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Mounting his pony, he sped on to Julesburg, one hundred and forty miles away, and he got every inch of speed out of his mounts. At Julesburg he met another important government despatch for Washington. The rider who should have carried the despatch east had been killed the day before.
The overland stage cannot run through until they can provide for supplies for stock from Julesburg to the Junction, where overland stage leaves Denver route, everything belonging to the stage company, citizens and government being entirely destroyed. The Indian villages are unknown to us. From the best information I have I believe them to be on the Powder River.
Every vestige of leather straps and cushions was stripped off, the mail-sacks cut open, their contents thrown out, and the sacks themselves carried off. Valuable letters, drafts, and bills for large amounts were scattered all over the ground. This mail was gathered up by the employees, put in gunny sacks, hauled to Julesburg, and from there forwarded to the Post-Office Department at Washington."
There was nothing to relieve the monotony in this desert land, except desperate Indians, immense herds of animal life, daily coaches when not held back or captured by the Indians or mountain highwaymen returning freight trains, and the following points where there were adobe ranches: Dog Town, Plum Creek, Beaver Creek, Godfrey's, Moore's, Brever's at Old California Crossing and Jack Morrow's at the junction of the north and south Platte, Fort Julesburg, Cotton Wood and the Junction, each one hundred miles apart, and John Corlew's and William Kirby near O'Fallow's Bluffs.
This Jules had been feathering his own nest at the expense of the company, and the new management supplanted him with one Jack Slade, whose record up to that time was either nineteen or twenty killings. Slade was put in charge at Julesburg with instructions to clean up his division.
He also made the surveys and located the line between Salt Lake Valley and Green River. P. T. Brown, Assistant Engineer, was in charge of the advance survey under the direction of General Dodge and also located the line from the "foot of the Black Hills" to Julesburg. James A. Evans was Division Engineer and in that capacity made many of the profiles, plats and estimates and final surveys.
This plan succeeded until an overpowering force attacked Julesburg and drove the troops inside of their works and burned the stage- and telegraph-station, destroying a large amount of stores for both companies.
On the morning of the 2d of February, the men at the stage station, called Julesburg, discovered a small band of Indians in the valley to the east of them, who were evidently out on the war-path, as they had all their paraphernalia on, were finely mounted, hideously painted, and profusely decorated with feathers.
Fort Kearney was the headquarters of Major North and his Pawnees and their duty was to protect the construction forces while at work. As illustrating conditions existing, the following is of interest: A large body of Indians appeared on the scene near Julesburg, Major North and forty of his Pawnees started from Fort Kearney to the scene of the anticipated trouble.
They were enabled to change horses as near as possible every hour, by telegraphing ahead in the morning, during the day, and often far into the hours of night. Starting from Julesburg early in the morning of the 17th, their first resting place for a few hours at night was Granite Canyon, twenty miles west of Cheyenne, and just at the foot of the pass over the Black Hills.
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