Fort Chambers / Poor Farm Management Plan

On May 11, 2023, the City of Boulder with support from the Arapaho and Cheyenne Tribal Representatives has removed an inaccurate historical marker that marked the location of Fort Chambers. The marker – which is viewable online and below – will be temporarily stored during the site planning process.

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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.

Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) has compiled site information in an online format to help inform future management of the property in alignment with city open space purposes, which specifically directs OSMP’s day-to-day and long-term management practices. The information provides a broad overview of:

• Fort Chambers, where more than 100 Boulder-area men assembled and trained before they murdered Cheyenne People in northeast Colorado on Oct. 9, 1864, and committed atrocities against Arapaho and Cheyenne Peoples during the Sand Creek Massacre on Nov. 29, 1864.

• The property’s ecological and agricultural resources and how they help fulfill open space purposes in the city charter.

• Current activities occurring on the property and surrounding land use contexts.

• A Queen Anne Victorian style house on the property, which is included in the National Register of Historic Places, and historical agricultural operations on the land.

• Boulder County operated a "poor farm" on the property between 1902 and 1918. Staff continue to learn more about the "poor farm," where the county maintained a farm that sought to feed, house and care for older and sick community members, along with people experiencing physical and mental disabilities. We encourage community members to learn about the "poor farm" and what occurred there through a series of newspaper articles staff will share.

Staff developed the online information to provide a foundation for changes and further community learning of the Sand Creek Massacre and other historical and management aspects of the property. Please note computer viewing is recommended as we continue to work on improving mobile device accessibility.

We look forward to further conversations with the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, the Northern Arapaho Tribe and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe to help enhance community understanding of the Sand Creek Massacre and how it caused intergenerational trauma for Indigenous Peoples and Nations.

OSMP staff also provided a written update PDF on this project to the Open Space Board of Trustees for their March 8, 2023, meeting.

In the upcoming months, OSMP staff plan to: 

• Work with the Arapaho and Cheyenne Tribal Representatives to receive their feedback and finalize a proposed Memorandum of Understanding that will guide continued city-Tribal Nation collaboration on this site planning effort.

• Begin developing site management plan alternatives for tribal input. Tribal Representatives expressed their preference to comment and provide feedback on staff-developed management plan concepts. It is anticipated that staff will provide an update to the board on the site plan alternative process later in 2023. 

Continued staff conversations with Tribal Nations in Montana, Wyoming and Oklahoma will set the foundation for the property management plan and inform future public engagement opportunities with the Boulder community members, including Indigenous communities and organizations, agricultural and local food operators, local historic preservationists, and individuals and groups interested in natural and recreational resources. This broader community engagement will commence after the core discussions with the tribes have been completed.

The city recognizes that the history of Fort Chambers and the marker on or near the property are local legacies of American-European colonization that violently exiled Indigenous Peoples from their homelands and are a direct, local connection to the Sand Creek Massacre. As part of the planned management plan for the property, OSMP staff seek to:

• Provide meaningful Tribal Nation input into the development of a plan that will help guide the long-term management of the city’s Fort Chambers / Poor Farm property.  

• Understand the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, the Northern Arapaho Tribe and the Northern Cheyenne Tribes’ desired long-term relationship Tribal Nations property.  

• Consider how best to interpret the property in relation to Fort Chambers and the Sand Creek Massacre to accurately describe Boulder residents’ role in the Sand Creek Massacre. 

• Identify opportunities to integrate broad Indigenous history and stories of the Sand Creek Massacre and its intergenerational harm to Tribal Nations into Boulder history, which is dominated by Euro-American histories. 

In late July, Arapaho and Cheyenne Tribal Leaders and Representatives and city staff:

• Toured the Fort Chambers / Poor Farm property. City Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) staff provided information on the property’s connection to the Sand Creek Massacre – in which more than 100 Boulder-area men participated. During the site visit, city staff also provided background on the property’s other features, including the property’s historic home and outbuildings, as well as the property’s significant scenic, ecological and agricultural resources.

• Outlined future city/Tribal Nation collaboration. City staff and Tribal Representatives discussed creating a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will further outline the process, roles and responsibilities for this Site Management Plan collaboration. We also discussed a schedule for future city/Tribal Nation meetings and how the management plan may take time since Tribal Representatives and Tribal Nations consult with many federal, state, and local agencies across the country. Tribal Representatives expressed their preference to comment and provide feedback on staff-developed management plan concepts.

• Spoke about city open space and the open space purposes. Staff and tribal representatives discussed the Open Space and Mountain Parks system in general, the city charter, and how it has specific open space purposes that guide how OSMP manages city open space. Tribal representatives expressed support for the open space purposes represented on the property.

• Discussed education and interpretation needs on the property. City staff and Tribal Representatives viewed and spoke about the marker on the property and steps needed to either reinterpret it or remove it from the property. Tribal representatives encouraged staff to not solely focus on telling the story of how the fort was utilized but also to communicate events before and after the massacre. Representatives said it is critical that Indigenous perspectives be reflected in how the events and story are told.