Old Ft. Lewis

In the summer of 1880 troops were moved to a location along the La Plata River just south of Hesperus, near the fast-growing communities of Durango, Animas City, and Silverton. A temporary cantonment about a mile upstream of the proposed fort was set up with tents, a sawmill, and a shingle mill. Harsh weather and poor living conditions in the temporary encampment exacerbated unrest and troubling health conditions among the troops. The first trooper to die at the Hesperus cantonment was Private Frederick Beehler of the Thirteenth Infantry, who succumbed to pneumonia on November 18, 1880.

Despite a miserable winter with most of the troops housed in temporary tents, the new post was officially designated as Fort Lewis on January 21, 1881. It was located on the second terrace along the west bank of the La Plata River.

The cavalry stables, blacksmith shop, employee quarters, and facilities were located along the riverbanks. The cemetery was positioned on the first terrace of the La Plata River, but at a distance east of the post. Buried together in this cemetery were members of the military and their families, along with civilian employees.

Over the ten years of operation at Hesperus, Fort Lewis was home to the 6th, 13th, 15th and 22nd Infantries and the 6th Cavalry. The Twenty-Second Infantry was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Peter Swain. In August 1883, two companies of Buffalo Soldiers camped in close proximity to Fort Lewis on their way to Fort Craig, New Mexico. Troops at Fort Lewis participated in no major battles, and only a few skirmishes demanded their attention. Perhaps the most significant of these was a sortie into the Abajo Mountains of southeastern Utah. Troops arrested an Indian accused of killing a local rancher, but this incident did not result in a battle. The post briefly served as the Southern Ute Agency headquarters until a full service agency was established at Ignacio.

An excursion to the Grand Canyon from Fort Lewis was led by First Lieutenant Edward Wanton Casey of the Twenty-Second Infantry. The purpose was to explore the lands of the Moqui, Navajo, and Pueblo Indians thought to be of possible military interest and to provide better geographical and topographical knowledge of the land. The party left Fort Lewis in November 1887 and returned in January 1888. They reached the Grand Canyon ten miles below the mouth of the Little Colorado River but never reached the canyon’s north side.

One member of this expedition was Private Christian Barthelmess, a noted musician and photographer. Christian Barthelmess served several terms with the US Army and was stationed throughout the west. He was intrigued with the Native Americans and took hundreds of photographs, many of them now housed at the Montana Historical Society. He took most of the photographs of the Fort Lewis post near Hesperus. Maurice Frink’s Photographer on an Army Mule with Casey Barthelmess documents the story of Christian Barthelmess as he photographed the western frontier during the closing years of the nineteenth century.

MLA 8th Edition

Charles, Mona C. "Fort Lewis." Colorado Encyclopedia, https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fort-lewis. Accessed 10 June 2022.

APA 6th Edition

Charles, M. C. (2016, May 16). Fort Lewis. Colorado Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fort-lewis

Chicago 16th Edition

Mona C. Charles, "Fort Lewis," Colorado Encyclopedia, last modified January 21, 2020, https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fort-lewis.