Jimmy's Camp was a trading post established in 1833. The site is east of present-day

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

on the southeast side of

U.S. Route 24 U.S. Route 24 (US 24) is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan, in the east to Kansas City, Missouri, in the west. Today, the highway's eastern terminus is in Independence Township, Mic ...

and east of the junction with State Highway 94. Located along

Trapper's Trail The Trapper's Trail or Trappers' Trail is a north-south path along the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains that links the Great Platte River Road at Fort Laramie and the Santa Fe Trail at Bent's Old Fort. Along this path there were a number of ...

Cherokee Trail The Cherokee Trail was a historic overland trail through the present-day U.S. states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming that was used from the late 1840s up through the early 1890s. The route was established in 1849 by a wagon train head ...

, it was a rest stop for travelers and was known for its spring. Jimmy Camp was a ranch by 1870 and then a railway station on a spur of the

Colorado and Southern Railway The Colorado and Southern Railway was an American Class I railroad in the western United States that operated independently from 1898 to 1908, then as part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad until it was absorbed into the Burli ...

. After the ranch was owned by several individuals, it became part of the

Banning Lewis Ranch Banning-Lewis Ranches was a successful cattle-ranching operation located east of Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El ...

. Now the land is an undeveloped park in Colorado Springs.

Fur trading and trail station

Jimmy's Camp Trail

The site was located on Jimmy's Camp Trail, along old Native American trails which became the

and

, which ran between the

North Platte North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

South Platte The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwest and the American Southwest/ Mountain West. Its ...

and

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

s. The north-south route had two southern branches. One branch from Bent's Old Fort and another that began in

Taos Taos or TAOS may refer to: Places * Taos, Missouri, a city in Cole County, Missouri, United States * Taos County, New Mexico, United States ** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico *** Taos art colony, an art colo ...

and Santa Fe. They met at the confluence of the Arkansas River and

Fountain Creek Fountain Creek is a stream that originates in Woodland Park in Teller County and flows through El Paso County to its confluence with the Arkansas River near Pueblo in Pueblo County, Colorado. The creek,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydr ...

near present-day Pueblo, then the route ran north along the banks of Fountain Creek to Jimmy Camp Creek at Fountain. The trail went overland through present-day

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

to Cherry Creek where it was followed to the South Platte River. From there, the trail forked and Trapper's Trail went to Fort Laramie and Cherokee Trail went northwest to intersect with the

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

California Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...

. There was another trail that ran closer through present-day Colorado Springs along the foothills. It approximates the route of

Interstate 25 Interstate 25 (I-25) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 stretches from I-10 at Las Cruces, New Mexic ...

, but the trail was not as safe as this more direct route used by many Native Americans and trappers because it was safer and not frequented by hostile Native Americans. Jimmy Camp Road or Jimmy Camp Trail branch of the longer Trapper's Trail / Cherokee Trail connected Fountain and Russellville. Cattle-trails

Cattle was driven north along the

Goodnight–Loving Trail The Goodnight–Loving Trail was a trail used in the cattle drives of the late 1860s for the large-scale movement of Texas Longhorns. It is named after cattlemen Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving. Route The Goodnight-Loving Trail began at Fort B ...

to Cheyenne through Jimmy's Camp.

Trading post, stage station and camp site

Jimmy built a cabin or a crude adobe hut on lowland between Jimmy Camp Creek and a spring.

Trappers Animal trapping, or simply trapping or gin, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, hunting, pest control, and wildlife management. History Neolithic ...

, Utes and other Native Americans traded furs and food (deer, buffalo, other game, and corn) for goods, guns and whiskey that Jimmy acquired from the East. Jimmy lit a signal fire to let Native Americans know when he returned with a new selection of goods. The spot was known for its spring and a place where people and their horses could rest along the trail. In addition to shade afforded by pine and cottonwood trees, there was plenty of grass for grazing around the spring. The first recorded trapper to use the trail past Jimmy's Camp Creek was

William Sublette William Lewis Sublette, also spelled Sublett (September 21, 1798 – July 23, 1845), was an American frontiersman, trapper, North American fur trade, fur trader, explorer, and mountain man. After 1823, he became an agent of the Rocky Mountain Fu ...

(1829).

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and n ...

came through in 1831. Individuals who camped at the site included frontiersman Jim Baker, explorer

John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...

