Fort Saint Vrain (Weld County, Colorado)
Weld County · Colorado · Fur Trade Era
History & Significance
Fort Saint Vrain was established in 1837 as a fur trading post built by the Bent, St. Vrain Company, located at the confluence of Saint Vrain Creek and the South Platte River about 20 miles east of the Rocky Mountains in present-day Weld County, Colorado. Ceran St. Vrain, after whom the fort was named, helped establish the post.
Marcellin St. Vrain, Ceran's brother, managed the trading post and employed notable people including mountain man James Beckwourth and Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, who was born to Sacajewea during the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The structure was built as a two-story adobe structure whose walls encased an interior courtyard and accommodated trade with Native American tribes and mountain men engaged in fur trapping.
The fort was visited in July 1843 by John Charles Fremont's second expedition to the Rocky Mountain area. The fort served as a significant trading post on the Platte River until it was abandoned in 1848 and later became the first post office and courthouse site for what would become Weld County, Colorado.
After the Taos Revolt in 1847, the St. Vrain brothers returned to St. Louis. After Ceran St. Vrain sold his shares of the Bent, St. Vrain Company, William Bent became sole proprietor by 1849 and moved to Fort St. Vrain temporarily before building a new Fort Bent in the Big Timbers area.
By 1903 the fort was reduced to ruin, and in 1951 local farmers leveled what remained. In 1911 the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a monument on the site.
Key Facts
Map
View larger map ↗ · © OpenStreetMap contributors
🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Ruins of two-story adobe fur trading post (1837)
- Confluence of Saint Vrain Creek and South Platte River
- Historical marker commemorates Bent, St. Vrain Company operations
- Mountain men and Native American trade hub during fur era
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Saint_Vrain
- https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/keyword/fort-st-vrain
- https://www.historycolorado.org/location/fort-st-vrain-monument
- https://centennialstate.coloradodar.org/fort-st-vrain/
- https://www.forttours.com/pages/fortstvrain.asp
- https://www.legendsofamerica.com/fort-st-vrain/
- https://history.weld.gov/County-150/Your-Stories/Fort-St.-Vrains-Memory-Kept-Alive