Editing La Junta, Colorado (section)

==History==
La Junta (Spanish for {{gloss|the junction}})<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|Government Printing Office]] | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n178 179]}}</ref> was named for the fact it rested at the intersection of the [[Santa Fe Trail]] and a pioneer road to Pueblo.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dawson|first=John Frank|title=Place names in Colorado: why 700 communities were so named, 150 of Spanish or Indian origin|year=1954|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015051116740;view=1up;seq=36|publisher=The J. Frank Dawson Publishing Co.|location=Denver, CO|page=30}}</ref> The town developed near [[Bent's Fort]], a [[fur trading]] post of the 19th century. The [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] passed through La Junta, with a branch line to Denver separating here.

During [[World War II]], La Junta had an Army Air Force Training Base outside town.  An Air Force detachment of the [[Strategic Air Command]] remained there until modern flight simulators developed in the 1980s rendered live flight unnecessary for pilot training maneuvers.  At least one military aircraft crashed closeby during such training maneuvers.<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-09-28-mn-7039-story.html "Bomber Crash"], ''Los Angeles Times'', September 28, 1987</ref>