In 1875, Major Foote made claim to
the parcel of land and hot springs. In 1876, Dr. Frank Keebles made
claim to the same parcel of land. Settlement was reached in favor of
Major Foote. in 1876, Welch Nossaman settled in Pagosa to be chased
away by the Indians, and returned the next spring.
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On May 22, 1877, an Executive Order
of the President of the United States of America designated one
square mile with the hot springs as the center of the square mile as
a United States of America town site. It was platted in 1883 and in
1885 building lots were appraised and patents were sold to
individuals under certificates numbered 1 to 733.
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In the fall of 1878, construction
began on Fort Lewis in Pagosa Springs to help control the Ute
Indians, and on January 28, 1879 it received executive approval of
President Rutherford B. Hayes. Fort Lewis was begun as an unofficial
outpost of Fort Garland, Colorado and was originally to be called
Camp Lewis in honor of Lt. Col. Lewis who had been killed in action.
However, it was changed to Fort Lewis when more permanent aspects of
Army life arrived. Fort Lewis served the purpose of controller and
protector and is one of the main reasons Pagosa Springs survived to
become an active community today. In 1879, the Meeker Massacre in
northern Colorado prompted the Army to move to another site. A
temporary garrison remained there until 1882 when the remaining site
was known as Pagosa Springs.
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On May 20, 1885 Archuleta County
was created, named for the Archuleta family from Conejos County,
covering 1,100 square miles. Pagosa Springs was incorporated in 1891
and became the county seat. Attention then returned to the hot
spring itself as a possible health resort for people with all sorts
of ills. Bathing in or drinking the mineral water was said to cure
everything from rheumatism to obesity.
The railroad was talked about in Pagosa Springs as early as 1878,
but because of constant friction between various companies for the
job of building the railroad, the first train did not arrive in
Pagosa Springs until October 13, 1900 when the construction train
finally made its way to town.
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