WSP05549

• File Number: 8407
• Description: Platte River Basin - River Basin General Publications
• State: CO
• Basin: South Platte
• Water Division: 1
• Date: 8/22/1960
• Author: Kenneth W Chalmers
• Title: Future Water Requirements and Supplies for the South Platte Basin
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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FUfURE WATER REQUIREMENTS AND SUPPLIES

FOR THE SOUfH PLATTE BASIN

The role of the South Platte River in Colorado's development was set

more than 200 years ago. The intrepid Spaniard, Pedro Villasur, 'first saw th$ ;i'
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river in 1720 and called it the Rio Jesus Maria. Two Frenchmen, Paul 'and Pet$'r il

Mallett, led the first expedition up the river from the Missouri in 1139 and

it was they who gave it its name, Platte. In pioneering this route they

established the way for the early trappers and fur traders who, to protect and
expand their interests, later built forts and trading posts. Among the first \

of these was Lancaster P. Lupton who is credited with establishing the first
permanent settlement in northern Colorado in 1836. The lucrative fur trade

attracted others and in quick succession, within a lo-mile radius, the
fortified trading posts of Vasquez, Jackson and St. Vrain were built.

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President Monroe, desirous of establishing the location of the western';

boundaries of "tihe Louisiana Purchase, sent Major Stephen Long on an expedi tiort t'

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part of the State. In 1809, however, the passageway assumed its true irnportaqceJl,
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Developed by Kenneth W. Chalmers, State Conservationist, Soil Conservation <:!
Service, Denve:ri, Colorado, for presentation at the Western Resources Conferen+e'!I:
University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, August 22-26, 1960. ii'
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He too used the Missouri-Platte route. In light of present developments, hili
appraisal of the country is most interesting. The region was unfit fOr
cultivation and habitation by civilized man, but would serve as a barrier to
westward expansion and a protective belt against any enemy. other expeditiond'

over the same territory were led by Colonel Dodge, Colonel Kearney and Captain

John Fremont. The reports of these men were important. They described the

topography and 'climate, and gave other pertinent physical data which made

possible the establishment of this route as a major avenue into the central

with the discovery of gold and the subsequent coming of the Overland Stage.

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