Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center

04/26/2026

Join us on Saturday, May 9th for our 3rd annuel Poetry & Posole event featuring renowned poet Suzi Q. Smith.

12:00 PM 🍲 Posole Luncheon
1:00 PM 🎭 Poetry Reading and Performance
The event is free and open to the public, but please RSVP to let us know you are planning to come at: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8693672/RSVP-for-Poetry-Posole-with-Suzi-Q-Smith

Suzi Q. Smith is an award-winning poet and author who lives in Denver, Colorado. The author of poetry collections Poems for the End of the World, A Gospel of Bones (winner of the 2019 Electric Press Award), and the chapbook collection, Thirteen Descansos, Smith is also the co-editor of two anthologies, Tell It Slant: An Anthology of Creative Nonfiction by Writers from Colorado's Prisons and All the Lives We Ever Lived, Volume I, both Finalists for the Colorado Book Award. Smith is also a Pushcart-nominated essayist with an MFA in Creative Writing from Randolph College.

While primarily known for her poetry, Suzi is also an organizer, an educator, a singer-songwriter, playwright, and interdisciplinary creative. She has created, curated, coached, organized, and taught for over 25 years, touring throughout the United States. Suzi's mother hails from Monte Vista, with many generations of her mother’s family from the San Luis Valley.

04/24/2026

🐎 Back in 1899
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Image: Gelatin silver print of a group of Ute Indians on horseback near the Los Pinos Indian Agency. History Colorado PH.PROP.850

04/23/2026

Snapshot of an Adobera at Fort Garland in the 1950s 🔨

On view June 28, 2026 🧱 Unearthing Futures / Desenterrando Futuros opens at Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center. This artistic installation explores adobe as a living practice that connects art, architecture, and ancestral knowledge across the Americas.

Presented through a collaboration between the Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center and The Harwood Museum of Art in Taos, New Mexico, Unearthing Futures extends beyond the gallery to encompass a network of historic and contemporary adobe structures across the Southwest. These include homes, churches, and community spaces that serve as living archives of memory, labor, and cultural continuity.

Learn more: www.historycolorado.org/exhibit/unearthing-futures

As we reflect on 150 years of statehood and 250 years of nationhood, Unearthing Futures offers visitors a timely opportunity to examine histories and cultural practices that predate state and national borders, while fostering meaningful dialogue about our shared future.

04/22/2026

👋 Hey Teens! Volunteer at Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center and earn real-world experience with kids education programs! Fort Garland is seeking teen volunteers to assist with our Hands-On History summer program.

*Must be 13 or older by the orientation date to apply. Learn more at: https://www.volgistics.com/appform/263672624

*The deadline to apply is May 1, 2026.

Each Teen Volunteer must be able to commit to a minimum of 50 hours for the summer, starting the week of June 8 through July 24 (no camp the week of June 30 - July 3rd). (Of course, we can work around family vacations and other obligations.) Teens will receive a stipend at the end of the program.

🤑 Teens will receive a stipend at the end of the program. Participants will also earn real-world experience, and volunteer hours for school-related community service credit!

All qualified applicants will be invited to interview on May 8, 2026.

Participants who are selected for the Teen Volunteer role will be required to attend an orientation during the first week of June prior to the start of our program.

04/21/2026

Come and experience 12 Tablecloths at Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center, a new groundbreaking artistic installation from Chloé Duplessis 🖼️ now on view until May 30, 2026.

Chapter three in the groundbreaking series, each installation is a site-specific reflection of the significance of domestic service within that location, and in this iteration, Duplessis also honors the contributions of the Black women who once worked at the fort and other military outposts throughout the West during the Civil War era.

Chloé Duplessis is a legally blind artist, curator and historian committed to creating work that centers equity, accessibility and healing. In doing so, she seeks to center the importance of shared history, and erode the social constructs that oppress people of color and those navigating disability.

With over twenty years of experience in intercultural engagement, arts administration and advocacy, she has traveled to 9 countries and 24 states in support of her work. She earned a Bachelor's degree in Cultural Studies from The University of New Orleans, and studied art and history at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.

04/21/2026

The morning of April 20, 1914 was one of the deadliest in Colorado history. The tragedy soon known as the Ludlow Massacre took the lives of more than 20 people, and the Colorado Coalfield War—the background against which the massacre took place—forever changed the lives of many, especially the people of southern Colorado.

Colorado’s coalfields were too often also killing fields during the country’s deadliest labor conflicts at the turn of the last century. Corporate interests clashed with laborers who wanted to regain control of their working conditions, leading to violent clashes—some of the deadliest in the country, including the 1914 Ludlow and 1927 Columbine Massacres.

As we honor the April 20 anniversary of the Ludlow tragedy, this classic episode of Lost Highways takes a look at Mother Jones and her role in the massive strike and its explosive conclusion. Listen to it wherever you find your podcasts or at: www.historycolorado.org/lost-highways/2022/04/19/mother-all-strikes
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Striking Miners show their willingness to defend their rights and their families in this photo, taken after the massacre. History Colorado 89.451.4784

04/18/2026

Join us today at 11:00am for an artist talk by Chloé Duplesis and the opening of 12 Tablecloths.

