Katie Arntzen

Archaeological Specialist

Katie Arntzen is the History Colorado State Historical Fund Archaeological Specialist. She works with State Historical Fund applicants to dream projects, apply for grant funding, and implement awarded projects. Katie has a BA in History and Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Masters in Anthropology from the University of Denver.

Photo of author Katie Arntzen, standing in front of an ornate building
Katie Arntzen

Written by Katie Arntzen

  • Photo of a small creek running over blonde sand. The the right, the bank contains some small rocks, sticks, and shrubs. To the left of the creek, the sands of the dunes gently rise up toward the left. A few green shrubs dot the banks of the creek. In the background, mountains covered in trees are visible on this sunny, blue-sky day.

    Traveling the Storied Byway of the San Luis Valley

    “Ever since my first visit to the Great Sand Dunes National Park at seven years old, I’ve always remembered the special feeling of seeing them for the first time,” says Megan Eflin, Outreach Coordinator for the History Colorado State Historical Fund. “And how much fun my family and I had there on one of our many road trips when I was young. As an adult, summers for me have become a time for packing into the car, snacks accessible, music playlist at the ready, and hitting the open road for an adventure. Giving you an opportunity to create your own path. Choosing to stop when you see something of interest, make route changes on a whim, and immersing yourself in local culture, food, and events.”

  • Colorado School of Mines students conduct the ground-penetrating radar survey at Roselawn Cemetery.

    “Nobody Should Go Unremembered”

    Near and dear to the people of Pueblo is Roselawn Cemetery—a place of family and community connections that holds so many memories of Pueblo’s past. The State Historical Fund recently supported a project to find the exact location of the mass burial that followed the catastrophic Pueblo Flood, prompting reflections on the meaning of tragedy, closure, and remembrance.

  • Photo from Amache internment camp in 1943 - a wooden framed, one-story building named Block 10-H

    Amache: Visualizing the Past Through Restoration and Reconstruction

    When you first visit the Granada Relocation Center, known to many as Amache, it’s hard not to be struck by the landscape. The vast arid plains run for as far as the eye can see, dominated by native grass and shrubbery with the occasional cottonwood. Hot and parched, the land bears witness to a dark chapter of the American story. No buildings remain at the large, 328-acre relocation center that interned more than 7,000 Japanese Americans from 1942 to 1945 during World War II.