The History of our home town and surrounding area
By Fowler Historical Society and Museum
History memorabilia is collected from the files of the Fowler Historical Society and Museum. The Museum is located at 114
Main Street in Fowler, Colorado.
On the southeastern plains of the State of Colorado is the prairie town of Fowler. It is located on the south side of the
Arkansas River on U. S. Highway 50 in Otero County, just 34 miles east of old Fort Pueblo.
Who did this land first belong to? The Early People, wanderers and gatherers, who hunted wild animals and gathered food;
the American Natives, Arapahoe, Commanche, Kiowa and the Ute Indian Tribes.
land seemed like a barren waste, overgrown with cacti and sage brush
but: The Arkansas River, flowing from the Rocky Mountains in the west,
gave Indians a valley where buffalo could roam, trees with which to
build shelters, water for survival of animals and humans alike. A mild
climate, wide open spaces, and canyon country with rock cliffs for
petroglyphs and protection drew roaming tribes for their temporary
The Spanish came next by virtue of
discovery and exploration in 1520. Explorers came: Coronado, Zebulon
Pike in 1806, and Colonel Fremont in 1845. Finally in 1848 the United
States acquired the vast area of land, including what is now Fowler, as
a result of the Mexican War. It was time then for trappers, fur
traders, and explorers like Ceran St. Vrain, Charles Bent, Kit Carson,
and "Uncle Dick" Wooten, to pave the way for new settlers, farmers and
The Arkansas River beckoned early
settlers who established way stations, homesteads, farms and ranches.
Among early settlers surnames were: Hungerford, Hollis, Nancreed,
Garland, Ramsey, Cox and True in 1871; Schmit, Schneider in 1874;
Rains, McDaniel, Davis, Owens, Poteet, Farnsworth, Simpson, Sauer and
Mock in the 1890's; and later in the 1890's Weiland, Norton,
Hutchinson, Harris, Taylor, Robinson, Enderud, Waddington, Barnard,
Bevard, Mitchell and Lawler; and Fellhauer 1894.
Santa Fe Trail
early settlers knew the Arkansas River as a turbulent stream; it was
deep and swift and could be forded only in a few places in eastern
Colorado. Timber for building was floated down the river. For
communication, pulleys across the river were used in several locations.
The first wagon bridge across the Arkansas River between La Junta and
Pueblo was at Nepesta, built in 1886.
A branch of the Santa Fe Trail continued along the north side of the Arkansas River taking pioneers west to Fort Pueblo.
Jackie Moore's Way Station just north of Fowler was a popular stopover for trappers, gold seekers, explorers and weary travelers.
1876, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad followed the Arkansas
River extending its line westward to South Side, a whistle-stop on the
railroad line located on the east border of Pueblo County. The name
Oxford was given to the South Side whistle-stop just east of Pueblo
County, in then Bent County. The railroad workers chose this name
because a big bull or ox was killed when crossing the tracks. Oxford
was the established U. S. Post Office from April 27, 1882, until
September 6, 1890. Because of a conflict with another Oxford on the
rail line, the name of the whistle-stop was changed to Sybil. However,
the name Sybil was never established as a U. S. Post Office.
The first railroad depot was a box
car at Sybil siding. It was there in 1887 that a tall lanky professor
with flowing white hair and beard stepped off the train. Orson Squire
Fowler set foot on what was to become a thriving community named for
him: Fowler, Colorado.
O.S. Fowler - Namesake of Fowler
O. S. Fowler,
the noted professor and phrenologist, saw great value and potential in
the land. He gained control of the land and filed a plat under the name
of Fowler Town and Development. His idea was to build an irrigation
ditch and import a colony of fruit growers. The improvement of the
property had hardly begun and only one mile of the ditch had been
completed when, unfortunately, Professor Fowler became ill and returned
to his native state, New York, where he died.
His wife Abigail Ayers Fowler
continued to manage the company with W. E. Alexander as president. The
company had a town platted by W. N. Randall, and sold lots to new
residents. All early abstracts have the name Fowler Town and
Development Company and Abigail Ayers Fowler as original owners.
O. S. Fowler's idea of a perfect
community was a health colony. He planned to grow fruit and vegetables
and raise pure fed livestock. The Arkansas River would provide plenty
of irrigation water.
A large number of farmers had
taken up claims and homesteads along the line of the proposed ditch and
in order to hasten the work they formed a company and finished the
ditch. Originally it was called the Enterprise, later named 'The Oxford
Farmers ditch' in 1889. Earliest users of water took it from the
Arkansas River. After ditches were built many ran water into cisterns
for domestic use. Then as a precautionary measure against typhoid,
wells were dug. Two wells in the town were equipped with hand pumps and
troughs for watering horses.
County was formed in March of 1889 from eastern Pueblo County and
western Bent County. The town of Fowler, Otero County, Colorado, was
incorporated October 3, 1900, with a population of 150. J. S. Gilbert
was the first mayor and lots were then selling for $20.00.
Quite probably the first residential property in the vicinity of Fowler was that of Henry M. Fosdick.
In 1882, the Fosdick family came from Boone, Colorado, and built a log
cabin home on the south side of the Arkansas River. This cabin was
replaced with a two story home in 1894. Andrew J. Hollis maintained a
postal service in a log cabin on the Fosdick property until 1887.
Businesses, Schools, Churches and Newspaper
Businesses, schools and churches flourished. There were three stores in Fowler in October of 1893: one at the Post Office (S. W. Denney,
Postmaster), one owned by D. B. Lee, and one owned by H. McMaster.
first furniture store was owned by Robert J. Hough, on the southwest
corner of Main Street and Cranston. In this same building Mr. Hough
served as undertaker for a time. Before the Fowler Cemetery was opened
in October 1897, burials were made in cemeteries at Nepesta and Rocky
Ford. The cemetery was first owned by the Cemetery Association, but in
1920 it was turned over to the Town of Fowler.
The first lumber yard was a branch
of the R. W. English Lumber Company of Rocky Ford, managed by Robert B.
Edwards until his tragic death in 1929.
The first issue of the Fowler
Tribune was published September 17, 1897. Mr. George P. Davenport was
editor and proprietor. It was the first publication in this part of the
valley and was printed in Denver. Although Fowler numbered only
twenty-eight people, the paper was well patronized and within one year
the Tribune was being published in Fowler. Mr. C. W. Buck's first issue
was December 17, 1909.
The first school in the Fowler
community was held in a small building near the slough, about a mile
southeast of the center of town. In 1887, Miss Grace Fenlason taught