Fort Independence (6)

Fort Independence (6) (1846-1847) - A Mexican War era fort established in 1846 by a detachment of U.S. Soldiers of the Mormon Battalion in present day Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colorado. Abandoned in 1847. Mormon Battalion Memorial at Stanton Ave. and Locust Street in Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colorado. History A detachment of the Mormon Battalion arrived at Fort Pueblo in the fall of 1846 with their families and Mormon immigrants from Mississippi. They established a log settlement south of Fort Pueblo that served as a winter camp for the detachment and all of the accompanying civilians. The settlement became known as Fort Independence or the Mormon Colony Winter Camp. The Mormons erected a street of cabins built of cottonwood logs, laid one above the other and chocked with mud to make the structures weatherproof. A large log Mormon temple was built at one end. It was said that some 275 people wintered at the post during the winter of 1846-1847. The fort was abandoned in the spring of 1847 and on 27 Jun 1847, the Mormon immigrants reached their destination at Salt Lake City. Current Status Mormon Battalion Memorial Text. Only a monument remains, erected in 1946 to a detachment of U.S. Soldiers of the Mormon Battalion who wintered here with their families and Mormon immigrants from Mississippi near the site of the monument. Location: Monument located at the corner of Stanton Ave. and Locust Street in Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colorado. Maps & Images Lat: 38.25582 Long: -104.60411 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 4,648' GPS Locations: 38.25582, -104.60411 Monument See Also: Fort Pueblo Mexican War Sources: Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 111-112. Gallagher, Jolie Anderson, Colorado Forts:Historic Outposts on the Wild Frontier, History Press, Charleston, 2013, ISBN 978.1.61423.903.1, 143 pages, page 67-69. Links: North American Forts - Fort Independence Visited: 28 Jul 2019