This event is free and open to the public.

Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center will open a new art installation this week. “12 Tablecloths” by artist Chloé Duplessis.

04/17/2026

🍎Hey Teachers and Paras! Are you looking for a summer gig?
We are looking for an educator to join our Summer Camp team!
Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center is offering a 300-hour AmeriCorps service position to help lead our 6-week Hands-On History Summer Camp
✨ Earn a living allowance
🎓 Receive an education award (use it for student loans or continuing education!)
📅 Deadline to apply: April 30
📌 Don’t forget: Submit your resume AND cover letter with your online application!
Ready to have some Hands-On fun this summer? Apply now!

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/colorado/jobs/5276576/history-colorado-education-engagement-americorps-member-montrose-co?keywords=AmeriCorps&pagetype=jobOpportunitiesJobs

04/16/2026

Did you know that more than 700 Colorado farms, ranches and families have been honored in the Centennial Farms and Ranches ceremonies celebrated at the Colorado State Fair every year?

The deadline for applications is May 1, 2026. To apply or learn more, please visit h-co.org/CentennialFarms or call (303) 866-3392.

The Centennial Farms & Ranches Program is an initiative of History Colorado and the Colorado Department of Agriculture that recognizes the contributions of the state’s ranching and farming families who have withstood the pressures of growth, changes in farming methods, as well as evolving environmental and economic conditions to preserve important pieces of Colorado’s commercial and cultural history.

“The resilience and innovation of Colorado's farming and ranching families have sustained agriculture in our communities through the decades, and we are excited to be able to recognize and honor their vital contributions,” said Lindsey Flewelling, History Colorado’s Preservation Planner for the Centennial Farms & Ranches program.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Centennial Farms & Ranches. In recent years, Centennial Farms & Ranches has also awarded nine Agricultural Legacy Awards to people and organizations who have dedicated their lives to strengthening agriculture in Colorado.

Centennial Farms & Ranches expanded in 2022 to promote a more diverse and inclusive celebration of families, farmers, ranchers and agricultural businesses with 100 or more years of experience contributing to the Centennial State’s agriculture.

Awardees will be honored for their perseverance and resilience at the Colorado State Fair, held every August in Pueblo. This year, the celebration will also mark the twin anniversaries of 150 years of Colorado statehood and 250 years of American independence.

04/15/2026

Today we take a look at the oldest continuously occupied town in the Centennial State. Situated along the Culebra Creek in the San Luis Valley near the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado Encyclopedia notes that San Luis was founded on April 9, 1851 by Hispano people from Taos, New Mexico.

It’s home to the San Luis Peoples Market, formerly the R&R Market, Colorado’s oldest business at 167 years old. The town is also honored to be the site of la Mesa de la Piedad y de la Misericordia, a shrine to the Stations of the Cross, created for the Sangre de Cristo Parish by internationally recognized local sculptor Huberto Maestas.

Today San Luis has a population of around 640 people—but every July, hundreds of people from around the region return for the Fiesta de Santiago y Santa Ana. With a car show, musical performances, parade, and a 10K run/walk, it’s one of the state’s oldest festivals—going strong since the early days of the town’s establishment. Maybe it’s time for a visit!
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Adobe buildings and wooden fences line a street in San Luis, Colorado, August 1899. History Colorado, 2000.129.158

04/15/2026

Reserve your free tickets TODAY for Freedom Plane National Tour: Documents That Forged a Nation ✈️ On view at the History Colorado Center from May 28 to June 14, 2026!

All guests must reserve a timed-entry ticket in advance. Tickets are free to the Freedom Plane National Tour exhibition. To explore the rest of the award-winning museum, admission is $20 per adult and free for kids and members.

Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the most fundamental documents in our country’s history. Reserve your tickets at www.historycolorado.org/freedom-plane 🇺🇸

👀 Plus, History Colorado Members get exclusive access from 9 to 10 AM on select dates through the run of the show! Join now and take advantage of this unique benefit. That includes members of Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center!

Sponsored by Koelbel Communities
Photos courtesy of National WWI Museum and Memorial

04/13/2026

Can you identify this Colorado native flower? Here's a hint: 👸

🐌 If you want to nurture the little gardener in your life, register your child for Hands-On History Camp at Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center!

From June 15 - 19, campers will dive into the weekly theme: 🌱 Plant! Let’s Grow Together.

Explore how plants around the state of Colorado support the people and animals of the region. When we tend to a garden and nurture living things, we can understand how Colorado fed its people and grew its communities over the decades. Let’s explore our connections to the land so we can grow together!

Register at: https://historycolorado.jumbula.com/SummerBreak2026/FortGarlandHandsOnHistorySummerBreakCamp2026
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ANSWER ⭐ Rhodiola rhodantha. (Queen's Crown, Rose Crown, Rose Root)

This photograph was taken near Lake Dunraven in Mummy Range, Rocky Mountain National Park, Larimer County, Colorado. In the left corner foreground are bunches of queens crown wildflowers. North Fork Big Thompson River runs over rocks to the right in the background. History Colorado, John Fielder's Colorado Collection 2023.1.831