(Green River, Wyo.)—Craig—Meeker—Rifle; State 13. Wyoming Line to Rifle, 130.8 miles

Graded road between Wyoming Line and Craig; oil-processed between Craig and Hamilton; graveled elsewhere. Good accommodations.

This route cuts across the northern part of Colorado's western plateau country, a region of rolling sage-covered hills, walled in on the east by the Elkhead Mountains. Almost all of it is occupied by large ranches. Cattle barons here have been little troubled by the tattlers who overran the ranges in other parts of the State, for this high and arid region is generally unsuited to agriculture. The highway roughly parallels the old wagon trail from Fort Steel near Laramie, Wyo., to the White River Indian Agency at Meeker.

State 13 crosses the WYOMING LINE, 0 miles, 86 miles south of Green River, Wyoming (see Wyoming Guide), and traverses a sage-covered plateau to CRAIG, 38 miles (6,200 alt., 1,418 pop.) (see Tour 7c), at the junction with US 40 (see Tour 7c).

The road follows the narrow, fertile valley of the Yampa River, a slash of green across the gray aridity of the plateau. Where the highway crosses the river, a large bird refuge has been established. Ascending the southern slope of the valley, the highway enters barren hills, descends into a deep canyon, and again ascends the plateau.

At 55.8 miles is a junction with a dirt road.

Left on this road through uncultivated hill country to a junction with a side road, 10.9 miles; R. here 0.6 miles across open prairie to the THORNBURG MONUMENT, a granite shaft erected in memory of Major T. T. Thornburg and those of his command slain in a battle here with the Ute.

In September 1879 the Ute rose against Nathan C. Meeker, in command of the White River Agency (see below). When the news reached Fort Rawlins, Major Thornburg was ordered to the scene with three troops of cavalry, a company of light infantry, and a large supply train. On the second day, fearing that his advance was being delayed by foot soldiers, Thornburg stationed his infantry at Old Fortification and pushed on with his cavalry force of 160 men. Twice the expedition was met by delegations of Ute, headed by subchief Captain Jack, who gave assurance that there was no trouble. Near the site of the present town of Thornburg the troops ran into an ambush laid by the Ute, who were massed on the bluffs above Red Canyon. A scout's last-minute discovery of the hidden warriors averted another Custer Massacre. During the first few minutes of disorganized fighting, 15 white men, including Thornburg, were killed, and 35 wounded. The surviving troops fell back and made a barricade of the supply train. The Indians surrounded this position and a siege, marked by desultory fighting, ensued.

Early the first night, Rankin, a scout, slipped through the lines to summon help and rode 165 miles to Fort Rawlins in 28 hours. Another scout reached Captain Dodge and his troop of Negro cavalry in Middle Park. Dodge arrived first, on the third day of the battle, and although he had only 40 men, broke through the Indian lines without losing a man. The siege continued three days until the full fighting force at Fort Rawlins arrived under the command of General Wesley Merritt, when the Ute dispersed and took to the hills. More than half of Thornburg's command had been killed or wounded. The Major's body was sent to Rawlins for interment; other dead were buried in a common grave.

The dirt road continues through brown hills and windswept flats to the southern junction with State 13, 272 miles (see below).

The road traverses rough hill country to the rim of a broad shallow valley overlooking the ILES DOME OIL FIELD.

ILES GROVE, 60.7 miles, is a dense growth of western cottonwoods, the "tree claim" of Thomas H. lies, an early settler. lies settled in northwestern Colorado in 1874 and acquired vast holdings by purchasing the homestead titles of Civil War soldiers. The homestead law then permitted the patenting of a claim by the annual planting of a specified number of trees. lies acquired title to this part of his domain by planting all trees in this single grove. A gray granite monument on the edge of the grove honors the pioneer. ILES MOUNTAIN (R), 63 miles, an old landmark, has alternating bands of red and white sandstone.

AXIAL, 65.4 miles (6,400 alt., 40 pop.), is a small coal-mining center; rich coal deposits of this region remain undeveloped for lack of railroad facilities. The principal vein, 92 feet thick, was well known in early days; it is said the Ute used the coal to such an extent that freight wagons, caught in storms, sought shelter in the cave that the Indians had dug.

The route follows a narrow valley walled in by low hills, passes several coal mines, and crosses the divide between the Yampa and White River basins.

At 8.5 miles is the southern junction with the Thornburg Road (see above).

