1876:                     Colorado becomes the 38th state; John L. Routt is elected Governor; Animas City is incorporated.

1878 (September):     Lt. Col. William L. Lewis is mortally wounded in conflict with Cheyennes in Kansas.

1878 (October):     Fort Lewis is staffed as a military post at Pagosa Springs to control and protect the Southern Ute Indians and the settlers who were moving into the area.  The location of this post was roughly where the football field currently is, across U.S. Highway 160 from the junior high school building (which used to be the Pagosa Springs high school).

1879:                    Ute uprising at White River Agency ("the Meeker Massacre"), which results in the move of many Utes out of Colorado.

1880 (August 15):     Lt. Col. Robert Crofton and four companies of U.S. 13th Infantry arrive two miles south of Parrott City, on the banks of the La Plata River, to construct relocated Fort Lewis military post in a more central location.

1880 (August 30):     U.S. War Dept. orders are issued for new Fort Lewis; reservation of 6,318 acres.

1880 (September 13):    City of Durango, Colorado, is established.  By the following year, about 1,000 people lived in Durango.

1880:    Fort Lewis army post is established/ relocated to 14 miles southwest of Durango near Hesperus to be more centrally located -- a reservation of 6318 acres.

1881 (August):    Denver & Rio Grande Southern Railroad track is laid 17 miles north from Durango to Rockwood.  

1882:    Pagosa Springs military post (former Fort Lewis) is officially abandoned; the land was given to the Secretary of the Interior in 1884.

1882 (July):    First train from Durango reaches Silverton.

1883:    Fort Lewis inspected by General William T. Sherman.

1885 (November 11):  A group of Durango citizens organizes the Durango Light and Power Company which delivered the first electric service to that town early in 1887.

1889 (July 1):    Fire destroys much of Durango.

1890 (October on):    Heavy/ deep snow cuts Fort Lewis off from Durango for six weeks.

1891:    Denver and Rio Grande Southern Railroad reaches from Durango to Hesperus, via Wildcat Canyon.

1891:    L. L. Nunn pioneers the world’s first commercial use of alternating current, at Ames, Colorado (near Telluride), to power the Gold King Mine.

1891 (May 28):    Fort Lewis is ordered closed by the Federal government and turned over to the Department of Interior for use as an Indian School.

1892 (March 17):    Following the close of the military period, Fort Lewis was converted into an Indian School to educate and “civilize” Indians.  The Fort Lewis Indian School was established at Fort Lewis, under the Department of the Interior.  Mr. Lewis Morgan of Fort Defiance was transferred by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to Fort Lewis to take charge of the school and in a very short time he had the school organized and in operation, using the buildings left by the Army.   Morgan brought five Navajos with him to start the school.  On April 23, sixteen Southern Utes arrived and by September 1, four additional Navajos and 26 Mescalero Apaches had arrived, making a total of 51 as of that date.

1893:   On August 30, there were 45 pupils in attendance.  On December 15, there were 128 pupils in attendance with the average attendance for the past twelve months being 62.  There must have been considerable resentment on the part of some of the Indians since they destroyed several barracks by burning them along with most of the houses on “officers’ row.”

1894 (April 10):    Attendance at school was 132; 111 boys and 21 girls, as follows:

In the summer of 1894, activity was interrupted by the outbreak of an epidemic, during the course of which some died.  This enraged some already skeptical and superstitious parents who came and took many of the children away by force.  The school had to be abandoned for over a year, during which time vandals looted and stripped it of everything of value, even the plumbing fixtures and pipes.  After there was no further danger from epidemic, the superintendent returned to operate the school again, bringing with him several Pimas and Papagos.

1895 (June 30):    183 students were in attendance (71 were Navajo).  A report dated July 16, 1895 said only 5 Utes were in attendance.  In the fall of 1895, over 300 Indians, representing several different tribes, and a few Mexican Americans reported to the school.  Some were less than 5 years of age and a few were only 3 years old.  Some pupils attended the school for more than 10 years.

1896:    During the fiscal year, 195 enrolled; 151 average attendance; 19 Jicarilla Apache.

