Fort Chambers / Poor Farm Management Plan

Open Space and Mountain Parks staff extend their gratitude to the Tribal Representatives for providing guidance on the future stewardship of the Fort Chambers / Poor Farm property.

The planning process includes the following steps:

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The current vision for the property, developed in collaboration with Tribal Nation Representatives, is guided by the theme:

"Heal the Land; Heal the People"

Recognizing the site’s history and impacts from previous land uses, such as gravel mining, there is a desire to make improvements that will turn the site into a healing place for all: community members, visitors, wildlife and natural ecosystems:

• Prioritize restoring the land's ecology, improving wildlife habitat and removing invasive weed species to begin healing the land from the impacts of past land uses.
• Acknowledge and communicate the role of Fort Chambers and the Boulder community in the Sand Creek Massacre through education and interpretation.
• Provide space for a "healing trail" to offer healing, contemplation, and reconciliation opportunities.
• Support and continue agriculture on the land, helping the city preserve agricultural production and protect agricultural lands.
• Use the historic Queen Anne home and existing farmstead structures on the property to support agricultural operations.
• Ensure ongoing Tribal Nation-city collaboration on future land stewardship, interpretation and education needs.

Tribal Representatives have communicated to city staff they are not interested in owning the Fort Chambers / Poor Farm property. However, they want to continue providing long-term land stewardship advice and guidance for future education and interpretative materials.

This unique property has important historical, ecological and agricultural features. In March 2023, Open Space and Mountain Parks compiled site information in an online format that includes details on:

• The history of the area, including historic maps and aerial photographs, to see how the land uses changed over time.
• Information about Fort Chambers, Company D, and a historic marker that was located on the property.
• The Queen Anne Victorian home on the land. The house and the adjacent area are on the National Register of Historic Places.
• A "poor farm" that Boulder County operated between 1902 and 1918. The county used the "poor farm" to help feed, house and care for older and sick community members, along with people experiencing physical and mental disabilities.
• The property’s ecological values. Today, it provides habitat for more than 100 wildlife species and 90 plant species. It also has 48 acres of wetlands and open water.
• The land's agricultural uses and agricultural structures, irrigation water and fertile soils that have supported agricultural operations on the land for decades.

City staff also compiled in-depth information about the colonization of lands in Boulder Valley, Fort Chambers, Company D and the Sand Creek Massacre.

The City of Boulder honors Tribal sovereignty and conducts government-to-government consultations with Representatives appointed by elected leaders of Tribal Governments that have historic and enduring connections to the Boulder Valley and share agreements with the city. The city recognizes that Tribal Nations are sovereign governmental entities whose special relationship with the United States is recognized under the Constitution of the United States, treaties, Supreme Court decisions, federal laws and presidential Executive Orders.

Given the land's connection to the Sand Creek Massacre, City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) staff have prioritized receiving guidance from Tribal Representatives – including Sand Creek descendants – designated by elected leaders representing the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, the Northern Arapaho Tribe and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. Throughout this project, the city has collaborated with Arapaho and Cheyenne Tribal Representatives to:

• Learn the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, the Northern Arapaho Tribe and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe's desired long-term relationship with the land.
• Understand how best to interpret the land's history and its connection to the Sand Creek Massacre and accurately describe Boulder residents’ role in the massacre.
• Identify opportunities to incorporate the intergenerational trauma that the Arapaho and Cheyenne Nations have endured from both the colonization of Indigenous lands in the Boulder Valley and the Sand Creek Massacre into Boulder history.

The city thanks Arapaho and Cheyenne Tribal Nation for the opportunity to listen to and learn from Tribal Representatives for this project. The timeline below provides a brief overview of city-Tribal Nation consultations for the Fort Chambers – Poor Farm property.

Read a broad historical overview city staff have developed to provide community members context on colonization of Indigenous lands in the Boulder Valley, Fort Chambers, Company D and the Sand Creek Massacre. We ask community members to go beyond our broad overview and take time to learn more about the Sand Creek Massacre by:

• Visiting the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in Eads, Colorado. Take time to reflect on the site, how Boulder community members participated in the massacre and the intergenerational harm it caused for generations of Arapaho and Cheyenne Peoples.
• Going to History Colorado's exhibit, “The Sand Creek Massacre: The Betrayal that Changed Cheyenne and Arapaho People Forever.” History Colorado developed the exhibit with guidance from the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, the Northern Arapaho Tribe and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe.