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History 101: Origins of Northeast Colorado What was once a buffalo hunt- ing ground of the Arapahoe, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, Sioux and Pawnee Indians is now a sym- bol of the Great Migration made by the West's early settlers. Prior to the 1800's, explorations as far west as the South Platte River junction had been attempted by only a few hearty explorers. The Platte River was discovered and named in 1734 by two traders from an Illinois French settlement, and would later serve as the livelihood for irrigation of the Northeast plains. Over a cen- tury later, in 1835, the region's first known fur trading post, Fort Vasquez was constructed in an at- tempt to establish mercantile trade with occupying Indians. But it wasn't until the 1850 California gold rush that white settlers started taking interest in the region. North- east Colorado was the idealloca- tion to set up trading posts for gold- diggers in need of supplies. Others such as John Iliff, Jared Brush, Buf- falo Bill Cody, Jules Beni, and the famous Indian scout, Kit Carson, capitalized on the cattle, buffalo, trapping, and trading markets which thrived on the plains. Toward the end of the 1850's, settlers had forged their way west- ward via such famous trails as the Mormon, the Bozeman, the Califor- nia and the Oregon. The 1860's marked a transportation, and trans- fonnation, period for the plains, as the Overland Stage, Pony Express, Butterfield Dispatch, Leavenworth and Pikes Peak Stage, and Union 8 "h' Photo by Jack O/SOIl Pacific Railroad made accessibility to the region that much easier. Of course, with progress came rebellion, as restless Indians launched numerous attacks on traveling settlers and new inhabit- ants. By 1864, "Galvanized Yan- kees" or Confederate prisoners-of- war, were sent to Fort Morgan and Fort Sedgwick to protect stage- coaches and freight trains carrying sup- plies to the set- tlers. The battles of Fort Sedgwick, Sum- mit Springs, and Beecher Island each symbolized the tragic end of the Indian era. By this time, new plainsmen had tapped into the South Platte River to attempt irrigation of the "Great American Desert." Much to the surprise of most settlers, the land flourished with nutritious grasses and, in some parts, dense forests. Sawmill camps and small farming settle- ments began to dot the countryscape, and Northeast Colo- rado began trading beef, lumber, and grain with Denver ami ~uI'- rounding states. Ranching emerged as an important industry that would last through the next cen- tury and beyond - huge open- range cattle and sheep ranches, some as large as 400,000 acres dominated the plains. Population and trade grew even more rapidly when the 1880 Homestead Act, entitling settlers to a free acre-and-a-half of land, opened the door to the greatest in- An original school building can be seen at the Overland Trail Museum in Sterling as part of the Pawnee Pioneer Trail. For a listing of museums and historic tours, please see pages 17 and 19.