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 The Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express - Stratton, NE
N 40° 08.891 W 101° 14.092
14T E 309637 N 4446599
A brief history of the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express stage line which ran passengers and freight between Leavenworth, Kansas and Denver, Colorado.
Waymark Code: WMFFMJ
Location: Nebraska, United States
Date Posted: 10/12/2012
Views: 6
In the spring of 1859 William H. Russell and John S. Jones established The Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express to carry passengers and freight from the Missouri River to the Colorado gold fields. The route crossed northern Kansas, detouring northwest through an area lacking wood or water, to reach the Republican River in this vicinity. The company's station eighteen was located southwest of here near the present Hitchcock-Dundy County line.
Noted newspaperman Horace Greeley took the stagecoach to Denver and stopped at the temporary tent station on June 2, 1859. He wrote "I would match this station and its surroundings against any other scene on our continent for desolation."
After The Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express acquired the Hockaday mail contract to California, its stagecoaches were rerouted through the Platte Valley beginning in July 1859. The original stations in Western Kansas and along the Republican River in Nebraska, including station eighteen, were abandoned. Emigrants and settlers continued to use the old trail for a few more years.
This marker was placed by the Nebraska State Historical Society, Ola Chapter 317, Eastern Star and is located adjacent to Pitner Park in Stratton, NE.
Marker 352
Marker Name: The Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express
City: yes
Roadside: yes
Other: no
Web Address if available:: [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions:
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1. Close up of historical marker
2. Picture of surrounding area (would prefer to have the marker in the picture also). Thanks!
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