Julesburg, Colorado

Julesburg is the statutory town that is the county seat of and the most populous municipality in Sedgwick County, Colorado, United States.<ref name="GNIS"/> The population was 1,307 at the 2020 United States census.<ref name="Census 2020" />

History

The original trading post was named for Jules Beni.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Julesburg was on the Pony Express (1860–1861) route from Missouri to California.

Jack Slade

File:Julesburg, Colorado UP Station.jpg

Julesburg's former Union Pacific station is now a museum

In 1858, Joseph A. "Jack" Slade, a superintendent for the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company, was tracking down horse thieves, including Jules Beni. Slade caught up with him at Julesburg, but Beni shot him five times. Everybody thought that Slade was dead and several angry townsfolk chased Beni out of Julesburg. When they returned, they found Slade struggling to his feet, having miraculously recovered.

Beni continued to steal horses from the Pike's Peak Express Company, and Slade vowed to hunt him down. Beni attempted to ambush Slade at Slade's own ranch at Cold Springs. But Slade found out about the planned ambush and, along with some of his cowboys, captured Beni. Slade did not take Beni to authorities but instead shot him dead while he was tied to a fence post.<ref>Colorado Heritage/ Autumn 2000 page 48</ref> He shot off each of his fingers, and then put the gun in Beni's mouth and pulled the trigger. Afterward, he severed Beni's ears as trophies. Template:Citation needed

This account is among the Stories of the Century, a syndicated television series starring and narrated by Jim Davis, which aired on March 4, 1955. Gregg Palmer (1927–2015) played the role of Slade, and Paul Newlan (1903–1973) portrayed Beni.

Battle of Julesburg

Template:Main Julesburg was a large and prominent stagecoach station and the site of Fort Rankin (later Fort Sedgwick). In revenge for the Sand Creek Massacre, one thousand Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Lakota warriors attacked Julesburg on January 7, 1865. In the battle the Indians defeated about 60 soldiers of the U.S. army and 50 armed civilians. In the following weeks the Indians raided up and down the South Platte River valley. On February 2 they returned to Julesburg and burned down all the buildings in the settlement, although not attacking the soldiers and civilians holed up in the fort. At the time, the town was said to have had over 1000 buildings.<ref>Grinnell, George Bird. The Fighting Cheyennes. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1915, pp. 181-195</ref>

Geography

Julesburg is located at Template:Coord (40.988422, −102.266677).<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref> According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of Template:Convert, all of it land.

The town is located on the north side of the South Platte River, along U.S. 138 and U.S. 385 and just off of I-76. It is the northernmost town in the state, less than Template:Convert south of the Colorado−Nebraska state line.

Climate

Julesburg experiences a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk) with cold, dry winters and hot, wetter summers.

Education

Julesburg School District operates public schools.

In media

Julesburg was featured in the 1960 episode "The Story of Julesburg" of the syndicated television series Pony Express.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was the setting of the 1959 Randolph Scott film, Westbound. "Julesburg" is the title of the second episode (1955) of the ABC western Cheyenne.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A 2019 YouTube video by VOA News features Julesburg as the backdrop for a short documentary about Charmaine Teodoro, a math teacher from the Philippines who is currently working at Julesburg High School.<ref>"Foreign Teacher Lands in Rural America: 'I Was Surprised'", VOA Connect, 2019. Retrieved November 1, 2020]</ref>

See also

• Colorado
  • Bibliography of Colorado
  • Index of Colorado-related articles
  • Outline of Colorado
  • Colorado cities and towns
    • Colorado municipalities
  • Colorado counties
    • Sedgwick County, Colorado
• Pony Express National Historic Trail

External links

• Template:Official website
• Map of Julesburg, CDOT