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Eastern Colorado Historical Society is located at 55 W 2nd Street, Cheyenne Wells, CO, United States, 80810. They may be contacted by clicking the button above or by email at echs.cw@gmail.com.
The museum has exhibits illustrating transportation, military, postal, agricultural, business, schools, and many other aspects of life from pioneer times through the entrance of the nation onto the world stage. Specific exhibits cover the railroads, which profoundly affected the area economically and culturally; the military, which was particularly significant through its presence at the World War II airbase north of La Junta; agriculture, which has always been and remains the center of economic life in Otero County; and various small businesses as existed through the first half of the 20th century.
The Campbell house is where George Bent stayed with the Robert Campbell family in St. Louis while he attended school there. In 1857 George completed his schooling in Westport (near Kansas City) and then went to St. Louis to finish his education. In 1861 he enlisted to fight in the Civil War as a Confederate. In 1863 he went back to Colorado Territory and joined the Cheyenne as a Dog Soldier.
The Steamboat Arabia sank in 1856 near present-day Kansas City, MO and all cargo was lost. In the 1980s, a father and sons team discovered the ship’s location and recovered many items, almost all in pristine condition. Some of these items would have gone on to Bent’s Fort and the right era for village artifacts at Sand Creek. We took a trip to the museum in Kansas City, and I took photos of some of the items which I used to compare to artifacts I found on Sand Creek. We go into detail about this in our book.
Contact Us
Email us at chuck@thelostsandcreek.com