(McCook, Nebr.) — Wray — Brush — Greeley — Estes Park Village—Rocky Mountain National Park—Junction US 40 (Granby); US 34 - Nebraska Line to Junction US 40, 265.3 miles Oil-processed road entire distance. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R.R. parallels route between Nebraska Line and Wiggins. Good accommodations

US 34 traverses the heart of the plains country, once grazing land for buffalo herds, and the habitat of hostile Indians. Now the area is devoted to dry-land farming and cattle raising. The highway crosses an irrigated section before penetrating the foothills to the mountain gateway of Estes Park.

US 34 crosses the NEBRASKA LINE, 0 miles, 93 miles west of McCook, Nebr. (see Nebraska Guide).

WRAY, 10 miles (3,500 alt., 1,783 pop.), seat of Yuma County, unlike many eastern Colorado towns, lies in moist river land and is a mass of verdure throughout spring and summer. On the southeastern edge of town, reached by a winding drive from Main Street, is FLIRTATION POINT, a limestone formation away from the cliffs (L) that hem in the valley. In the eastern wall was reputedly an Indian temple of demon worship.

The Reverend Moses Anderson, the first minister, who held services hereabout in 1880, was assisted in his work by several cowhands, who, so the story goes, decided that it was too much to expect a man of God to save souls on his meager income. Bolstered by good thoughts and many drinks after a meeting in a saloon, they canvassed the town, and hesitant citizens were "persuaded" to contribute. Late that night the tipsy delegation presented the clergyman with a purse containing $200.

Left from Wray on State 51 to the junction with State 53, 5.6 miles; L. here to BLACK WOLF CREEK, 16.1 miles, a small stream flowing through a dense growth of cottonwoods and flowering wild currants, named for the black prairie wolves prevalent in early days. Hills and breaks along the stream were their favorite breeding grounds. According to Indian legend, a malignant prairie spirit in the form of a gigantic black wolf dwelt above the creek.

At 17.4 miles is the BEECHER ISLAND BATTLEGROUND, scene of a combat between U. S. Troops and Indians that continued for more than a week and broke the power of the Indians in the Plains States.

In 1868, Colonel George A. Forsythe and Lieutenant Fred Beecher, with 50 soldiers and scouts, moved up the Arickaree Valley on the trail of a hostile band of Cheyenne. Unaware of a general gathering of "hoatiles" in that region, they made camp beside the river. When morning came the bluffs around were swarming with Indians; realizing that they were cut off from help, the men withdrew to a low flat island in midstream, where they dug in. The Indians numbered more than a thousand Northern and Southern Cheyenne and their allies, the Arapaho and the Ogallala Sioux. Their commander was Roman Nose, a great Cheyenne war chief. Soon after dawn he ordered a charge down the slope and across the river. The attack was halted by the soldiers, and Roman Nose was among those killed. Other charges made during that day of short-range fighting were repelled by the besieged, and the Indians took to the tall grass along the river and showered their enemies with bullets and arrows.

Day after day Forsythe and his men held their position. As horses were killed, their bodies served as breastworks after edible portions had been cut away. Horse meat supplemented by a few wild plums comprised the food supply during the eight-day siege. Water came from holes dug in the sand. Lieutenant Beecher and several men were killed; nearly all of the survivors suffered one or more wounds. Four scouts, who slipped through the Indian lines, carried word to Fort Wallace, Kans. A strong force hurried to Forsythe's aid and arrived at the moment when defenders of the island, despairing of rescue, were about to charge and die in open conflict. The course of the river has changed and obliterated the island; monuments erected by Colorado and Kansas were swept away by flood in 1934.

In the brick BEECHER ISLAND MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM, seating 1400, erected on a near-by hill by the Beecher Island Memorial Association, reunions and a pageant commemorating the battle are held annually during the third week of September.

