Fort Collins: A History

While today's Fort Collins is a popular destination for foodies and weekend adventurers, it was once a lonely military outpost poised on the nation's frontier. Cattle rustlers and trigger—happy cowboys walked an uneasy line between saloon doors and the hangman's noose. By 1895, Fort Collins had lost some of its gritty edge, and it became a dry town full of churches, sheep ranches and sugar beet farms. The city was again transformed over the past century into a community that embraced a thri...