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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Fort Lewis. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Fort Lewis to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Fort Lewis, please Contact Us.

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Fort Lewis (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Fort Lewis. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Name Variations for Fort Lewis ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Fort Lewis: Ft. Lewis

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the east contained birth and death records; the county to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Although our information shows that the community of Fort Lewis is historic, it would have been located within present day La Plata County.

To see how the shape of Colorado's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of La Plata County: Archuleta, Dolores, Hinsdale, Montezuma, San Juan & San Juan (NM).

Below are the counties that are near Fort Lewis. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Fort Lewis:

  • La Plata County     (The home county of Fort Lewis)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Lewis, with the one closest to Fort Lewis listed first.
    • Hesperus
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Marvel
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marvel have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvel
      • Marvel is located in La Plata County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marvel <2>
    • Carbon Junction
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon Junction
      • Carbon Junction is located in La Plata County
    • Durango
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Bondad
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bondad have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bondad
      • Bondad is located in La Plata County
    • Florida
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florida
      • Florida is located in La Plata County
    • Hermosa
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermosa
      • Hermosa is located in La Plata County
    • Gem Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gem Village
      • Gem Village is located in La Plata County
    • Rockwood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwood
      • Rockwood is located in La Plata County
    • Ignacio
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Bayfield
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bayfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayfield
      • Bayfield is located in La Plata County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,586 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bayfield <2>
    • Vallecito
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • La Boca
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Boca have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Boca
      • La Boca is located in La Plata County
  • Montezuma County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Lewis, with the one closest to Fort Lewis listed first.
    • Mancos
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mancos have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mancos
      • Mancos is located in Montezuma County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,398 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mancos <2>
    • Dolores
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cortez
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cortez have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cortez
      • Cortez is located in Montezuma County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,734 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cortez <2>
  • San Juan County (NM)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Lewis, with the one closest to Fort Lewis listed first.
    • La Plata
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Aztec
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aztec
      • Aztec is located in San Juan County (NM)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,332 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aztec <2>
    • Flora Vista
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flora Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flora Vista
      • Flora Vista is located in San Juan County (NM)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Flora Vista <2>

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Fort Lewis, see our County-by-County Page for Fort Lewis.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Fort Lewis ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 73 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fort Lewis.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Fort Lewis. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Fort Lewis and those printed in the larger area surrounding Fort Lewis.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Fort Lewis.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Fort Lewis:

Cemeteries Near Fort Lewis ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fort Lewis.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Fort Lewis covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Fort Lewis, with the one closest to Fort Lewis listed first.

  • Hesperus Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hesperus Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hesperus Cemetery
  • Hay Gulch Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hay Gulch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hay Gulch Cemetery
  • Kline Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kline Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kline Cemetery
  • Marvel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Greenmount Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Green Mtn. Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Green Mtn. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Green Mtn. Cemetery
  • Thompson Park Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Thompson Park Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Thompson Park Cemetery
  • Animas Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Animas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Animas Cemetery
  • Crestview Memorial Garden
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crestview Memorial Garden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crestview Memorial Garden
  • Elco Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elco Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elco Cemetery
  • Sheek Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Sheek Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sheek Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #57548 <5>
  • Cedar Grove Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Mancos Pioneer Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Webber Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Hermosa Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hermosa Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hermosa Cemetery

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.

Fort Lewis itself is historic and was described in the Rand McNally Atlas as having a post office and no railroad service.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Fort Lewis, with the one closest to Fort Lewis listed first.

  • Durango
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Trimble
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trimble have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trimble
    • Trimble is located in La Plata County
  • Hermosa
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermosa
    • Hermosa is located in La Plata County
  • La Plata
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Rockwood
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwood
    • Rockwood is located in La Plata County
  • Ignacio
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
  • Aztec
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aztec
    • Aztec is located in San Juan County (NM)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,332 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aztec <2>
  • La Boca
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Boca have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Boca
    • La Boca is located in La Plata County
  • Dolores
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Fort Lewis. See our List of 1890's Communities around Fort Lewis.

The official website for La Plata County: www.co.laplata.co.us/

The official website for State of Colorado: https://www.colorado.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Fort Lewis, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Fort Lewis) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fort Lewis. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2319, Longitude: -108.0503    
<5>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<6>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024