To the north rises the low cone-shaped mound of SQUAW HILL, from the crest of which the women and children of the Cheyenne watched the battle. Here, according to legend, Roman Nose defied the gods of his people and sealed his own doom. A prophetess of his tribe had predicted that he would become one of the greatest of Cheyenne leaders, but had warned that if he ever ate food touched by metal he would become vulnerable to the weapons of his enemies. A few days before the Forsythe attack, while feasting at the Ogallala camp, he ate bread that had been cut with an iron knife. Before the long ceremony of purification was completed, the advance of Forsythe's scouts was discovered. Roman Nose directed the onslaught from a bluff; not heeding protests of the medicine men, he participated in the battle and was killed.

North and west of Beecher Island lies a partly developed oil feld.

West of Wray is a monotonous stretch known as "drylands flats" where small farms dot rolling arid hills, gray with sage and needle-pointed soapweed. Occasionally a cottontail is glimpsed, and jack-rabbits are so numerous in this and other parts of the eastern plains region as to menace field crops and gardens. Drives are periodically held to exterminate the "jacks." Beaters, often numbering hundreds, encircle an area and close in, shouting and beating on tin pans. The frightened rabbits flee toward the center where a pen of close-meshed wire has been built. Frequently thousands of rabbits are thus forced into a trap; hunters enter armed with clubs, and wholesale slaughter begins. Such drives attract large crowds from near-by towns, who cheer lustily when, during the melee, a hunter happens to be knocked flat by a wildly swung club. Welfare organizations once distributed the carcasses of the rabbits, a practice discontinued when many of the animals were found to be infected with tuleremia.

YUMA, 36.5 miles (4,128 alt., 1,360 pop.), named for an Indian tribe, is in the heart of a dry-farming district, where oats, winter rye, macaroni wheat, and spelt, a German wheat, are the principal crops.

The FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION (open 9-5 daily), 62 miles covers 160 acres laid out in orchards and fields planted to more than 1,600 varieties of wheat, corn, oats, and other crops, which are rotated in 20-year cycles. Experiments here are of vital importance to the region, since they point the way to new methods in soil conservation.

AKRON, 63.5 miles (4,300 alt., 1,136 pop.), seat of Washington County, was the only town site on the new Burlington Railroad at the time of its founding in 1882, and herds of antelope grazed on the surrounding plains. The town is still a division point on the railroad, and its shops provide employment for many.

At 85.5 miles is the junction with US 6, 1 mile east of BRUSH, 86.5 miles (4,280 alt., 2,312 pop.) (see Tour 1a). US 6 and US 34 are united for 24.5 miles (see Tour 1a).

At 110 miles is the western junction with US 6, 1.5 miles north of Wiggins (see Tour 1a).

DEARFIELD, 122 miles (4,225 alt., 12 pop.), was founded for his race by C. T. Jackson, a Negro, who came to Colorado in 1887 and seven years later began farming near Boulder. Inspired by Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery, and advised by Governor John F. Shafroth in whose office Jackson was a messenger, the Dearfield tract was selected in 1910 and settled the next year when seven families built houses here. Without adequate capital and unfamiliar with scientific methods of dry farming (see Tour 1a), the colonists suffered discouraging set-backs. In time they learned the principles of soil-moisture conservation and grew increasingly independent. The name of the community was suggested by one of the settlers, who said that the labor expended upon the development of their fields would make them very dear.

Traversing undulating semi-arid hills that fringe the Platte Valley, US 34 swings again into rich irrigated country, the center being KERSEY, 140.5 miles (4,614 alt., 307 pop.), with elevators and feed mills.

On the O. A. Gordon farm, 146.5 miles, a monument (L) marks the SITE OF FORT LATHAN, established as a station on the old Overland Stage Line in 1862.

At 143 miles is a junction with a dirt road.

Right on this road to SCOUT ISLAND (fireplaces, picnic grounds), 2.5 miles in a heavy grove of cottonwoods at the confluence of the South Platte and Cache la Poudre Rivers.

