The writer of this postcard, who signs himself “L D G,” identifies the three gents, apparently railroad workers, as his brother, who’s at the rump end of the burro, “Mr. Harr,” who’s sitting on the burro and himself on the right.   Notice the long-cuffed gauntlet work gloves worn by Harr.   You can see a depot at the far left and an “Orchard” sign at the far right.

The town of Orchard, in Morgan County, which is about 39 miles east and a tad south of Greeley, dates back to at least 1882, when its post office was established.   It sits four miles west of what was known as Fremont’s Orchard, the latter named for Captain John C. Fremont, one of the early explorers in the area, and for a grove of cottonwood trees on the South Platte River, which at a distance resembled an orchard.   Fremont’s Orchard served as a stage station on the Overland Trail of the 1860’s. 

Part of the filming for “Centennial,” the 1970’s miniseries based on James Michener’s novel of the same name, took place in Orchard.  Michener may have had personal knowledge of the area, for in 1936 he accepted an associate professor position and earned a Master’s degree in education at Colorado State College (now the University of Northern Colorado) in Greeley.

Northeast of the town is Jackson Lake State Park, which offers fishing, hunting, boating, birdwatching and other activities.   Jackson Lake covers an area of about 2400 acres, and is a man-made reservoir, probably built in 1905, and fed by the nearby South Platte River.  It’s currently an asset of the Jackson Lake Reservoir and Irrigation Company in Fort Morgan. 

REFERENCES:   

– “Fort Morgan, Colorado — Exploring the history of Fort Morgan, Colorado” at

    http://ftmorgancolorado.blogspot.com/2011/06/fremonts-orchard.html  .

– “Images of America – Morgan County,” by Brian Mack and Linda Midcap, 2016.

– “Irrigation and Water Supply Ditches in Colorado,” page 31, by Michael Holleran,   Colorado Center for Preservation Research, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, June 2005.

– “Place Names of Colorado, A Genealogical & Historical Guide to Colorado Sites,”   1999, compiled by Donald R. Elliott and edited by Doris L. (Salmen) Elliott, page 454,   published by the Colorado Council of Genealogical Societies, Inc., at https://history.denverlibrary.org/sites/history/files/Place_Names_of_Colorado.pdf 

– “Orchard, Colorado,” Wikipedia.com at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchard,_Colorado