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Astor House Museum and Clear Creek History Park |
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Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Astor House Museum in Golden has been restored to its original glory as a late Victorian western hotel / boarding house. It offers a look into the life of Ida Goetze, boarding house residents, Golden founders and pioneers, as well as Victorian material culture. The Clear Creek History Park provides history-based educational opportunities interpreting the Golden region from 1843-1900. Using skilled living history interpreters, the Park provides visitors with diverse hands-on experiences designed to enable the public to see and use restored structures and period replicas which illustrate the lives of late 19th century Golden area residents.
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Bent's Old Fort |
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Visit a reconstructed fort, originally built in 1833. It served as the center of the Bent, St. Vrain Company's expanding trade empire. Later it also served as a U.S. Army supply center. Bent's Old Fort is located in La Junta. |
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California National Historic Trail |
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The California Trail carried over 250,000 gold-seekers and farmers to the gold fields and rich farmlands of California during the 1840's and 1850's, the greatest mass migration in American history. Today, more than 1,000 miles of trail ruts and traces can still be seen in the vast undeveloped lands between Casper Wyoming and the West Coast, reminders of the sacrifices, struggles, and triumphs of early American travelers and settlers. More than 240 historic sites along the trail will eventually be available for public use and interpretation. The trail passes through the states of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, and California.
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Forney Transportation Museum |
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The Forney Transportation Museum in Denver is a one-of-a-kind collection of over 500 exhibits relating to historical transportation. It began with antique cars, but soon expanded to include vehicles of all kinds. The museum houses "Big Boy," the world's largest steam locomotive, railcars, cabooses, coaches, a diner, antique cars, buggies, carriages, wagons, fire engines, aircraft, Denver's only cable car, trolleys, steam tractor, models, motorcycles, bicycles, costumes, music boxes, and more. |
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Fort Uncompahgre Living History Museum |
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Fort Uncompahgre was first established as a fur trading post around 1826, by Antione Robidoux near the present sight of Delta , Colorado. Fort Uncompahgre today recreates the sights, sounds, the feelings and the experience of visiting the original post, offering guided tours by interpreters clothed in period attire.
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Fort Vasquez Museum |
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Fort Vasquez Museum, 35 miles northeast of downtown Denver on U.S. Highway 85, features displays that interpret the fur-trade era. Annual educational events offered by the museum include the Kids' Fur Trade Rendezvous in September and May, and the Rendezvous Workshop Series in October and April. Visit the site of an 1835 fur-trading fort, and follow the paths of founders Louis Vasquez and Andrew Sublette. |
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McAllister House Museum |
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Tour one of the oldest homes in Colorado Springs with knowledgeable guides and staff who recreate the atmosphere of the early history of the family and city, making the house and its occupants live again. Restored to its original Victorian elegance by the National Society of Colonial Dames. |
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Meeker Home |
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The 1870 home of Greeley's founding family, Nathan Meeker and his family. It is built of adobe bricks in keeping with the ecology of the region. It is filled with many Meeker family belongings and furnishings of the 19th century and is open for touring from May through September.
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Molly Brown House Museum |
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The Molly Brown House stands as an enduring symbol of the Victorian era and the city of Denver. Using educational programs and artifact acquisition, the Museum interprets Margaret "Molly" Tobin Brown's life - primarily between the years 1894 and 1912 - in order that a broad public and future generations may understand and appreciate the social, economic, and political aspects of Victorian life in Denver. The museum preserves Margaret Brown's historically significant home through continued restoration.
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Old Spanish National Historic Trail |
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Santa Fe emerged as the hub of the overland continental trade network linking Mexico and United States markets—a network that included not only the Old Spanish Trail, but also the Santa Fe Trail and El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. After the United States took control of the Southwest in 1848 other routes to California emerged, and use of the Old Spanish Trail sharply declined. Because of its rich history and national significance, the Old Spanish Trail has been designated as a national historic trail.
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Pony Express National Historic Trail |
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The Pony Express National Historic Trail was used by young men on fast paced horses to carry the nation's mail across the country, from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California, in the unprecedented time of only ten days. Organized by private entrepreneurs, the horse-and-rider relay system became the nation's most direct and practical means of east-west communications before the telegraph. Though only in operation for 18 months, between April 1860 and October 1861, the trail proved the feasibility of a central overland transportation route, and played a vital role in aligning California with the Union in the years just before the Civil War. Most of the original trail has been obliterated either by time or human activities. Along many segments, the trail's actual route and exact length are matters of conjecture. However, approximately 120 historic sites may eventually be available to the public, including 50 existing Pony Express stations or station ruins. |
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Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site |
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The spirited history of the Pikes Peak Region comes to life at Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site. Discover the American Indian Area, visit the 1860s Galloway Homestead, the 1880s Chambers Farm and the 1907 Orchard House. Knowledgeable interpreters present the true-to-life history of the people of the Pikes Peak Region.
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Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site |
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This site in Kiowa County is being developed to recognize the national significance of the massacre of about 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho people by 700 U.S. volunteer soldiers led by Colonel John M. Chivington. |
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Santa Fe National Historic Trail |
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Between 1821 and 1880, the Santa Fe Trail was primarily a commercial highway connecting Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico. From 1821 until 1846, it was an international commercial highway used by Mexican and American traders. In 1846, the Mexican-American War began. The Army of the West followed the Santa Fe Trail to invade New Mexico. When the Treaty of Guadalupe ended the war in 1848, the Santa Fe Trail became a national road connecting the United States to the new southwest territories. Commercial freighting along the trail continued, including considerable military freight hauling to supply the southwestern forts. The trail was also used by stagecoach lines, thousands of gold seekers heading to the California and Colorado gold fields, adventurers, fur trappers, and emigrants. In 1880 the railroad reached Santa Fe and the trail faded into history. |
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