Project Overview

The City of Boulder thanks Representatives from the Arapaho and Cheyenne Tribal Nations for working with the city to complete a collaborative stewardship plan based on the vision "Heal the land; Heal the people." The plan guides how the city cares for the Fort Chambers / Poor Farm site, preserving agriculture, supporting future visitor use and enhancing natural ecosystems. Learn about the site's historical, ecological and agricultural features and its direct connection to the Sand Creek Massacre.

Interpretive Healing Trail

The "Healing Trail" is a key element of the 2024 stewardship plan developed with Arapaho and Cheyenne Tribal Representatives. It will be a walking trail with areas to support learning, reflection, healing, and gathering. Current design efforts focus on developing an interpretive experience along the "Healing Trail". Staff are collaborating with Tribal Representatives on the experience and how information will be represented. Community members have also provided input to help shape the design of the interpretive experience at the site.

Next Steps

Community input is currently being used to create a draft interpretive experience design in collaboration with Tribal Representatives. In 2026, the draft design will be presented to the community for input - to see if the design reflects the community vision for the Healing Trail, and understand what elements are supported, or not supported.

Community Input

The City of Boulder thanks community members and Tribal Representatives for providing input!

Engagement Window 3 (September, 2025): A community workshop was held on Sep. 22, 2025 and a questionnaire was open from Sep. 22 through Oct. 5, 2025. This step of the planning process focused on how the unique, educational, and reflective "Interpretive Experience" will unfold along the Healing Trail. Community members (along with OSMP staff, design consultants and Tribal Representatives) considered different areas of the site, providing input on the visitor experience, interpretive layout, interpretation tools and types of content.

Community members indicated a desire for visitors to experience:

  • Peace, serenity and relaxation
  • Respect/reverence/appreciation for people and land
  • Understanding need for healing/encourage healing

Several types of learning tools and content were considered effective: historical narratives, photographs, illustrations, stories, maps, timelines, quotations, audio elements, sculpture, native plants, and offering areas.

Community members also provided input about specific interpretive elements:

  • Stone Marker: When asked what to do with the historic stone marker (which inaccurately refers to the Sand Creek Massacre as an "Indian Uprising"), there was a preference towards reinstalling the marker on-site with additional interpretive information.
  • Fort Chambers: Community members were asked how Fort Chambers should be portrayed. Many preferred an artistic interpretation of Fort Chambers and suggestions included a (non-sod) replica of a single corner of the fort or its entry gate. Interpretive signage with illustrations/photographs was also a desirable option.

Additional information about these engagement opportunities is included in a memo prepared for the Open Space Board of Trustees PDF.

Engagement Window 2 (June, 2025): Community members helped prioritize ideas, stories and perspectives to shape the healing trail through a community workshop and an online questionnaire. We learned that all of the community stories, ideas and perspectives shared are important. The most important themes for representation along the interpretive trail are:

  • Fort Chambers, Company D, and the Sand Creek Massacre
  • Perspectives of Indigenous Peoples
  • History of Boulder/Valmont and Poor Farm

More details can be found in the memo prepared for the Open Space Board of Trustees PDF.

Engagement Window 1 (March 2025): Community members shared ideas for what stories should be told and common threads included:

  • Historical Acknowledgment: Participants called for transparent storytelling about Company D, the Sand Creek Massacre, and historical misinformation.
  • Reflection: Many stressed the need for the site to foster reflection and education around past injustices to Indigenous peoples.
  • Indigenous Representation: Participants expressed a desire for the design to prioritize Tribal voices and accommodate Tribal needs.

A detailed summary of the input PDF received, and a full compendium PDF, that includes all input from March 2025 are also available.

The proposed “Healing Trail” (as envisioned in the Concept Plan) is a walking trail with elements and areas to support learning, reflection, healing, and gathering. Interpretation is more than just presenting facts – an immersive experience can inspire reflection and a sense of connection to culture, nature and belonging. Common elements of interpretive experiences include signage, art, audio, and similar educational installations, as well as sitting areas and quiet spots for reflection and connection.

The “Healing Trail” feature and terminology is part of the concept plan that was developed in collaboration with Tribal Representatives. The goal for the site is to move towards community understanding and healing with the vision of “Heal the Land, Heal the People”, although we recognize that this site is also painful for individuals and may not support healing for everyone. No final name has been chosen for the interpretive trail - the trail and trailhead name will be determined through this design process.

