Fort Garland

Colonel Kit Carson and New Mexico Volunteers were stationed here after the American Civil War (1861-1865), in 1866 and he successfully negotiated a treaty with the local native Utes in 1867.

The Ninth U.S. Cavalry (Buffalo Soldiers) was stationed here for three years between 1876 and 1879. In 1876, these troops were called to the La Plata region to prevent conflict between the Utes and white mining prospectors. The following year, they helped remove illegal white settlers from Ute reservation lands.

In 1879, United States military units from Fort Garland were called upon by Nathan Meeker, the Indian Agent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs at the White River Agency. Meeker and others were killed, and family members taken captive by unhappy Utes. The captives were released and the Utes were moved once again, which reduced the need for a military fort.

The Colorado Historical Society restored the fort and opened the Fort Garland Museum in 1950.{{citation needed|date=July 2013}} Restored and reconstructed buildings include the adobe Commandant's Quarters, where Kit Carson and his wife once lived,{{cite web |url=http://www.museumtrail.org/CommandantQuarters.asp |title=Commandant's Quarters |work=Fort Garland Museum |publisher=San Luis Valley Museum Association |access-date=July 6, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720071754/http://www.museumtrail.org/CommandantQuarters.asp |archive-date=July 20, 2013 |url-status=dead }} the cavalry barracks with exhibits of Hispanic traditional arts and 19th century transportation artifacts, and officer's quarters. Permanent exhibits focus on Kit Carson and Buffalo Soldiers.{{cite web |url=http://www.museumtrail.org/fortgarlandmuseum.asp |title=Fort Garland Museum |publisher=San Luis Valley Museum Association |access-date=July 6, 2013 |archive-date=July 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718101857/http://www.museumtrail.org/FortGarlandMuseum.asp |url-status=dead }} The museum is administered by History Colorado organization.

Pike's Stockade, the reconstructed stockade site where Western explorer and Army officer Zebulon Pike raised the American flag in 1807, is located about 45 miles southwest of the fort.{{cite web |url=http://www.historycolorado.org/museums/history-fort-0 |title=History of the Fort |work=Museums: Fort Garland Museum |publisher=History Colorado |access-date=July 6, 2013}}

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Costilla County, Colorado

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{{commonscat|Fort Garland (Colorado)}}

• [https://www.historycolorado.org/fort-garland-museum-cultural-center Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center] History Colorado
• [http://www.museumtrail.org/fortgarlandmuseum.asp Fort Garland Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303144104/http://www.museumtrail.org/fortgarlandmuseum.asp |date=2009-03-03 }} San Luis Valley Museum Association
• [http://fortgarlandfriends.org/ Friends of Fort Garland Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130503073425/http://fortgarlandfriends.org/ |date=2013-05-03 }}
• [http://www.sangres.com/colorado/costilla/fortgarland.htm Fort Garland, Colorado] Sangres.com

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{{Forts in Colorado}}

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{{Protected areas of Colorado}}

{{Registered Historic Places}}

Category:1858 establishments in New Mexico Territory

Category:1883 disestablishments in the United States

Garland

Category:Former installations of the United States Army

Category:Military and war museums in Colorado

Category:Museums established in 1950

Category:Museums in Costilla County, Colorado

Category:History Colorado

Garland

Category:1950 establishments in Colorado

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Costilla County, Colorado