 After losing the connection to the Lincoln Highway , officials convinced planners of the Victory Highway to traverse the state . The highway entered Colorado from Kansas along what was previously called the Smoky Hill Trail . The highway crossed the mountains along a trail blazed by a railroad surveyor and captain in the American Civil War , cresting at Berthoud Pass . After a round of political infighting between Utah and Nevada , the Victory Highway would become the Lincoln Highway 's main rival for San Francisco @-@ bound traffic . When the U.S. Highway system was unveiled in 1926 , the Victory Highway was numbered U.S. Highway 40 . 
