32 



GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 



Wy 



It was tills 



soutlierii fork of the Overland Trail that the Union Pacific followed 



Lincoln 



name 



water, which issue from the bluffs lo the right (north) of the station. 



1877 there was a bold train robbery, after 



Here in 



movement 



killed in 



Elevation 3,367 feet, ^^g^ q^q, pobbers wcre Overtaken and 



Omaha 3^ miles. Gcologicallj the placc is of interest as marking the 



western limit of the thick loess and underlying 

 gravels previously described. North of Big Springs these deposits 



terminate bv abuttine: asrainst 



and farther west this formation occupies the surface. 



miles 



m 



miles 



At Julesburgj in northeastern Colorado, the Union Pacific Railroad 



forks, one branch extending up South Platte River to 



Julesburg, Colo, 



Elevation 3,465 feet. 

 Population 962. 

 Omaha 372 miles. 



mam 



point 



ward up Lodgepole Creek. At this 



intending to travel by way of the scenic route of the 



Denver & Rio Grande Railroad through the Rocky 



Mount 



Gen. Dodge writes: 



No town on the western plains has had a more checkered or exciting history than has 

 Julesburg. It has been built on four different sites. In the days of the overland 

 emigmtion a fort was established here and garrisoned with soldiers to protect travelers 

 from the Indiana. Old Julesburg, the first, was located about 1 mile east of the fort, 

 on the south bank of the river at the old ford crossing. It was sacked and burned 

 by the Indiana February 2, 1865. In July follomng the great Sioux^war broke out, 

 and from that time on till peace was declared there was more Indian fighting in this 

 ^vicinity than at any other station along the Platte Valley. During these times Maj. 

 O'Brien says buffalo were more plentiful on the plains around Julesburg than the vast 

 herds of native cattle were in later years. * * * 



A second Julesburg was built 4 miles east of the fort. This was moved to the north 

 side of the river, where the town of Weir now stands, and at one time was the terminus 

 of the Union Pacific Railroad and contained 7,000 poeple. Here the desperado ele- 

 ment held sway until the better class of citizens organized themselves into a vigilance 

 committee and by their just but necessarily severe verdicts and punishments rid the 

 town of these lawless frontiermen and established a peaceful government. 



' The Lincoln Highway, designed as a 

 memorial to Abraham Lincoln, is to be 

 an improved thoroughfare extending 

 across the continent from New York to 

 San Francisco by the shortest practicable 

 route. It will be 3,389 miles long and 

 will traverse 13 States. The route was 

 laid out and announced by proclamation 

 in 1913 by the Lincoln Highway Associa- * follows the Overland Trail 



tion, whose headquarters are in Detroit, 

 Mich,, and the work of improving it is 

 progressing rapidly under the direction of 

 local committees. The distinctive red, 

 white, and blue pole markers now cover 

 about 90 per cent of the route^ which is 

 already used by numerous touring parties. 

 Between Omaha and San Francisco it 



