FLOOD09445

• Designation Number: 53
• County: Larimer
• Community: Unincorporated Larimer County
• Stream Name: Cache La Poudre River
• Basin: South Platte
• Title: Floodplain Information Report - Cache La Poudre River, Colorado, Volume III
• Date: 10/1/1975
• Designation Date: 3/1/1976
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

SETTLE~~ENT

The Cache la Poudre River received its name when a party
of French trappers trave ling through the area in 1836 decIded to hi dp.,
or cache, their excess suppl ies, Including a quantity of gunpowder, at
a certain location to be reclaimed later. White men probably first
traversed the Cache la Poudre River area as early as 1720, when a
Spanish military force in search of gold passed through the region.
The river valley was a favorite hunting around for the Arapahoe Indians;
150 of their lodges were counted in 1844 at what is now Laporte, Colorado.
An easy natural river crossing at Laporte resulted in it becoming a station
on the emigrant traIl and staae line. United states cavalry sent there in
the early 1860's called their post Camp Collins after their commanding
officer Colonel W. O. Collins, stationed at Fort Laramie. In 1864, June
floods badly damaged the Laporte camp site and the soldiers moved to the
prllsent site of Fort Coil ins.'

In 1870 Nathan Meeker traveled to Colorado from New York City,
in search of a location for his planned community. r~eeker was the a'lrl-
cultural llditor of Horace Greeley's New York Tribune. A location was
selected near the confluence of the Cache la Poudre and South Platte Rivers.
Development occurred near the Cache la Poudre River because crop irrigation
was necessary to supplement rainfall which was not sufficient to Insure
successful cultivated crops.

The Fort Collins-Greeley area has a history of continued growth
due to a strong economic base. Not only has its rich, irriqated farm land
placed it within the top ten areas in the nation for agricultural productior
.but conditions have also proved very favorable for cattle ranching and live.
stock feeding operations. Local industry includes meat packing, sugarbeet
processing, farm machinery, photographic suppl ies, clothing, plastic

From "History of Larimer County, Colorado" by Ansel Watrous, the Courier
Printing and Publishing Co., Fort Collins, 191 I.

products, dental appliances, chemicals, cement, lumber, and mobile homes.

The area has retail markets and professional services 'In I d' i
. , cUIng commerc al
and financial. The University of Northern Colorado and a two-y~ar community

college are located at Greeley and Colorado State University Is located at
Fort Collins.

THE STREAM AND ITS VALLEY

The Cache la Poudre River begins In the Rocky Mountains west
of Fort Collins, Colorado and flows In a north and easterly direction to
where It Joins with a major tributary, the North Fork Cache la Poudre
River. From this point the river enters the high plains area and flows
southeast through Fort Collins and Greeley, Colorado to the South Platte
River. Elevations In the basin range from about 4 600 fe t" I I
' ,e I mea." sea eve I
near the mouth to over 12,000 feet, mean sea level, at the Continental
DIvide. A basin map is shown on plate I and climatoloqical data is shown
in table I. - \

Table I
Climatological Data

Locat Ion Average Annua I Average July
Precipitation Temperatures (OF)
(inches)
Fort Collins 15 69
Greeley II 89

Average Januarx
Temperatures ( F)

26

9

The reach of the Cache la Poudre River studied In this report is
about 24 miles in length measured along the channel centerline. It begins
near the mouth of Spring Creek In Section 20, T7N, R68W and ends about 4 1/2
miles west of 8th Avenue In Greeley in Section 33, T6N, R66W. This reach of
the Cache la Poudre River has a wel I defined channel bordered by a relatively
flat flood plain containing intermittent tree growth and open, fertile fields.
Table 2 shows the average slope of the Cache la Poudre River stream bed by
reaches.

2