New Pike Kiosk To Be Erected in Lamar, CO

We just received notification that the Rotary Club of Lamar, CO is sponsoring the creation of an educational kiosk to be erected beside the Zebulon Pike Tower in Willow Creek Park. The kiosk will include a QR code that visitors can use to navigate to our website.

The town of Lamar, in southeastern Colorado on the Arkansas River, has a rich history, and a wild, wild west beginning. Envision the Blackwell Station depot, circa 1886. It was a perfect spot for a town in southeast Colorado, yet the landowner in that vicinity had no plans on selling. Not to be outdone by his resolve, interested parties sent him a fake telegram to lure him off his ranch, while a railroad wrecking crew moved the depot three miles west. Thus the town of Lamar sprung up around the moved depot.

Lamar, an agricultural and ranching hub on the Santa Fe Trail, is known for its natural and historic resources.

Besides the Pike Tower and the upcoming kiosk, there are many other points of interest in town and nearby. A visit to Lamar will show off the Arkansas River and its historic downtown. Did you know that Lamar is one of Colorado’s best birding destinations with over 400 species of birds traveling through annually. Monarch butterflies are so abundant that Lamar is Colorado’s only Monarch City USA.

Here is a list of “Don’t Miss” Historical and Natural Sites:

• Amache-Granada Japanese Relocation Center
• John Martin Reservoir State Park
• Pike’s Siting of the ‘Small Blue Cloud’ Monument
• Bents New Fort – Lamar or Bents Old Fort – LaJunta
• Madonna of the Trail [one of only 12 in US – DAR]
• Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site