Charles Wingfield left his family in Virginia in search of adventure and opportunity and came to Yuma County in 1886. His first land purchase was a quarter section five miles outside of Vernon in 1887. The next year Charles brother, Joseph joined him to help build the farm. Both Charles and Joseph were carpenters by trade and helped supplement their farm income by building homes and barns for their neighbors. Today the ranch consists of 12600 acres and produces wheat, livestock, hay and grains.

The origins of the Wattenberg Ranch in Walden date back to 1884  when a 22 year old Edward Wattenberg left Brighton to homestead the property in North Park. With the passing of years the raw homestead was made productive and more acreage added. The livestock herd was at first small but was gradually increased in number until Wattenberg Ranch was built up to be one of the best in North Park. The original log homestead cabin still exists today.

The Warner Farm owes it's origin to George W. Warner who filed for a tree claim in 1881 on a quarter section in what is now Morgan County. Warner came to Colorado from Wisconsin and is and is remembered for the instrumental role he played in Fort Morgan's early business developement. He was secretary-treasurer for the Ft. Morgan Land and Canal Co. and a co-founder Ft. Morgan's first newspaper which is still being published today. The lovely home built is one of the few original houses still standing in Ft. Morgan and is part of a National Register Historic District.

This year, the Vigil-Gallino Ranch along with Trujillo Creek in Las Animas County turns 100. In 1888 Celedon Vigil acquired the original 160 acre homestead which is now owned by his granddaughter Rita Gallino and her son David. In the past, corn, wheat, oats, hay vegetables, cattle, horses, turkeys, hogs and rabbits have all been raised on their ranch. Today the main products of the now 640 acre ranch are cattle and hay.

Acquired in 1886 from the US government, the Smith Brothers Ranch in Montrose originally consisted of 280 acres. Cattle and horses were raised as well as livestock feed. A machine shed dating back to 1925 is the oldest building still standing on the ranch.

The original 160 acres of the Rudolph Ranch in Black Hawk were purchased in 1878 by Fredrick Rudolph. An additional 80 acres were patented in 1907. Mr Rudolph operated a shoe shop in Black Hawk, leaving his wife and 9 children to run the ranch. In addition to hay and cattle, they raised hogs and chickens, and a big vegtable garden. In 1950 it was discovered that the meadow was actually a peat moss bed and now a limited amount of peat moss is part of the ranch produce.

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.

Back in 1874, Hiram Ritter homesteaded 160 acres northwest of what is now Cortez. That parcel became the nucleus of a sheep ranch which at one time encompassed 3600 acres of deeded land and over 1500 acres of leased land. It had the reputation of being one of the best sheep ranches in the Montezuma Valley. Sheep continued to be raised on the ranch until 1976. Today cattle and grass hay are grown.

On July 24th of this year, the Ritter family celebrated the centennial of their ranch in La Veta. John Ritter bought the first parcel in 1888 for $2000 plus 200 head of cattle. In 1900 he homesteaded an additional 160 acres. John raised cattle, horses, hay and grain. Numerous historic buildings of log, stone and adobe still stand today.

The Rieke Pasture Ranch in Padroni is the property of Werdna Nelson. In 1887 her grandparents, Fedrick and Emma Rieke, were among the colonists who left Kenesaw Nebraska to start a new life in Colorado. Their destination was Denver where they went to the Land Office and filed on 109 tree claims in Logan County, establishing the Kenesaw Valley, now known as West Plains, Colorado.