Amidst the hustle and bustle of early Colorado’s mining boomtown lifestyle, Thornton and Margaret "Madge" Brown craved a simpler life. Their dream was fulfilled when the bank assayer and his wife, a school teacher, decided to leave Cripple Creek and purchased their ranch near Steamboat Springs in 1915. However, in 1918, tragedy struck. Thornton died in the Spanish flu epidemic, leaving Madge a widow. Although grief-stricken, she rose to the occasion and took charge, homesteading several parcels to add to the ranch’s acreage and for her herd of sheep. Madge kept copious diaries and journals, and wrote first person accounts about her life as a woman alone running a sheep ranch during the early/mid-20th century. One of her short-stories, "A Little Bunch of Sheep" won the Reader’s Digest prestigious First Person Award. The award prize enabled Madge to pay off (delete) the ranch’s debts, leaving the 713 acre Brown Ranch debt free for her heirs. Margaret Duncan Brown ran the Brown Ranch until her death in 1965. Since then, the nearby Fetcher Ranch has leased  the acreage of the Brown Ranch for their hay and cattle operations. Madge's memoir, Shepherdess of Elk River Valley, based on her first person writings and accounts, was published posthumously in 1967. The Brown Ranch is still currently owned by members of Margaret’s family.