1897:   On June 30, 186 boys, 111 girls = 297 total.  Average attendance was 198.

1898:   School enrollment was: male 221, female 149 = 370 total.  Fifteen tribes were represented—Navajos, Apaches and Pueblos in majority.

1899:   Average attendance for year was 313.66. 

1900:   Enrollment of 412, but had capacity for only 300.  Average attendance was 307.  Twenty-five Southern Ute children were placed at Fort Lewis; some ran away; one died.

1901 (May 7):   Attendance was 350.

1900:    The Federal census listed persons at the Indian School.

1903:   87 male, 42 female were enrolled as of March 31, 1903.  Later in the year, 136 were reported enrolled with 118 average attendance.

1904:    In January, the enrollment was 178.  Later report said: 175 enrolled; 151 average attendance.

1905:   198 enrolled; 180 average attendance.

1906:   Mesa Verde National Park is founded -- the first national park in Colorado.

1907:   242 enrolled; 192 average attendance.

1909:   40 enrolled; 35 average attendance.  [Note: The preceding statistics of Fort Lewis Indian School enrollment were drawn from three sources: The Annual Reports of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, “School Statistics Accompanying the Annual Report” from the Superintendent of Fort Lewis School, and reports of the Inspector of Indian Schools.]

1910:    Last year of the Fort Lewis Indian School.

 1911:   Page 30 of Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs noted:  “… the governor of Colorado similarly to Utah’s in regards to the Ouray School accepted the buildings and fixtures of the Fort Lewis school and the Grand Junction school.  Each of these schools is to be maintained by the State as an institution of learning to which Indian students will be admitted free of tuition and on an equality with white students.”

1911 (January):    Congress deeds the Hesperus site to State of Colorado.

1911 (January 25):    Colorado Governor John Shafroth signs a bill establishing an agricultural high school at Fort Lewis under the governance of the State Board of Agriculture, as a branch of the State College of Agriculture.

1911 (October 5):    Animas River peaks at 25,000 cubic feet per second, washing out bridges and turning the Animas Valley into a big lake.

1912 (summer):    Normal School sessions begin at Fort Lewis. Courses for girls dropped

1913:    Electrical system is installed in buildings on campus, and dormitory is heated by steam.

1913 (March 12):    Western Colorado Power Company is organized; during the ensuing year it  consolidated the operations of eight major companies on the Western Slope of Colorado.

1914:    Courses for girls reinstituted.

1915:    First Annual Visitors' Day.

1916:    First cement sidewalks on campus. Calendar changed to Summer Term, April to September.

1917:    Construction of the highway connecting Durango, Silverton and Ouray ("the Million Dollar Highway") begins.

1918:    Continuous twelve month school sessions begin at Fort Lewis School.

1918-1919:    Flu epidemic ("Spanish influenza") in the region; 5 of every 75 people died.

1919:    Girls' dormitory burned.

1920:    Gymnasium built. Nine months teacher training course of study added.

1923-1924:    Snyder Hall, men's dormitory, is built.

1924:    Nine-month courses of study in teacher training and agriculture at Fort Lewis School.

1925:    Petition of over 1,000 signatures requests the 26th Colorado General Assembly to establish Fort Lewis as a college.

1927 (September):    Two year college curriculum inaugurated at Fort Lewis; beginning of some college level courses in education during regular school year.

1927 (October 12):    Dedication of the Durango Municipal Airport Durango (on the current site of Fort Lewis College).

1929:    Stock market crashes/ start of the Great Depression.

1929:    The Student Council selects the Beaver as the school mascot, because of the animal's industrious habits.  The school colors are green and gold.

1930:    Lory Hall, Girls' Dormitory, is built.  Durango Natural Gas builds a pipeline to campus.

1931:    Annual "Senior Day" begun.  All high school seniors of the San Juan Basin are invited to the campus to get a taste of college life.

1933:    Fort Lewis begins offering only college-level courses; high school classes are discontinued.

1933-37:    Dust Bowl days.

1934:    Fort Lewis College Dean George F. Snyder dies; Ernest Bader becomes Dean.

1935:    Wiley Post and Will Rogers fly into Durango, staying at the Strater Hotel; they die in a plane crash in Alaska several weeks later en route to the Orient.

