El Pueblo History Museum is a local history museum in

Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, United States. The museum presents the history of Pueblo, together with the cultural and ethnic groups of the region. The historical site includes an 1840s-style adobe trading post and plaza and the archaeological excavation site of the original 1842 El Pueblo

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

which was listed on the US

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1996. The facility is administered by

History Colorado History Colorado is a historical society that was established in 1879 as the State Historical Society of Colorado, also known as the Colorado Historical Society. History Colorado is a 501(c)(3) organization and an agency of the State of Colorado un ...

. The museum is an affiliate of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, and is accredited by the

American Alliance of Museums American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

(AAM).

History

* 1803 The United States makes the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...

and President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

sends Meriwether Lewis and

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Miss ...

on their

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

of exploration, mapping, trade, science, and sovereignty. * 1806 James Wilkinson sends

Zebulon Pike Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American brigadier general and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado was named. As a U.S. Army officer he led two expeditions under authority of President Thomas Jefferson ...

to explore the Southwestern United States, they establish an outpost near the confluence of the

Fountain Creek Fountain Creek is a stream that originates in Woodland Park in Teller County and flows through El Paso County to its confluence with the Arkansas River near Pueblo in Pueblo County, Colorado. The creek,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydr ...

and the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

, before attempting to summit

Pikes Peak Pikes Peak is the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, in North America. The ultra-prominent fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, west of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. The town of Manitou S ...

. In 1807 they build the first structure in the area, Pike's Stockade which was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1961. * 1842 construction of El Pueblo as an independent trading post. * 1848 Business at the fort declines as a result of the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

. The

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...

, the peace treaty ending the war alters the trade dynamics of the region and the simultaneous

discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discover ...

of gold in California causes the forts population to dwindle. * 1854 Ute and Jicarilla Apache natives led by Chief Tierra Blanco lead a successful attack on the fort, killing 15 men, and capturing one woman, and two boys. The fort was abandoned following the attack. * 1858

Pike's Peak Gold Rush The Pike's Peak Gold Rush (later known as the Colorado Gold Rush) was the boom in gold prospecting and mining in the Pike's Peak Country of western Kansas Territory and southwestern Nebraska Territory of the United States that began in July 1858 ...

brings people to the area who will plat Pueblo and Fountain City near the confluence of the Arkansas and Fountain. * 1860 Pueblo platted taking name from the old trading post. It is replatted in 1870 following its organization. Settlers used some of El Pueblo's adobe bricks to build their own structures and gradually built over the fort, by the 1880s it had disappeared under the new city. * 1888 Farriss Hotel is built on the site where El Pueblo once stood. * 1959 The Colorado Historical Society (now History Colorado) open the El Pueblo History Museum, which included a full-scale replica of El Pueblo, at the converted old Pueblo Municipal Airport hangar. * 1980s The University of Southern Colorado begins program to locate El Pueblo. They settle on a possible location under the Fariss Hotel. * 1988 Deborah Mora Espinosa is hired as the executive director. * 1989 USC Anthropology professor William G. Buckles initiates a survey of the Fariss Hotel's basement. * 1991 The city tears down the Fariss Hotel allowing for more extensive archaeological excavations. Signs of El Pueblo's structure are discovered. * 1992 El Pueblo History Museum relocates to a building on the same block as the excavation. * 1996 The rediscovered El Pueblo fort is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. * 2003 The new El Pueblo Museum complex is completed. It includes the El Pueblo History Museum, the William G. Buckles Archaeology Pavilion over the excavation site and a reconstruction that resembles the original trading post. * 2014 Director Espinosa retires, and Dawn DiPrince becomes new executive director. * 2021 Dawn DiPrince leaves role at El Pueblo Museum, and Dianne Archuleta becomes the new executive director.

Exhibits

* ''Seeing Red'' (Jan 19, 2019 - Apr 30, 2019) examines the history of redlining in Pueblo. * ''Borderlands of Southern Colorado'' examines the areas border history. A portion of what is now the city of Pueblo was part of the Louisiana Purchase another section of the city was part of Old Mexico and later claimed by the Republic of Texas. * ''Children of Ludlow'' examines the

Colorado Coalfield War The Colorado Coalfield War was a major labor uprising in the Southern and Central Colorado Front Range between September 1913 and December 1914. Striking began in late summer 1913, organized by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) agai ...

and Ludlow Massacre from the perspective of the children who endured the strike. * ''Museum of Memory'' examines the histories of Pueblo neighborhoods with community members sharing

oral histories Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...

. * ''El Movimiento'' documenting the

Chicano Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...

struggle for

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

in Colorado as part of the

Chicano Movement The Chicano Movement, also referred to as El Movimiento, was a social and political movement in the United States inspired by prior acts of resistance among people of Mexican descent, especially of Pachucos in the 1940s and 1950s, and the Black ...

. Originally housed at El Pueblo History Museum, it has been moved to

Pueblo Community College Pueblo Community College (PCC) is a public community college in Pueblo, Colorado. History ''Pueblo Community College'' (PCC) traces its history to the founding of Southern Colorado Junior College (SCJC) in 1933. In 1937 SCJC became part of the ...

. * ''The Bell Rings'' (Sept 8, 2017 - Feb 4, 2018) The exhibit examined

The Bell Game The Bell Game is an annual football contest between two high schools in Pueblo, Colorado, USA: Centennial High School and Central High School. They have been playing each other since Thanksgiving Day 1892 in what is believed to be the oldest o ...

an annual football contest between two Pueblo high schools, Central High School and Centennial High School. They have been playing each other since 1892 in what is believed to be the oldest ongoing American football rivalry west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

Programs

When Pueblo School District 60 switched to four-and-a-half school days and then to four days, "Hands on History" was organized by the museum to help working parents give their children a place to go on Friday afternoons after school was out. The program then expanded to a full day on Fridays and also now has a summer program. The successful program has expanded to other Colorado cities as well, including

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

Fort Garland Fort Garland (1858–1883), Colorado, United States, was designed to house two companies of soldiers to protect settlers in the San Luis Valley, then in the Territory of New Mexico. It was named for General John Garland, commander of the Military ...

, Platteville and Montrose.

References

External links

El Pueblo History Museum
History Colorado

Sangres.com
El Pueblo History Museum
Colorado Tourism Office {{Authority control History museums in Colorado Museums in Pueblo County, Colorado Buildings and structures in Pueblo, Colorado History Colorado Tourist attractions in Pueblo, Colorado

History

Exhibits

Programs

See also

Further reading

References

External links