History provides options for naming LaPorte roadway

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Any new names suggested for County Road 54G must have special meaning for LaPorte, according to county officials. Since that meaning could be historical, the North Forty News offers a short glossary of historical names that pertain to LaPorte.

Cache la Poudre: French for "hiding place of the powder." This name is thought to have originated with a cache of gunpowder stored by French trappers along the river.

Camp Collins: the U.S. Army camp located along the Cache la Poudre River, upstream from present-day LaPorte. The camp was flooded out in 1864 and the Army moved the Army post to present-day Fort Collins.

Colona: the original name for LaPorte, used from 1858 to 1862.

Edward N. Garbutt: Arriving in LaPorte in 1867, Garbutt was influential in local civic life. He formed a school district, served as county superintendent and county treasurer, and was clerk of the district court of Larimer County.

Antoine Janis: The first white settler in LaPorte, who staked a squatter's claim in 1844 where the current Cotton Willow neighborhood is located.

LaPorte: A French word meaning "gateway." Native Americans including Arapaho and Cheyenne originally inhabited the area, with French-Canadian fur trappers arriving in the early 1800s. Many of the fur traders married native women. Originally a town of tepees and log cabins, LaPorte was chosen as the first county seat in 1861, when the first territorial legislature was created. LaPorte had the first post office in the county and was considered the most important settlement north of Denver at the time. The county seat was moved to Fort Collins in 1868.

Overland Trail Stage Route: LaPorte was named the headquarters of the Mountain Division of the stage route in 1862, and a stage station was erected near present-day Lions Park.

John Baptiste Provost: One of the founders of Colona in 1858. He had a grocery store and saloon and operated a ferry across the river during flood times. His farm, co-owned by Benjamin Claymore, was on the south side of the river, on the present Brinks property.