1936:    Road from Hesperus to Fort Lewis is graded and oiled.

1937:    Electrification by Western Colorado Power Company.

1938:    Vocational education is established by joint action of State Board of Public Education and State Board of Agriculture.  New library building is constructed.

1941-1945:    World War II--uranium produced at Durango's smelter.

1943:    1st Farmers' Institute.

1946:    Largest enrollment ever at old Fort Lewis College campus: 235 men and women, most are veterans.

1947:  Uranium mining begins in the southwestern and western regions of Colorado, to supply raw materials for nuclear weapons and nuclear energy.

1948:    Fort Lewis is officially designated a junior college with its own president; autonomous from Fort Collins but under control of State Board of Agriculture.

1949 (June):    Charles Dale Rea becomes the first president of Fort Lewis A & M College after resignation of Dean E. H. Bader.

1950:    Fort Lewis College begins offering extension courses in Durango.

1951 (December):    Last trip of old Rio Grande Southern railroad (including the Galloping Goose rail car) through Wildcat Canyon from Hesperus to Mancos, Dolores, Rico and Telluride.

1952:    First San Juan Basin Summer Music Camp.

1956 (summer):    Fort Lewis College is moved to Durango (classes begin there in September).

1956 (October) :    Fall enrollment of 384 students (238 full-time and 146 part-time). 

1956:    Old Fort Lewis College campus at Hesperus begins to be used as an agricultural experiment station.

1957 (May 30):    New campus dedication ceremonies.  Two men's dormitories, one women's dormitory, the president's home (later renamed Kroeger Hall), Student Center (Miller), and twenty married students' apartments are occupied.

1958:    Fine Arts Building (currently the Theatre) and chapel are occupied.

1960:    The population of the city of Durango surpasses 10,000

1960 (April) :    280 acres on the east side of the Durango campus, now known as Raider Ridge, is purchased from La Plata County at $2 per acre for future expansion.

1960 (June):    State Democratic Convention, one of the first big events held at Fort Lewis College; presidential candidate Senator John F. Kennedy is the keynote speaker.

1960 (fall):    The College's Hesperus dairy herd of 85 animals is sold at a special public auction.  On Oct. 7, 1961, the State Board of Agriculture approves leasing to the Colorado State University Experiment Station 6,318 acres of land comprising the Fort Lewis Reservation, at $10,000 per year.  The Hesperus farm equipment is transferred from the college to the Colorado State University Experiment Station at Hesperus, at no charge, effective Nov. 1, 1961.

1961 (December 14) :    After considering allegations related to the purchase of a 1951 surplus college truck by President Charles Dale Rea at a public sale, the State Board of Agriculture announces the resignation of Charles Dale Rea as president of Fort Lewis A & M College, effective June 30, 1962.

1962:    Fort Lewis College becomes a baccalaureate degree-granting institution; Dr. John F. Reed is installed as president; 7 majors are authorized.  The Fort Lewis A &M College Post Office Contract Station commences operation.

1963:    New women's dormitory is occupied (planning began at least by 1961).

1963 (September 21):    State Board of Agriculture authorizes President Reed and the Secretary to ask the Governor to change the name from Fort Lewis School to Fort Lewis College; the change was approved by March of 1964.

1964 (April):    "A & M" is dropped from Fort Lewis College's name.  College mascot is changed from Aggies to Raiders, and school colors are changed from green and gold to blue and gold.  The "Howdy Walk" walkway on campus is dedicated, with a plaque provided by the Westerners Club.

1964 (April 19):    First commencement of a Fort Lewis College graduating class as a four-year institution.

1965 (March 26):    State Board of Agriculture approves offering advanced levels of training in professional fields of law, medicine, etc. (3-1 transfer program).

1964 (August 14):    State Board of Agriculture approves the name, "East Campus", for the land near the Bader-Sheridan dormitories.

1965 (December 8):    State Board of Agriculture approves a Ballantine Visiting Scholar Program, to be financed from gifts and grants to the College.

1966:    Full accreditation by North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.

