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Boggsville is the oldest unfortified permanent settlement in southeast Colorado. A major site on the Santa Fe Trail, Boggsville was settled in the 1860's by Rumalda Luna Bent, her husband Thomas Boggs, John Powers, and his wife Amache. Thomas Boggs was the son of a Missouri Governor and the grandson of Daniel Boone. He met his wife, Rumalda Jaramillo Luna Bent, stepdaughter of Charles Bent, when he worked at Bent's Fort. John Prowers, who later became a cattle baron in southeast Colorado, started at Bent's Fort in 1857. Amache was the daughter of Cheyenne Chief Lone Bear, killed at the Sand Creek Massacre. Together these families -- along with Christopher "Kit" Carson -- settled Boggsville.
During the nineteenth century, Southeastern Colorado was an important player on the international and national stage and is second only to San Luis as one of the earliest regions settled in Colorado. One hundred years before Zebulon Pike explored the Arkansas River, Spanish-led expeditions out of Santa Fe traveled through southeast Colorado; they encountered Apache villages stretching along the river from present day Pueblo to western Kansas. During this time, the Arkansas River served as a boundary for Native American groups living in the area. From the 18th century to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the river was the international boundary between France and Spain, and after 1803, between Spain and the United States. The Arkansas River continued to serve as the international boundary between the United States and Mexico after Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821. The Arkansas valley was part of the major travel route to and from Mexico on what would be known as the Santa Fe Trail. Bent's Fort was established as a trading post on the Santa Fe Trail in 1828. After the Mexican-American war in 1846, the boundary between Mexico and the United States was moved to the Rio Grande River in Texas.
Boggsville was initially settled in the early 1860s and served as a trading post, a post office, and the first county seat. In the 1870s, Boggsville emerged as an agricultural center and had a general store, a school, and a stage stop. Today only two buildings survive: the traditional Spanish style adobe Boggs House and the two-story adobe territorial style Prowers House, both built in 1867. An earlier adobe home occupied by Kit Carson washed away in a flood although some archaeological evidence of this house has recently been uncovered. Kit Carson lived the last year of his life at Boggsville and died three miles across the Arkansas River at Fort Lyon.
The families living at Boggsville represented a microcosm of cultural groups living in Colorado during this time. Tom Boggs and John Prowers were Missourians who immigrated to Colorado to work at Bent's Fort. Rumalda Jaramillo Luna was of Spanish descent and Amache was Native American. Kit Carson was married to Josefa Jaramillo who was Rumalda Boggs' aunt. The richness of this early multi-cultural settlement is on display in the historic buildings and museum exhibits at Boggsville.
FUN FACTS TO KNOW AND TELL
1) First non - military settlement in SE CO
2) Kit Carson spent the last year of his life at Boggsville
OTHER PLACES TO VISIT
1) Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
BEST TIMES TO VISIT
Open daily 10-4 (Memorial Day- September 30, 2009)
BYWAYS
Santa Fe Trail Scenic and Historic Byway
OTHER WEBSITES
http://www.coloradobyways.org
http://www.phsbc.info/boggs.htm
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