If you go
The old Fort Lewis site is located on Colo. 140 a little under five miles south of its intersection with U.S. 160. The site has a number of period buildings and a historical marker.
Fort Lewis was originally established in 1878 in Pagosa Springs and was named for Lt. Col. William Lewis, killed by Cheyenne Indians.
The fort was moved to a site south of Hesperus in 1880 to support the Ute Indian Agency in Ignacio.
It was abandoned as a military post in 1891 and became property of the Department of the Interior.
It was converted into an Indian school providing a practical education in such subjects as cooking and blacksmithing. The idea at the time was to assimilate Indian youth into white man's society.
Student population reached 345, but over the years, these numbers declined. This resulted in the school's closure in 1909.
Fort Lewis next became the property of the state of Colorado and was used as a public high school.
Due to the school's remote location, students lived on campus and the school continued in use until 1933.
College classes were introduced as early as 1927 and in 1933, Fort Lewis became a junior college. Improvements were made with the construction of a library.
In 1956, Fort Lewis Junior College was relocated to Durango and now offers four-year degrees.
The old Fort Lewis site was last used as a Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station established by Colorado State University.
It closed in 2010, and today, the site appears to be abandoned.
Kenneth Jessen has been a Loveland resident since 1965. He is an author of 20 books and more than 1,600 articles. He served on several Loveland boards and was an engineer for Hewlett-Packard for 33 years.