colonizers. Fear an effect way to control people, This dynamic still plays out in our country, and telling the truth about our past is one way to keep this from happening again.

  ... Continue reading

  A Healing Trial is important, but we need to reckon with the difficult past before we can begin healing

  When entering the Fort Chambers site people should encounter things that lead them to reckon with the difficult past that took place here. This includes to greed for land and power on the part of some settler/colonizers and the false information they spread to create fear in the local settler/colonizers. Fear an effect way to control people, This dynamic still plays out in our country, and telling the truth about our past is one way to keep this from happening again.

  A representation of the fort could be part of this.

  Another part could be re-installing the stone marker with an explanation that as recently as the 1960s people were still referring to an "Indian uprising" in the area that never actually happened

  Large signage depicting what happened here leading up to the Sand Creek Massacre would also be important. We need to create an experience that allows people to FEEL it.

  
  

  
  

  
  
• Share Outcomes of the Sand Creek Massacre on Facebook Share Outcomes of the Sand Creek Massacre on Twitter Share Outcomes of the Sand Creek Massacre on Linkedin Email Outcomes of the Sand Creek Massacre link

  Outcomes of the Sand Creek Massacre

  by Paula Palmer, about 1 year ago
  At Fort Chambers, more than 100 Boulder men trained and drilled and then joined Col John Chivington's Volunteer Cavalry in committing the Sand Creek Massacre. What are the outcomes of this massacre for the Arapaho and Cheyenne people, and for the people who have lived in Boulder since then?

  
  

  What happened to the Arapaho and Cheyenne people? How have they suffered as a result of the actions of the Boulder settlers? How do they live today? How would they like to relate to the land and people of the Boulder Valley? What presence would they like to have here?

  
  

  How... Continue reading

  At Fort Chambers, more than 100 Boulder men trained and drilled and then joined Col John Chivington's Volunteer Cavalry in committing the Sand Creek Massacre. What are the outcomes of this massacre for the Arapaho and Cheyenne people, and for the people who have lived in Boulder since then?

  
  

  What happened to the Arapaho and Cheyenne people? How have they suffered as a result of the actions of the Boulder settlers? How do they live today? How would they like to relate to the land and people of the Boulder Valley? What presence would they like to have here?

  
  

  How have the people of Boulder prospered since the massacre? How do people of Boulder feel today about what happened 160 years ago? How do people of Boulder feel today about the relative life conditions of the Cheyenne and Arapaho and the current residents of Boulder? How would the people of Boulder like to address the disparities? How can we start?
• Share Who were the settlers of the Boulder Valley? on Facebook Share Who were the settlers of the Boulder Valley? on Twitter Share Who were the settlers of the Boulder Valley? on Linkedin Email Who were the settlers of the Boulder Valley? link

  Who were the settlers of the Boulder Valley?

  by Paula Palmer, about 1 year ago

  Who were the Euro-American people who settled in the Boulder Valley in the mid01800s? What were their ethnicities, relitions, genders, social class? Where did they come from? What were their attitudes about Native peoples, Manifest Destiny, the treaties (and violating them), land ownership? How did they relate to Chief Nawath's band of Arapaho who lived in the Boulder Valley? What drove them to join the US Cavalry and commit the Sand Creek Massacre? After the massacre, what did they say or write about it and its aftermath? How did they envisioin the future population of Boulder?

  Who were the Euro-American people who settled in the Boulder Valley in the mid01800s? What were their ethnicities, relitions, genders, social class? Where did they come from? What were their attitudes about Native peoples, Manifest Destiny, the treaties (and violating them), land ownership? How did they relate to Chief Nawath's band of Arapaho who lived in the Boulder Valley? What drove them to join the US Cavalry and commit the Sand Creek Massacre? After the massacre, what did they say or write about it and its aftermath? How did they envisioin the future population of Boulder?
• Share Restore native and Native habitat on Facebook Share Restore native and Native habitat on Twitter Share Restore native and Native habitat on Linkedin Email Restore native and Native habitat link

  Restore native and Native habitat

  by John Webb, about 1 year ago
  It seems appropriate that in addition to commemorating the actions around the Sand Creek Massacre, that we acknowledge the people, the cultures, occupations and traditions that existed on the site before the arrival of white settlers/colonists. There must have been hunting and living encampments on this land for hundreds and thousands of years. The CU Museum has a cache of Clovis artifacts recovered from along Boulder Creek at a property up against the foothills. In addition, some of the earliest white settlers lived in peace with the indigenous people in the Ft. Collins area.

  
  

  Could we develop a trail at... Continue reading

  It seems appropriate that in addition to commemorating the actions around the Sand Creek Massacre, that we acknowledge the people, the cultures, occupations and traditions that existed on the site before the arrival of white settlers/colonists. There must have been hunting and living encampments on this land for hundreds and thousands of years. The CU Museum has a cache of Clovis artifacts recovered from along Boulder Creek at a property up against the foothills. In addition, some of the earliest white settlers lived in peace with the indigenous people in the Ft. Collins area.

