Destination Denver City: The South Platte Trail

History

Monahan, Doris

Americas

Swallow Pr

As rivers go, the South Platte is poorly arranged -- often shallow, sprawling into undisciplined streams and muddy channels. But it was a major source of water for migrants from the east: first buffalo, then Indians, then whites. And, along its southern bank, a major trail developed in the 1850s and 1860s. The Cheyennes and Arapahoes, following the bison, came first, sometime in the first or second quarter of the nineteenth century. Fur traders arrived soon afterwards, the first of many whites moving into eastern Colorado to explore, hunt, mine, farm, and trade. Increasing migration set the stage for conflict, and the concentration of activity along the South Platte trail made it a focus of hostilities in the high plains region during the Indian war of the 1860s, until the coming of the Union Pacific Railroad ended the usefulness of this primitive thoroughfare. Drawing on fragments of report and legend, journals and correspondence of explorers, settlers and military me

Ohio University Press

Fiction is responsible for Julesburg's unsavory reputation in the early years.  Gossip along the trail liked a sensational story much better than a tame one.  Later, of course, Julesburg earned its own title as the "Wickedest City in the West."  It has been too tempting to writers to pick out interesting fragments from the story.  Besides an attempt to correct misapprehensions wherever possible, I have also tried to tell about the personalities of the various people involved--Ben Ficklin, Jim Moore, Nicholas O'Brien, John Mix, James Neill and Emily O'Brien--and the surroundings and situations with which they tried to cope.  
This is what I hoped to do.
   Camille Bradford, President of OCTA Colorado-Cherokee Trail Chapter, writes:  Monahan provides many details to explain how Julesburg III achieved its reputation as the "Wickedest City in the West." Colorado historian Doris Monahan provides a stimulating overview of the history of the area in its most volatile period, along with interesting insights based upon her research.  Her passionate interest in the subject matter is evident throughout the book and enhances the enjoyment of reading it."

Julesburg and Fort Sedgwick, Wicked City-Scandalous Fort

Self-published

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