Valley Station

Valley Station began as a stop of the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express and stayed on the road when the Overland stage took it over. In January 1865, as Cheyenne, Arapaho and Lakota warriors struck the river road after Sand Creek, a company of the 1st Colorado Cavalry was posted here, and the regiment's record lists skirmishes at the station on January 7, 14 and 28. George Bent, the Cheyenne son of trader William Bent, rode in a raid near Valley Station and later described the whole valley lit by burning ranches.

What the plaque says

This tablet is the property of the State of Colorado 3.8 miles north along country road is the site of Valley Station built in 1859 as a stagecoach station of the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express. Station on the Overland Trail to California, 1862-67. Indian war outpost, 1864-65. Once defended by a breastwork of sacks of shelled corn. Erected by the State Historical Society of Colorado from the Mrs. J. N. Hall Foundation and by Troop No. 16, Sterling Scouts, B.S.A. 1933

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sterling Tree Sculptures — 1.8 mi
  A plains town that answered dying shade trees by handing their trunks to a young local carver, and became the City of Living Trees.

More markers nearby

• Battle of Summit Springs — 7.3 mi
• Fort Wicked — 16 mi