1966 (April 1):    State Board of Agriculture approves the definition of "American Indian" for tuition-free admission.

1967 (April 16):    Library/ classroom building (Reed Library) is dedicated (in conjunction with commencement) and is occupied.  The new dorms will be named Bader Hall Triangle (Dorm "H") and [Philip H.] Sheridan Hall Triangle (Dorm "I") (discussed at State Board of Agriculture meetings on Feb. 14, 1964 and May 9, 1967).

1967 (April 27):    At a special meeting, the State Board of Agriculture approves exchanging 12 acres of the Hillcrest Municipal Golf Course land for equal acreage owned by the City of Durango which was formerly the site of the city reservoir.  The exchange is finalized at the June 21, 1968 meeting.  In April of 1973 the old golf course and reservoir sites (presently the city softball fields) are annexed into the City of Durango.

1968:    New Student Union Building (CUB) and 6 new dormitories are occupied.

1968:  U.S. government funding is approved for the Dolores Project, an archaeological excavation (the largest contract archaeology project in the U.S. at the time) to salvage artifacts prior to the construction of McPhee Dam and the second-largest reservoir in Colorado.

1969:    John F. Reed resigns effective June 30 (dies Dec. 4, 1997); on June 13, the State Board of Agriculture appoints Rexer Berndt as president of Fort Lewis College and appoints Dr. Reed as President Emeritus.

1969 (October 24) :    The State Board of Agriculture approves discontinuing the five Divisions of the college and establishing the Schools of Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, and Education effective Fall 1970.  Also, the Board approves a summer Master's degree program. 

1970:    Thirteen additional majors are authorized at Fort Lewis College.  Inauguration of student exchange agreement with Concordia College (8 students exchanged for Winter 1970 semester).

1970 (December 9):    State Board of Agriculture approves limitation on Native American tuition waivers.

1971 (by May):    Colorado General Assembly passes a law limiting tuition waivers for Indian students to residents of Colorado; U.S. District Court of Colorado holds that such action constituted a breach of contract by Colorado; its decision is appealed but is upheld by the federal Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1973 -- upholding the decision of the trial court to admit Indian students tuition-free.

1971:    New Physical Education Building finished.  It seats 2,800.  New Humanities-Fine Arts Building (known as Fine Arts until it was renamed Sage Hall in about 1997) is built.

1974:    Accreditation by National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, and by American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business.

1974 (August 25):    Durango's worst fire destroys buildings on west side of 800 block of Main Ave.

1975 (April):    The new swimming pool (the "Natatorium") is being utilized.  By December of 1978, the use of natural gas was reduced due to solar energy heating that was installed in 1977-78. 

1975 (September 22):    The State Board of Agriculture approves having a State Forest Service office on the Fort Lewis College campus.

1976:    Accreditation by North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools is renewed for ten years without qualification.

1978 (fall):    The new Centennial Apartments complex (named in honor of Fort Lewis's 100th anniversary) is ready for occupancy.

1983 (January):    100-unit apartment project (Anasazi complex) is proposed.  On June 1, 1986, the State Board approves naming these the Anasazi Apartments.

1984 (October 26):    State Board of Agriculture holds a hearing regarding the possibility of removing Fort Lewis College from the Colorado State University System that the Board created on July 26 to include Colorado State University, University of Southern Colorado, and Fort Lewis College, with Philip Austin as Chancellor.  A motion to exclude Fort Lewis College is defeated 5-1 at the Board's meeting on Nov. 16, 1984.  FITE (Fighting for Independence, Tradition and Excellence) Committee of Fort Lewis College faculty, et al., responds.

1984:    Rexer Berndt retires effective December 31; the Durango Chamber of Commerce names him Citizen of the Year.

1985:    The State Board of Agriculture appoints Bernard S. Adams as president, to succeed Dr. Berndt.  Dr. Adams goes on Administrative Leave on December 20, 1986, until his resignation effective June 30, 1987.  Donald F. Whalen is appointed Acting President effective December 20, 1986.

