Joseph Mason, (January 28, 1840-February 11, 1881) was an explorer, business man, law man, and early settler of the Colorado Territory He is best known as the "Father of Fort Collins, Colorado". Mason was an early white homesteader in Larimer County, Colorado in the 1860s. Mason settled a large tract of land along the Cache la Poudre River in present-day north Fort Collins, and he played in an instrumental role in persuading the United States Army to found Camp Collins along the river adjacent to his property in 1864. After Colorado became a territory in 1861, Mason was appointed to the first board of county commissioners. He became prominent in politics and business in Fort Collins after the founding of the town in 1867, and served in several official posts, including becoming Sheriff of