The fort was approximately 100 feet square with adobe walls 12 feet high. It was like most forts and contained barns, storage, sleeping quarters and trading rooms. At the height of the beaver fur trade there were many trading posts along the rivers. American free trade and competition drove Vasquez and Sublette to sell out in 1841. The like most good Colorado real estate people got out just in time. The beaver trade dryed up the next year and the Indians burned the fort to the ground in 1842.

In 1859 the Colorado gold rush was in full swing and traders restored part of the fort using it for sleeping quarters. But the gold and silver ran out too just like the fur trade and the fort fell into total ruin. But the fort sprange back to life in the 1930's when the new deal arrived. Under President Roosevelt's new deal the WPA