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Site of First Masonic Meetings

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Montana, Madison County, Virginia City
This Monument Marks The Site
Wherein
Virginia City Lodge No. 43
Of Kansas
And
Montana Lodge No. 9
Of Colorado
Held Their First Meetings.

Virginia City Lodge
Held Its First Meeting
February 27th, AL. 5864.

Montana Lodge
Held Its First Meeting
May 30th, AL. 5865.

(Fraternal or Sororal Organizations) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Virginia Dale

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Colorado, Larimer County, near Livermore
Three-quarters of a mile northwest from this point is the original
Virginia Dale
famous stage station on the overland route to California, 1862 - 1867. Established by Joseph A. (Jack) Slade and named for his wife, Virginia. Located on the Cherokee Trail of 1849. Favorite camp ground for emigrants. Vice President Colfax and party were detained here by Indian raids in 1865. Robert J. Spotswood replaced Slade.

(Roads & Vehicles) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Fort Vasquez

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Colorado, Weld County, near Platteville
In this area along the South Platte River, competing fur companies in the late 1830's established a string of four adobe trading posts -- Fort Vasquez, Fort St. Vrain, Fort Jackson and Fort Lupton traversed by the Old Trapper's Trail which connected Fort Bent on the Arkansas with Fort Laramie on the North Platte. This country of wide horizons was the commercial center of a vast region. Here trappers, traders and Indians bartered calico, knives and beads for buffalo robes and beaver skins.
Built in 1835 by Louis Vasquez (later partner of Jim Bridger) and Andrew Sublette, this fort once was flanked by the South Platte River. In the spring of 1840 a Mackinaw boat was launched here loaded with 700 buffalo robes and 400 buffalo tongues. It reached St. Louis in 69 days.
Abandoned in 1842, the fort was ransacked by Indians. Later partly restored, it sheltered gold rush emigrants and troops during Indian troubles.
Fort Vasquez was reconstructed on its original site from adobe bricks made from remains of crumbling walls.
Weld County's so-called first court house stands near the gate.

(Forts, Castles) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Fort Vasquez

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Colorado, Weld County, near Platteville
Established in 1837 by Louis Vasquez and Andrew W. Sublette.
Maintained until 1842 as a post for trade in buffalo robes and beaver skins with Arapahoes and Cheyennes. Rendezvous of early trappers. Emigrant station on Platte River Trail after Gold Rush of 1859.

(Native Americans • Forts, Castles • Industry & Commerce) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Stage Station

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Nevada, Nye County, Berlin
The stage driver and his horses were housed under one roof in this building. A partition made of lumber separated the dwelling section from the barn. A small corral was attached to the south section and the door leading into the barn could be closed in cold weather.

The men who drove stage from 1904 until 1924 were John Mullin, Ed Dieringer and Alex Dyer. Alex used horses until 1915. On his first trip by Model T, the car quit him at the Dieringer Ranch. He caught a ride into Ione for help, and Albert Mayett and Firmin Bruner drove him back to his car and got it started.

(Settlements & Settlers • Communications • Roads & Vehicles) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Assay Office

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Nevada, Nye County, Berlin
Samples of rock and ore from the mine and samples of concentrates from the mill were processed (assayed) here to determine the amount of values they contained. The furnace in this assay laboratory used charcoal because it was the only clean burning fuel produced locally.

The night watchman used this office to warm himself and to rest in after each trip through town on lookout for thieves and fires. He also ate his midnight lunch here. The Watchman's name was Mr. Doolan.

(Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Fight at Las Moras Spring

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Texas, Kinney County, near Brackettville

The early 19th century saw the emergence of the Comanche people as the undisputed lords of the Southwestern Plains of Texas. Comanches used Las Moras Spring Habitual resting place on their great eastern war trail during their annual migration into Mexico and camped here for generations until a fateful dawn in the early days of the Texas Republic. In retaliation for the Comanche raid on Linnville and the Battle of Plum Creek, a force of 180 Texans made up of Captain Gillen’s Company A and Captain Ogden's Company C, 1st Regiment of Infantry, Republic of Texas, Captain Caldwell's Gonzales Rangers and Captain Cunningham's and Captain Flores's Bexar Volunteers, all under the command of Major George T. Howard, attacked a large Comanche village at Las Moras Sring on the morning of October 13, 1840. Most of the Indians fled and were pursued by the Texans. According to Major Howard, his command "continued the chase for about five miles, in which four Comanche warriors were overtaken and killed.” The Texans returned to the village late that same afternoon. It was a large town of "well constructed tents, with a good supply of provisions.” Howard ordered the Comanche winter quarters destroyed. Among the wigwams, the men found immense quantities of food, horses, mules and even a kind of fruit cake which they ate.

Major Howard departed the next day, taking several Indian rifles and about "125 mules and horses” from the village. He did not allow his men to overburden their horses with loot. One party of soldiers did, however, load a pack mule high with buffalo robes. On top they fastened a large brass kettle. The mule suddenly stampeded off, the brass kettle banging loudly as it ran. The noise frightened the horses and many stampeded off. "The race which followed formed a queer and comical scene,” as the kettle-banging mule sent horses fleeing in all directions.

Stephen L. Moore, Savage Frontier, volume III 1840-41 (Denton; University of North Texas Press, 2007)

Post Script, June 30, 1849 – It [Las Moras Spring] was decidedly the most beautiful encampment we have had thus far. This spot was formerly a favorite camping ground for the Indians. Here they formed their winter camp, and while the old men and women guarded it, the active warriors made their forays into Mexico, and laid waste the frontier. A few years since a large camp was surprised by a party of Texans, under the command of Maj. G. T. Howard. Some four or five of the Indians were killed. A large number of buffalo robes, many ponies, and a great quantity of the kernels of the pecan ready for use, fell into the hands of the victors. Several skulls and bones of the Indians were found near the stream.

Brevet Major William S. Henry, 3d U.S. Infantry with the great government train on its march to El Paso building the lower military road

(caption)
Major George T. Howard

(Native Americans) Includes location, directions, 7 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Founders of Julia C. Bulette Chapter

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Nevada, Storey County, Virginia City
On January 11, 1963, 13 members of E Clampus Vitus met at the Bucket of Blood Saloon for the purpose of forming a new chapter of E Clampus Vitus.

Those present were: Louie Beaupre, Marsh Fey, John Dufresne, Jim Lydon, Jack Cross, Ed Lydon, Bob Barry, Tiny Carlson, Ted Garland, Scott McCulloch, Frank Phillips, Bob Richards and Click Slocum.

Through the efforts of these Clampers, Julia C. Bulette Chapter was granted a Charter and has become one of the premier chapters of E Clampus Vitus.

(Fraternal or Sororal Organizations) Includes location, directions, 1 photo, GPS coordinates, map.

Wasteland or Wetland?

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Virginia, Fairfax County, Belle Haven Park
Here, 400 years ago, the Piscataway tribe fed themselves on fish and waterfowl. In the early 1800s, Virginia farmers built retaining walls, called dykes, to drain this marsh and make farmland. The dykes proved too hard to keep intact. Without dyles, in a matter of decades Potomac tides reclaimed this marsh.

By the 1950s, metropolitan Washington D.C. was booming. Developers dug gravel out of Dyke Marsh and dumped debris in its place. Gravel mining stopped in the early 1970s, but the erosion that digging started still harms Dyke Marsh today.

In 1974, Congress directed the National Park Service to protect and restore Dyke Marsh. Even now, there is much left to do. What we do today will determine if these wetlands ever truly recover.

(Environment • Notable Places) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Myrtilla Miner

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District of Columbia, Washington

Myrtilla Miner
(1815-1864), born near Brookfield, NY, was an idealistic white teacher who came to Washington to teach African Americans. In 1853, with funding from northern abolitionists, she paid $4,000 for a three-acre site at 20th and N Sts. (Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” contributed $1,000.) The next year she opened Miss Miner’s School for Colored Girls despite widespread opposition from the Washington establishment.

