Museums of Central Colorado: The Fort Garland Museum

From the Civil War in the West exhibit at Fort Garland. Courtesy of the Fort Garland Museum.

By Anita McDaniel

Western expansion fueled the need for frontier forts. The primary purpose of these forts was to keep the peace between the settlers and the indigenous people.

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Historical Reservations

Sidebar by Martha Quillen

Kit Carson – October 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

As for the question Allen Best asks in the main article, I think it’s fine to call a mountain Kit Carson.

But at the same time, I’m not scandalized by a mural depicting Carson killing a Navajo, either. On the contrary, I’d say it’s pretty naive to imply that Carson ran a major campaign to round up the Navajo, and didn’t kill anyone.

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The Navajo Campaign

Article by Martha Quillen

Kit Carson – October 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

SOME OF THE TRAGEDY of the Navajo story rests in its inevitability once peace treaties were signed. The Navajo were a widely scattered people living in small bands across northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah when the first peace agreements were negotiated at the end of the Mexican War.

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