2016-01-14_REVISION - M1983194 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

The Stock-Grazing Homestead Act of 1916 opened up new public domain to stockmen and farmers on a far greater scale than ever before and became the most popular homestead legislation ever passed. This act applied to all public lands in Colorado, and provided 640 acres of non-irrigable, non-timbered land “chiefly valuable for grazing and raising forage crops” (Schlebecker 1975:208). Much of the land was used for wheat instead of grazing, but could not be filed on until 1918. The act encouraged migration to the upland parcels of the Piceance Basin but its impact was not really felt until after 1920. Early Transportation Northwestern Colorado's exploitation was slowed by its inaccessibility due to the rather late entry of efficient transportation into the area. The first non-aboriginal visitors were confronted by a region without roads; Farnham noted the absence of well-developed trails on his visit in 1839 (Farnham 1841). The non-aboriginal explorers and pioneers made their way via game and Indian trails, the use of which hardly provided deluxe travel. A good storm can blow down enough timber to make pony travel unpleasantly invigorating exercise; indeed, one explanation given for the Utes' supposed burning of the forests in 1879 was to clear areas for pony travel. Whether the fires of the summer of 1879 were started by the Ute is disputed (H.R.N.F. 1975:44). The trails going west came from Gore Pass, went through Egeria Park to the Gray Ranch (Phippsburg), and headed across Twenty Mile Park to the Yampa River and beyond (Gray 1941). Dunkley Pass provided access to the Trappers Lake country and White River. These were apparently aboriginal routes through the area (Farnham 1841). In 1873, John Q. Rollins constructed a wagon road that was passable most of the year over what had been Boulder Pass (Athearn 1976:66). Three years later, the Berthoud Pass road was rebuilt, making it the preferred route to that of Rollins Pass. By 1880, the Rollins Road was in ruins. The Hayden Survey parties made use of the Berthoud road in their travels through the Routt country. The route had changed from earlier construction, and when survey parties used it, the route went “over Gore Pass to Stampede Creek, across Egeria Park, down the Yampah [sic] seven miles, across Oak and Sage Creeks to Skull Creek to the Yampah River” (Ladd 1876:439). The development of these roads increased accessibility to northwest Colorado; previously, most non-aboriginal entry into the region had come from Wyoming. Railroading The early development of Colorado and the West was dependent on railroads for primary transportation. The early history of Colorado is replete with attempts to get a transcontinental railroad (the Central Pacific/Union Pacific combination) into the towns favored by various interests. Denver emerged as the capital of the state in part due to its privileged status as a rail center, the result of political maneuvering of men such as John Evans (second territorial governor, disgraced by his removal from office due to his part in the Sand Creek Massacre), David Moffat (banker and railroad promoter), and William Jackson Palmer (Civil War general and builder of the Rio Grande narrow gauge), tempering 45