Fort Chambers and Sand Creek

Taishya Adams asked about tribal consultation after a public comment about a proposed indigenous botanic garden at Hogan-Pancost in place of tennis courts. The parks director said staff consulted tribal partners and the state archaeologist and found no evidence of significance. Adams said consultation should be council to tribe and not left to staff.

In closing remarks before the vote, Commissioner Levy said the county has no official say in what stories the city chooses to tell about the site's history or how it tells them, and expressed hope that the city will listen closely to the community on that question, calling it separate from the landmark decision before the board.

Commissioner Levy asked whether future interpretive signage about the property's role in the Sand Creek Massacre, which the city is developing, would need review as a certificate of appropriateness. McKinnon said any such installation within the landmark area would need Historic Preservation Advisory Board approval, noting the board commonly approves interpretive signs at other landmark sites.

Commissioner Loachamin asked whether the landmark boundary includes resources associated with the Sand Creek Massacre and Fort Chambers. Staff planner Jessica McKinnon clarified that no physical resources within the 3.96 acre landmark area are associated with Fort Chambers or the massacre, though the fort was located elsewhere on the broader 78 acre parcel owned by the city.

Taishya Adams said she had requested additional information on the Fort Chambers site beyond what staff and Right Relationship Boulder provided, and asked that a coming meeting with Ernest House Jr. include correspondence back to council and coordination with CU Boulder on tribal consultations.

Bridgette Mark, a PhD candidate speaking for Right Relationship Boulder, said the interpretive design cites settler fear 34 times as the reason for forming the militia that carried out the Sand Creek massacre, uses sticks to depict Native people, and asked council to direct OSMP to revise the design with Cheyenne and Arapaho representatives.

Paula Palmer of Right Relationship Boulder said OSMP's interpretive design for the Fort Chambers site omits any physical representation of the fort itself, despite council's prior direction, and that the Arapaho tribal representative also does not understand the design's approach.