Fernandez Martinez homesteaded the farm near Trinidad; on April 18, 1889 he received 160 acres. His grandson, Doroteo Duran, presently works the farm with the help of his wife and family.

Cornelius Clark came to Colorado in 1876, first farming near Erie and then prospecting in Leadville. In 1889, he purchased 160 acres from the Union Pacific Railroad, and 80 acres was purchased from a neighbor, to constitute his Weld County farm. Clark raised cattle, horses, and bountiful crops, irrigated by a system of ditches that he put into place.

Jacob Dietrich homesteaded this ranch in 1860. Other land was purchased to what is now Carnahan Ranches, Inc., a family corporation. Shorthorn cattle were raised for years. Crossbreeding began in the early 1970s. The ranch now has Registered Salers and Limousin cattle with a Shorthorn/Limousin/Salers commercial cow herd. They also raise hay and oats for feed.

The ranch, located in Eagle County, was homesteaded by Bert Hyde in the late 1800s. Crops were raised with cattle to supply the many miners that were in the area. In the 1900s the ranch was used as a dairy farm to supply milk in Leadville and Gilman. Around 1930 the ranch was used to raise all types of livestock - cattle, sheep, pigs. In 1941 Bert Hyde passed away and the ranch was leased for a cattle operation. Bert’s grandchild, Bert Calhoun, started running the ranch in 1973. They had cattle until 1982 when they sold 200 acres.

In the year 1878, Charles Clark Kirland and two friends decided to strike out on their own from their home in Elgin, Illinois, and traveled in a prairie schooner bound west. They spent one year in Washington County, Kansas, and from there moved on to Johnson County, Nebraska. Charles worked around Johnson County and met and married Martha McCulloch on February 1, 1886. In February 1887, Charles and Martha decided to try their hand at farming and moved to the Lansing Valley in east Yuma County where they filed claim on homestead rites.

The Anderson Ranch, eight miles southwest of Elizabeth, was originally homesteaded by Charles G. Anderson, who was born in 1860 in Sweden. He settled on the 160 acre homestead in 1888, building a claim shack and barn, and digging a well. He proved up on the claim in 1894. With primary crops of cattle, hay, wheat, and barley, several of Anderson’s ten children worked on the land, and the ranch is now managed by Anderson’s granddaughter and her family.

In 1888, Frank Reeman, Sr., acquired his ranch near Eaton. The 160-acre farm deeded five acres to the city for use as a cemetery, and additional land transfers have left the farm at about 90 acres. The farm sustained the family through World War II, producing everything from milk and vegetables to pork and chicken.

Plumb Farm near Greeley originated in 1871. In 1946, the farm was passed to the grandchildren of Ovid and Anne Plumb. Two generations later, the farm produces corn, hay, and pasture grass.

Charles L. and Maude W. Melvin homesteaded Melvin Ranch, receiving the patent on the land in 1901. The ranch grew to 628 acres, and is used for pasture and hay production. Their grandchild and family operate the ranch today.

Lowell’s OV Ranch near Castle Rock has one of the state’s most distinctive barns. The ranch, purchased in 1902, was 3,300 acres and served as a dairy farm before becoming a Hereford ranch under the OV brand. The family now raises hay and sheep on the ranch, and they live in the house built in 1917. The property still contains the barn, built in 1902, and an early log house and windmill.