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Don Wexielman MemoirsThis section is rough notes taken from his memoirs, so it is obviously not finished. Topics
Roads (this material is incorporated in the section on Roads and Rivers) Homesteading and Land Locations History of The Wexielman Subdivisions Homesteaders Along Gordon Creek and Environs to Elkhorn Creek Making of the Currie Ranch Turning the Currie Ranch into Residential Subdivisions Don's personal history: 1959 Becomes an agent for United Farm Agency Mountain property of 1-40 acres in demand 1961 purchased 320 acres with small house for $15,000, or $47/acre in Rist Canyon, subdivided into 4 tracts and sold within months. 1874 barbed wire invented, Chicago, not really used here until 1890s and then to fence cattle out of hay fields Making a Living in the Mountains General sequence: Trapping, hunting, timber harvesting (ties for railroad & lumber houses on the plains), cattle and sheep raising, horse trading, recreation in the Red Feather Lakes area, residential housing (gradual trend towards retirement homes especially the father from Fort Collins) Beef to Ogallala Nebraska to trade 1860s the arrival of railroad had a profound effect on the area, o first the need for rail ties, (8 inches by 8 feet)o George Pingree (1832 – 1911), 100 ties per day,o then stimulating the market for cattle, sheep and wool1880s Gold, silver and other metals, Manhattan, Rustic, Lu Lu City Generally range land in the Livermore to Red Feather Lakes area was of poor quality, requiring fifty acres of land or five acres of sub irrigated land to support one cow and calf "unit." o water to irrigate the land would increase productivity 10 fold and provided the ability for put up hay for hard winter months and survive droughts (thus drainages like Gordon, Elkhorn and Lone Pine Creeks were settled early)o south-facing, snow would melt quicker, exposing grasses for the cattleo economy of scale (larger units consumed the smaller ones);o access to/ leases on Forest Service land (in essence acquiring land at no cost)o small scale gardening which was difficult above 7,000 feet and not practical above 8,000.o Milk and butter 1870 butter 40 cents/lbo supplemental part-time work, such as timbering, hunting, Christmas treesLots of turnover of land in early years; "few homesteaders were able to stay after their homestead was proved up. Most choose to move to town where living was easier." 1905 horse drawn hay mowers, Currie first to use in Gordon Creek Valley 1920 cattle selling for 5-10 cents/lb on the hoof; land for $2-5; farming one acre yielded 15 bushels at 50 cents/bushel or $7.50/acre compared to $1.50 for dry land grazing (50 acres at $75) 1960s Non-irrigated mountain land value for agriculture was $10/acre, worth more for development Sawmills Sheep on Cherokee Park Roads tended to go along the ridge lines to avoid the steep and rocky canyon bottoms, for better visibility of routes to follow, and protection from Indian attacks. 74E, Red Feather Lakes Road, follows generally the early stage road, with some exceptions.
By 1880s the trail was becoming fit for wagons Road Viewers Association – 5 or more citizens, describe identifying land marks and make a recommendation to County Supervisors whether road should become public and County assume responsibility for maintenance and improvement. Wagons gave way to automobiles around 1910, Stanley Steamer. A Model T Ford in 1915 sold for $500. 74E stages of modification and improvement
Homesteading and Land Locations Dugouts were warmer than log cabins: one at Fourth Filing, Lot 29 Gate 6, Bald Mtn to Snowmass to La Plata. Ways to acquire land o Homestead Act, 1862 provided 160 acres (a quarter section) of public land free of charge (except for a small filing fee) to anyone either 21 years of age or head of a family, a citizen or person who had filed for citizenship, who had lived on and cultivated the land for at least five years and built a house that was at least 12 by 14 feet in size (Wikipedia).§ Settling or squatting referred to living on the land but not making a claim, which some people did for a while (or indefinitely) before filling a claim under the Homestead Act.§ When the requirements were met – "proved up a homestead" – a "patent" was awarded by the Federal Government.§ A couple could each file and thus obtain 320 acres, and additional increments of 160 for their children when they came of age, 21.§ By the turn of the century, more than 80 million acres had been claimed by a total of 600,000 homestead farmers (EB CD).
