John Obergfell, the founder of the River Road Ranch, was a trapper and a guide for the Army as early as 1870. In early 1881 he and another fellow staked out the Roubideau Valley in Delta County and were put in Fort Crawford until September 3, 1881. Upon his release, John returned to restake the valley but a fellow inmate filed first. A quarrel followed and John ended up purchasing the claim for $80. He was 52 at the time and over the next 16 years built up a large cattle ranch which he left to his family.