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Ghost Town
In NorthernColorado
LongsPeak 
PioneerClimbers
Outlaws
In EarlyColorado
Skiing
SteamboatSprings
 
FamousFrontier Trail
NorthColorado
 TheyDanced AllNight
PioneerMemories
GreatGolfStories
Bob HopeClassic
CoverPicture:Bent’sFort
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The Senior
December 2009
Local Attractions • Scenic Places • History • Money • Health • News
 
2• December 2009 • The Senior Voice
 By Stephen Clifton, Director Social Security Office, Greeley
I
f you are a teacher or other govern-ment employee covered by state or local government retirement plansinstead of Social Security, here aretwo important provisions that mayaffect you: the Government PensionOffset (GPO) and the WindfallElimination Provision (WEP).Government employees whodidn’t pay Social Security taxes ontheir government earnings are affected by the Government Pension Offset(GPO), which reduces the potentialSocial Security spouse’s/widow’s/widower’s benefit amount someonecould receive if he or she also receivesa pension from a federal, state or localgovernment for work on which noSocial Security taxes were paid.The Windfall EliminationProvision (WEP) can reduce aworker’s monthly Social Security benefit amount if he or she alsoreceives a pension from work notcovered by Social Security.GPO and WEP are designed toensure that all American workers are
Social Security
 By Senator Bob BaconColorado Senate
I
n the current economic downturn, weare all feeling the strain. Familiesacross the state are making tough deci-sions about how to pay for needs.Colorado’s elected officials arehaving the same discussions and makingthe same tough decisions to provide for the needs of Colorado citizens.In the midst of these difficult times,there is a small group of peopleworking to erode and dismantle thevital state services on which the peopleof Colorado depend. They are circu-lating three petitions which wouldseriously harm the state.• Petition #10 (Motor Vehicle, Incomeand Telecommunication Taxes and Fees)seeks to roll back “FASTER,” a bill thtwill create tens of thousands of jobs inColorado and fund repairs of Colorado’sroads and 126 aging bridges.• Petition #12 (Property Taxes) wouldeliminate half of K-12 school districts’ property taxes, which would transfer thecost of local schools to the state generalfund. Already, the economic shortfallhas required us to consider a $260million reduction to K-12. Until now,K-12 education has been fully protected; but with the shortfall, thestate cannot support the increased burden.• Petition #21 (State and Local DebtLimitations) would limit the State’sability to construct and maintain build-ings by eliminating nearly all the toolsused to finance construction projects,and would effectively eliminate thestate’s ability to maintain or expand state buildings such as schools, prisons, or Department of Motor Vehicle locations.Legislators have already madetough choices about funding andcontinue to work to support services for  people with disabilities, colleges andour children. Those proposed November 2010 ballot issues seek toroll back progress we have madetoward making Colorado the best placeto start a business and raise a family.It is our responsibility to educateourselves and our neighbors aboutthese dangerous ballot measures. ________________ 
You can call Senator Bob Bacon at 970-221-4552; email bbacon14@comcast.net.
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treated equally under the SocialSecurity program. GPO generallyrequires that Social Securityspouses’ or surviving spouses’ bene-fits be reduced by two-thirds of theentitled person’s government pension. Why? Because GPOremoves an advantage that somegovernment workers once had.Before GPO, a person whoworked in a government job that wasnot covered under Social Securitycould receive, in addition to agovernment pension, a full SocialSecurity spouse’s or survivingspouse’s benefit. No other workershad that option.Similarly, WEP takes away anadvantage that the regular SocialSecurity benefit formula would give people who have substantial pensionsfrom non-Social Security covered jobs. Without WEP, a worker whospent most of his career in employ-ment not covered by Social Securityand who worked for a short time toget Social Security coverage wouldend up with much higher benefitsthan if all of his or her work weredone under Social Security.
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State Legislation
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©
 
