Boggsville, established in 1866 near the confluence of the Arkansas and Purgatoire Rivers, was the first permanent settlement in southeastern Colorado. The residents of Boggsville played a significant role in irrigation and large-scale farming and ranching in the Arkansas Valley. The town thrived for a brief period but experienced a decline in the 1870s when the railroad arrived in Las Animas, a few miles away, which ultimately became the county seat.