The route continues along the Platte Valley through a rich section known in the Rocky Mountain region as the cradle of irrigation farming. Water is a precious commodity in Colorado, for much of the land is of little value unless irrigated. When buying a farm in irrigation districts, a ''water right" is either included in the price or must be purchased separately. This right, defined by State statute, entitles the holder to use a specific amount of water at stated periods during the growing season. Private concerns build reservoirs in which to store water taken from the streams, construct and maintain canals to convey it to hundreds of farms, and employ "ditch riders" to superintend its distribution. The canals are tapped by ditches through which water flows to the fields where it is distributed by means of furrows or laterals. Small grains, alfalfa, and clover are irrigated by flooding. Irrigation began in Colorado on a small scale almost as early as gold mining. There are records of primitive irrigation projects established by Spanish colonists in 1598.

GREELEY, 149.5 miles (4,637 alt, 12,203 pop.) (see Greeley), is at the junction with US 85 (see Tour 12a).

West of Greeley the country is comparatively level, although the highway crosses several low hills, from the crests of which is visible the imposing blue wall of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains as it fades away into the badlands of Wyoming. Most impressive of the mountain peaks that splinter the western sky-line is the jagged spire of LONGS PEAK (14,255 alt.).

From the summit of a hill, 160 miles, the Big Thompson and Cache la Poudre River Valleys come into view, both green and fertile agricultural regions, which produce quantities of sugar beets and grains. On clear days looms (R) the blunt bulk of HORSE TOOTH MOUNTAIN (7,252 alt.), crowned with the giant "A" erected by students of the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts at Fort Collins.

The highway descends into the lower Big Thompson Valley and traverses level farming country to KELIM, 163.5 miles (4,960 alt., 50 pop.), an agricultural community founded in the early 1900's by German immigrants who had knowledge of sugar beet culture and aided in the developing of the new industry.

An EXPERIMENTAL FARM (open 9-5 daily), 168 miles is maintained by the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. Office and laboratories are housed in a white frame building surrounded by well-tended lawns. Here is the eastern edge of the prosperous fruit-growing region around Loveland. Apples and cherries are the principal crops. In spring the valley is a sea of pink and white blossoms.

A GREAT WESTERN BEET SUGAR FACTORY (open 9-4. weekdays by permission), 169 miles, has a daily slicing capacity of 3,100 tons. About 700 are employed from October to January.

LOVELAND, 171.3 miles (4,982 alt., 5,506 pop.), in the heart of a prosperous agricultural district, is one of the chief gateways to Rocky Mountain National Park. Tree-shaded streets and attractive houses with landscaped grounds characterize the residential district. During summer the town is a shopping center for vacationists from Estes Park and near-by mountain resorts. A beet sugar factory, and plants canning vegetables and fruits, especially cherries and fruit juices, are the principal enterprises.

Loveland, named for W. A. H. Loveland, one of the State's early railroad builders, was founded in 1877 with the construction of the Colorado Central R. R. The first station was a tent in a wheat field. The harvesting of a bumper crop delayed platting the town site. Later, when selling of lots began, many houses were removed from St. Louis, a near-by settlement. Disappointed prospectors, returning from the gold fields, took up land here and raised vegetables and other produce that brought fabulous prices in Denver. Butter sold at $2 a pound; eggs, $1.50 a dozen. Hay cut from bottom lands and hauled to Central City and Blackhawk by ox-teams brought $100 to $150 a ton. About 1900 many Swedes came into the region and later a group of Germans.

The two-story ST. Louis HOTEL AND STAGE STATION, on St. Louis Ave., is the only remaining structure of the St. Louis settlement. The DAVID BARNES FOUNTAIN, 4th St. and Cleveland Ave., honors a pioneer responsible for the planting of most of Loveland's shade trees.

Loveland is at the junction with US 87 (see Tour 13).

In JOHNSON'S PARK (Lakewood) (L), 172.1 miles, a marker indicates the SITE OF FORT NAMAQUA, the first settlement in the vicinity. Here, early in 1858, Mariano Modeno, accompanied by his family and a body of retainers, built a fortified ranch house which later became a station on the Overland Stage Line. Modeno also built the first bridge across the Big Thompson at this point. Artificial LOVE-LAND LAKE, opposite the park, provides boating and fishing.