2009
 
 
The Senior Voice • December 2009 • 3
 Published Locally Since 1980
 VOL. 30, NO. 1
970-229-9204Email: Lambdin@frii.com www.theseniorvoice.net
PUBLICATION INFORMATION
The Senior Voice 
newspaper has beenpublished locally the first of each monthsince 1980 for residents age 50-plus.
 ADVERTISING
 Ad deadline is 20th of month.For rates, call 970-229-9204;email Lambdin@frii.comor see theseniorvoice.net.
 Wolfgang Lambdin Advertising Director/Editor Fort Collins, Colorado(970) 229-9204Lambdin@frii.com
SALES OFFICES:
Ft. Collins and Loveland(970) 229-9204Greeley (970) 454-3789
EDITORIAL DEADLINE
 Announcements and stories must bereceived by the 10th of the month.; ads by the 20th of the month.
READER INFORMATION
Subscriptions $48 a year.
The Senior Voice 
 welcomes readers' lettersand contributions.
The Senior Voice 
assumesno responsibility for damaged or lost mate-rial submitted by readers.
© Copyright 2009
The Senior Voice 
EDITORIAL OFFICE:
1471 Front Nine DriveFort Collins, CO 80525(970) 223-9271email thevoice@frii.com www.theseniorvoice.net
No material may be reproduced by any means without permission of the SeniorVoice.
Dr. William and Peggy LambdinFounders, 1980
By Bill Lambdin
T
he historic Cherokee Trail wasestablished in northern Coloradoand southern Wyoming in 1849 bysome Cherokee Indians and a fewwhite men headed for the Californiagold fields.They followed a route now usedby Highway 85 from Denver toGreeley. Then the trail went west toWindsor and Fort Collins, north alongwhat is now Highway 287 toLaramie, Wyoming, and west toCalifornia.A second group of Cherokeescame a year later, in 1850, andfollowed a similar route that is nowHighway 287 through Longmont,Loveland, Fort Collins and Laramie.One early traveler described theplains near Greeley as “a howlingwilderness with little indications of itshaving been occupied or traversed bywhite men.”Another said, “I only wonderedthat man could be tempted to tarryhere, where animals come not evenfor shelter.”The Cherokee Trail was later called the Overland Trail after BenHolladay established the OverlandStage Line through northern Coloradoand southern Wyoming in 1862. Butthe Cherokees were here before thestage line or the Colorado goldseekers.The Cherokees had been drivenout of Georgia after gold was discov-ered there in the early 1800s. Theysettled in what became OklahomaTerritory, traveling the “Trail of Tears” west from Georgia during a brutal winter that killed many of their  people.But the Cherokees rememberedtheir experience with gold mining inGeorgia, and some headed for theCalifornia gold fields in 1849. Theywent past Bent’s Fort in southeasternColorado and north along the frontrange.It was a long trip through a bleak landscape in those days.“Some say this country has a soil, but the difficulty lies in the dryclimate,” wrote one traveler. “It iscertainly a barren, desolate country.We come hundreds of miles and seescarcely an Indian or an animal.”As their wagons lumbered alongthe Platte River south of Greeley, theCherokees passed several old fur-trading posts: Fort Vasquez, built in1837; Fort Lupton, 1836; and Fort St.Vrain, 1837.You can still see the walls of FortVasquez one mile south of Plattevilleon Highway 85. The site is main-tained by the Colorado HistoricalSociety, and a plaque there reads:“Fort Vasquez, established in1837 by Louis Vasquez and AndrewSublette. Maintained until 1842 as a post for trade in buffalo robes and beaver skins with the Arapahos andCheyennes. Rendezvous of earlytrappers.”
The Virginia Dale stage station, built in 1862, still stands. Senior Voice photo.
The Cherokee Trail crossed thePlatte River just east of Greeley andheaded west, along the north side of the Cache la Poudre River, throughwhat are now Windsor and Timnath.When you drive through thosetowns today, you are on the oldtrail.On Highway 287 north of FortCollins, you are also near the trail allthe way from LaPorte to Laramie. AtLaPorte, the trail went north to what isnow Ted’s Place, Livermore, VirginiaDale and Laramie. Much of the trailwas less than a mile from presentHighway 287.From Laramie, the trail headedwest. Interstate 80 closely followssome of it to Rawlins, Rock Springsand Fort Bridger where it joined theCalifornia-Oregon Trail.Between Fort Collins andLaramie, at Virginia Dale, a historicalmarker on the Cherokee Trail reads:“Virginia Dale, famous stagestation on the overland route toCalifornia, 1862-1867...Located onthe Cherokee Trail of 1849. Favoritecampground for emigrants…”The old stage station still stands,maintained by the Virginia Dale Clubon private land. There is much historyin our area, and we follow ancienttrails in many places. ________________ 
COVER PICTURE: A covered wagonat Bent’s Fort near the Cherokee Trail in southeastern Colorado. Courtesythe Colorado Tourism Office.
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Famous Pioneer Trail
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