After her death the Miner Fund was created with $40,000 received from the sale of the three-acre lot. Interest on the money was used to operate a new three story 12-room building at 1613 P St. In 1889 the Miner School became part of the public school system, one of the earliest publicly supported teacher training institutions in the nation for African Americans. Miner Normal School became part of DC Teachers College (left) in 1955 and was folded into the University of the District of Columbia in 1974.

Edith Galt, the widow of a Washington jeweler, lived at 1308 20th St., across from the Heurich mansion, until December 18, 1915 when she was married there to President Woodrow Wilson. Image courtesy of The Historical Society of Washington, D.C.

Fire Fact | July 23, 1892
Box 325 (nearby) was sounded at 2:36 am for fire at the Heurich and Company Brewery, 1229 20th St. NW. This was the third disastrous fire at this location following 1881 and 1888. Fire Department information and images courtesy of Capitol Fire Museum

Fire alarm boxes such as this one (originally painted red) were installed in the District after the Civil War. Telegraphs transmitted the box number (top) to a fire alarm center. This system was used until the 1970s when the boxes were converted to a telephone system. By the 1990s, the callbox system had been replaced by the 911 system and was abandoned.

Artist | Mamdou Cherif
Born in the Ivory Coast and raised in Paris, Cherif’s artistry is a bridge between African art and European influences. The front of the sculpture shows two of the fountain’s statues with figures walking and playing chess below; the back depicts the jetting water with two people emerging from its spray. The red letters represent the inscription on the fountain’s base.

(Education • Charity & Public Work) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Gardens of the Fort

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New York, Orange County, Fort Montgomery
Hello Visitor, please come take a stroll through our period gardens.

Regimental Gardens       The raised beds you see in front of you are a recreation of an 18th century garden. Research has shown that the soldiers at Fort Montgomery had gardens to supplement their food supply. Although we do not know precisely what the soldiers were growing, we can speculate on the types of crops they might have had, that were popular in the region during the period. Taking this into account, in this garden we have grown turnips, carrots, peas, lettuce, onions, squash, and beans. Many of these crops were relatively easy to grow and preserved well during the cold months when vegetables were direly needed. To learn more about how vegetables were preserved before refrigeration, visit the root cellar exhibit in the history museum at Trailside Museum and Zoo (a short hike away!).

(War, US Revolutionary • Horticulture & Forestry) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Three Sisters Garden

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New York, Orange County, Fort Montgomery

      The raised mounds you see to the rear are a recreation of a native “Three Sisters” garden. Corn, beans, and squash, the Three Sisters were companion crops planted by the natives. As the story goes, the Three Sisters augmented each other in a symbiotic relationship. Sister Corn would grow straight and tall providing a natural trellis for Sister Bean. In return, Sister Bean fixed nitrogen for Sister Corn, who was always hungry. Sister Squash provided shade for the roots of Sister Corn and Sister Bean, and kept animals and pests away with her long vines with sharp hairs. Interestingly enough modern nutritional research has shown that the amino acid groups of the 3 sisters, together, make up a complete protein!

      The Three sisters were planted in mounds of earth about 2 to 3 feet in diameter and about a foot or two away. The corn was planted in the four cardinal directions paying respect to these principle directions and their relationship to the earth. This three sister garden was planted using authentic, heirloom seeds. According to the latest research, the Lenape Indians living in this area first adopted agriculture about 1000 years ago. Like other northeastern Indians, the Lenape would have planted Three Sisters gardens to supplement harvests of wild game and fish. Young Lenape would learn how to hunt, spending in time in the gardens stalking and shooting invading foragers.

(Native Americans • Horticulture & Forestry) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The William J. Moreau Popolopen Bridge

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New York, Orange County, Fort Montgomery
“Bill” Moreau, Chief Engineer at the New York State Bridge Authority for 27 years. He is recognized world-wide and at home in the Hudson Valley for his strong willed, expert dedication to safe bridge design, function and maintenance for long-lived and beloved bridges.