The rolling terrain south of the lake marks the beginning of the Rocky Mountains. Above the acres of cherry orchards in the valley rise brick-red formations, erosive debris of Triassic sandstone, curiously wrought and twisted by wind and water.

West of WILD'S JUNCTION, 175.5 miles, with important gypsum deposits, the route passes through an opening in the DEVIL'S BACKBONE, a great hogback. Here have been found fossils of giant sea turtles, for the hogback was an island when most of Colorado was the bed of an ancient sea (see The Land).

At 178.5 miles is a junction with a dirt road.

Right on this road to SYLVANDALE, 5 miles summer headquarters of Cotner College, Lincoln, Nebr. The grounds include 190 acres, with a dormitory, classroom, and assembly building, all neat white frame structures. Accommodations are provided for 150 students.

The highway crosses the eastern boundary of Roosevelt National Forest, 180.7 miles; at intervals, where softer rock is exposed, the river has cut out small grassy and forested glades. In one of these (R), 183.9 miles, is LOVELAND MOUNTAIN PARK. The 400-acre tract, framed by the sloping walls of a natural bowl, has sports and picnic facilities, including more than 25 fireplaces set at well-selected points along the winding trails.

At 187.7 miles is the resort village of DRAKE.

Right from Drake on a dirt road, an alternate route to Estes Park Village, is GLEN HAVEN, 7.5 miles, one of the oldest cabin colonies in the region. The road, the original entrance to the park, follows the North Fork of the Big Thompson, winding among rock-crowned hills of increasing height, clothed with deep forests of aspen that flame scarlet and yellow in the fall. At the top of rugged DEVIL'S GULCH, 12 miles, is the hunting lodge built by Lord Dunraven, Irish nobleman, who became fascinated by the beauty of the canyon.

The route continues beyond the gulch to Estes Park Village, 14.5 miles

US 34 cuts deeper into the mountains, which grow more spectacular with every turn of the road, and makes an abrupt entrance into the highlands of ESTES PARK (see Rocky Mountain National Park) through a portal of towering peaks.

US 34 crosses the western boundary of Roosevelt National Forest, 197.1 miles, into ESTES PARK VILLAGE, 199.8 miles (7,500 alt., 417 pop.) (see Rocky Mountain National Park), at the junction with State 7 (see Tour 4).

Between Estes Park Village and the western boundary of Rocky Mountain National Park, 248.7 miles, US 34 is known as the Trail Ridge Road (see Rocky Mountain National Park Tour 1).

At 249.2 miles is the junction with an improved road.

Left on this road is GRAND LAKE VILLAGE, 1 miles (8,380 alt., 200 pop.), a summer resort on the lake shore. The cabins and many other buildings of peeled logs harmonize with the natural surroundings. GRAND LAKE, one of the largest in the State, was created ages ago when the valley of the Colorado was dammed by a glacial moraine. The Ute abhorred the vicinity, because according to legend, a large village of the tribe encamped on the lake shore was attacked by Cheyenne and Arapaho. Most of the Ute warriors were killed, while women and children, who had been placed on a large raft for safety, were left at the mercy of a rising storm. The raft was driven to the center of the lake where it capsized, and all were drowned. Mists rising from the waters were believed by the Ute to be the spirits of the unfortunates. Extremely deep—in places the bottom has never been sounded—the lake remains a constant blue. Most of the pine-fringed shore is privately owned. The Grand Lake Yacht Club holds annual yacht races here in August; boating and fishing are popular, and there is some swimming notwithstanding the coldness of the water.

South of the junction, US 34 descends the wide valley of the Colorado, a stretch of rolling grassy hills dotted with thick growths of pine and aspen.

STILLWATER, 254.3 miles, is a private summer resort.

At 265.3 miles is the junction with US 40 (see Tour 7b), 1.5 miles west of Granby (see Tour 7b).