VIRGINIA DALE
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VIRGINIA DALE |
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NAME: Virginia Dale COUNTY: Larimer ROADS: 2WD GRID: 1 CLIMATE: Snow in winter. Spring, summer and fall best times to visit. BEST TIME TO VISIT: Accessible year-round but cold in winter |
COMMENTS:
Located approximately 35 miles north of Ft. Collins, Colorado on Highway 287 right on the Colorado - Wyoming border. The actually Virginia Stage Station is located on private land 3 miles off the highway on a maintained county road. It can be easily seen from the road. REMAINS: The original stage station and Jack Slades cabin are still standing. |
| The Virginia Stage Station was established in 1862 by Overland Stage Agent Joseph A. (Jack) Slade. The station may have been named after his wife, Virginia. The bullet-riddled station served as a refuge from Indian attacks for travelers and local resident. The vice-president, at the time, spent a week at the station because of Indian attacks in the ares. Slade, himself, gained notoriety for the killing of fellow agent Jules Beni, who was the Overland Stage Agent at the Julesburg Station near the Colorado-Nebraska border. It is said that Slade cut off Jules' ears and nailed one to the corral post at the Dale station and carried the other one on his watch chain. Slade was widely suspected of being in the league of stage robbers during his tenure at Virginia Dale and the mountain to the northeast became known as Robber's Roost because of the thieves who hid there. Slade later led an outlaw gang in Virginia City, where his career comes to a sudden and violent end in 1864, when he was hanged by the local vivigilante committee. Submitted by: Jay S. Warburton |
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