Site of Old Julesburg - Julesburg, CO - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

On the SITE OF OLD JULESBURG, 9 m., stood the first of the towns of that name, a station on the Overland Stage and the Pony Express routes, and a rendezvous for traders, Indian fighters, buffalo hunters, adventurers, bandits, and desperadoes, who rode into town to divide their loot and squander it riotously. Jules Beni, the sullen bear-like French-Canadian station master, was the reputed leader of a band of outlaws in league with the Indians. Hostility of the Indians broke out into open warfare after 1862. Wagon trains were attacked and burned, and travelers were murdered. While the outrages were blamed on the numerous Indians in the region, the presence of white men in some of the war parties was attested by more than one survivor. As coaches carrying the largest specie shipments were singled out for attack, Jules Beni was believed to have instigated these raids. Although proof was lacking, the stage company finally dismissed Beni and appointed Joseph (Jack) Slade as station master. Slade, one of the toughest men on an extremely tough frontier, immediately found himself a target for the hostility of Jules Beni, who brooded over his displacement as station manager. The feud reached a climax when Beni filled Slade with enough buckshot to kill an ordinary man. Slade lived, however, to boast that he would cut off Jules' ears and wear them as watch charms. He captured Beni near Fort Laramie, Wyo., and killed him, so legend has it, after prolonged torture; there were many who asserted that they had seen the tokens of Slade's vengeance dangling from his watch chain. Slade in turn was later accused of robbing wagon trains along the Overland Trail, but all the evidence seems to be against it. Relieved of his post because of his violence when drunk, Slade was soon hanged by Vigilantes in Virginia City, Mont.—for disturbing the peace.
There are many who believe that the robbers buried much of their loot near Julesburg—the Italian's Cave being one of the favorite spots for treasure seekers—but none has ever been found. This Julesburg was completely destroyed during an Indian raid in 1865.

Excerpt from Colorado: A Guide to the Highest State, 1941

Named after Jules Beni who established a trading post here in the 1850's, Julesburg became a thriving stop along the overland trails. Beni conspired with a band of outlaws and Indians to rob the stage lines that passed through his station. The stage company replaced Beni with a ruthless gunfighter named Jack Slade who ran him out of town. After being ambushed and shot by Beni, Slade recovered and eventually killed his rival, cutting off both ears and keeping one as a souvenir. According to legend, Slade nailed the other ear to a fence post as a warning.

The town was completely destroyed by an Indian raid in January, 1865. Seeking retribution for the Sand Creek Massacre, a band of 1200 warriors rode across the plains and drove the settlers into nearby Fort Rankin (later Fort Sedgwick) where they watched their town burn to the ground.

A second Julesburg was founded the following year but dwindled to nothing when the railroad passed it to the north. In 1867 the third Julesburg boomed as one of the largest towns in Colorado with the arrival of the Union Pacific railroad. It was described as "the wickedest city in the West" due to its population of gunfighters, outlaws, gamblers and prostitutes. This Julesburg too faded away as the population moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming with the railroad. In 1881 the Union Pacific Railroad constructed a Denver branch line 5 miles east at "Denver Junction." The town grew quickly and was renamed Julesburg—the 4th and present town of that name.