1986 (October 4):    Dedication of Dan Noble Hall (formerly called the New Classroom Building) and renaming of library as John F. Reed Library, in a ceremony held in conjunction with Homecoming and the 75th anniversary of the college.  These names had been approved by the State Board of Agriculture on June 11, 1986, along with renaming the Old Classroom Building "Hesperus Hall."

1987 (October):    Fall enrollment of 3,738 -- the highest up to that time.

1987/1988 (winter):    Measles epidemic among the students at the college.

1988 (March 20):    Joel M. Jones is appointed president.

1992 (March 17):    Shawn Slater of the Ku Klux Klan appears at a forum on racial awareness that was sponsored by the Political Science Club.  In retrospect, the event was considered to be one of school's most significant non-events in terms of cost and time.

Winter of 1992/93:    Fort Lewis College water tower was dismantled.  The architectural drawings for the tower (in the FLC Archives) were drawn by Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. in 1955.  The Center of Southwest Studies also has a piece of the anchor bolt that was removed from the base of the Fort Lewis College water tower that was dismantled in 1992 (accession 2006:079.001).

1993 (September):    New $4.4 million West Residence Hall opens on Fort Lewis College campus; for the first time, the College requires freshmen to live on campus if their homes are not in the area.

1993 (summer):    $4.3 million in ADA accessibility projects begin on campus.

1994:    College mascot is changed from Raider to Skyhawk after much controversial discussion.

1996 (July):    Fort Lewis College begins using a voice-response telephone system (OPUS = On Campus Phone User System) for students to register for classes.

1996 (March 18-20):    Decennial reaccreditation review of Fort Lewis College by the North Central Association.

1996 (March):    Reaccreditation review (conducted every 9 years) of Fort Lewis College School of Business Administration by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business; AACSB announces its plan to use the SOB's self-study as a model case study for other institutions seeking this accreditation.

1996 (July 1):    Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the School of Education Stephen Roderick becomes Vice President for Academic Affairs, replacing William Langworthy who stepped down from that role in 1995 to teach in the Department of Chemistry; Professor of Education Ginny Engman (d. Sept. 2, 2004) is named interim Dean of the School of Education in August.

1996 (August):    J. R. Smith is appointed Athletic Director, replacing Daryl Leonard who had accepted the position in March but resigned days before her July 1 contract was to start.

1997 (September):    New $4.4 million Art Building opens on Fort Lewis College campus.

1997 (October):    New $5 million Fort Lewis College Community Concert Hall is inaugurated; finale of the month-long series of events is a performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

1997 (October):    Dr. M. J. Moseley is honored as the 1997 Colorado Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

1998 (July):    Dr. Joel Jones steps down as president of Fort Lewis College; Stephen Roderick serves as Interim President.

1998 (September):    New/ renovated $2 million Chemistry/ Biochemistry labs open at south portion of Berndt Hall.

1999 (late January):    Skyhawk Hall, a new $600,000 classroom and Exercise Science lab facility located between the Natatorium and the football stadium, is opened for use.

1999 (February):    Kendall Blanchard takes office as the 6th president of Fort Lewis College.

1999 (March):    Dr. Karen Spear's role is moved from Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences to full-time professor in that School.

1999 (August):    Record 7.51 inches of rainfall on Durango during the month.

2000 (June 9):    President Bill Clinton signs the proclamation that created Canyon of the Ancients National Monument, 164,000 acres, west of Cortez, containing the highest known density of archaeological features in the U.S.

2001:    Completion and dedication of several new buildings on campus: Business/Education Building, Center of Southwest Studies, Chemistry Hall, Dale Rea Memorial Clock Tower, and Student Life Center.

2002 (January):    Dr. Blanchard announces that he will step down as president of Fort Lewis College effective July 1;  Vice President of Business and Finance Robert Dolphin, Jr. (who was planning to retire at that time) agrees to serve as Interim President (later appointed by the Board as President).

2002 (March):    Student Life Center chosen by the NIRSA Facilities Management Committee and the Outstanding Indoor Facility Selection Committee as one of the Outstanding Indoor Facilities for 2002.

