Virginia Dale is a tiny community located along Highway 287 in Colorado, just south of the Wyoming border. From 1862 to 1867 it was a famous stop on the Overland Trail. Travelers along the trail found Virginia Dale a picturesque spot, with its pretty stream and green pastures.
Caravans of covered wagons would set up camp overnight, giving their horses, mules and oxen a chance to rest. And stagecoach drivers stopped at Virginia Dale to let passengers stretch their legs and have a meal.
Jack Slade, the station’s first manager, named the stagecoach stop after his wife, Virginia. Slade was an infamous character. He had killed several men. He was also suspected of having been involved in the disappearance of sixty thousand dollars of gold which was on a stagecoach bound for Fort Laramie. Rumors persist that the gold may have been hidden in the vicinity of Table Mountain, just a mile north of Virginia Dale.
See the Andrew Springs Gillespie papers at UW’s American Heritage Center to learn more.
For more information, visit the American Heritage Center site.