Hello, everyone, This is from Dan Gordon, LAHS '68. I'm sending along a note I got this week from my mother, Barbara Gordon, who moved to La Junta from Denver this past spring. She took a historical society tour of Fort Lyon and the fort's original site, closer to the river. I haven't been there in years (I live in South Florida now), so the account was quite striking to me... Sad to know that when the old pile becomes a prison, the magnificent (as I remember them, anyway) trees will all have to go.
As others of the the Fort Lyon diaspora may or may not recall, the fort was named Fort Wise when it was built in 1861, named after a governor of Virginia. When Virginia seceded from the union, the name was changed to Fort Lyon to honor Nathaniel Lyon, the first Union general to die in the Civil War. The fort was moved to the current site in 1867-68. Anyway, here it is...
Dan
I really wanted to tell you about the Fort Lyon tour while it was on my mind. This was an all-day tour with Fort Wise and Fort Lyon, several old school houses, the jail, etc.
Fort Lyon will soon be really made over and no longer available to historical societies.
We took sack lunches and ate at the pavilion on the parade grounds. They should have thought of that years ago. It is spacious with permanent picnic tables and benches. Could have a revival meeting there, if the spirit moved you.
The grounds are neat and well-kept - much better than when it was alive and kicking. The houses that are left are all painted shiny white with real windows, good steps, etc. But there is nobody there!
The May storm broke lots of windows - some have been replaced some boarded up - in the hospital buildings themselves. The houses looked all right. The red tile roofs are a mess.
We toured the main building - empty wards, offices, treatment areas, etc. The canteen - now commissary - much enlarged - had one woman at the cash register, lots of empty shelves, only a few packages of nuts and chips for sale. She, the attendant, will be there until October. She seemed really pleased to have us.
There are nice booths, a cafeteria-like line where lunches, maybe breakfast and dinner had been available.
There are still 30 patients, inmates or whatever, but they don't roam around.
We went to the kitchen - all that equipment! One woman in charge with a helper. They package meals and deliver them. No one eats in the dining room.
There are two big fire engines - big yellow monstrosities. Remember the firefighting equipment when we were there?
The one fireman said they don't even take the trucks out for grass fires.
You won't believe the laundry. Several years ago somebody in Washington evidently had a deal. Hospitals should have laundries, all mechanized, $3 million each.
Fort Lyon has one ... one man in charge. He put a few jackets in one huge vat and sent them on their way. If ever there was a Rube Goldberg look-alike, this is it.
Stained-glass windows in the chapel are broken. Some question as to what they Colorado prison department will do with the chapel.
Evidently there is no question as to what will become of the trees. They will come down and big fences installed.
The tour was really depressing. I remember when - in spite of the many shortcomings that I bitched about - the housing especially - there was hope and activity. And real people.
Judy Davis Thomeczek is the head of the historical society. She's friendly and smart - a gal with a cause. The society wants the old jail for the museum. It needs work, but I bet if they get the deed it will soon be an interesting museum.