When George R. Strauss passed through the Cache la Poudre River Valley in 1858, while driving a supply wagon to Camp Floyd, near Salt Lake City, he noted the area as a paradise of game and fish. He had planned to go on to California, but became ill with pneumonia in Utah. Upon his recovery and with a friend, they headed east, only to be robbed of their possessions, thus they ended up walking to the Poudre River Valley. They arrived on May 15, 1860, at Laporte, a small Larimer County courthouse seat. From here, Bob Strauss, as he was known to friends, moved on downstream where there were fewer settlers. He settled on 80 acres along the Cache La Poudre, where he grew mostly vegetables, which he sold for a decent profit in Denver and elsewhere. It is not known what kind of permissions he had obtained to utilize the land. Strauss used the proceeds of his vegetable business to purchase cattle and horses and prospered. In 1864 he finished work on the cabin that is known today as Strauss Cabin, the second-oldest building in Fort Collins.
Strauss never married, and lived on the property until May 1904. In May 1904, when the Poudre threatened to flood, Strauss refused to accompany the workers that lived on his property to the safety of the nearby Strang farm, deciding instead to tough it out. When it became clear that he needed to get out, he tried to ride out on his old mare, but the 25 year old horse wasn’t up to it. Strauss was swept up in the flood and caught against a barbed wire fence, which he managed to hold onto until morning, when he was rescued by Strang and MacKnight. Unfortunately, he died three days later on May 21st, aged 73, presumably of exposure (Miller and Fisher 1996:51). Herman Strauss, George Strauss’s son, inherited the farm and lived there until 1946 (Miller and Fisher 1996:23). In 1975 the deed to the cabin, Larimer county’s second-oldest building, was granted to Larimer County, while the surrounding property was acquired by Platte Gravel Corporation, who went on to establish significant gravel quarries on the property.
What we know about the cabin's structure comes mostly from an architectural survey carried out in 1999 by Robert Palmer. The hand-hewn cut logs measured seventy inches in length by fifteen inches wide, with full dove tail cut ends, which makes for a very tight-fitting joint and prevents moisture from penetrating. On and within each facade wall, two brick chimneys were constructed without an interior fireplace imprint, because stoves become popular. The cabin's foundation base was sandstone and came from a nearby outcrop. In 1879, a board and batten section was added to the east. It is suggested that Strauss used the eastern part of the house as a milking shed or animal barn. One interesting feature observed by Palmer is that the door thresholds in the log section of the cabin were nine inches or more in height, to prevent rattlesnakes from entering the structure. The cabin interior consisted of whitewashed stone walls, evidence of which can still be seen.
Photos of the cabin from earlier times show that several outbuildings also stood on the property, which matches historical accounts of these buildings.
Photos of the cabin from earlier times show that several outbuildings also stood on the property, which matches historical accounts of these buildings.
A preliminary archaeological surface survey carried out in March, 2016, revealed the presence of glass, ceramic and bone. The glass was consistent with 1860s-1880s window and bottle glass. There were also some mid-century ceramic fragments. Faunal remains included butchered rib bones and other bone.