2002 (June 4):    Colorado Governor Bill Owens signs House Bill 1419, approving the creation of a stand-alone Board of Trustees for Fort Lewis College.  The State Board of Agriculture (SBA) governed Fort Lewis since it first became an agricultural high school in 1911 until the passage of this new legislation.  Additionally, in 1984 the SBA created the Colorado State University System, which consisted of Colorado State, Fort Lewis College, and the University of Southern Colorado; the new legislation moves Fort Lewis College out of the CSU system.  The legislation calls for the appointment of a new, nine-member Board of Trustees by Aug. 1.  The trustees, working in conjunction with the SBA, will develop agreements to transfer all assets and liabilities by Sept. 1.  The bill enables Fort Lewis College to offer professional programs and a limited number of graduate programs to serve regional needs.  It also establishes the college as a regional education provider with two-year authority, explicitly recognizes that "the Center of Southwest Studies provides a valuable regional, national and international resource," provides for the continued use of campus property for the state Forest Service facility, and provides for the use of the Hesperus property.

2002 (June 9):    Following one of the driest winters and springs on record, the largest forest fire in the recorded history of southwest Colorado begins near Missionary Ridge, north of Durango, and moves toward Lemon Reservoir, burning 70,485 acres and numerous homes.  It is controlled on August. 7, having cost $40.8 million to fight.

2002 (June 12):    State Board of Agriculture holds its last meeting on the Durango campus as the governing board of Fort Lewis College.

2002 (June):    Nearly all of the married student housing units and Hesperus Hall are razed.  ("The wreck of the Hesperus.")  The quonset hut (i.e., the last of the buildings that remained of those that were brought to the Durango campus from the Old Fort Lewis campus in the mid-1950s) was demolished at the end of July, followed by the west row of Physical Plant Services buildings in August.

2003 (June 4):    The gymnasium (recently renovated with a new roof) is named in honor of Dr. Donald F. Whalen.

2003 (October 1):    The Center of Southwest Studies begins a three-year federally funded $1.6 million Congressional Earmark focused on training Native American archivists, librarians, museum curators, and historic preservation professionals.

2004 (June 1):    Brad Bartel takes office as the 8th president of Fort Lewis College.

2004 (August 26):    After a 10-year hiatus, Fort Lewis College revives the tradition of Fall Convocation, an academic ceremony that welcomes new students to campus.  For the first time, faculty parade in full academic regalia to welcome and honor the new freshmen and transfer students.

2004 (August 30):    The new 14,400-square-foot $2.5 million Fort Lewis College Linda and Ben Nighthorse Campbell Child and Family Center [child care center] opens, replacing the 2,100 square feet facility next door at the end of Raider Drive that occupied one of the last remaining married student housing units.

2004 (September 14):    After reviewing a half-million incoming email messages and determining that 400,000 of them were spam, the Office of Computing and Telecommunications introduces a new server to help minimize the amount of junk email that is seen in the campus user's inbox.

2005 (April 27):    Senate Bill 194 (Fort Lewis College Selectivity for student admissions standards) passes the Colorado House unanimously with 9 co-sponsors, and is signed into law by Governor Owens in mid-May.

2005 (December 4):    Soccer team wins the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship; the game, played at Wichita Falls, Texas, was broadcast live on national television.  This was Fort Lewis College's first-ever national championship in any varsity team sport (the FLC cycling teams and a ski squad have also won national championships).

2007 (February 20):    Board of Trustees approves the renaming of Sage Hall (formerly the Fine Arts Building) as Jones Hall in honor of former President Joel M. Jones.

2007/2008:  Fort Lewis College undertakes a $55 million bond revenue issue -- the College's largest bond issue ever, by far -- to pay for a new College Union Building (projected to cost around $25-30 million, to be paid primarily through student fees) and new dorms, and to reimburse some old bonds (Student Life Center, etc.) to obtain better terms and lower rates.

More information regarding Fort Lewis College's history

Historical markers walking tour of the Fort Lewis College campus

Documentation of the land and property rights of Fort Lewis at Hesperus and Durango, Colo.

Fort Lewis College Archives guide home

Guides to the collections at the Center of Southwest Studies

Information for doing research at the Center of Southwest Studies

About the Center of Southwest Studies

Center of Southwest Studies

Page last modified: February 19, 2008