For a small town in the far northeast corner of Colorado, just south of the Wyoming border, Julesburg has quite a history.
The small settlement was attacked by Indians not once, but twice, burned to the ground, and moved an unprecedented three times. It was also a major stop for the north fork of the Oregon Trail, and later, the famed Pony Express Trail, headed by the firm of Russell, Majors, and Waddell.
Julesburg is also the town that hosted one of the most famous villains of legend and lore, Joseph Alfred Slade, better known as "Jack."
He arrived in Julesburg in 1860. It took less than two years for Slade to become a part of Julesburg history and with his incredible dastardly deeds, an outlaw legend.
Slade was born to an influential Illinois family in 1829. At the age of 13, his uncontrollable temper showed when he killed a man by hitting him in the head with a rock.
Young Slade said the man “annoyed him.” To avoid prosecution, not to mention save his hide, Slade left Carlyle, Illinois. Some say he was sent away; others say he ran away. Five years later, he returned to his hometown.
He enlisted in the army in 1847, serving in the Mexican War. Following the war, Slade chose to stay in the West, finding work driving freight wagons over the Oregon Trail and serving as a stagecoach guard.
On one trip, Slade killed three Indians as they attempted to attack the stagecoach. He then took the fourth Indian as a prisoner, only to slice off the ears of the Indian after he had killed him. It was a sign of things to come.
When gold was discovered high in the Rocky Mountains, the Pikes Peak Gold Rush of 1859 brought a sea of prairie schooners across the plains.
The small eastern prairie settlement of Julesburg became home to a way station for the Overland Stage Company.
The operating firm of Russell, Majors and Waddell, took over a trading post operated by a French trapper and trader, Jules Beni, an established merchant in the settlement, so well respected that Julesburg was named in his honor.
The company kept Beni in their employ, and he began serving as local supervisor of the Overland Sweetwater Division.
Ben Ficklin, the general superintendent for the 365-mile-long line of the Overland, investigated the Julesburg station and after a few visits discovered a corrupt operation.
Jules Beni had a vile streak evidenced in his character and ethics and Julesburg was an area that attracted the lawless, with Beni as the main instigator. Ficklin found evidence of horse theft, money fraud, and stolen company goods. All of which could be traced back to Beni.
In the spring of 1860, just a few months before the all-important launch of the Pony Express, of which Julesburg would be the only Colorado based station, Ficklin hired Jack Slade as division manager of the important Julesburg station.
Slade’s first duties were to fire Jules Beni and retrieve the missing company property.
This should have been an easy task for the seasoned overland trail operator, yet even the hot-tempered Jack Slade could not have predicted the actions of a vindictive Jules Beni.
Three days of violent outbursts, accusations, and threats resulted in bloodshed and deep resentment.
Evidently, the final straw for Beni came when Slade went to Beni’s ranch to retrieve stolen hay and found horses that clearly belonged to the Overland Stage. As Slade confiscated the animals, the two men had strong words.
Jules Beni swore vengeance. Two days later, Beni saw his chance when an unarmed Slade rode through the streets of Julesburg.
Beni approached Slade, pulled his pistol and fired all six rounds into Slade. Not satisfied, although Slade lay in the dirt with six slugs, Beni grabbed a shotgun and fired both barrels into the fallen victim. Bystanders rushed to Slade and carefully carried his seemingly lifeless body into the way station.
Incredibly, Beni followed the men into the station. No one believed Slade would survive, and even Beni made a snide remark regarding the corpse of Slade.
It is said at that moment, Slade raised up, glared at Beni and vowed he would live long enough to wear Beni’s ears as a watch fob. The angered men grabbed Beni, eager to string him up, when Ficklin, intervened.
Beni was arrested, tried, and convicted of attempted murder, all in short order. A scaffold was quickly assembled for immediate execution.
The hanging was an awful sight. After three attempts, Beni, although dangling, was still alive.
He was finally ordered to leave the territory, which he did immediately. Meanwhile, Slade made a slow yet full recovery.
He had vowed revenge against Beni, but for the meantime, he continued his work with the Overland Stage, which by now had expanded to include the Pony Express.
Slade’s supervision of nearly 200 relay stations stretched from the Julesburg station to Fort Bridger in Wyoming. Among the many workers and riders he hired was a young William F. Cody, later known as Buffalo Bill.
As division supervisor, Slade was also entrusted to maintain the safe passage of passengers, freight, and mail along the Overland route. In this effort, he was highly successful, but not without his critics.
"Slade ... in fights and brawls had taken twenty-six human beings,” Mark Twain wrote in Roughing It in 1872.
Twain, not above exaggeration, met Slade on a journey to the West, at the Julesburg station.
In the same book, he recalled Slade as "a pleasant person, friendly and gentle-spoken.” The Pony Express was short-lived and Slade’s duties soon took him north along the Overland Trail, where he started a way station of his own, called Virginia Dale, in honor of his wife.
Before making the move, Slade again focused on vengeance against Jules Beni. Friends along the trail kept Slade informed of Beni’s wanderings, and soon informed Slade of Beni’s return to finish Slade for good.
Slade kept a constant look out, and sure enough, one day Beni was waiting for Slade as he returned to his home, near the Cold Springs Station. Beni found cover and opened fire on Slade but he missed.
Slade and two of his hands easily captured Beni. He was tied to a fence post and Slade fired two shots, killing him. True to his word, Slade then took out his knife and sliced off the ears of his enemy, which he indeed carried as a watch fob for years.
The following day Slade turned himself into the authorities, where things got a little heated given Slade’s temper and plea of self-defense. He even pulled his gun at one point, but he said it was to make his point.
In the end authorities dropped all charges and Slade, continued to wear the ears of "Old Jules" as a watch fob.
Eventually liquor and rage became a habit with Slade and he was released from his duties along the Overland Trail in 1862.
He left the Colorado Territory for Montana, but things only grew worse. Caught several times for cattle rustling and horse theft, he was finally hung by a group of Montana vigilantes just two years later.
Linda Wommack can be reached at LWomm3258@aol.com
