Authors et al

This website is the work of many people, many hands, many minds.  The tasks of planning, researching, analyzing research, writing, editing, selecting, and ‘webifying’ were (and continue to be) a community project within the Public Lands History Center (PLHC).  Members of the PLHC – faculty, staff, graduate students, and undergraduates – swapped sources; shared stories; […]

Water for Cattle and Sheep

The cattle industry started in Colorado in the 1860s as a result of growing trade between Texas and Kansas. The ranchers used the open range in Colorado to fatten up herds from Texas before sending them to Kansas. However, in the late 1880s and early 1890s because of declining cattle prices, devastating winters, major cattle […]

Canal Importation Ponds – Drainage in Urban Areas

The City of Fort Collins identified the Canal Importation Ponds and Outfall (CIPO) Drainage Improvement Project as a need in the 2002-2003 Stormwater Master Plan Initiative. The CIPO project would repair and modify the Canal Importation Basin, which had sustained significant damage in the Spring Creek flood of 1997. In fact, the highly urbanized area […]

Mason and Hottel Mill Race

The first agricultural diversions from the Poudre supported crop production in the vicinity, but early town residents quickly recognized the river’s potential for supporting industrial activity as well. Industrial use of water for commercial production began in Fort Collins in 1869 at the Lindell Mill, the first flour mill in the region, which was constructed […]