In 1915 Louis B. Sporleder Sr. traded land he owned for the 160-acre Santa Clara Ranch at the foot of the East Spanish Peak near Walsenburg. Louis was a “grower, buyer and seller of sheep, wool, cattle, swine, poultry, and all kinds of ranch products” and author of The Romance of the Spanish Peaks. Early on he advertised the ranch as a recreational retreat “of unsurpassed charm and beauty” and offered camp sites to the public for a small fee.

The Smith Ranch was first homesteaded in the late 1880s as two separate 160-acre parcels by Louis Hurtgen and Karl Strickner, eventually coming into sole ownership under Karl Strickner. In 1918, Strickner’s ranch was bought by William J. and Lula Smith, where the Smiths farmed potatoes, oats, barley, rye, and native hay. They also raised horses and cattle and cut timber for lumber and railroad ties. William and Lula passed on the ranch to their son Jack, who eventually passed it on to his son Webb, the ranch’s current owner.

In December 1917 Samuel Schaal Sr. put a payment down on 320 acres of land near Burlington on behalf his son Jacob. Jacob started building a sod home in 1918 and after returning from World War I, finished the home and added a well house, barn and chicken house. Jacob and his wife Emma raised their family in the soddy, growing hay, wheat and corn and running about 40 head of cattle. Emma was fatally burned in a tragic kerosene accident and Jacob never remarried.

R.M. Haythorn migrated to Eaton, Colorado in 1885 from Antioch, Ohio, purchasing the farm land from Benjamin H. Eaton in 1900. In 1904, R.M. built the two-story red brick farmhouse and other historic buildings that remain functional in current farming operations. R.M.

William Prussman arrived in Colorado in 1917 and shortly afterward established a 160-acre farm near Amherst with new bride, Grace. The couple planted wheat, corn, oats and millet, raised hogs and cattle and kept chickens and Brown Swiss dairy cows, selling the cream, milk, and eggs in town. In 1919, the couple moved a two-room house onto the farm and expanded the home as their family grew. At first they farmed with mules and horses before switching to steam- and later gas-powered tractors.

Nestled into the surrounding sandhills twenty miles north of the town of Wray, the Oestman Farm and Ranch was homesteaded in 1916 by Fred and Jennie Oestman, where they raised their family of 11. Their son Dallas with his wife Patricia took over the farm and raised cattle, corn, hay, wheat, and watermelons. Dallas and Patricia also added irrigation in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The Lusch farm was granted to Henry John Lusch in 1917 by President Woodrow Wilson through the Homestead Act. The farm originally functioned as a dry-land farm operation growing wheat. Under the management of the Farmers National Company, the Lusch-Merwald Family farm has continued to produce wheat in addition to hay crops and products. The homestead is currently under the ownership of William J. Merwald and his wife Delores, the granddaughter of Henry J. Lusch. 

Walter A. Longacre, along with his wife Myrtle and two daughters, settled on land next to Wildcat Creek in Morgan County in 1918. The family would initially raise cattle while also planting trees throughout the property. In 1925 they welcomed two boys into the family, Walter E. and Laurence. Overtime, the family would also begin to farm wheat, oats, spelt, alfalfa, and sorghum. In 1936 Walter A. passed away, and his children took over operations on the farm. Walter E.

After filing homestead paperwork in Minnesota, Gilbert K (the Americanized version of his given Norwegian name Gullick) and wife Mary Kravig traveled via train to their new farm in Colorado in 1910.

John and Rosa Koppenhafer purchased this small farm on March 16, 1918.  Their son George and his wife Ellen eventually took over the farm and raised 13 children there, six of whom were born in the old house still remaining on the property and now used as a storage shed. George and Ellen passed the farm on to their son Vern, who now owns the farm with his wife Anna Ruth.  Vern helped both his grandparents and parents farm the property, using horses and horse-drawn equipment such as plows, mowers, and rakes.