  
  

  Could we develop a trail at the Ft Chambers property that recreates some of these features, and also promotes restoration of native vegetation and wildlife to the area?

  Thank you,

  John Webb

  Louisville

  
  

  
  

  
  
• Share Mark Gershman on Facebook Share Mark Gershman on Twitter Share Mark Gershman on Linkedin Email Mark Gershman link

  Mark Gershman

  about 1 year ago
  perhaps apocryphal, but I am guessing there is a grain of truth here.

  Because of its open space values, former Real Estate/Open Space, Open Space/Real Estate, OSMP director Jim Crain had his eye on the property when it was open by Mary Wells (sp?). Although Ms. Wells made it very clear she had no interest in selling to the city, Jim would periodically visit the property to check in with Ms. Wells. As the story goes, at one point she threatened to shoot him (in some stories shot at him) if he ever came back. Probably not suitable for any... Continue reading

  perhaps apocryphal, but I am guessing there is a grain of truth here.

  Because of its open space values, former Real Estate/Open Space, Open Space/Real Estate, OSMP director Jim Crain had his eye on the property when it was open by Mary Wells (sp?). Although Ms. Wells made it very clear she had no interest in selling to the city, Jim would periodically visit the property to check in with Ms. Wells. As the story goes, at one point she threatened to shoot him (in some stories shot at him) if he ever came back. Probably not suitable for any interpretation, but you never know. Themes of conflict, persistence, open space values.
• Share A Historical Story From the Future: Regenerating An Island of Coherence on Facebook Share A Historical Story From the Future: Regenerating An Island of Coherence on Twitter Share A Historical Story From the Future: Regenerating An Island of Coherence on Linkedin Email A Historical Story From the Future: Regenerating An Island of Coherence link

  A Historical Story From the Future: Regenerating An Island of Coherence

  by Morey Bean, about 1 year ago

  A Historical Story From the Future: Regenerating An Island of Coherence

  By Morey Bean

  Boulder Community Artist (Soldiers’ Veil, 2020)

  
  

  Inspired by the work of science fiction writer Octavia Butler, Scottish storyteller and Traveler Jill Smith, and First Nations friend and storyteller Solomon Ratt, this is a fictional ‘idea’ story, told by a fictional Arapahoe/Shoshoni/Scottish elder, told to his grandchildren and other young ones gathered around a campfire in Boulder, Colorado in the warm summer of 2035. It is written with the utmost respect for Indigenous People from around the world, living today, whose stories of... Continue reading

  A Historical Story From the Future: Regenerating An Island of Coherence

  By Morey Bean

  Boulder Community Artist (Soldiers’ Veil, 2020)

  
  

  Inspired by the work of science fiction writer Octavia Butler, Scottish storyteller and Traveler Jill Smith, and First Nations friend and storyteller Solomon Ratt, this is a fictional ‘idea’ story, told by a fictional Arapahoe/Shoshoni/Scottish elder, told to his grandchildren and other young ones gathered around a campfire in Boulder, Colorado in the warm summer of 2035. It is written with the utmost respect for Indigenous People from around the world, living today, whose stories of repression, famine, poverty, ethnic cleansing and genocide go largely untold. Amidst these stories, this one includes a story of hope and healing, also told today, describing a process of colonization, decolonization and recolonization, of deconstruction and reconstruction, of generation and regeneration, celebrating the long journey leading to the receipt of the ‘title’ to the Poor Farm Ft. Chambers land being given back to Indigenous People from the citizens of Boulder in 2030, after the election of America’s new Indigenous President of Turtle Island.

  It is a story of hope and healing as well as conquest and resettlement, as the Poor Farm / Ft. Chambers site has been radically transformed to reflect the fact that Indigenous People, including those who historically and contemporarily travel to and from Boulder, continue to be Travelers, north and south along the front range and the Wind River mountains and beyond, and east and west through the mountains to the plains and beyond, as this little island of coherence comes together in its evolution, by their labor and the labors of love of their white friends, in their eternal seasonal familial migration and settlement, led by listening to the land and watching the stars.

  “Sit down, sit down little ones! Your parents are right behind you. Bundle up! They’ve given me just enough time to tell you a story before the Little Dipper pours its sleepy medicine into your eyes.” They were glad to see their big brother join them, who had moved to Denver after serving in the Iraq War, who was doing better after working here on the ‘Poor Farm Ft. Chambers Site Regeneration Project’, being more at peace in his healing journey.The Grandfather continued:

  “Once upon a time, not too long ago, there was a family, not unlike yours, who was enjoying another summer’s vacation trip from Ada, Oklahoma to Ethete, Wyoming, in their big, beautiful motorhome. It was getting late in the day, and everyone was tired of being on the road, even though the welcoming sights of the mountains called the Flatirons were beautiful to finally behold, with the afternoon sun streaming from behind them. “Oh look Mom!” yelled a little one, “Those rocks look like they’re about to fall over!” “Oh, they are my dear little one.” replied the Mother, “Someday soon I’ll tell you the story of the Great Simplification.” (https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/ )

