Fort Lewis 1 (Pagosa Springs, Colorado)

Pagosa Springs · Colorado · Indian Wars

Quick BriefIn mid-October 1878, under Captain William Hartz, the Ninth Cavalry (D Troop) and Fifteenth Infantry (I Company) established Camp Lewis on a bench above the San Juan River near Pagosa Springs. The post relocated to Hesperus in 1880 as Pagosa Springs proved too isolated from the Ute and Navajo Reservations, especially after the White River Agency confrontation in 1879. Fort Lewis operated as a US Army post from 1878 to 1891.

History & Significance

The fort was named for Lieutenant Colonel William Lewis, an accomplished soldier and American Indian sympathizer who died from a severed femoral artery in a surprise Cheyenne attack at Punished Woman's Fork in Kansas. The Ninth Cavalry, the larger garrison regiment, consisted of Buffalo Soldiers—Black regiments of former slaves and free men.

Although the garrison included multiple infantry and cavalry units, troops from Fort Lewis did not engage in any major battles. After the September 1879 Meeker Incident, approximately 500 troops stationed at the fort served as an important staging point to position forces between different Ute bands in northwestern and southwestern Colorado.

In summer 1880, troops relocated to the La Plata River south of Hesperus, where a temporary cantonment with tents, sawmill, and shingle mill was established. By 1890, with relative peace between settlers and Native Americans, troops began withdrawing; the post was decommissioned in 1891 and subsequently served as the Ute Indian Agency and an Indian Boarding School.