This project is called the “Fort Chambers / Poor Farm” project based on the history of the site and its broad recognition throughout the community. The new trail and trailhead name will be determined through this design process and will then be used to reference the site in the future.

The stone marker that sat on the edge of the Fort Chambers / Poor Farm property was removed with support from Arapaho and Cheyenne Nation Tribal Representatives and government officials in 2023. It inaccurately states that Fort Chambers was used in an “Indian Uprising” in 1864, a false claim of coordinated Indigenous violence. The city acknowledges that Arapaho and Cheyenne leaders sought peace in the Fall of 1864 and Arapaho and Cheyenne Peoples camped at Sand Creek had been promised the protection of the U.S. Army. The stone marker is currently in storage and there is potential to place it on the site as part of the interpretive experience

As part of the initial planning process, OSMP worked with Tribal Nations to identify their desired long-term relationship with the Fort Chambers / Poor Farm property. The Tribes were not interested in owning the property but wanted to collaborate with OSMP staff on the development of interpretive materials and future stewardship, recognizing the site’s ability to support learning, healing and praying.

Planning Process

This planning process is anticipated to take approximately 15-18 months with five engagement windows:

  1. Listening and Learning. Goal: Hear all potential experiences and stories people desire for the site. (March - May 2025)

  2. Identifying Themes & Priorities. Goal: Understand the most important stories to share out (prioritize) and the reasons why. (June - Aug. 2025)

  3. Identifying a Vision for the Interpretive Experience. Goal: Create a vision for the Healing Trail.  Explore and identify how the stories will unfold along the Healing Trail (i.e.  flow of the interpretive experience and order of themes/stories). Explore potential design features/elements. (Sept. - Nov. 2025)

  4. Designing the Interpretive Experience. Goal: Understand level of support (or not) and why for a staff/consultant developed draft design(s) including interpretive elements/features to inform the development of a final design. (Nov. 2025 - March 2026)

  5. Finalizing the Interpretive Experience Design. Goal: Finalize and share out the Interpretive Experience design. (March - May 2026)

The process will involve the community throughout, with engagement windows that include both in person and online options. Sign up for our “Field Notes” e-newsletter to receive the latest updates about this community and Tribal Nation engagement effort!

Contact the Fort Chambers / Poor Farm project team

Site Background

The city acquired the Fort Chambers – Poor Farm property in 2018 to fulfill open space purposes in the city charter, and it is located near Boulder Creek east of 63rd Street and south of Jay Road. It is currently closed to the public while the concept plan recommendations are being implemented.

This unique property has important historical, ecological and agricultural features. A presentation from Aug. 25, 2025 PDF provides information from OSMP's Cultural Survey Results.

A story map includes details on:

A pond on the city's Fort Chambers - Poor Farm property

Arapaho and Cheyenne Tribal Representatives have provided guidance to prioritize "healing the land" from past uses, such as gravel mining. That work would include restoring the land's ecology, improving wildlife habitat and removing invasive weed species.

City-Tribal Nation Collaboration

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 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 to help develop concept plan. 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.
Fort Chambers marker stands on Fort Chambers - Poor Farm property

The city removed this marker – with support from Arapaho and Cheyenne Nation Tribal Representatives – because it inaccurately states that Fort Chambers was used in an “Indian Uprising” in 1864. The city acknowledges it is a false claim because Arapaho and Cheyenne leaders sought peace in the fall of 1864 and Arapaho and Cheyenne Peoples camped at Sand Creek had been promised the protection of the U.S. Army. Exaggerated and false claims of coordinated Indigenous violence helped fan anti-Indigenous hatred in Colorado during the summer and fall of 1864. 

The stone marker is currently in storage; the long-term placement of the marker is being considered with designing the interpretive experience.  

Agricultural operations occurring on the city's Fort Chambers - Poor Farm property

City staff and Arapaho and Cheyenne Tribal Representatives recognize the importance of preserving existing agricultural values on the land and using the house and other structures on the property to support agricultural operations.

Recent Open Space Board of Trustees Updates

November 2025: OSMP staff provided the Open Space Board of Trustees with a memo summarizing the community input PDF about the interpretive experience design.

Previous Open Space Board of Trustees Updates:

Go Further

Read a broad compilation of timeline information that 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:

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