  As they settled in, having hooked up to the RV park at the site of the old Poor Farm house, they themselves sat around a campfire. They caught up with other families who had come from near and far, welcoming a new Traveler friend from Scotland who would soon tell tales of his indigenous Pictish ancestors being removed from the Highlands of Scotland to the Americas, first as white slaves, later as slave keepers, and now his story as an artist telling his story of a healing-filled future in a standing stone sculpture, inspired by the Pictish Standing Stones of Scotland. They also welcomed new friends from the Brazilian rainforest who had been commissioned to work here as muralists, adding their stories to a mural from the repurposed walls of the old Poor House house, of stories told from their home and from this beautiful place. Even though they couldn’t speak very many words of English or any of the other languages spoken around the fire, their warm smiles and peaceful countenance made everyone feel warm and loved. The Grandfather continued:

  “As the morning sun was just hitting the sides of their tent, not unlike yours, a chickadee landed on the top of it and said “Chicka-de-de-de! Chicka-de-de-de! Wake up you lazy kids! Chicka-de-de-de! Chicka-de-de-de! The day is waiting for you! Wake up and look around at all that we’ve done here! Your bison brothers are waking up too. If you’re quick you can get up and go see them before they wander off! Wake up! Wake up! Chicka-de-de-de! Chicka-de-de-de!” Looking up, the chickadee quickly flew away as his big brother the Magpie then landed on the tent (and he pooped right on top of it! Gross!) “Mack! Mack! Get up and come with me! Mack Mack! We’ve got lots of work to do before we get to have fun at tomorrow’s Pow Wow! Mack Mack! ” “OK OK…” Ramona said as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, “Where are we going?” “Mack! Mack! Come work on the stained glass story about your future, told on a window from the old Poor Farm house that’s being what you call ‘upcycled’!” “Clinton! Mack! Mack! Put on your tool belt and help finish the Pow Wow shelter built from the roof of the Poor House house!” “Angela! Mack! Mack! Get dressed and go watch the muralists work so that you can someday be a muralist! Hurry up! Mack! Mack! Go look at the welcome sign to this place that doesn’t just have one name but many! Add your Grandmother’s name for “Place of Healing” in her and now your language to the sign. Mack! Mack! Wake up! Wake Up!”

  “As they finished their warm grits breakfast made from the corn of the Three Sisters Garden and nice hot butternut squash soup that warmed their bellies, they all trundled off to greet the day and get to work, that really wasn’t work at all, but the best play that they could imagine, being grateful to be outside instead of locked into some hot classroom where the teachers would routinely fall asleep.” (Based on a true story, told respectfully from the author’s white sister who taught English at Ethete, later to die of lung cancer from the groundwater contaminated by fracking fluid at their home and garden in Pavilion, Wyoming.)

  “Much to the surprise of your strong teenage sister Melissa in her morning walk, she marveled at something that she knew had somehow been in her dreams but had been forgotten until now, when she saw a beautiful statue titled TAH! (https://www.hickoryart.org/exhibitions/virgilortiz ) by Cochiti artist Victor Ortiz. As she marveled at the beauty, power and grace of Tah, she could feel herself drawn to her, being of her, full of energy, no longer blinded from fear, but gaining strength and power and vision from Tah’s graceful, insightful countenance! Her excitement was confirmed as she heard the beautiful red winged blackbird that looked a lot like Tah! Ko Kah Reee! Ko Kah Reee! she called from the nearby regenerated wetlands. “Isn’t she beautiful?! Isn’t she strong?! Ko Kah Reee! Ko Kah Reee!”

  “So after a good summer day of work and play, all these kids, not unlike you, laid down on their backs under the evening stars, in a big circle, with their bare feet touching each others, warmed by a good smelling campfire and the giggles and laughter telling your own stories from a day lived well, of who you met, and what you did that day, unwittingly reclaiming your life, a life being really well lived, stories that will surely be told by future chickadees and magpies, robins and ravens, stories told until this day, stories that have been hidden from you for way too long.”

  “Oh! Listen! It’s Brother Robin! “Ka-chirp-chirp-chirp” “Ka-chirp-chirp-chirp” saying “Time to gather tomorrow’s fire wood! Time to make dinner!” After a yummy dinner of a bison frybread taco and green salad, all the children gathered around the fire, not unlike this one, heard their Mothers’ soft “Coo coo coo…Coo coo coo… Time to say Goodnight moon! Goodnight stars! Good night brothers and sisters here and everywhere! Goodnight Mother, Father, Aunties and Uncles, Goodnight Grandma! Goodnight Mother Earth.Thank you for all you give us everyday. May we have sweet dreams of bears and bison and beavers and chickadees and foxes and flying horses!”

  “Goodnight Grandfather! Sweet dreams for you too.” said the children, not unlike yours. “Goodnight my sweet ones. I have got to go now, to fly away myself on a beautiful white horse, to a far-away and beautiful place, but I’ll see you and you’ll see me in the clouds and sunshine for all your tomorrows. Sweet dreams indeed my loved ones.”

  “Goodnight…”