o Timber and Stone Act of 1878 allowed western timberland to be sold for $2.50 per acre ($618/km²) in 160 acre (0.6 km²) blocks. Land that was deemed "unfit for farming" was sold to those who might want to "timber and stone" (logging and mining) upon the land. The act was used by speculators who were able to get great expanses declared "unfit for farming" allowing them to increase their land holdings at minimal expense. In theory the purchaser was to make affidavit that he was entering the land exclusively for his own use and no association was to enter more than 160 acres. In practice wealthy companies fraudulently obtained title for up to twenty thousand acres by hiring men to enter 160 acre lots which were then deeded to the company after a nominal compliance with the law (Wikipedia).War Script – 1812, Civil War, Spanish American o Rail Road received land the from U.S. Government in alternating sections along the right of way as a form of compensation for building the railroad, which in turn was sold to settlers.In the text, when a homestead is later purchased by some one else, the transaction is assumed to be 160 acres. Thus there could be up to four owners of property in one section. Section = 1 square mile = 640 acres.
Township = 6 sq miles or 36 sections. Numbering began in the upper right corner, to the left and wrapped around the next row as shown in the diagram to the right, a process I find confusing. Sections 16 & 36 of each township were set aside for states for development and maintenance of school districts. Township has a second meaning, a unit of latitude measurement, that indicates how far north (or south) the property is from a standard, which in this part of the country is reflected in Baseline Road in Boulder County . The longitude or east-west unit is called range. To illustrate, the Glacier View Meadows subdivision is in Township T9N71W. A short hand way of describing section 6 in this township would be 6-9-71 The majority of the Gordon Creek area lies in the Township, T9N70W, although its headwaters begin in the GVM township. Surveying techniques were primitive such as tying a rag on a wagon wheel and counting the revolutions, and thus produced very unreliable measurements. Sections could vary from 300 – 1,000 acres vs. 640.
History of The Wexielman Subdivisions Overview: From the 17,000 acre Clarence Currie ranch, and other acquisitions totally 24,000 acres, Don Wexielman and partners created six subdivisions along 74E, named as follows, beginning at the crest of McNey Hill: Hewlett Gulch, Glacier View Meadows, Green Mountain Meadows, North Rim, Crystal Lakes (west of Red Feather Lakes). Swan Ranch, 1520 acres on Gordon Creek south 74E, in Hewlett Gulch Painted Post 560 acres (earlier name for Pot Belly?) 5,000 acres other Garnich homesteaded 36-9-72
Homesteaders Along Gordon Creek and Environs to Elkhorn Creek Gordon Creek was a productive area for ranching. Homesteaders from bottom of drainage on down: John Gordon, Isaac and John Riddle, Swan (Herbert and Wesley), John Sloan, Solomon Batterson (later owned by John McNey), Ray Stouffer .Land along the Lower Elkhorn was obtained as Stones and Timber patents.
John Gordon homesteaded on Gordon Creek in area known now as Dear Meadows, several miles south of RFL Road. o Gordon was presumably the first to homestead the area because the creek is named after him.o Later purchased by Herbert Swan, then his son Robert (1907 – 1998), and finally by Robert’s son Wesley in 19371873 [actually 1870] Solomon and Mary Batterson settled an area on Gordon Creek further upstream (13-9-72, on the east side of 74E), and received their patent in 1885 (they did not file a claim on the property until living and developing the land for several years). Information by Linda Adams from web research historic Colorado news papers o The historic barn was completed in 1890, and still stands in good shape and used by the current owners, Judd and Linda Adams. The center section of the barn is 30’ wide by 40’ deep and 65’ high with 16’ by 40’ lean-tos on either side for a total width of 62’. According to a report in the Fort Collins Courier, Feb. 27, 1890, it cost Solomon $800. Each lean-to has six stalls with two holes drilled in the mangers to tie two horses while they ate, thus doubling the number of horses who could be accommodated in the barn from 6 to 12 per side, of 24 