Although sometimes harsh, this
was not a lonely area Indian tribes following the buffalo were soon joined on the trail by
merchants, traders trappers, Mexican laborers and suppliers, military expeditions, and
adventurers. The novice fur trader had to learn quickly how to be trail smart. He also had
to know the difference between friends and enemies. When twenty-nine year old New Yorker,
Lancaster Lupton reached the South Platte Valley in late 1836 he already knew this share
of enemies. After graduating from West Point in 1829, he served in the military on the
frontier for over six years. His involvement in the petty problems of a peacetime army
resulted in his resignation. When he left for the west in September of 1836, he brought
with him a keen disappointment with the "civilized world". He had been to the
South Platte Valley before with Colonel Dodge's 1835 expedition. Now he is returning to
make this his home. His assignment was to build a fort!
On your journey along the Trappers' Trail you will see the site he chose
just north of the contemporary community of Fort Lupton. If you are fortunate several men
will be standing in that dusty field. Nearby will be their farm trucks and perhaps their
hunting dogs exercising in the open space. Some will have their arms outstretched,
pointing to the invisible walls of Lupton's fort. Others will be drawing in the soil
their architectural expression of the old fur trading post. Nods of approval will be
apparent. And if it happens to be November, as it was when Lancaster Lupton returned to
the site it could be windy and cold.
Results of a similar meeting one hundred and sixty four years ago have
shaped the very life of this area. Lancaster Lupton stood bargaining with his laborers
from Taos. He had never built an adobe fort! They had! Many times! Since the adobe bricks
would not "cure" during cold weather, the actual building of a permanent
structure would not begin until spring. Lancaster Lupton, therefore, went about the
business of taking a bride. He selected a young lady named Tomas (also spelled Thomassa),
who was the daughter of an Indian chief. Her place of birth was near the confluence of the
North Platte and Laramie River in what we now call Wyoming. We know little about this
woman except for the fact that she lived with Lancaster to the end of his days. If
intended to be a "business deal" it turned out to be a very successful marriage.
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Another mystery of this trading
post deals with the disposition of the account books for the post. Detailed
information had to be kept concerning supplies and purchases. These books were no doubt
returned to the financial backers. Do they still exist, sitting forgotten on a dusty shelf
in some library historical society? What a story they would tell.
When Lupton and his architects produced their first adobe brick they began
to build more than a fort. They were building a community! Over time, in spite of
crumbling walls, new pioneers began staking their claims. Some would leave-more would
arrive. Lupton kept his for only eight years, but, those eight years hardened the ground
and made firm the roads and served to invite people to share in the beauty and
agricultural bounty of the South Platte Valley. |
