Dear Humans,

My family drove up to Platteville on Saturday to visit Fort Vasquez. Two fur traders opened Fort Vasquez in 1835 to try to sell and trade furs with natives and other trappers in the areas. It had a convenient location on the South Platte River, but soon other forts would come in to provide competition, and in coming decades hunters would over hunt the furs, commercial tastes would change, and the railroad would come to down.

In the five years it lasted, before it was buried by history, Fort Vasquez attracted traders and goods from all over the world. In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration rebuilt the fort. (A lot of the old forts I’ve visited are re-constructions). Twenty years later, the reconstruction was almost torn down during construction on Highway 85, but local historians saved it.

And now it sits right in the middle of the highway. It is the strangest location for a museum I’ve ever seen. But it reminds us that history exists within our world. You can’t wall it off from the semi-trucks whipping by at 65 miles an hour, carrying goods from all over the world to their final destination.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck