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Family Vacations and Adventures in the Colorado Rockies! Heritage & History South Platte Valley Historical Society PO Box 633 Fort Lupton, CO 80621 Zebulon Pike - Zebulon Montgomery Pike was born in Somerset County, New Jersey in the village of Lamberton on January 5, 1779. Young Zebulon's formal education was limited although he enjoyed reading. He learned French and some Spanish as well as the English language. At age 15, Pike entered his father's regiment as a cadet and was given the duty of supplying frontier posts in Ohio. Stephen Long - Stephen Harriman Long (December 30, 1784 - September 4, 1864) was a U.S. engineer, explorer, and military officer. As an inventor, he is noted for his developments in the design of steam locomotives. As an Army officer, he led a pioneering scientific expedition throughout a large area of the Great Plains, which he famously coined the phrase the "Great American Desert". The magnificent 14,255' Longs Peak in Colorado is named for him. Nathan C. Meeker - Nathan C. Meeker (July 12, 1817 - September 30, 1879) was a journalist, homesteading entrepreneur, and Indian agent for the federal government. He is noted for his founding in 1870 of the Union Colony, a cooperative agricultural colony in present-day Greeley, Colorado. He was the most famous casualty of the 1879 Meeker Massacre in western Colorado. The western Colorado town of Meeker was later named for him. Col. John Milton Chivington - Col. John Milton Chivington, "the butcher of Sand Creek", wasn't always the madman that history remembers him for. He was however, the last citizen of the columbine state to take up arms to stop Texans from invading Colorado. He has been described as a charismatic man huge in stature at 6'7" and 250 lbs, with a commanding voice and presence. Colorado's most famous love triangle Horace Tabor and Augusta Pierce met when Horace took a job as a stone mason in Augusta, Maine. It probably seemed like a good idea to date and marry the bosses daughter. It must not have worked out like Horace planned because in 1855 Horace joined and Immigrant Aid Society with the objective of homesteading and populating Kansas Territory. The Battle of Summit Springs In 1869 the US Army and Cheyenne & Sioux Warriors fought the Battle of Summit Springs. Located about 14 miles Southeast of Sterling, CO., The last Native American battle on Colorado's high plains was fought between the Cheyenne and Sioux Tribes and the U.S. Army's 5th Cavalry, using Pawnee scouts on July 11, 1869. The infamous Indian War Chief Tall Bull was killed, unfortunately Susanna Alderdice, one of the two captured white women was killed. Rescued was captive Marie Weichell. Stagecoach and Train Robbery in Colorado In 1869, when the transcontinental railroad was completed, the stagecoach was the only form of public transportation available. The stagecoach system remained the best way to travel most of the remote areas in the Rocky Mountain west into the early 1900's. Overland Trail and the Indian wars The Arapaho, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Pawnee and Sioux Indians burned twelve ranches and destroyed over 100 tons of hay, a critical commodity during the winter months on the high plains. The next serious outrage was the attack on a wagon train consisting of over 20 wagons of supplies bound for the growing city of Denver. The hanging of Daniel Arata The truth behind the stories of the 175 lynchings that took place in the Rocky Mountain States between 1859 and 1919 is part of the legendary "old west". Famous Lawmen of Early Colorado and the Royal Gorge War W.B. "Bat" Masterson: Denver Sheriff from Ford Co Kansas (Dodge City). J.H "Doc" Holliday, D.D.S.: Dentist and part time frontier lawman. Both famous lawmen were mercenaries working for opposite sides of the two railroads fighting over the freight business of Colorado's gold fields. Jack Slade and the Virginia Dale stage robbery A gold shipment of over 200 lbs that amounted to $60,000 in freshly minted coins (about $2.6 million dollars today) was being shipped by the US Government, and the shipment represented several month's of back pay for soldiers at the fort. This gold became the lost treasure of Virginia Dale. The Reynold's Gang stolen treasure Southern sympathizers, the Reynolds Gang operated in South Park in 1864. In July of that year, Jim Reynolds and eight Confederate "soldiers" launched, what would become, the only invasion of the South Park area, in the Colorado Territory during the Civil War. Home | Ski Areas | Hot Springs | Scenic Byways | Adventures | Air Charters | B & B's Cabins | Campgrounds | Dude Ranches | Fishing | Gold Prospecting | Group Events Horseback Riding | Hunting | Lodging | Museums | Outfitters | Paintball Fields | Railroads Heritage & History | Tours | Rafting | Wineries | Winter Activities | Gunnison Pages Attractions | Local Music | South Park Pages | Fish Species | Whirling Disease Copyright © 2010 - Rocky Mountain Tourism LLC - all rights reserved