SPOTLIGHT ON FORT MORGAN
Elevation: 4,337 feet
Population: 11,271
County: Morgan County seat
Established: 1884; incorporated 1887
Brief history: Fort Morgan began in 1864 as Camp Tyler, a military post to protect travelers on the Overland Trail and those who came West to look for gold. The post was renamed Fort Wardwell in 1865. The name was changed again in 1866 to Fort Morgan for Col. Christopher A. Morgan, who served in the Union Army during the Civil War.
The fort consisted of 20 buildings made of sod and adobe and included three cannons. About the size of a square city block, it housed 200 to 1,200 men.
In the early 1880s, after soldiers had moved on to Fort Laramie, the area around Fort Morgan was settled as an agricultural community. A canal was built from the South Platte River to provide irrigation water to more than 8,000 acres. In 1884, the town’s first buildings were started.
In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt stopped at the Fort Morgan train station and gave a short speech to more than 1,000 people, praising them for making the land viable for farming.
Economy: The economy is mainly based on farming, including dairy, sugar beets, wheat, potatoes and beans, and cattle and sheep ranching.
Famous resident: Band leader Glenn Miller moved with his family in 1918 to Fort Morgan and graduated from high school there in 1921.
Historic buildings: There are eight sites listed on the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties and the National Register of Historical Places. Included in the sites is Rainbow Bridge, built in 1922 over the South Platte River. After surviving major floods, especially one in 1935 that created a 10-foot wall of water, the bridge was designated a Colorado Civil Engineering Landmark in 1992.
Sources: Fort Morgan Area Chamber of Commerce; Fort Morgan Museum; Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation; National Historic Register: USGS; U.S. Census Bureau; “Colorado Place Names” by William Bright; “1001 Colorado Place Names” by Maxine Benson
REGIONAL NOTES
LITTLETON
Events raise funds for Columbine
Merchants in downtown Littleton will donate a portion of their Saturday sales revenues to the Columbine Memorial Fund.
“By joining in this fundraiser, the merchants are showing their commitment to the community and they’re helping make this important memorial a reality,” said Hazel Brewer, owner of Hi-Rocky Gifts,one of the merchants.
Businesses participating in the campaign will have posters in their windows announcing the fundraiser.
Also Saturday, the Embassy Suites Hotel at Interstate 70 and Havana Street will host a carwash fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. benefitting the memorial. Washes are $3 for cars and $5 for SUVs and trucks, with all proceeds going to the fund.
The Columbine Memorial Fund is approaching $1.3 million and officials hope to collect a total of $1.5 million.
TELLURIDE
Festival honors tech’s pioneers
The seventh annual Telluride Tech Festival, to be held Aug. 11-12, will celebrate the work of a select group of technology pioneers and exemplars.
This year’s honorees include Eric Allman, author of the world’s first Internet mail program; David Sinclair, a researcher focused on finding genes and other molecules that slow the pace and diseases of old age; and Robert Sproull, founder of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which supports programs that range from nuclear-test detection to computer networking.
For more information on talks and events, and to purchase tickets, visit telluridetechfestival.com; or call Scott Brown, 970-209-3498; or Sarah Brown, 970-275-3154.
DENVER POST STAFF REPORTS