overall (although the quarters would be tight).o The stage from Fort Collins to the mining camp of Manhattan and the logging community at Chambers Lake made three round trips per week and changed horses at Owl Canyon, the Livermore Hotel and Solomon Batterson’s. The old stage road can still be seen in front of the barn and the home site.o Stanley Case in his The Poudre: A Photo History shows Zimmerman’s Stage Line distances and rates from Ft. Collins to S. Batterson’s at 35 miles for $1.75 and Will Batterson’s at 43 miles for $2.50.o 1903, after 30 years on the ranch, Solomon (age 73) and Mary Batterson had enlarged there original 160 acre homestead to 800 acres in fee and amassed a comfortable fortune in the cattle business. They decided to retire and move to Fort Collins so they sold the cattle and leased the ranch to their daughter Alomina and her husband William Tibbits for five years.o The Tibbits lived there until moving to their own ranch at the bottom of McNey Hill (Mile 9, south side). Billy had established a ranch on Elkhorn Creek twenty years earlier and become a successful and wealthy young cattleman.o 1910, Mary Batterson dies.o 1911 Bert and Alta Bush lived on the Batterson Ranch while their new place above Batterson Hill was being fixed up.o 1916 John McNey purchased the Solomon Batterson Ranch, which along with his home and land near Livermore gave him ownership of "1,200 acres of the finest land for stock raising in this part of the country…."o 1918, July, Mrs. McNey started a fire in the kitchen range and a few minutes later the roof of the kitchen was in flames….The home was entirely destroyed and members of the family are now housed with neighbors.o No one lived on the Batterson Ranch for 80 years--from 1918 until 1998.o 1919, Solomon Batterson dies at age 88.o 1926 Clarence Currie, younger son of John Currie (who purchased the LOX Ranch from Sam Sloan) purchased the Solomon Batterson Ranch from John McNey II and his brother-in-law, W. O. McCullah.o 1998 Terry and Linda Mulligan purchase the ten-acre property that includes the barn, pond and meadows, and an adjacent 3 acre lot and build a house.Back to Wexielman's material 1885, George Moody, aka Dutch George, receives patent on land (34-9-72) at confluence of Elkhorn Creek and the Main Poudre, now U.S. Forest land known as Dutch George Camp ground. 1886 John (Sam) Sloan settled in 19-9-72 current location of Western Ridge (formerly Cottonwood Hollow) Restaurant area, o first owned section near Steamboat Rock, 6 miles north of Livermoreo purchased LOX brand 1893 from E.R. Barkley? Bert Bush farmed land which is now GVM greenbelt (Filing 8) and Gordon Creek east of Mt. Moriah Road (Saddle Creek Ranches). 1904 Hector T. Cowan receives patent in Dutch George area, 160 acres 1907 Herbert Swan purchased Bush land from widowed sister-in law, farmed oats and potatoes and ran cattle 1914 Albert Ball homesteaded in 9th Filing and upon receiving his patent in 1918 he sold his 160 acres to John McNey The Currie Ranch, 17,000 acres owned in fee along with leases to 75,000 National Forest Grazing land was begun by farther John in 1906 (?) and completed by his son Clarence John Currie owned a livery stable in Fort Collins 1906 he passed through Sloan Ranch on route to fishing trip on Poudre, at Dutch George Flats and decided to purchase if Sloan would make additional acquisitions to make it a productive unit. Sloan purchased properties of Isaac and John Riddle, Hector Cowan (properties along Gordon Creek), and Dutch George property on the Poudre 1910 owned 3,000 acres winter range (?) controlled (leased?) 2,000 acres Forest Land 1915 President Wilson issued Currie patents for land in sections 18,19, 20 in Township T9NR71W and 24, 25 in Township T9NR72W, shown in green in the diagram below. [how can you receive patents from the govt. for more than one quarter section; don’t they have to purchased from others?]The Township Table was produced by Judd Adams to visually locate the homesteads described by Don Currie’s LOX ranch house is located in the middle- western end of section 19, 74E. GVM land is located in sections in T9NR72W: 13, 14, 15, 22, 23, 25, 25, 26, and 36 and are shown as larger font. Total acreage of these sections is 5,760, of which 3,000 are part of GVM. Green Mountain Meadows land is along Gordon Creek in 9-72 sections 13, 11 and a tiny bit of 12.
