Laporte

History

The town was first settled by French-Canadian fur trappers and mountain men. It was the gateway to all the mountainous region lying north of the South Platte River and extending from the Plains to the Continental Divide. The trappers built cabins here along the Cache la Poudre River as early as 1828, making it the first settlement in Larimer County. According to legend, a group of fur traders had earlier stashed supplies (including gunpowder) in a cache along the river near Laporte, and that is how the river got its name. It became the home of Antoine Janis in 1844, who is often noted as the first permanent settler north of the Arkansas River. A band of mountaineers, hunters and trappers made Laporte their headquarters for fur catching and trading operations. The settlement increased in numbers, including 150 lodges of Arapaho Indians who settled peacefully along the river and in the valley. The town was named by the fur trappers, many with Native American wives, who settled in the area in the mid-19th century. The name la porte means "the door" in French. The winter of 1849 brought Kit Carson and his company of trappers to the Cache la Poudre, where they set up camp. In 1860 a town company was organized, originally called "Colona". Between fifty and sixty log dwellings were erected that year along the banks of the Cache la Poudre River in the valley, and in November 1861 the territorial legislature designated Laporte as the county seat. In 1862, the town of Colona changed its name to "Laporte", and was named the headquarters of the Mountain Division of the Overland Trail Stage Route. The first post office opened, and a stage stop was built on the Overland Trail. An Overland Stage station was erected right along the river, very near where the present Overland Trail…

Geography

Laporte is located on the Cache la Poudre River northwest of Fort Collins, close to where the river emerges from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. U.S. Route 287 runs along the northern edge of the community, leading southeast to Fort Collins and northwest to Laramie, Wyoming. The Laporte CDP has an area of , including of water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  35,160
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  33,467
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  33,422
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  31,181
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  29,990
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  29,687
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  27,206
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  25,099

Largest nearby schools

• Rocky Mountain High School
  High · FORT COLLINS · 2,069 students · 19.9:1 ratio
• Fort Collins High School
  High · FORT COLLINS · 1,903 students · 17.1:1 ratio
• Poudre High School
  High · FORT COLLINS · 1,663 students · 18.1:1 ratio
• Liberty Common Charter School
  Other · FORT COLLINS · 1,359 students · 18.6:1 ratio
• Colorado Early Colleges Fort Collins
  High · FORT COLLINS · 1,036 students · 19.2:1 ratio
• Wellington Middle-High School
  Middle · WELLINGTON · 857 students · 16.8:1 ratio
• Ridgeview Classical Schools
  Other · FORT COLLINS · 729 students · 16.2:1 ratio
• Webber Middle School
  Middle · FORT COLLINS · 729 students · 17.4:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.7 — 2025-06-13
  7 km SE of Erie, Colorado
• M 2.8 — 2019-11-23
  13 km NNE of Laramie, Wyoming
• M 2.9 — 2019-03-30
  7 km NE of Greeley, Colorado
• M 3 — 2016-11-06
  8 km ENE of Greeley, Colorado
• M 2.7 — 2016-11-06
  8 km ENE of Greeley, Colorado
• M 2.6 — 2016-08-23
  2 km SSE of Eaton, Colorado