At 8.6 miles is the junction with State 132.

Left on this graveled highway is BUFORD, 22 miles (7,000 alt., 40 pop.), a supply town and starting point for pack trips into the wild country along the South Fork of the White River.

Right from Buford on a Forest Service highway to the junction with a graveled road, 2 miles Right here to SOUTH FORK CAMPGROUND, 11.2 miles.

Right from the campground 100 yds. on a foot trail along the western bank of the South Fork to the junction with a side trail; R. here 0.5 miles to a massive limestone and chalk cliff containing SPRING CAVE. Along the intricate subterranean passages, filled with stalactites and stalagmites, runs a spring-fed stream.

South of the junction the Forest Service road skirts (L) the Flat Top Country and proceeds to NEW CASTLE, 30 miles (see Tour 6c), at the junction with US 24 (See Tour 6c).

State 132 continues east from Buford, passing MARVINE, 29 miles (7,300 alt, 20 pop.), a supply town, to the RIPPLE CREEK CAMPGROUND, 39 miles.

From the campground a dirt road leads (R) southeast to TRAPPERS LAKE, 11 miles (10,500 alt., 10 pop.), a summer resort and sportsman's rendezvous on the shore of the large lake for which it is named. This region, in the heart of the White River National Forest (see Tour 5c), is one of the finest recreational areas in the State; deer and elk are plentiful; lakes and streams provide good trout fishing.

Left from Trappers Lake a foot and horse trail leads past Little Trappers Lake to the DEVIL'S CAUSEWAY, 5.5 miles, a high narrow basalt ridge, and descends through forested lowlands to YAMPA, 20 miles (see Tour 7b).

MEEKER, 87.5 miles (6,240 alt., 1,069 pop.), in the rich agricultural and ranching area of the wide White River Valley, was named for Nathan C. Meeker (see Greeley), Indian agent, who was killed in the Ute uprising at the White River Agency in 1879 (see below) ; a military headquarters was established here four years after the outbreak. The courthouse occupies the center of a park once the parade ground of the old post. At the northern end of the park are three log cabins used as barracks. In the MEEKER HOTEL, Theodore Roosevelt's headquarters on one of his western hunting trips, are specimens of animal life in the White River region.

The highway follows the White River Valley to the MEEKER MONUMENT, 90.7 miles, an uncut pink granite slab, marking the approximate SITE OF THE OLD WHITE RIVER AGENCY and the SCENE OF THE MEEKER MASSACRE. The agency buildings stood in a field about five miles west of the monument; no road leads to the site, nor is there any marker.

On September 20, 1879, Nathan C. Meeker and ten of his employees at the agency were slain in a revolt of the Ute. Meeker, long prominent in Colorado affairs, had cooperated with Horace Greeley in establishing the Union Colony at Greeley in 1870. His appointment as Indian Agent proved unfortunate. The Ute, who lived by hunting and fishing, chafed at his unrelenting efforts to convert them to a sedentary life. In addition, they were sullen because money and goods promised by the Federal Government by treaty were long overdue. Meeker's tactless methods offended leaders of the tribe; his final and fatal mistake was to plow a channel for an irrigation ditch across the racetrack where the Ute exercised their horses.

Council fires burned in the Northern Ute camp, wizards made red medicine and cried for blood, and the throbbing of drums came down from the hills. Meeker appealed for military aid, but negotiations with the Ute chiefs led nowhere; even the influence of Ouray, great chief of the Southern Ute, always friendly to the white men, was checkmated by the hostility of chiefs Colorow, Captain Jack, and Douglas.

Major Thornburg's force, moving to support the agency, was all but annihilated by the Ute in Red Canyon (see above). Then the Indians, blaming Meeker for the advance of the troops, swept down upon the station, burned it to the ground, and killed all men at the post. Meeker's wife, their daughter Josephine, and another woman and her children, were spared because a chief argued correctly that they were valuable hostages. Chief Douglas, who claimed Josephine Meeker as his personal captive, got drunk following the massacre and sang "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" over the body of her father as it lay stripped and mutilated. Douglas asked the girl if she did not think he had a fine voice.

Curiously, the massacre occurred just when those at the agency, knowing that the soldiers were on the way, felt safe for the first time in three months. Only an hour before the attack, Meeker had dispatched a letter to Thornburg: "I will come with Chief Douglas and another chief and meet you tomorrow. Everything is quiet here, and Douglas is flying the United States flag. We have been on guard three nights, and will be tonight—not that we expect any trouble, but because there might be. Did you have any trouble getting through the canyon?"

