Boggsville Historic Site
Return to Business Directory
or CSN
Home Page
You can comment to Southeast Colorado
Network
Historic Background
Boggsville is located on the Purgatoire River, two miles south of present
day Las Animas on Colorado Highway 101. The settlement was founded on a
branch of the Santa
Fe Trail about 1862 by Thomas O. Boggs, his wife Rumalda Luna Bent,
a stepdaughter of Charles Bent, L. A. Allen and Charles Ritc. To the north
lived William Bent, who had moved to the area, around 1858.
In 1867, Boggs was joined by John Wesley Prowers. Both men had worked
for the Bent brothers and Charles St. Vrain in their trading enterprises
on the Santa Fe Trail, at Bent's
Old Fort and Taos (Mexican Territory). In Late 1867 the noted frontiersman
Kit Carson moved to Boggsville, his last home before his death in 1868
at nearby Fort Lyon. The same year, merchant John Hough arrived.
During the period 1863 through 1873 (arrival of the Atchison Topeka
and Santa Fe Railroad) Boggsville was the regional center of agriculture,
government, commerce and culture.
Revitalization
Thomas Boggs and John Prowers each build permanent adobe homes of considerable
size. In 1985 the site was acquired by the Pioneer Historical Society of
Bent County. In its heyday, more than twenty structures graced the site.
Restoration activities at Boggsville are based on the Boggsville
Master Plan that was completed in 1986. Restoring the Boggs and Prowers
houses is the major focus of the current revitalization effort. Both houses
have been structurally restored through major funding from the Colorado
State Historical Fund, the Gates Foundation, and the El Pomar Foundation.
Work is now being focused on the interior of each house. In the future,
other structures will be built to enhance the interpretation of the historic
site and its people. Planning is currently underway for reconstruction
of the Carson House during the summer of 1996.
Archaeology
Extensive archaeological investigations have take place since the project
was begun in 1985. Initial archaeological investigations were completed
for the Boggs House through a major grant provided by the State of Colorado,
through the Colorado Department of Local Affairs. Investigations of areas
associted with the Prowers House, the Carson House and Boggsville's public
school (the first in the region) have been accomplished with grants from
the Colorado State Historical Fund, and through "field school" activities
during the summers of 1994 and 1995. The archaeologist in residence is
Richard Carrillo, of
La Junta, Colorado.
Re-enactment
Pioneer Historical Society of Bent County also sponsors the Boggsville
Living History Committee. This group of volunteers supports activities
at the site and adds a visual reference for the day to day human activities
that comprised the interactions of diverse cultural backgrounds that were
the "community of Boggsville." One project of this committee was the dramatic
re-creation of the Cheyenne Indian raid of 1867, for the 1994 annual meeting
of the Santa Fe Trail Association. This raid, a product of unrest following
the Sand Creek Massacre (November, 1864), resulted in the death of four
Indians, two soldiers and two settlers. The re-enactment was filmed and
is available on VHS video from the Boggsville Store.
Visiting the Site
The site is open daily and group tours are offered by reservation. Annual
activities at the site include "Boggsville Days", Santa Fe Trail Day, and
a "Boggsville Christmas" party.
You are cordially invited to become a part of these historic preservation
activities. Our present achievements have come through the active support
of persons like yourself who have volunteered their time, and made financial
contibutions that support the Boggsville revitalization effort. You can
help by becoming a volunteer and a "Friend of Boggsville".
Financial support catagories include:
| Youth or Student |
$5.00 |
| Individual |
$15.00 |
| Family |
$25.00 |
| Contributing |
$26.00 to $99.00 |
| Patron |
$100.00 or more |
| Checks may be made payable to "Boggsville Revitalization
Committee". |
For Boggsville Information Contact:
| Richard Carrillo, Administrator |
or: Joyce Medina |
| Boggsville Revitalization Committee |
Las Animas/Bent County Chamber of Commerce |
| P.O. Box 68 |
332 Ambassador Thompson Blvd. |
| Las Animas, Colorado 81054 |
Las Animas, Colorado 81054 |
| (719)384-8113 |
(719)456-0453 |
Page Development Credit:
Billie Jackson