Julesburg, Colorado

Julesburg is a historic town located on the old Overland Trail in northeastern Colorado. Julesburg was also the site of a Pony Express station in those days. To this point in time, Julesburg has been washed away by the South Platte River and rebuilt 4 times. It's the northernmost town in Colorado, being less than 1 mile south of the Nebraska border. One story says the name comes from the owner of the first trading post built in the area: one Jules Beni. Another story says Jules Beni was a notorious horse thief in the area, finally caught and killed by Jack Slade, a superintendent for the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company (parent company of the Pony Express).

In the aftermath of the Sand Creek Massacre, the settlers and soldiers at Julesburg were attacked and lost badly to a mass of Arapaho, Cheyenne and Lakota warriors. The tribes spent the next several weeks raiding up and down the South Platte River Valley and returned to Julesburg almost a month after the first attack. With the remaining soldiers and civilians holed up in Fort Sedgwick, the warriors burned everything else in the settlement to the ground.

Sedgwick County Courthouse in Julesburg, Colorado