Fort Independence
(Did you mean a different Fort Independence)
Fort Independence (1846-1847) - A Mexican War era fort established in 1846 by a detachment of U.S. Soldiers of the Mormon Battalion in present day Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colorado. Abandoned in 1847.
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Mormon Battalion Memorial at Stanton Ave. and Locust Street in Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colorado.
History
A detachment of the Mormon Battalion arrived at Fort Pueblo in the fall of 1846 with their families and Mormon immigrants from Mississippi. They established a log settlement south of Fort Pueblo that served as a winter camp for the detachment and all of the accompanying civilians. The settlement became known as Fort Independence or the Mormon Colony Winter Camp.
The Mormons erected a street of cabins built of cottonwood logs, laid one above the other and chocked with mud to make the structures weatherproof. A large log Mormon temple was built at one end. It was said that some 275 people wintered at the post during the winter of 1846-1847.
The fort was abandoned in the spring of 1847 and on 27 Jun 1847, the Mormon immigrants reached their destination at Salt Lake City.
Current Status
Only a monument remains, erected in 1946 to a detachment of U.S. Soldiers of the Mormon Battalion who wintered here with their families and Mormon immigrants from Mississippi near the site of the monument.
Location: Monument located at the corner of Stanton Ave. and
Locust Street in Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colorado.
Lat: 38.25582 Long: -104.60411 Elevation: 4' Bing, Google
GPS Locations:
38.25582, -104.60411
See Also:
Sources:
- Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 111-112.
- Gallagher, Jolie Anderson, Colorado Forts:Historic Outposts on the Wild Frontier, History Press, Charleston, 2013, ISBN 978.1.61423.903.1, 143 pages, page 67-69.
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