Dedicated 27 June 2014

(Bridges & Viaducts) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Spring Valley Cemetery

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Nevada, Lincoln County, near Ursine
In this cemetery are buried members of the Rice Family and other early residents of Spring Valley. Along with other pioneering families, The Rice's helped settle his valley in the mid-1860's. The graves in the cemetery extend from that time period to the turn of the century. In recent years thoughtless people have destroyed some of the grave markers so that now those buried here will remain nameless.

Enjoy But Do Not Destroy Your American Heritage

Foot traffic is welcome but please leave only footprints and take only photographs. State and Federal Laws provide penalties for defacement or removal of antiquities from public lands.

(Cemeteries & Burial Sites) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The May Community

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Texas, Brown County, May
Originally part of a Mexican land grant given to Empresario John Cameron in 1827. May developed in the 1870s when several pioneer families settled here. Baptists and Methodists quickly organized churches. A one-room school known as Old Swayback provided the first formal education for the children. Nathan L. May built a trading post in 1879 and became the town’s first postmaster in 1881. By 1907 the village had a blacksmith shop, general store, newspaper and bank. The early history of May climaxed in 1911 with the coming of the railroad.

(Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Heflin Cemetery

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Texas, Brown County, near Early
William W. and Pency (Williams) Heflin settled here in 1875. According to local tradition the first burial was that of a child who died in 1876 from eating wild berries as his family camped on the Heflins’ property. The earliest marked grave is that of Robert Bonine in 1876. A deed confirming the Heflins’ donation of 4 acres for burial purposes was executed in 1928. Among the burials are many of the area’s pioneer settlers and their descendants and veterans of wars ranging from the Civil War to World War II. The cemetery is maintained by an association established in 1976.

Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845-1995

(Settlements & Settlers • Cemeteries & Burial Sites) Includes location, directions, 9 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Fort Vasquez Trading Post

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Colorado, Weld County, near Platteville
You are standing at the north edge of a historic adobe fort of the fur trade era, founded by Andrew W. Sublette and Pierre Louis Vasquez in 1835 to support trade with the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes.
These men and their fellow trappers were experienced in the fur business, and were from many different places--—-Spain, France, England, Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Vasquez and Sublette chose this site because of the tremendous amount of native game freely roaming the area. It was also a strategic mid-point between Fort William (Fort Laramie) to the north and Bent’s Fort to the south. Fort Vasquez immediately became an area landmark, and remains so today. This location was originally on the eastern bank of the South Platte River. The South Platte has shifted course several times over the years. Now it lies one-quarter mile to the west of the site of Fort Vasquez, across the same broad flood plain that it created.
Rich in buffalo, antelope, deer, elk, and beaver, this land produced good hay for grazing, and the establishment of Fort Vasquez led directly to the building of three other rival forts during the next several years: Fort Lupton, Fort St. Vrain, and Fort Jackson.
The use of adobe brick to build the fort was a result of the scarcity of practical building materials and reflects Hispanic influences. In this high plains area in 1835, there was very little timber.
Archaeological finds here in the 1960s played a unique role in the restoration of this fort and revealed details of how the fort was actually used. As you explore the inner plaza of the fort and approach the museum watch for signs that suggest uses of the individual areas.
Fort Vasquez:
• Established in 1835; abandoned in 1842
• Favored landmark on the South Platte River Trail during the 1850s
• Stagecoach stop in 1885
• Rebuilt by the Works Progress Administration 1935-36; watched over by Platteville and are residents
• Acquired by the Colorado Historical Society in 1958 for the citizens and guests of Colorado


