JULY 5TH EVENT AT FORT GARLAND MUSEUM HIGHLIGHTS
COLORADO’S LINCOLN BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

Governor Ritter’s Lincoln Bicentennial Commission is endorsing an event on Sunday, July 5th at the Fort Garland Museum that invites adults and children in the San Luis Valley to spend the day learning more about Lincoln while enjoying a wide variety of activities and refreshments, hot dogs and barbecue served from 11:00 AM until 5:00 PM. The event will feature a visit from popular Lincoln re-enactor, John Voehl. Admission is $5.00 per person (of course, Lincoln is pictured on the five dollar bill) and children under six years old are free. The museum is located at 29477 Highway 159.

You may reach Fort Garland by going west on US 160 off l-25. There is only one intersection in Fort Garland. You will go south on US 159 just over the railroad tracks and the Fort will be on the west side of the road. There is ample parking all around the Fort at no charge. You will need to enter through the front door located on US 159.

Fort Garland, a U.S. military fort, between 1858 and 1883, played a role in helping to win the peace in the great Civil War. Colorado had just become an official U.S. Tenitory under the leadership of William Gilpin, Territorial Governor in 1861. Colorado Volunteers who trained here were pivotal in rebuffing a Confederate States’ effort to expand the war to the West. The Battle of Glorieta Pass of March 1862, near Santa Fe, New Mexico, helped to distinguish the role of Fort Garland in the Civil War. Gilpin's commitment to Lincoln assured that Colorado would help the Union effort.

“As a State of Colorado organization, the Fort Garland Museum is proud to be a partner with the Colorado Governor’s Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, in helping to bring awareness to the public on the importance ofthis iconic President.” states Museum Director, Rick Manzanares. In addition to this event, the Friends of the Fort Garland Museum are presenting an excellent summer program which includes two major speakers on Civil War topics: William Convery, Colorado’s State Historian and Dr. Edward Crowther, Head of the Department of History at Adams State College.

Event sponsors include:

All-Gon Restaurant — Fort Garland
Cattails Golf Club — Alamosa
Coca Cola Bottling Company — Alamosa
Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad — Antonito
Inn of the Rio Grande — Alamosa 800 669-1658
Narrow Gauge Newstand — Alamosa
Rio Grande Scenic Railroad
San Luis Valley Brewing Company — Alamosa
Silver Sage Restaurant — Fort Garland

For more information about the event, call 719-379-3512, or visit the museum website.