Rufus Sage Rufus B. Sage (1817–1893) was an American writer, journalist and later mountain man. He is known as the author of ''Scenes in the Rocky Mountains'' published in 1846, depicting the life of fur trappers. Life Rufus B. Sage was born on March 17 ...

(1842),

Francis Parkman Francis Parkman Jr. (September 16, 1823 – November 8, 1893) was an American historian, best known as author of '' The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life'' and his monumental seven-volume '' France and England in North Am ...

(1846), and the Mormons (1847). It was also visited by gold prospectors passing through the area during the

Pike's Peak Gold Rush The Pike's Peak Gold Rush (later known as the Colorado Gold Rush) was the boom in gold prospecting and mining in the Pike's Peak Country of western Kansas Territory and southwestern Nebraska Territory of the United States that began in July 1858 a ...

who learned about the trail from guidebooks. There was stage service from Denver to Pueblo, with Jimmy's Camp and other stops in between.

Namesake

Jimmy's Camp was often said to have been named after Jimmy Daugherty, who had been a member of Major

Stephen Harriman Long Stephen Harriman Long (December 30, 1784 – September 4, 1864) was an American army civil engineer, explorer, and inventor. As an inventor, he is noted for his developments in the design of steam locomotives. He was also one of the most pro ...

's expedition. He was believed to have built a cabin in the 1820s or 1830s. Jimmy Camp Creek was first called Daugherty Creek. Authors Alice Polk Hill and L.W. Cutler state that it was named for a small Irishman Jimmy Boyer, employed by the fur trading company, who established a trading post in 1833. Frank Hall states in the ''History of the State of Colorado'' and local resident Edgar Howbert and local historian John O'Byrne state that Jimmy Hayes or Hays established a trading post in 1833. John Steele of the Mormon Battalion of 1847 believed that Jimmy's Camp was named for Dr. Edwin James of Long's 1820 expedition.

Jimmy's murder and marker

Native Americans came to his cabin or hut one day to find that he has been robbed and murdered. They followed tracks left by men from Mexico until they found them, and hung them from trees by their toes. They returned to Jimmy's cabin, buried him, and covered his grave with a large flat stone.

James Beckwourth James Pierson Beckwourth (born Beckwith, April 26, 1798 or 1800 – October 29, 1866 or 1867), was an American mountain man, North American fur trade, fur trader, and explorer. Beckwourth was known as "Bloody Arm" because of his skill as a fighte ...

, a scout, said that he led the Native Americans who killed the Mexicans. Rufus Sage said that Jimmy was killed by a Mexican man who traveled with him and stole some calico. This occurred prior to September 1842 when Sage camped at the site. The crude hut crumbled away after Jimmy's death. A marker was installed by the Kinnikinnik Chapter of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

in 1949. It says, "This tablet is the property of the State of Colorado" / "One mile southeast are the spring and site of Jimmy's Camp / Named for Jimmy (last name undetermined), an early trader who was murdered there. A famous camp site on the trail connecting the Arkansas and Platte Rivers and variously known as "Trappers' Trail, " "Cherokee Trail" and "Jimmy's Camp Trail." Site visited by Rufus Sage (1842), Francis Parkman (1846), Mormons (1847), and by many gold seekers of 1858-59."

Jimmy Camp Ranch

The site, called Jimmy Camp Ranch and old Jimmy Camp mine, was purchased in 1870 by early settler Matt France, who established a ranch and raised stock there. He became a mayor of the city of Colorado Springs. France and Mort Parsons built a house in 1870. In 1873, France raised a group of men from Colorado Springs to march out to Jimmy’s Camp to meet with a group of 3,000

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

. They had been killing cattle on the ranch because "the white man has been killing our buffalo." The France coal mine was established by 1885 near Jimmy's Camp.

Railway

The Denver and New Orleans Railroad ran alongside Jimmy Camp Creek from Denver to Jimmy's Camp and then to Fountain and Pueblo by 1880. Between 1898 and 1913,

operated on the rails. A half a mile east of Jimmy Camp was a railway station called Manitou Junction for Denver and New Orleans Railroad and the Colorado and Southern Railway. From there, passengers could take a nine-mile train road to Colorado Springs. A post office station, called Jimmy Camp, operated between 1878 and 1879.

Banning Lewis Ranch

After France, there were other people who ranched on the land, which was ultimately became part of the

. It is currently an undeveloped park in Colorado Springs.