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“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Fort Collins in Larimer County, Colorado — The American Mountains (Southwest)
 

Antoine Janis Cabin

 
 
Antoine Janis Cabin Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Mike Stroud, December 24, 2011
1. Antoine Janis Cabin Marker
Inscription. Joseph Antoine Janis was born in St. Charles, Missouri, in 1824. He made a claim on the Cache la Poudre River in 1844, intending to return later to build a home. In the summer of 1859, Antoine Janis, his Oglala wife First Elk Woman and their children moved from Fort Laramie, Wyoming, to homestead the 160-acre site west of present day La Porte, an area Janis called "the loveliest spot on earth."
Antoine Janis built this cabin of ponderosa pine, cut flat on the exterior and interior sides with a broadax, a tool designed for flattening logs. Vertical score cuts still mark the length of each log. The half dovetail corner notches form a self-draining and permanently interlocked notching system.
Janis and other settlers established Colona, the first townsite in Larimer County. In addition to farming, Janis worked as an interpreter for the U.S. Army in 1855, earning an annual salary of $400. He served as a for-hire guide, gold prospector, fur trapper and trader. In 1878, the U.S. government forced the relocation of the Oglala Indians to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, compelling Antoine to move. In 1880 he sold his cabin for $4,500. Janis lived on the reservation with his family until his death in 1890. Fort Collins citizens moved the Janis cabin to Library Park in 1939, and reconstructed it as part of the Works Project
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Administration (WPA) program.
The Fort Collins Museum grew from this early historic preservation effort.
 
Erected by Fort Collins Museum, Fort Collins Breakfast Rotary Club.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Settlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the Rotary International, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1824.
 
Location. 40° 35.067′ N, 105° 4.428′ W. Marker is in Fort Collins, Colorado, in Larimer County. Marker is on Mathews Street, on the right when traveling north. Located between E Olive and E Oak Streets, old Fort Collins Library Museum Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Fort Collins CO 80524, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Auntie Stone Cabin (within shouting distance of this marker); Carnegie Library (within shouting distance of this marker); Blunck House (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Mosman House (about 500 feet away); The William C. Stover House (approx. ¼ mile away); 218 Linden (approx. ¼ mile away); Poudre Valley Bank/Salvation Army (approx. 0.3 miles away); Donated Land for the Agricultural College (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Fort Collins.
 
Antoine Janis cabin in original location c.1930s image. Click for full size.
Antoine Janis Cabin Marker, Fort Collins Library
2. Antoine Janis cabin in original location c.1930s
Antoine Janis Cabin and Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Mike Stroud, December 24, 2011
3. Antoine Janis Cabin and Marker
Antoine Janis Cabin at right , Auntie Stone Cabin left , in Library Park image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Mike Stroud, December 24, 2011
4. Antoine Janis Cabin at right , Auntie Stone Cabin left , in Library Park
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on July 9, 2017. It was originally submitted on January 31, 2012, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 1,639 times since then and 44 times this year. Last updated on July 9, 2017, by Eric Fried of Fort Collins, Colorado. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on January 31, 2012, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 30, 2024