La Junta—Thatcher—Trinidad; 81.5 miles, US 350. Oil-processed road the entire distance.

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry. parallels route. Good accommodations.              

US 350 is a section of the National Old Trails Highway, a transcontinental route between New York City and Los Angeles. Between La Junta and Thatcher the route is virtually that of the Military Branch of the old Santa Fe Trail that ran from Bent's Fort (see Tour 9A) to Taos, New Mexico. In the summer of 1846, during the war with Mexico, United States forces under command of Colonel Stephen W. Kearney, known as Kearney's Army of the West, traveled it from Bent's Fort to the Hole-in-the-Rock.

In LA JUNTA, 0 miles (4,100 alt., 7,193 pop.) (see Tour 9a), US 350 branches southwest from US 50 (see Tour 9a), traversing arid prairie country; sagebrush, cacti, yucca, and mesquite cover a somber land, the habitat of prairie dogs, jack rabbits, and lizards.

TIMPAS, 17 miles (4,200 alt., 80 pop.), consists of a few weather-beaten houses, a station, and general store. Far in the distance (R) rise the Spanish Peaks, the Wet Mountains, and Pikes Peak. South of Timpas a 20-mile belt has been ravaged by floods; deep gorges slash the prairies, and once-rich grazing land has been ruined. Only a few stunted cedars, sagebrush, and cane cacti relieve the desolate scene. The cane cactus, a giant in regions farther south, grows to a height of three or four feet here; during June it bears red and yellow blossoms.

At 44 miles is the junction with a dirt road.

Right on this road 0.5 miles to the HOLE-IN-THE-ROCK ; although dry since 1929, this was one of the few watering places available to early trappers and traders traveling from Bent's Fort to Santa Fe. The trail, used by ox teams and horses, and also for cattle herds, crossed from the Arkansas to Timpas Creek and followed that stream to the point where it turned west.

In THATCHER, 45.5 miles (5,398 alt., 142 pop.), named for M. D. Thatcher, southeastern Colorado banker and business man, are the HELIUM WELLS AND PLANT. The wells have been capped since the Federal Government started operations at its own plant in Amarillo, Tex.

South of Thatcher the prairie is broken by a low line of hills, their slopes matted with buffalo and grama grasses, nesting places of the melodious black-and-white lark bunting, Colorado's State bird, and the yellow-breasted lark.

TYRONE, 54 miles (5,544 alt., 50 pop.), is a station on the railroad.

Right from Tyrone on a dirt road to HOLE-IN-THE-PRAIRIE, 0.5 miles, a series of miniature lakes in a natural bowl, a watering place on the old Santa Fe Trail and the Chisholm Trail from Texas. Vast northbound herds of longhorns, pack and wagon trains, painted Indian war parties, and troops of cavalry rested here, or met and clashed for possession of the water. In the days of the Chisholm Trail as many as two thousand head of cattle were watered here at one time. Deep-cut depressions left by old wagon wheels are visible along the sides of the little lakes. Many old cow-country ballads were sung by punchers driving their herds north. Among the songs still popular in this region is "The Old Chisholm Trail," which ends "with the cowboy's lament:

I went to the boss to draw my roll;

He figgered me out nine dollars in the hole.

So I'll sell my outfit as fast as I can,

And I won't punch cows for no damn man.

With my knees in the saddle and my seat in the sky,

I'll quit punching cows in the sweet bye-and-bye.

At 59.5 miles is the junction with a dirt road.

Left on this road to PURGATOIRE CANYON, 23 miles, its walls eroded into grotesque shapes. Fossils dug from the cliffs and river bed belong to the age of giant reptiles, and hieroglyphics carved on the rocks have been identified as the work of prehistoric Indians.

The highway traverses a vast sagebrush-and-mesquite plain, frequented by desert horned larks and sage hens, dotted with prairie dog "towns." These colonies, honeycombing large areas, are identified by hundreds of mounds of earth dug from the burrows. The favorite pose of the furry little animal is to sit erect on the edge of a mound, tiny forepaws uplifted. When alarmed, he shakes his bushy tail and, with a ludicrous flirt of hind legs, dives from sight. Although called a dog, probably from its shrill bark, the animal is a rodent of the marmot family. During the early 1890's enterprising ranchers killed, dressed, and shipped prairie dogs to eastern markets as "mountain squirrel." For several years they appeared on hotel menus in New York and Philadelphia; not until a buyer came west to contract for larger shipments was the hoax discovered.

The comical little burrowing owl, also known as the "Billy" owl, occupies many of the abandoned holes and lives on good terms with the prairie dog; the popular belief that these two share their underground quarters with rattlesnakes has no basis in fact.

South of EARL, 63.5 miles (5,673 alt., 15 pop.), a shipping and supply center, is Sunflower Valley, a prosperous farming district. Sheltered by cottonwood groves, farmhouses appear among rolling green fields of sugar beets, alfalfa, and beans. This area is notable for its pinto beans; as high as 2,500 pounds have been raised on an acre.

At 65.5 miles is the junction with a dirt road.

Right on this road is HOEHNE, 5.5 miles (5,705 alt., 320 pop.), named for Bill Hoehne, a German who settled here in 1865. The ditch he built from the Purgatoire River that year was the first extensive irrigation project in this region. The original 60 acres irrigated from the ditch are still watered from the same channel.

Left from Hoehne 7 miles on a dirt road to the old DEBUSK FARM, laid out by Sam DeBusk, who in 1882 filed the first petition for adjudication of water rights in Las Animas County. Crossing this farm is the HATCHER DITCH, later known as the Lewelling-McCormick Consolidated Ditch, the oldest irrigation project in continuous operation in Colorado. John Hatcher, Indian fighter and plainsman, worked for Kit Carson, the Bent brothers, Jim Beckwourth, St. Vrain, and others of the time. He was sent to this district in 1846 by the Bents and St. Vrain to establish a farm, but was driven out when Indians killed his cattle and burned his crops.

South of Hoehne, the long winding trenches on both sides of the highway represent Colorado's incessant activity to prevent the destruction of rich lands by erosion.

At 74.5 miles is the junction with US 160 (see Tour 11a), which unites with US 350 as far as TRINIDAD, 81.5 miles (5,999 alt., 11,732 pop.) (see Trinidad).

In Trinidad is the junction with US 85 (see Tour 12c), US 160 (see Tour 11a), and State 12 (see Tour 11A).