Having killed the agent and defeated Major Thornburg, the Ute sued for peace. Release of the hostages was accomplished a month later (see Tour 5E). Extremely lenient terms were granted the Ute, and neither the chiefs who led the uprising nor the actual slayers of Meeker and his people were punished.

Right from the Meeker Monument on State 64 through a region of low hills matted with sage and scrub growth, and broken by occasional outcroppings of shale and sandstone. To the south spreads the wide and shallow JOSEPHINE BASIN, across which Josephine Meeker attempted to flee during the massacre at the agency.

At 7 miles is the junction with a graveled road.

Left here is a curving drive known as the SCENERY GULCH DETOUR, lined with fantastic formations of clay and shale strata ribbed with sandstone. Here and there the elements have cut monoliths away from the cliffs; these dolmans, capped with sandstone crowns, resemble great idols standing before the scattered ruins of ancient temples; the curious coloring of clay and stone adds to the -weird air of unreality. The drive rejoins State 64, 15 miles West of the junction (L) rise rugged cliffs and mountains of mahogany-colored oil shale. Characteristic of the region are the great veins of sand asphaltum, formed by the solidification of oil in the earth.

WHITE RIVER, 182 miles, an old cow town, was once known as White River City; nothing remains but the schoolhouse still in use.

The highway passes near the BATTLEFIELD OF THE SECOND UTE WAR (R), 43 miles, where the Ute made a last stand for their ancient rights and privileges. After the Meeker Massacre the Northern Ute were removed from the White River region into Utah, but in 1887 a band of fighing men under Colorow, most implacable of the Ute war chiefs, determined to return to Colorado to reclaim their old hunting grounds. They advanced through a deserted countryside, the terrified settlers having fled eastward. A military force from Fort Laramie, Wyo., augmented by cattlemen, met the Ute below the broken hills. The fight was short but savage. Many Indians were slain, and the routed forces were sent back to Utah under military escort. Colorow died on the reservation in 1888.

At 54.6 miles is the junction with State 139.

Left on this unimproved dirt road, which swings away from the valley of the White River, to the ROAN CLIFFS RANGE. The route skirts the base of a curious double mesa known as TWIN BUTTES (4,608 alt.), 33 miles, and ascends the pass by many switchbacks. From the top of DOUGLAS PASS (8,000 alt), 36 miles, is a spectacular view of the entire region. Far to the north lies the green ribbon of the White River Valley; on both sides and directly ahead break serrated waves of hills, cliffs, and shadowed ravines. Descending, the highway enters BROWN'S CANYON, 45 miles, a long and rugged valley offering magnificent vistas. The BOOKCLIFFS RANGE, 55 miles, while not so high as the Utah section of this chain, is scenically superb. Sweeping out of the mountain country, State 139 passes (L) the GARMESA NATURAL GAS FIELDS, 62 miles; traverses a narrow belt of stark desert land, and crosses a highland farming section to LOMA, 68 miles, at the junction with US 50 (see Tour 9c).

State 64 proceeds west, passing RANGELY, 55.4 miles (5,200 alt., 55 pop.), a supply town founded in 1880 as a trading post, and crosses the White River, 56.4 miles; swinging away from the fertile strip along the stream, it enters a semiarid grazing and stock raising district. The area contains much undeveloped mineral wealth; valuable deposits of gilsonite have been found near Rangely; the flats are dotted with oil wells.

State 64 crosses the Utah Line, 72 miles, 22 miles east of Vernal, Utah (see Utah Guide).

South of the junction, State 13, following a comparatively level course, is lined with rolling sage-covered hills. Sheep raising is the principal source of revenue, but cattlemen still control the ranges to the west.

At 127.4 miles is a junction with a side road.

Left on this dirt road to RIFLE MOUNTAIN PARK (cabins), 15 miles Here are GLEN RULAC FALLS, two cascades on East Rifle Creek, the upper fall having a drop of 150 feet; the lower operates a hydroelectric plant. The mineral springs in the park contain varying amounts of carbonate and sulphate of lime. From the park a passable motor road connects with a dirt road to NEW CASTLE, 40 miles (see Tour 5c).

In RIFLE, 130.8 miles (5,332 alt., 1,287 pop.) (see Tour 5c), is the junction with US 24 (see Tour 5c).