Following the Civil War immigrants went west in search of new homes or quick riches in the Colorado gold fields. Many traveled to Denver on the long-established Santa Fe Trail or the Platte River Road but many others chose to make the trip across Kansas on the shorter but more hazardous Smoky Hill Trail.

The Smoky Hill Trail had been used as early as 1858. It was 500 miles long but it was still 100 miles shorter than the other routes and could shave one to two weeks off the travel time. It earned a bad reputation early on, though. The road was not clearly marked west of Fort Riley and there was little water for the last 130 miles to Denver. Travelers often arrived in Denver reciting ghastly stories of danger, hunger, and death along the “starvation trail” and travel virtually ceased in early 1859. But in 1865 David Butterfield saw the Smoky Hill Trail as an opportunity to create a thriving business.