Registered State and National Historic Landmark

Spanish
Puesto de Comercio de Fort Vásquez
1835
Bienvenido - Welcome - Bonjour
Usted se encuentra de pie en la parte norte del fuerte histórico de la época de comercio de pieles fundada por Andrew W. Sublette y Pierre Louis Vásquez en 1835 para sostener comercio entre las naciones Cheyenne y Arapaho.
Estos hombres y sus compañeros eran experimentados en el comercio de pieles y venían de varios lugares del mundo como España, Francia, Inglaterra, Canadá, México y Estados Unidos.
Vásquez y Sublette escogieron este sitio debido a la gran cantidad de animales de caza que vagan libremente en esta área. Este sitio también era un punto estratégico entre el Fort William (o Fort Laramie) hacia el norte y Bent's Fort hacia el sur. Fort Vásquez llegó a ser inmediatamente un punto destacado del área y su importancia aún permanece hasta hoy. Originalmente, este sitio era la orilla este del Río Plata del Sur. El Río Plata del Sur ha cambiado de curso varias veces durante los años. Ahora está situado un cuarto de milla hacia el oeste de Fort Vásquez, debido al diluvio el mismo Río creó una llanura ancha.
Rico en búfalos, antílopes, venados, alces y castores, esta tierra ha producido un buen heno para ellos; y el establecimiento de Fort Vásquez, fue la razón para que otros fuertes se construyeran durante los siguientes años, tales como Fort Lupton, St. Vrain y Fort Jackson.
El uso de ladrillos de adobe para construir el fuerte, se debe a que no había otros materiales suficientes refleja la influencia Hispana de la región. En esta área de las llanuras altas en 1835, no había tanta madera.
Los hallazgos arqueológicos aquí en los años sesenta jugaron un papel único en la restauración de esta fuerte y revelaron los detalles de como el fuerte realmente fue usado. Mientras explora la plaza del interiory se acerca hacia el museo, observe las señas que tal vez sugieren varios usos en cada área.
Fort Vásquez:
• Establecido en 1835 y cerrado en 1842
• Es un sitio favorecido en la vereda de South Platte River durante los anos cincuenta
• Estación de Coche de Caballos 1885
• Reconstruido por Works Progress Administration, 1935-36, y cuidado por los residentes de Platteville y los alrededores
• Adquirido por Colorado Historical Society en 1958 para los ciudadanos y visitantes al Estado de Colorado

(Forts, Castles • Industry & Commerce) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The Overland Stage Line

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Wyoming, Albany County, near Tie Siding
This stone marks the
place where
The Overland Stage Line
on its way to the West,
June 1862 - 1868
crossed the Colorado-Wyoming boundary line.

(Roads & Vehicles) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Big Laramie Stage Station

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Wyoming, Albany County, near Laramie
From 1849 through the end of the 19th century, thousands followed the Overland Trail into Wyoming, across the Laramie Plains, to a toll bridge near tree on the Laramie River. The historic crossing of the marshy plains consisted of a corduroy road which today is located southwest of the modern bridge. The surviving corduroy road remnant is all that remains of the trail in this area.
In 1862, Ben Holladay, consolidated several stage and freight operations to form the Overland Stage Company, which he moved from the Oregon Trail south to the Overland Trail. The new route proved to be both shorter and safer. He improved the trail and stage stations as he rose to dominate the stage, freight, and mail businesses. Constructed in 1862, Big Laramie Stage Station served as a "home station." where drivers' routes ended and passengers obtained meals while horses were changed.
Wells Fargo and Company bought Holladay's operation in 1866, three years before the completion of the Union Pacific's Transcontinental Railroad, which ended use of the Overland Stage. The Trail, however, continued to be used by local travelers and those unable to afford railroad fare. After completing a Union Pacific grading contact, Charles Hutton, Tom Alsop, and Edward Creighton created the Hart Ranch, which encompassed the property containing the Big Laramie Stage Station. Eventually Creighton sold his share and the divided into two with Alsop using the Stage Station as headquarters for his ranch on the west side of the river. The ranch is known today as Richardson's Overland Trail Ranch and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

(Roads & Vehicles) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Old Overland Trail

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Wyoming, Albany County, near Laramie
The first stone
erected in Albany Co.
to mark the
Old Overland Trail
1862 - 1868

(Roads & Vehicles) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
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