Fort Saint Vrain | |
|---|---|
Trading post and fort | |
 Historical marker at the site of Fort Saint Vrain | |
| Nickname(s): Fort George, Fort Lookout | |
  Fort Saint Vrain  Fort Saint Vrain | |
| Coordinates:40°16′44″N104°51′18″W / 40.27889°N 104.85500°W /40.27889; -104.85500 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Colorado |
| County | Weld |
| Nearest town | Platteville |
| Named after | Ceran St. Vrain |
| Elevation | 4,764 ft (1,452 m) |
Fort Saint Vrain was an 1837furtrading post built by theBent, St. Vrain Company, and located at the confluence ofSaint Vrain Creek and theSouth Platte River, about 20 miles (32 km) east of theRocky Mountains in theunorganized territory of the United States, in present-dayWeld County,Colorado. A historical marker notes the place where Old Fort St. Vrain once stood, today at the end of Weld County Road 40, located about seven miles north ofFort Vasquez,Colorado. Among those who helped to establish the fort wasCeran St. Vrain, after whom it was named.
William Clark, governor of the territory, granted the Bent, St. Vrain Co. a license to trade on November 8, 1836. Like neighboring forts, the structure was built as a two-story adobe structure whose walls encased an interior courtyard. It accommodated trade with Native American tribes and mountain men engaged in fur trapping. It resembled the adobe building and plaza reconstructed atFort Vasquez andBent's Old Fort.
Marcellin St. Vrain, Ceran's brother, managed thetrading post. He employed such notable people asJames Beckwourth, a mountain man, andJean Baptiste Charbonneau, who was born toSacajewea during the 1804-1806Lewis and Clark Expedition. She accompanied the expedition with her husband, trader & trapper Toussaint Charbonneau as well as newborn Jean Baptiste, while filling the crucial role of translator to the Shoshone Indian tribe.
After theTaos Revolt in 1847, the St. Vrain brothers both returned to St. Louis. After Ceran St. Vrain sold his shares of the Bent, St. Vrain Co.,William Bent became sole proprietor by 1849. Bent moved to Fort St. Vrain temporarily before building a newFort Bent in the Big Timbers area.
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Travel information from WikivoyageMunicipalities and communities ofWeld County, Colorado,United States | ||
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| Cities |  | |
| Towns | ||
| CDPs | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| Trading posts | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