1920 son Maurice received patent for land in section 18 1921 John Currie acquired 640 acres in the area known now as the North Rim (sections 28 and 29), which was homesteaded in 1914 – 1918 by the Randleman brothers, Dale, Lou, and Ray. Currie thereby secured the Forest Service grazing rights down to his land on Dutch George land on the Poudre, a section just below section 34. This gave him control of 5,000 acres1922 John purchased homesteads of sons William and Maurice and made youngest son Clarence (1900 - ) the ranch manager. 1926 Clarence makes his first purchase, the Maurice D. Spence homestead (patented 1922), on North Rim Road ½ mile south of Elkhorn Creek , Section 21-9-72.1932 John acquires the Stouffer Ranch of 1,000 acres (GVM 2nd, 3rd, and 6th filings, Sections 15 & 14 ).o Stouffer defaulted on his loan because of the 1930’s drought.o The cabin is on Lot 25, 2nd Filing.o Ranch included homesteads of Olsen, Theodore Ayers, Frank Ayers, Asbury Riddleo Others refer to the ranch house at top of Batterson Hill, on the right in GMM as the Stouffer Ranch.1932, John sells his holdings to his son Clarence. 1933 (or 31?) Clarence acquires from Dr. Herman Maul 11-1o-74, the north ½ is the area around Crystal Lake and the south ½ is now Beaver Meadows (which at the time he leased as grazing land to Eugenia Murdock, Maul’s sister-in-law). 1940, John Currie dies. 1943 John acquires Hattie McMurray Place which consisted of several properties homesteaded in the late 1880s: Isaac C. Riddle ( 23-9-71), John Riddle (22-9-71) and Edward N. Beattie (22-9-71). "This put Currie in direct competition with Wesley Swan who owned the ranch in between and had two miles of Gordon Creek .1943 Clarence acquires McMurray sections 32 & 33 9-71 which gives him control of Hewlett Gulch with 1,500 acres. [This land is not on Hewlett Gulch.] Stove Prairie land on Poudre sold to Climax Molybdenum which traded it to Forest Service 1946 acquires August Young land (2 miles east of Log Cabin), now part of Green Mountain Meadows 1947 acquires Bert Bush property, 200 acres (which he had farmed) which is now GVM greenbelt (Filing 8) and Gordon Creek east of Mt. Moriah Road (Saddle Creek Ranches). o Old ranch building is on GVM Lot 17 and dugout on lot 29, both 8th filing (does he mean 4th Filing?.o Diana Lustig acquire the Bush house and uses it for a pottery studio in 4th Filing.1947 leased Rockwell place where 1953 acquired 3,000 acres Black Mountain Ranch (Crystal Lakes) from the Floyd family (homesteaders? Knell, Yockey, Sankey, Eggers, Clark Moore) at $5.00/acre. They had used it as a dude ranch and outfitters headquarters. ? Acquires section 36-9-72 (GVM 12th Filing) from State of Colorado School located 300 feet from the intersection of Mount Simon and 74E. 1967 sells ranch and farm in LaPorte to Chamberlain et al. Turning the Currie Ranch into Residential Subdivisions 1969, Don Weixelman arranges sale from Chamberlain to Lee E. Stubblefield. 1969 Black Mountain Ranch acquired [from Stubblefield] to form Crystal Lakes, 232o lots.1971 purchased Green Mountain Meadows land to be developed as 10 – 40 acres. 1971 Gray Mountain Company formed from purchase of 5,800 from Stubblefield. 1971 Glacier View Meadows formed from 3,800 from Gray Mountain. First Filing ready in September, with brisk sales. 1971, construction begun on Crystal Lake, which was completed in fall 1972, with a capacity of 1,000 acre feet, 55 acres and 45 feet at its deepest, at a cost of $1 million. 1972 Colorado Legislature passes laws regarding compensation for use of well water, which led to the landmark "water augmentation plan". Well users had to compensate down stream users who had senior water rights. In order to continue developing the subdivision land, Don had to purchase water rights from some entity and then release this water to the Poudre River water system to compensate for the water removed by wells in the subdivision. "Development was basically stopped until the Augmentation Plan was approved by the Water Court in Greeley in 1976." 1972-1976 mild recession in land sales, which prompted a change in marketing strategy to a "direct mail marketing" program where gifts were used to entice visitors to look at the land. 1975 The Water Court grants a water decree of seventy-five shares of underground water from the Cache la Poudre River in the Elkhorn and Gordon Creek drainages through the Mountain and Plains Irrigation Company. This "Water Augmentation Plan" turned out to be a landmark decision, both for the Water Court and for developers in Larimer County. 1976 Larimer County tightens zoning laws from the permissive O-Open Zone. 1977 – 1980 sales picked up. 1976 Don purchases Beaver Meadows from George and Alice Drake who had operated it as a dude ranch from 1952 – 1971. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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